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Published on: July 10, 2017
Perceived racial discrimination and racial identity profiles among African American adolescents
1Department of Psychology, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3270, USA. eseaton@unc.edu
Abstract:
The present study examined the relation between multiple types of racial discrimination and psychological well-being across racial identity profiles. A sample of 322 African American adolescents completed measures of racial identity, racial discrimination, self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Cluster analyses were conducted to create previously identified racial identity profiles and 3 were evident: Buffering/Defensive, Alienated, and Idealized. The racial identity profiles moderated the relation between perceptions of racial discrimination and psychological well-being such that perceptions of racial discrimination were linked to higher levels of depressive symptoms for Alienated youth but not for Buffering/Defensive or Idealized youth. The implications for the racial discrimination literature among African American adolescents are discussed.
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