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Maggie Hicken, MPH, University of Michigan, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, 734.998.0427, mhicken@umich.edu, Marc Zimmerman, PhD, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, and Ella Greene-Moton, Health Awareness Center/Flint Odyssey House Inc., 1225 Martin Luther King Avenue, Flint, MI 48503.
Objectives
Resilience is the concept that there are certain protective factors that mitigate the harmful effects of risk factors on health outcomes. Building on resiliency theory, we tested the hypothesis that a strong positive racial identity (racial affirmation) protects against the deleterious effects of perceived discrimination on mental health.
Methods
We analyzed data from 1862 adults from Genesee County, Michigan, who were interviewed as part of a community-based telephone survey developed by the collaborating partners of the CDC-funded Prevention Research Center of Michigan. Racial affirmation, discrimination, and anxiety measures were collected and regression analyses performed to predict the relation among the three measures.
Results
A strong, positive racial identity (racial affirmation) was associated with more anxiety symptoms in African American, but not in whites. Furthermore, racial identify moderated the effects of perceived discrimination on mental health only for African-American respondents. only in African Americans did resilience appear as a significant interaction between perceived discrimination (the risk factor) and racial affirmation (the protective factor). The results suggest that a strong, positive racial identity can mitigate the deleterious effects of discrimination on mental health.
Conclusions
African Americans that strongly identify with their racial group tend to perceive discrimination both personal and institutionalized. A positive identity however, can protect them against the negative effects of discrimination. Implications for programs and policy include school programs that develop strong, positive ethnic identity in youth and health programs that build on positive aspects of African American communities.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to
Keywords: African American, Mental Health
Related Web page: www.sph.umich.edu/prc/products/survey_info.html
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.