Racial Discrimination Distress and Psychological Well-being: The Moderating Role of Ethnic-Racial Socialization in African American Emerging Adults

Racial discrimination-related stress is assumed to be inherent in the frequency of the experience; consequently, few studies have examined individual differences in its appraisal. The current study addresses this gap by investigating racial discrimination distress, measured as reported appraisal and frequency, to improve the assessment of race-related risk. The interaction effect of racial discrimination distress and ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) on dimensions of psychological well-being for African American emerging adults was examined. Using a sample of 442 African American emerging adults (Mage = 18.66, SD = 1.05, 80% women), path analyses revealed that racial discrimination distress predicted lower self-esteem and higher depressive symptoms. Racial pride and egalitarian messages were protective against the adverse relationship between racial discrimination distress and psychological well-being. The findings support the importance of race-related risk measurement and the role of ERS in models of normative development for African American emerging adults.