Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT, 06269-1020, USA.
Department of Human Sciences and Humanities, University of Houston-Clear Lake, 2700 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, TX, 77058, USA.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2018 Apr;5(2):312-321. doi: 10.1007/s40615-017-0372-y. Epub 2017 May 9.
Prior research has found that a strong positive ethnic identity is a protective factor against anxiety and depression in African Americans. In this study, ethnic identity is examined in a geographically representative sample of African American young adults (n = 242), using the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) (Phinney in J Adolescent Res 7:156-76, 15). The two-factor structure of the measure (Roberts et al. in J Early Adolescence 19:301-22, 1) was analyzed using a structural equation model and displayed an acceptable fit only when multiple error terms were correlated. A multigroup confirmatory factor analysis revealed measurement equivalence of the two-factor structure between African Americans from Southern and non-Southern regions of the USA. We found that significantly higher levels of ethnic identity were present among African American in the South compared to other regions, and region significantly predicted total ethnic identity scores in a linear regression, even when controlling for gender, age, urbanicity, and years of education. Furthermore, among African Americans, living in the South was significantly correlated with less help-seeking for diagnosed depression, anxiety, and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder, where help-seeking was defined as obtaining a diagnosis by a professional. The role of ethnic identity and social support are discussed in the context of African American mental health.
先前的研究发现，强烈的积极族裔认同是非洲裔美国人对抗焦虑和抑郁的保护因素。在这项研究中，使用多群体族裔认同量表（MEIM）（Phinney 在 J Adolescent Res 7:156-76, 15 中），对具有代表性的地理区域的非洲裔美国年轻成年人（n=242）进行了族裔认同研究。该测量的两因素结构（Roberts 等人在 J Early Adolescence 19:301-22, 1 中）使用结构方程模型进行了分析，仅当多个误差项相关时，模型才显示出可接受的拟合度。多群体验证性因子分析显示，美国南部和非南部地区的非洲裔美国人的两因素结构具有测量等效性。我们发现，与其他地区相比，美国南部的非洲裔美国人的族裔认同水平明显更高，线性回归表明，即使在控制了性别、年龄、城市化程度和受教育年限等因素后，地区也显著预测了总族裔认同得分。此外，在美国的非洲裔美国人中，居住在南部与寻求专业诊断的抑郁、焦虑和/或强迫症的帮助显著相关，其中寻求帮助的定义是由专业人士进行诊断。本文将在非洲裔美国人心理健康的背景下讨论族裔认同和社会支持的作用。
