The current study examined the impact of racial discrimination stress on internalizing symptoms and coping strategies in a sample of 268 African American early adolescents (mean age = 12.90; 56% female) from low-income communities. Information about discrimination stress, coping, and internalizing symptoms was obtained via adolescents' self-report. It was predicted that discrimination stress would be positively associated with depression and anxiety, as well as culturally-specific coping. Finally, culturally-relevant coping and mainstream coping were examined as moderators of the association between discrimination stress and internalizing symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that discrimination stress was positively associated with depression and anxiety and predicted culturally-relevant coping while controlling for mainstream coping. Communalistic coping moderated the association between discrimination and anxiety, but demonstrated a vulnerability function by increasing anxiety at high levels of discrimination. The results highlight the salience of racial discrimination for African American adolescents and the importance of considering culturally-specific coping behaviors.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the linear and curvilinear associations of exposure to community violence to internalizing symptoms in 251 African American adolescents (mean age = 12.86, SD = 1.28). Participants reported on exposure to community violence, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses and, consistent with predictions, the results indicated that the association between violence and depression was curvilinear; whereas the association to anxiety was linear and positive. The results highlight the importance of considering more complex models of the impact of exposure to community violence on psychological functioning in African American youth from economically-disadvantaged communities.

The purpose of this article is to present a culturally situated, asset‐based developmental framework for understanding successful adaptation to stress. Making use of theory and research on differential exposure and reactivity to racial discrimination, it introduces a framework that can be used to investigate positive development in the context of other stressors. Toward this goal, the article highlights research related to the roles of racial socialization messages, racial identity, stress appraisals, and unique coping in influencing responses to racial discrimination. By integrating these themes, the article presents an asset‐based framework for understanding how these components influence one another and can function together to promote positive youth development in the context of racial discrimination. Ultimately, it also illustrates how the framework can be applied to other stressors that are experienced by African American youth and offers examples of how cultural assets work to promote positive youth development.

The demonstration of replicable suppressor effects helps to advance coping research and intervention by providing evidence of the interdependence of coping strategies, thus increasing understanding of how coping strategies work together to predict outcomes. The current study offers recommendations for understanding associations among coping strategies within the context of suppression effects.

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