Perceived discrimination, family and spousal relationships, and psychological distress among Asian Americans: Testing mediation and moderation effects

ABSTRACT

This study tested the main, mediating, and moderating effects of family cohesion and conflict and of spousal/partner social support and strain on the relationship of perceived discrimination to psychological distress. The data were derived from 1,462 married/cohabiting Asian American respondents to the National Latino Asian American Study. Perceived discrimination, family conflict, and spousal/partner strain was positively associated with increased psychological distress, whereas family cohesion and spousal/partner support were not statistically significant. About 40% of the association between perceived discrimination and psychological distress was mediated by family conflict and spousal/partner strain. Moreover, the detrimental effect of discrimination on psychological distress was stronger for respondents with greater degree of family conflict. Moderating (buffering) effects of family cohesion and spousal/partner support were not found. These findings indicate that considering perceived discrimination as a potential risk to family relationship and the critical role of family conflict is important to understanding the effects of discrimination on psychological distress among Asian Americans.

KEYWORDS:

• Discrimination
• Family
• Spouse/partner
• Psychological distress
• Asian Americans

Supplementary data

Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2019.01.001.

Acknowledgements

The National Latino and Asian American Study is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; grants U01 MH062209 for M. Alegria, PI, and U01 MH 62207 for D. Takeuchi, PI) with supplemental support from the Office of Behavior and Social Science Research, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency, and The Latino Research Program Project P01 MH059876. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Mental Health.