The Relationship Between Racial Identity Status Attitudes, Racism-related Coping, and Mental Health Among Black Americans

To date, few studies have examined how different strategies for coping with racism affect the mental health of Black Americans, and none have explored how racial identity status attitudes and racism-related coping affect mental health. This study sought to examine the relationship between racial identity status attitudes, the specific strategies used by Black Americans to cope with racism, and mental health outcomes. Participants were 233 Black adults, and cluster analysis identified four cluster groups that differed significantly with respect to the patterns of racial identity attitudes and racism-related coping strategies employed. Although the groups did not differ significantly in well-being, the group with predominantly high Internalization status attitudes and that used primarily Empowered Resistance racism-related coping strategies had the least psychological symptoms. Implications for mental health and research are discussed.