Helplessness Mediates Racial Discrimination and Depression for African American Young Adults

Abstract

Racial discrimination is associated with depressive symptoms for young African American adults. Yet few studies have examined the psychological mechanisms for this association. The purpose of this preliminary study was to examine the mediating effect of helplessness on the association between perceived racial discrimination and depressive symptoms in a sample of 172 African American young adults. Measures of perceived racial discrimination, depression, and helplessness were administered. Though the majority of the sample reported minimal or no symptoms of depression, approximately 37% of the sample reported dysphoric or more severe depression symptomatology. After controlling for age, perceived racial discrimination was directly and indirectly associated with depressive symptoms via helplessness. These findings provide some insight into the cognitive mechanisms through which depressive symptoms may emerge for African American young adults exposed to racial discrimination.

Prevalence and correlates of depression among Black individuals in Canada: The major role of everyday racial discrimination

“…Furthermore, the complementary logistic regression analyses showed that those with the highest level of everyday racial discrimination were more than 36 times more likely to have significant symptoms of depression compared to those with a lower level of everyday racial discrimination. These analyses corroborate several decades of research, particularly in the United States, which have shown that everyday racial discrimination is associated with a variety of mental health problems, including depression (Brooks et al, 2020; Hudson et al, 2012, 2015; Madubata et al, 2018; Walker et al, 2014; Williams & Mohammed, 2013; Williams & Williams‐Morris, 2000). The results of this study are particularly interesting because, compared to the racial context in the United States, Canada often takes a colorblind approach across health and education sectors that typically ignores the major consequences of racism.…”

“…A recent study comparing postsecondary students found the prevalence of depression to be 9.85% among non-Indigenous students and 14.12% among Indigenous students in the past 12 months (Hop Wo et al, 2020). Another study conducted with a very large sample of Indigenous people revealed a prevalence of 11.65% (Elamoshy et al, 2018 (Madubata et al, 2018). The present study also showed that women, people with less than a postsecondary education, married people, employed people, people 25 years of age and older, and people born in Canada have higher prevalence of depressive symptoms.…”

“…The rates of depressive symptoms from these studies highlight the extreme magnitude of the prevalence found among Black community members aged 15–40 years old in the current study sample. Research conducted with a similar sample of people from Black communities in the United States reported a prevalence of 37% among participants aged 18–35 years old with dysphoric or clinical symptoms of depression (Madubata et al, 2018). The present study also showed that women, people with less than a postsecondary education, married people, employed people, people 25 years of age and older, and people born in Canada have higher prevalence of depressive symptoms.…”

“…However, in Canada, studies on the mental health of people from Black communities remain scarce (Beiser et al, 2012;Veenstra, 2019;Veenstra & Patterson, 2016;Wu et al, 2003). Yet, studies in the United States have shown that in addition to unfavorable sociodemographic characteristics among Black communities (e.g., low socioeconomic status and racial segregation), mental health problems associated with experiences of daily racial discrimination are prominent (Brooks et al, 2020;Cénat, Blais-Rochette et al, 2021;Hudson et al, 2015;Madubata et al, 2018;Walker et al, 2014;Williams & Mohammed, 2013;Williams & Williams-Morris, 2000). Indeed, various studies have shown that racial discrimination is associated with important physical and mental health problems (Williams et al, 2003;Williams & Mohammed, 2013).…”

“…Indeed, various studies have shown that racial discrimination is associated with important physical and mental health problems (Williams et al, 2003;Williams & Mohammed, 2013). Moreover, daily racial discrimination is one of the most important predictors of depressive symptoms (Brooks et al, 2020;Madubata et al, 2018).…”