Racial Discrimination, Individual Resources, and Coping Among Latinx Adolescents: A Longitudinal and Within-Person Analysis

Abstract

Utilizing a two-study approach, this dissertation provided an integrative understanding of the longitudinal and day-to-day effects of racial discrimination, examined the various contexts in which Latinx youth encounter racial discrimination, and recognized the nuanced factors that moderate the impact of racial discrimination on various facets of health. Study 1 explored the prevalence of experiences of racial discrimination within online contexts among Latinx adolescents, examined the concurrent and longitudinal relations between online racial discrimination and mental health outcomes, and examined the protective role of ERI affirmation and self-compassion on the relations between online racial discrimination and mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 2 explored the prevalence of the day-to-day post-pandemic experiences of racial discrimination and coping strategies among Latinx adolescents, examined the within-person relationship between racial discrimination and diurnal cortisol, and the interactive effect of coping on the relations between racial discrimination and diurnal cortisol slope. Together, both studies provided evidence that racial discrimination experiences are common and multifaceted, being encountered by Latinx youth online and within offline daily contexts. Digital contexts, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, have emerged as another environment where youth encounter and observe racial discrimination with real-life consequences. Youth also exhibit aspects of resilience and utilize a range of resources to overcome experiences of racial discrimination – offering distinct perspectives on how adolescents overcome experiences of racial discrimination by drawing upon cultural identity, aspects of self, and coping strategies. This work also shows that racial discrimination remains a threat to Latinx adolescents’ health. Racism-related stress during adolescence has been evidenced to have psychological and physiological implications.