Racial Discrimination and Racial Identity Attitudes in Relation to Self-Rated Health and Physical Pain and Impairment Among Two-Spirit American Indians/Alaska Natives

Abstract

We examined associations between racial discrimination and actualization, defined as the degree of positive integration between self-identity and racial group identity, and self-rated health and physical pain and impairment. We used logistic regressions to analyze data from 447 gay, lesbian, bisexual, and other sexual-minority American Indians/Alaska Natives. Greater self-reported discrimination was associated with higher odds of physical pain and impairment (odds ratio [OR] = 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.13, 1.78); high levels of actualization were associated with lower odds of physical pain and impairment (OR = 0.59; 95% CI = 0.35, 0.99) and self-rated fair or poor health (OR = 0.54; 95% CI = 0.32, 0.90). Actualization also moderated the influence of discrimination on self-rated health (t = -2.33; P = .020). Discrimination was positively associated with fair or poor health among participants with low levels of actualization, but this association was weak among those with high levels of actualization. Among two-spirit American Indians/Alaska Natives, discrimination may be a risk factor for physical pain and impairment and for fair or poor self-rated health among those with low levels of actualization. Actualization may protect against physical pain and impairment and poor self-rated health and buffer the negative influence of discrimination.