The Relationship Between Social Anxiety and Internalized Racism in Black Young Adults

Abstract

The study examined the relationships between social anxiety (SA), generalized anxiety (GA), and depression with racial microaggressions and internalized racism (IR) among Black young adults. Given SA's core features, we expected it to have a unique association with IR, and to moderate the connection between racial microaggressions and IR. Participants were 182 Black university students who completed measures of SA, GA, depressive symptoms, racial microaggressions, and IR. Linear regression models indicated that IR was a significant predictor of SA, but not GA or depression. Racial microaggressions were only positively associated with depressive symptoms. SA and racial microaggressions each predicted IR, but no interaction was found. Black young adults with elevated concerns of others' evaluation may be more prone to accepting negative stereotypes about one's racial group.

Online discrimination and mental health outcomes: The moderating roles of ethnic identity and immigrant generation among Latinx young adults.

“…Future research should explore the relations between OR/ED and mental health across various demographic segments of the Latinx community while also considering other factors (e.g., age of arrival in the United States, length of time in the United States, psychosocial stressors due to migration). Moreover, while our inclusion of covariates (i.e., sex) in the regression models was generally consistent with prior research (e.g., Kline et al, 2021), it may be important for future research to control for the effects of socioeconomic status, living situation (e.g., on or off-campus), and other variables of interest.…”

Gendered racial microaggressions and emerging adult Black women's social and general anxiety: Distress intolerance and stress as mediators

“…To our knowledge, no studies to date have examined the association between gendered racial microaggressions and social anxiety in Black women, or even factors associated with social anxiety in Black women in general. One of the only studies examining social anxiety in Black adults generally revealed a link between internalized racism and greater social anxiety in Black young adults (Kline et al, 2021). Internalized racism may be a consequence of experiencing racism such as gendered racial microaggressions, which then are linked to social anxiety.…”

Anxiety-Related Disorders in the Context of Racism

“…(Synonym: old-fashioned racism; Example: linguistic racism ) • Social anxiety disorder (SAD) [ 38 ] Studies have linked exposure to dominative racism to increased levels of SAD symptoms Everyday racism The systematic process whereby individuals experience racism on a daily basis, which upholds power inequality between races [ 69 ]. Everyday racism may include racial microaggressions • Social anxiety disorder (SAD) [ 39 ] • Anxiety-related disorders (panic disorder (PD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)) [ 21 ] Daily exposure to racism has been linked to social anxiety disorder (SAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and panic disorder (PD) Internalized racism The negative, racist views towards POC exhibited as self-hatred by POC who believe being White is superior and as a consequence, reject their community and identity as a POC [ 69 ] (Example: colorism ) • Anxiety arousal [ 41 ] • SAD [ 40 ] • Agoraphobia with and without PD, GAD, PD, SAD [ 22 ] Internalized racism (e.g., colorism) is from internalization of oppression that results in POC experiencing self-hatred and rejection of their community and identity. This internalization is documented to be associated with symptoms related to anxiety disorders Institutional racism* Inequality with regard to socioeconomic accessibility and opportunity due to racial identity [ 6 •] • OC symptoms [ 17 ] • Depression [ 59 ••] Institutional racism (e.g., racial profiling) targets POC and creates socioeconomic barriers which result in various disadvantages, including the detrimental impact on mental health (e.g., obsessive–compulsive and depressive symptoms) Micro-aggressions The use of negative, race-based statements or behaviors to convey insulting, aggressive, and derogatory language and foster hostile environments for POC [ 69 ] • Anxiety [ 42 , 67 ] • PTSD symptoms [ 61 ] • Traumatic stress [ 60 ] • Anxiety-related trauma...…”

“…We identified another study that looked into the association between different types of anxiety disorders, including SAD, with racial microaggressions and internalized racism in a sample of 182 Black university students [ 40 ]. In this study, internalized racism was found to be a significant predictor of social anxiety in linear regression models, which is consistent with research [see 41 ].…”