(PS10-80) Subdomains of Internalized Racism Differentially Contribute to Negative Mental Health Outcomes

Abstract Text:

Background: Internalized racism (IR) is a unique form of racism where racial/ethnic minorities accept established racial hierarchies and subscribe to a self-deprecating perspective, expressing their inferiority towards the dominant racial/ethnic group. Recent classifications of IR have established four main dimensions: (1) bias for the status quo; (2) cultural conformity; (3) devaluation of one’s racial/ethnic group; (4) and emotional reactions. Elevated IR has been positively associated with several negative mental health outcomes, including elevated anxious arousal, greater depressive symptoms, and greater rates of suicidal ideation; however, existing research has yet to clarify the roles each subdomain of IR plays in these broadband associations. Therefore, we set out to identify which subdomains of IR are most predictive towards negative mental health outcomes (i.e. anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation) found to be associated with IR.

Method: Undergraduates (N = 103, 69% female, M/SDage = 20.01/3.40) identifying as racial/ethnic minorities (39% African American, 32% Asian, 14% Hispanic, 9% other, 7% multiracial) completed measures of internalized racism, anxiety, and depression, as well as a measure of perceived burdensomeness (PB) and thwarted belongingness (TB) as constructs predictive of suicidal ideation. Stepwise regressions were fit to examine which subdomains of IR best accounted for negative mental health outcomes while avoiding overfitting.

Results: Emotional reactions and group devaluation were included in our final model of depression, with emotional reactions (β = 0.25, SE = .11, p < .05), but not group devaluation (β = .27, SE = .15, p = .07), demonstrating a significant relationship. Similar findings were found with anxiety, with emotional reactions (β = .25, SE = 0.09, p < .001) demonstrating a significant relationship with anxiety levels, while group devaluation (β = .19, SE = .12, p = .12) again did not. PB’s final model included a nonsignificant relationship with cultural conformity (β = -.15, SE = .09, p = .11) and a significant relationship with group devaluation (β = .43, SE = .10, p < .001). TB included the opposing variables, yielding a significant relationship with emotional reactions (β = .91, SE = .25, p < .001), but not status quo bias (β = -.82, SE = .51, p = .11)

Conclusions: This study is the first to demonstrate that emotional reactions tied to one’s racial/ethnic group best accounts for rates of anxiety, depression, and TB among minoritized individuals exhibiting IR. Notably, this did not hold for PB, which found group devaluation as the sole significant contributor. Subdomains of IR differentially contribute to negative mental health outcomes, with emotional reactions being a particularly strong contributor, followed by group devaluation. Clinicians treating individuals exhibiting IR should address emotional reactions as a key stuck point in cognitive-behavioral treatment. This extends further for cases that include co-occurring suicidal ideation in that a clinician must consider and address the potential impact of clients’ perceptions of their racial/ethnic identity group.