Race Against Time: Fluid Racial Identity and Trajectories of Mental Health From Adolescence to Midlife

Racial self-identification can change across the life course, yet relatively little is known about how patterns of racial identity stability and fluidity are associated with mental health beyond adolescence. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health; ages 12-43, spanning adolescence through early midlife), we examined trajectories of depressive symptoms, assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and suicidal ideation for monoracial-stable, multiracial-stable, and racially fluid identity patterns, adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Stable Black and stable White respondents reported lower depressive symptoms than racially fluid peers in adolescence (b = -0.17, p < 0.05; b = -0.44, p < 0.001, respectively), and these differences persisted into adulthood. Stable Asian respondents did not differ from fluid peers in depressive symptoms at baseline, but experienced a steeper age-related decline (Asian×Age b = -0.02, p < 0.001). For suicidal ideation, stable Black identity was associated with lower odds (OR = 0.47, p < 0.001), while stable American Indian identity was associated with higher odds (OR ≈ 4.0, p < 0.05); no race-by-age interactions emerged. Across both outcomes, the aggregated racially fluid category generally occupied an intermediate position, although supplementary analyses suggested heterogeneity within this category, particularly between transitions into versus out of multiracial identification. These findings suggest that mental health differences associated with longitudinal racial identity patterns vary across the life course rather than reflecting fixed disparities.