Perceived Racism and Mental Health: A Meta-Analytic Review

• Main Author: Conklin, Hokulea D.
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2011
• Subjects: racism; discrimination; mental health; well-being; Counseling Psychology; Special Education and Teaching
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3035; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4034&context=etd

The present study provides a synthesis of extant research examining the association between perceived racism and mental health. The aims of this study were to identify the overall magnitude of this association and to elaborate on the possible influence of participant characteristics (acculturation level, age, gender, race, education, and socioeconomic status) and study characteristics (year of data collection, geographic region of the study, and research design) in moderating this association. A total of 130 studies were included in the final analysis. The omnibus effect size for this meta-analysis was r = -.188 (p < .001), which indicates that higher instances of perceived racism were associated with lower levels of mental health. The overall magnitude of this association suggests a moderately small relationship between these two constructs. None of the participant characteristics moderated the results. However, studies conducted in more recent years appeared to be associated with effect sizes of greater negative magnitude than studies conducted in previous years. The implications of these findings for multicultural psychology are discussed and suggestions regarding future research in this area are presented.