The erosive effects of racism: Reduced self-control mediates the relation between perceived racial discrimination and substance use in African American adolescents.

Abstract

Perceived racial discrimination, self-control, anger, and either substance use or use cognitions were assessed in two studies conducted with samples of African American adolescents. The primary goal was to examine the relation between discrimination and self-control over time; a second goal was to determine if that relation mediates the link between discrimination and substance use found in previous research. Study 1, which included a latent growth curve analysis with three waves of data, indicated that experience with discrimination (from age 10 to age 18) was associated with reduced self-control, which then predicted increased substance use. Additional analyses indicated anger was also a mediator of this discrimination to use relation. Study 2, which was experimental, showed that envisioning an experience involving discrimination was associated with an increase in substance-related responses to double entendre words (e.g., “pot,” “roach”) in a word association task, especially for participants who were low in dispositional self-control. The effect was again mediated by reports of anger. Thus, the “double mediation” pattern was: discrimination → more anger and reduced self-control → increased substance use and/or substance cognitions. Results are discussed in terms of the long-term impact of discrimination on self-control and health behavior. Implications for interventions aimed at ameliorating the negative effects of discrimination and low self-control on health are also discussed.

Perceived Racial Discrimination and Negative-Mood–Related Drinking Among African American College Students

“…However, we did not measure the source of negative moods and thus could not determine whether specific stressors, especially those related to race, showed unique associations with evening levels of alcohol use. Future studies, therefore, should measure racial discrimination at the daily level (i.e., daily hassles or micro-aggressions; Torres et al, 2010) to examine These results also support previous theorizing regarding the impact of racial discrimination on alcohol use-that these chronic, stressful experiences lead to a greater likelihood of drinking in response to negative emotions, which may be due in part to long-term changes in self-regulation or coping capacity Gibbons et al, 2012;Hatzenbueler et al, 2011;Martin et al, 2003). Moreover, the results for men suggest that the association between discrimination and problem drinking may be attributable to consuming more alcohol when not interacting with others, consistent with previously observed links between nonsocial drinking and drinking problems (e.g., Gonzalez & Skewes, 2013).…”

A Mediational Model of Racial Discrimination and Alcohol-Related Problems Among African American College Students

“…A heretofore unresolved issue is whether the effects of discrimination on substance use are attributable to anger directly in response to discrimination (Terrell et al, 2006) or to more generalized anger (Gibbons et al, 2010). The latter explanation is supported by the fi nding that recurrent discrimination may erode African Americans' self-regulatory abilities, leading to increased anger and, subsequently, more substance use (Gibbons et al, 2012a). Furthermore, African Americans who have experienced high levels of discrimination have been shown to be more reactive to stressful life events (Richman et al, 2010;cf.…”

Gender Discrimination (GD): A Conceptual Trauma-Based Framework for GD and the Development of Gender Discrimination Inventory

“…They can also lead to social deviance (Belmi, Barragan, Neale, & Cohen, 2015). People, when they feel devalued, tend to act impulsively (Gino et al, 2011) and anti-socially (Gibbons et al, 2012;Kamans, Gordijn, Oldenhuis, & Otten, 2009). …”