Vicarious Experiences of Major Discrimination and Psychological Distress among Black Men and Women

Abstract

Racism-related stress frameworks posit that the discriminatory experiences of one’s loved ones may threaten one’s well-being, but relatively few studies have examined how they may impact mental health beyond childhood and adolescence. Using data from the Nashville Stress and Health Study ( N = 1,252), the present study assessed the prevalence of vicarious experiences of discrimination among subsamples of Black men ( n = 297) and women ( n = 330), examined the association between vicarious experiences of discrimination and psychological distress among Black men and women, and evaluated the impact of vicarious discrimination on psychological distress in the context of other stressors. Results suggest that Black women report more vicarious exposure to specific types of discrimination. Furthermore, vicariously experienced discrimination was associated with higher levels of psychological distress among Black women, but not among Black men. Our findings extend the literature on racism-related stress and offer new insights for interventions aimed at reducing racial disparities in mental health.

Local Confederate Memorialization and Gender-Ethnic Variation in Mental Health among Black Residents

“…For instance, research identifies greater criminalization of Black men as having detrimental health effects (e.g., police interactions, arrests) (McLeod et al 2020; Sewell et al 2016; Talbert and Macy 2022). Thus, ambient stressors such as Confederate memorials may impact women’s mental health while men’s mental health may be more affected by additional stressors not examined in this study (Moody et al 2022). Our results showing significant gender-ethnic differences associated with Confederate memorials across mental health outcomes further highlight the importance of investigating health stratification not only between groups but also among groups.…”

“…Studies have shown that race-related stressors are associated with mental health sometimes to a greater degree for women (Erving et al 2021; Erving and Smith 2022; Williams 2018). Moody and colleagues (2022) recently showed that vicarious discrimination significantly impacts Black women’s psychological distress but not men’s. Research has found that Black women are often expected to handle more responsibilities even when operating within similar roles as men (e.g., parent, spouse).…”

“…Memorials will likely factor more strongly into African Americans' mental health than Afro-Caribbeans' given that African Americans have disproportionate historical and contemporary residence in former Confederate states (i.e., the region with the preponderance of memorials), are connected to the U.S. institution of slavery, and are the primary target of persistent efforts by others to deploy Confederate symbols to intimidate, undermine, and extinguish calls for dignity, justice, and equality (Southern Poverty Law Center [SPLC] 2022; Talbert 2022). We stratify analyses by gender because we anticipate that associations with Confederate memorials will be more strongly associated with Black women's mental health than men's since research identifies gender differences in the experience of stressors; women often have less access to health-buffering resources; and gendered manifestations of adverse mental health (Keith and Brown 2017;Moody, Thomas Tobin, and Erving 2022;Thoits 2010).…”

Intersectional Approaches to Minority Aging Research

“…This within-group analytical approach is a complementary strategy that provides significant value to the field of minority aging because it avoids assumptions of advantaged groups (e.g., Whites, men) as a standard against which marginalized groups must deviate [70]. More specifically, this approach generates opportunities to understand unique determinants of health by looking at specific groups experiencing intersectional disadvantage as opposed to simply comparing them to other groups [71][72][73][74]. This strategy also dispels the trend in aging research to treat minoritized populations monolithically by recognizing distinctions that arise within these groups due to multiple and oftentimes compounding axes of structural inequities [43].…”

Perceived discrimination enhances the association between distress and impact related to the murder of George Floyd and unhealthy alcohol use in a survey sample of U.S. Veterans who report drinking

“…With the rise of social media, there has been an increase in racism experienced online and vicarious racism experienced through various forms of media ( Moody et al, 2022 , Keum and Ángel Cano, 2022 ). The video of the murder of George Floyd and subsequent videos of the SJARMs that took place afterward were vastly replayed and shared across media outlets and social media ( Eichstaedt et al, 2021 , Giorgi et al, 2020 ).…”