Discrimination comes in layers: Dimensions of discrimination and mental health for multiracial people.

Abstract

Objectives: The current study examines how general racial discrimination, discrimination from family, and racial identity invalidation impact Multiracial1 people’s mental health. Methods: Multiracial participants (n = 464) completed online surveys that assessed their mental health and experiences of various dimensions of discrimination. Results: At the bivariate level, all dimensions of discrimination related to negative mental health outcomes. Results of path analysis with discrimination dimensions entered simultaneously as predictor variables indicated that discrimination from family, behavioral invalidation, and phenotype invalidation predicted maladjustment, whereas general racial discrimination did not. Latent classes were constructed to represent various profiles of discriminatory experiences. Low discrimination (n = 212), high discrimination (n = 49), racial identity invalidation (n = 154), and general-familial discrimination (n = 58) classes arose. The low discrimination class reported the best mental health outcomes, whereas the high discrimination class reported the worst mental health outcomes; the racial identity invalidation and general-familial discrimination classes reported similar mental health outcomes that fell in between the low and high discrimination classes. Conclusions: Findings highlight how the combination of racial discrimination dimensions influence Multiracial people’s mental health and emphasize the need to address unique forms of discrimination specific to Multiracial people. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)