Race, Ethnicity, John Henryism, and Depressive Symptoms: The National Survey of American Life Adult Reinterview

Abstract

We used data from the adult reinterview portion of the National Survey of American Life (Jackson, Torres, et al., 2004) to investigate the relationships of John Henryism Active Coping Scale (James, Hartnett, & Kalsbeek, 1983), Social Dominance, and Stratification Beliefs to depressive symptoms as measured by the Center for Epi-demiologic Studies Depression Scale (Radloff, 1977). Social Dominance and Stratification Beliefs (American Values) were identified from a factor analysis. The results indicate significant interaction effects for John Henryism and American Values for White Americans and Caribbean Blacks but not for African Americans. We found a strong positive effect between John Henryism and depressive symptoms for Whites with high levels of Stratification Beliefs. For Whites with low Stratification Beliefs, depressive symptoms remained constant as John Henryism increased. Among Caribbean Blacks, John Henryism showed a significant interaction with Social Dominance. Among Caribbean Blacks, there was a linear positive relationship between John Henryism and depressive symptoms for all levels of Social Dominance except for those with the highest endorsement for which there was no linear relationship. We discuss the findings within the context of psychosocial risk and protective factors and the need for more research on cultural processes, acculturation, and mental health.

Notes

*p ≤ .01.

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

^a N = 1,998.

^bModel included (nativity/generational/immigration status all nonsignificant coefficients); N = 661.

^c N = 597.

*p ≤ .05.

**p ≤ .01.

***p ≤ .001.