The perceived impact of the 2016 election: A mediation model predicting health outcomes

Hannah Rose Koerten,Aniko Viktoria Varga,William H O’Brien,Leah Michelle Bogusch

doi:10.5964/jspp.v7i1.1065

Hannah Rose Koerten, Aniko Viktoria Varga + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v7i1.1065

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Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between the self-reported personal impact of the election of President Donald J. Trump, as measured by the Personal Impact of the Election Scale (PIES), and physical and mental health. A sample of 299 MTurk Amazon workers completed an online survey, including measures of the perceived personal impact of the 2016 presidential election, thought suppression, and mental and physical health. A mediation model was tested, with thought suppression included as a mediator of the relationship between the PIES and physical and mental health. Results indicated that thought suppression partially mediated the relationship between the PIES and physical and mental health. Specifically, the perceived impact of the election was positively associated with thought suppression (β = .51, SE = .01, p < .001), which was in turn negatively associated with physical health (β = -.25, SE = .44, p < .001) and mental health (β = -.50, SE = .47, p < .001). The results of this study suggest that perceptions of this sociopolitical event were related to the health of United States citizens and show a need for large-scale interventions to address this relationship, especially for those who feel threatened based on their ethnic or religious background.

Highlights

The present study examined the relationship between the self-reported personal impact of the election of President Donald J
To examine our first hypothesis, that higher levels of perceived impact of the election would be associated with lower levels of physical health, we examined the total effect of the impact of the election on physical health
To examine our second hypothesis that thought suppression would mediate the association between the impact of the election and physical health, we first examined the paths between the predictor variable and mediator variable

Summary

Introduction

The present study examined the relationship between the self-reported personal impact of the election of President Donald J. The results of this study suggest that perceptions of this sociopolitical event were related to the health of United States citizens and show a need for large-scale interventions to address this relationship, especially for those who feel threatened based on their ethnic or religious background Khan found that some Muslim-Americans reported that they felt threatened or ashamed because of their ethnic/religious background, thought people were looking at them suspiciously, changed their daily routine or appearance because of fear of violence or discrimination, and felt they needed to prove that they were "American." These changes are not conceptualized as symptomatic in nature, but instead as responses to an environment that is perceived as threatening Such perceived threats based on group membership, especially environments in which people are persistently exposed to group-based discrimination, may contribute to poor mental and physical health outcomes (Pascoe & Smart Richman, 2009). The authors found that, among Muslim Americans, greater perceived impact of Islamophobia was associated with worse quality of life and greater stress

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