Does Family Context Moderate the Effects of Discrimination on Emerging Adults' Health?

Given the adverse impacts of discrimination on overall well-being, this study tests whether family context, specifically family hostility (FH) and positive family environment (PFE), moderate well-documented associations between discrimination and mental and physical health symptoms. Diverse emerging adults (n = 345) completed an online questionnaire about perceived discrimination due to a broad range of characteristics, positive and negative qualities of their families of origin, and depressive, anxiety, and physical health symptoms. Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that family factors moderated the effects of discrimination, such that discrimination was more strongly linked with health symptoms in the context of low, compared to high, family risk. Conversely, some models showed independent, non-interactive effects of discrimination and family factors on health. Gender differences emerged, though with no consistent pattern of effects. Together, these findings highlight that discrimination and negative family factors are salient social-environmental risks for emerging adults.