Discrimination and Mental Health: Influence of Structural Racism

Abstract

There is substantial research regarding the association between everyday experiences of discrimination and poor mental health outcomes. However, there appear to be variations in this association. Some authors use individual characteristics as moderators of this association with the hope of highlighting the deleterious effect of discrimination and other forms of racism on individuals. These findings may inadvertently be interpreted as placing the onus on the individual to change. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the broader social context might moderate the association between experiences of discrimination and mental health by using structural racism indices at the state level. Our findings suggest that higher levels of structural racism are associated with more poor mental health days in general, and moderate the association between experiences of discrimination and poor mental health days in expected and unexpected ways. The results are discussed with clinical implications in mind.