Poster #178 - The Rejection-Identification Model in Multiracial and Monoracial Minority Adolescent Girls

• In Event: 1-169 - Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Section - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Integrative Statement

Racial/ethnic discrimination is consistently associated with poor mental health among minority adolescents (Hughes et al., 2016; Schmitt et al., 2014). Protective mechanisms in response to discrimination, therefore, are important to the mental wellbeing of racial/ethnic minorities. One well-researched way that people from marginalized groups respond to the negative outcomes associated with discrimination is described in the Rejection-Identification Model (RIM). The RIM states that an adaptive strategy to respond to discrimination is to enhance ethnic-racial identity (ERI) to the devalued group (Branscombe et al., 1999). The RIM was developed as an explanation for the low bivariate relationship between discrimination and wellbeing (Schmitt et al., 2014). These studies have focused on monoracial minority adolescents, but the impact of discrimination on multiracial adolescents has been less explored. Qualitative studies suggest that multiracial adolescents experience discrimination differently (Shih & Sanchez, 2005), therefore, the impact of discrimination on ERI and wellbeing may differ as well.
The purpose of the current study is to compare the role of ethnic affirmation, a subdimension of ERI, in the discrimination-depression relationship in adolescent girls. This study tested for differences between multiracial and monoracial minority adolescents in 1) mean levels of ethnic affirmation, depressive symptoms, and discrimination and 2) in the mediating role of ethnic affirmation in the relationship between discrimination and depression. These questions were answered in two studies. Study 1 included n = 168 (multiracial = 46, monoracial minority = 122), participating in an in-school anonymous survey of health behavior in low income ninth grade students. Study 2 included n = 164 (multiracial = 41, monoracial minority = 123) participating in a study of health disparities among low income families. Both samples completed the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; Phinney, 1992), the Adolescent Psychopathology Scale-Short Form (APS; Reynolds, 1998), and questions about their experiences with discrimination. In Study 1, there were no significant group differences in discrimination, ethnic affirmation, or depression. To examine the RIM among both groups, direct, indirect, and total effects with bootstrapped confidence intervals were calculated (see Table 1). In the monoracial group, there was a positive direct effect and a negative indirect effect (via ethnic affirmation) of discrimination on depression, resulting in a suppression effect in the total effect. This was not the case for multiracial adolescents, in which the indirect effect was positive and not significant. The index of moderated mediation, which tested for group differences in the magnitude of the indirect effect was also significant, .03 (95% CI .0009 to .07). The difference in indirect effect between groups appears to be driven by a difference in the path from ethnic affirmation to depression, monoracial B = -.22, SE = .05; multiracial B = .02, SE = .09; z = 1.92, p = .03 (Figure 1). Results from Study 2 were consistent with Study 1, providing support for the replicability of these findings. Findings suggest that among multiracial adolescents, ethnic affirmation may not be as effective in reducing the relationship between discrimination and depression. Implications for work with multiracial adolescents will be discussed.

Authors

• Linda Oshin, University of Connecticut
  Presenting Author

• Stephanie Milan, University of Connecticut
  Non-Presenting Author