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

Asia T McCleary-Gaddy; Drexler James

doi:10.1177/1359105320954251

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

J Health Psychol. 2022 Feb;27(2):422-431. doi: 10.1177/1359105320954251. Epub 2020 Sep 15.

Authors

Asia T McCleary-Gaddy¹, Drexler James²

Affiliations

¹ Director of Diversity and Inclusion, McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX, USA.
² Assistant Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Denison University, Granville, Ohio, USA.

PMID: 32929999
DOI: 10.1177/1359105320954251

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%; M_age = 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.

Keywords: African Americans; life satisfaction; psychological distress; skin tone; stigma consciousness.

MeSH terms

Adult
Black or African American / psychology
Consciousness
Female
Humans
Personal Satisfaction
Psychological Distress*
Skin Pigmentation*
Social Stigma
Stress, Psychological / psychology