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Cited by 94Racial and Ethnic Identity ResearchSocial and Intergroup PsychologyCounseling Practices and Supervision

The influence of internalized racism on the relationship between discrimination and anxiety

Open access
Sosoo, Effua E., Bernard, Donte L., Neblett, Enrique W.·2020·Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology
DOI 10.1037/cdp0000320PMC PMC7359777
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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study used 2 waves of data to longitudinally examine whether internalized racism moderated the association between racial discrimination and anxiety symptom distress. METHOD: Participants were 157 Black college students attending a predominantly White institution who completed measures of racial discrimination, internalized racism, and psychological distress. RESULTS: Using hierarchical linear regression, results indicated a positive association between racial discrimination and subsequent anxiety symptom distress for individuals with moderate and high levels of internalization of negative stereotypes and hair change. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that experiences of anxiety symptom distress, in the context of racial discrimination, may differ as a function of one's acceptance and internalization of dominant White culture's actions and beliefs toward Black people. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

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  • Internalized racism is associated with psychological distress (e.g., depression and anxiety) in people of color.

    “When POC adopt oppressive messages about their ethnoracial identities, perpetuated in the White dominant culture and informed by Eurocentric ideologies and colonization, the internalization of these messages can contribute to self-loathing or worse mental health (i.e., depression and anxiety; [4,7,8]).”

    From Internalized Racism and Mental Health: The Moderating Role of Collective Racial Self-Esteem (2024) · cites this paper as [8]

    The Role of Internalized Racism as a Vulnerability Factor reports associations with depressive symptoms and psychological distress. The Discussion reports greater anxiety symptom distress among Black college students with moderate or high internalization of negative stereotypes in the context of racial discrimination. The source does not establish that this anxiety finding applies to people of color generally or outside that context. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Internalized racism is positively associated with depression, anxiety, social anxiety, self-esteem, stress, and sleep disturbance among African Americans.

    “Previous research on mental distress among AAs demonstrates a positive association between internalized racism and several psychological factors including depression [16,17], anxiety [8], social anxiety [18], self-esteem [19,20], stress [21], and sleep disturbance [22].”

    From Internalized Racism and Mental Health: The Moderating Role of Collective Racial Self-Esteem (2024) · cites this paper as [8]

    The citation to this paper is attached to anxiety [8], not to the other outcomes in the sentence. The Results and Discussion report that racial discrimination predicted greater anxiety distress among Black emerging adults with moderate or high levels of certain forms of internalized racism. That conditional finding does not establish the claimed general positive association between internalized racism and anxiety. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Derogatis LR (1996). SCL-90-R: Symptom Checklist-90-R: Administration, scoring, and procedures manual. Baltimore, MD: NCS Pearson.
  2. Fanon F (1967). Black skin, white masks New York, NY: Grove Press.(Original work published 1952)
  3. Milliones J (1973). Construction of the developmental inventory of black consciousness (Unpublished doctoral dissertation) University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
  4. Paradies YC (2006a). Defining, conceptualizing and characterizing racism in health research. International Journal of Epidemiology, 35, 888– 901. 10.1093/ije/dyl056 16585055 · DOI · Paper page

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Authors
Sosoo, E. E., Bernard, D. L., & Neblett, E. W.
Affiliations
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
Corresponding author
Sosoo, Effua E.
ORCID
Venue
Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2020-10
Volume
26
Issue
4
Pages
570-580
ISSN
  • 1077-341X (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-0106
  • 1099-9809
DOI
10.1037/cdp0000320
PMC
PMC7359777
OpenAlex
W2997416280
Cited by
94
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 2
FWCI
16.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (submittedVersion)
  • UNC Libraries
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R25MH118935, T32MH018869)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Counseling Practices and Supervision
Keywords
internalized racism, racial discrimination, anxiety, psychological distress, African American college students, predominantly white institutions, hair changes
MeSH terms
Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Black or African American, Humans, White People, Racism

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