The role of experiential avoidance in the relation between racial discrimination and negative mental health outcomes

Abstract

Objective Racial discrimination has been shown to be associated with negative mental health outcomes among people of color (POC), and students of color (SOC) specifically. The current study examines experiential avoidance (EA) as a potential moderator in the relation between discrimination and mental health outcomes. Sample: Two-hundred students of color at a large, public university in Northeastern United States. Methods: We evaluated the associations between racial discrimination frequency and stress appraisal (GEDS and GEDS-A), EA (AAQ), and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS). Results: Discrimination frequency and appraised stress were associated with each DASS subscale. EA moderated the relation between GEDS and depression, and between GEDS-A and the stress subscale. Conclusions: Discrimination frequency and appraised stress were positively associated with DASS subscales, and at low EA scores, frequency and appraised stress of discrimination were no longer associated with depressive or stress symptoms, respectively.

Keywords:

• anxiety
• college students
• depression
• discrimination
• people of color

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Notes

* Latinx is a gender neutral alternative to Latino/a, and refers to all gender identities of Latin American descent and cultural identity.

† Although experiential avoidance could potentially also mediate these relations in that racist experiences may naturally elicit more experiential avoidance in addition to reducing cognitive flexibility, which in turn may lead to negative mental health outcomes, we were most interested in this initial investigation in examining an exacerbating/buffering factor that could be a target of intervention, so we examined a moderating relation here.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by internal funding from the University of Massachusetts Boston to the last author.