African American Identity, Discrimination and Mental Disorders

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Research suggests that racial identity attitudes play a significant role in the way in which many African Americans experience the world. However, little research has been conducted examining racial identity at the unit of analysis of the specific event. As a result, little is known how African Americans' stable attitudes and beliefs regarding the significance and meaning of race influence the way in which they experience and behave in specific situations. This dearth of research is particularly problematic given the growing evidence that racial identity plays an important role in buffering the deleterious effects of experiencing racial discrimination on the mental health of African Americans. The proposed study attempts to address this shortcoming in the current research literature. In doing so, the proposed study has 3 specific aims: 1) To examine how individuals' stable racial identity attitudes interact with situational characteristics to influence when race is a salient identity; 2) To determine whether situationally-specific experiences of racial salience influence changes in individuals' stable beliefs regarding the significance and meaning of race in their lives; and 3) To investigate the way in which individuals' racial identity attitudes and situational characteristics interact to influence the way in which individuals cope with specific experiences of racial discrimination. 740 self-identified African American first-year college students will be recruited from 6 universities to participate in a 4-year longitudinal study. Students' racial identity, racial discrimination experiences, and indicators of mental health (depression, anxiety, and well-being) will be assessed at both the situational and trans-situational level. In addition to an annual survey, the students will participate, each year, in 1 of 3 20-day conditions in which experience-sampling techniques will be employed. These conditions include a racial salience condition, a racial discrimination condition, and a control condition. Multilevel data analytic techniques will be employed across the various studies to achieve the specific aims of the study.