Mediators of discrimination and self-rated health among African Americans

Objectives: To examine whether stress and depressive symptoms mediated relationships of perceived discrimination and self-rated health among African Americans. Methods: A nonparametric bootstrapping procedure was used to assess mediation, controlling for sociodemographic variables, among 1406 cohort study adults (age=45.5±12.6, 25.1% male). Results: Greater discrimination was associated with poorer selfrated health (β=-.010, SE=.003, p = .001). Stress and depressive symptoms were each significant mediators of this relationship in single and multiple mediator models (ps ≤ 05). Conclusions: Perceived discrimination may contribute to poorer self-rated health among African Americans through heightened levels of stress and depression. Interventions addressing these mechanisms might help reduce the impact of discrimination on health. Definitive results await longitudinal study designs to assess causal pathways.