The Impact of Perceived Racism: Psychological Symptoms Among African American Boys

Examined the relations among perceived racism and externalizing symptoms, internalizing symptoms, hopelessness, and self-concept in African American boys (N = 84). The experience of racism is a complex phenomenon that has been found to have negative psychological outcomes in adult studies of African Americans. There has been a gap in the empirical literature regarding the possible associations between perceived racism and children's psychological well-being. This study is an attempt to address that gap. Results demonstrated that experiences of racism were related to self- and parent-reported externalizing symptoms. Personal experiences of racism were related to self-reported internalizing symptoms, lower self-concept, and higher levels of hopelessness. Potential mediators (e.g., trait anger, hostile attribution bias) were analyzed. Additional analyses indicated that trait anger mediated a number of the observed relations between perceived racism and behavioral symptoms. The results of the study suggest that perceived racism is associated with multiple negative correlates for African American boys.