MENTAL HEALTH RISKS OF RACIAL MICROAGGRESSIONS: A MODERATED INDIRECT EFFECTS MODEL OF RACISM HYPERVIGILANCE AND ETHNIC-RACIAL SOCIALIZATION IN BLACK EMERGING ADULTS

Abstract

Racial microaggressions (RMs) are pervasive racial stressors linked to adverse mental health outcomes among Black populations (Lui & Quezada, 2019), yet limited research has examined the sociocultural mechanisms underlying these associations among heterogeneous samples of Black emerging adults. Racism-related hypervigilance (RH), characterized by heightened anticipatory monitoring and psychological preparedness for potential racial discrimination, is a promising mechanism to examine given evidence linking racism-related hypervigilance and internalizing symptoms (Himmelstein et al., 2015). The present study examined the indirect effect of RMs on internalizing symptoms (i.e., depression and anxiety) through RH. Additionally, ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) messages, including cultural socialization (CS), preparation for bias (PB), and promotion of mistrust (PM), were examined as moderators of these indirect associations. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to investigate direct, indirect, and moderated indirect effects while controlling for demographic covariates. Results supported that RH partially accounted for the indirect effect of RMs; specifically, higher levels of RMs were associated with higher levels of RH, which in turn were associated with greater depression and anxiety symptoms. Moderated indirect effects analyses indicated that PM significantly moderated the indirect pathway linking RMs to internalizing symptoms through RH, whereas CS and PB did not significantly moderate these associations. These findings contribute to the growing literature examining sociocultural mechanisms underlying the association between RMs and mental health outcomes among Black emerging adults.