RACE, PERCEIVED DISCRIMINATION, AND EMOTION-FOCUSED COPING

This study examined the associations among race, perceived discrimination, and emotion-focused coping. Participants were 3,688 respondents (160 Blacks and 3,533 non-Hispanic Whites) to the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States. We tested our hypotheses with analyses of covariance and multiple regression, and we confirmed mediation with bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals. All analyses controlled for age and gender; educational attainment and household income were included as covariates in additional analyses. Consistent with previous research, Blacks engaged in more emotion-focused coping than did Whites. However, as predicted, perceived discrimination explained the association between race and emotion-focused coping. Being Black compared with White predicted more perceived discrimination; in turn, perceived discrimination predicted more emotion-focused coping. Perceived discrimination fully mediated the association between race and emotion-focused coping. Findings demonstrate that relying on emotion-focused coping is a function of facing daily discrimination rather than racial status.