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Skin tone, life satisfaction, and psychological distress among African Americans: The mediating effect of stigma consciousness

  • Asia T. McCleary-Gaddy
  • , Drexler James

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examined the indirect effect of skin tone on psychological distress via (1) stigma consciousness and (2) life satisfaction among African American adults (N = 780; %Female = 57.65%; Mage = 37.68). Results show indirect effects of (1) skin tone on life satisfaction and (2) skin tone on psychological distress, each via stigma consciousness. Specifically, those with darker (vs. lighter) skin tones reported increased stigma consciousness, which then predicted (1) lower life satisfaction and (2) lower levels of psychological distress. Life satisfaction did not predict psychological distress. Implications for African American mental health are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)422-431
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Health Psychology
Volume27
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

  • African Americans
  • life satisfaction
  • psychological distress
  • skin tone
  • stigma consciousness

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Applied Psychology

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