Linked fate and mental health among African Americans.

Abstract

Linked fate, the feeling that what happens to one's group may indelibly shape one's own life, is variously conceptualized as an aspect of ethnoracial identity, expression of political solidarity, and/or sense of ethnoracial consciousness. In this study, I contend that, within the context of stigmatization, linked fate may also be compellingly conceptualized as an expression of collective threat and vulnerability with potential relevance for the mental health of African Americans, in particular. Nevertheless, existing research on race and mental health has remained silent on this issue, as linked fate has received little scholarly attention from researchers interested in mental health. Building on prior research on ethnoracial identity, stigmatization, and mental health among African Americans, I introduce linked fate as a neglected, yet important phenomenon among stigmatized minorities, which is deeply associated with ethnoracial identification and should also be considered when examining the consequences of ethnoracial identification on the mental health of African Americans. Using nationally-representative data and logistic regression, I find that linked fate not only fails to be health-protective but is significantly associated with poorer mental health among African Americans in the form of increased suffering from major depression, bipolar I, and anxiety disorders.