Van Doren Natalia, Layland Eric K, Mahlobo Christa T, Bray Bethany C
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco.
Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Delaware.
Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2025 Jan 9. doi: 10.1037/cdp0000728.
Racial discrimination is consistently linked to negative mental health outcomes. However, less is known about how unique patterns of coping in Black Americans experiencing high discrimination stress may moderate the association between discrimination and mental health. The present study uses person-centered methods to identify and describe latent profiles of coping in Black Americans, to understand how these coping profiles are linked to mental health, and to examine whether latent coping profiles moderate the links between discrimination and mental health.
Participants were Black Americans ( = 289; = 44.87; 63% women) from the Midlife Development in the United States Milwaukee Refresher study. Latent profile analysis was used to uncover subgroups characterized by distinct patterns of coping strategies. Direct associations between latent profile membership and mental health were examined. Finally, latent profiles were tested as moderators of associations between discrimination and mental health.
Four profiles of coping responses were identified: passive responders (29% of the sample), evasive responders (15%), diverse responders (17%), and engaged responders (39%). Engaged responders had the lowest prevalence of mental health problems. Further, membership in the engaged responders profile moderated associations between discrimination and mental health, such that the associations between racial discrimination and mental health outcomes were generally stronger in other profiles.
Person-centered methods uncovered meaningful subgroups characterized by unique coping patterns and pointed to engaged responders as being most resilient to the effects of discrimination. Future research should test these associations longitudinally and examine whether more adaptive coping profiles can be fostered through intervention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
种族歧视一直与负面心理健康结果相关。然而，对于遭受高度歧视压力的美国黑人独特的应对模式如何调节歧视与心理健康之间的关联，我们了解得较少。本研究采用以人为主的方法来识别和描述美国黑人的潜在应对模式，理解这些应对模式如何与心理健康相联系，并检验潜在应对模式是否调节歧视与心理健康之间的联系。
参与者是来自美国密尔沃基更新研究中的美国黑人（n = 289；M = 44.87；63%为女性）。潜在剖面分析用于揭示以不同应对策略模式为特征的亚组。检验潜在剖面成员身份与心理健康之间的直接关联。最后，检验潜在剖面作为歧视与心理健康之间关联的调节变量。
识别出四种应对反应模式：消极反应者（占样本的29%）、回避反应者（15%）、多样反应者（17%）和积极反应者（39%）。积极反应者心理健康问题的患病率最低。此外，积极反应者模式的成员身份调节了歧视与心理健康之间的关联，使得在其他模式中，种族歧视与心理健康结果之间的关联通常更强。
以人为主的方法揭示了以独特应对模式为特征的有意义的亚组，并指出积极反应者对歧视的影响最具复原力。未来的研究应纵向检验这些关联，并研究是否可以通过干预培养更具适应性的应对模式。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2025美国心理学会，保留所有权利）
