Visible and concealable stigmatized identities and mental health: Experiences of racial discrimination and anticipated stigma.

Abstract

Experiencing and anticipating discrimination because one possesses a visible (e.g., race) or concealable (e.g., mental illness) stigmatized identity has been related to increased psychological distress. Little research, however, has examined whether experiencing and anticipating discrimination related to possessing both a visible and concealable stigmatized identity (e.g., a racial/ethnic minority with a history of mental illness) impacts mental health. In the current study, we test two hypotheses. In the first, we examine whether experienced discrimination due to a visible stigma (race/ethnicity) and anticipating stigma due to a concealable stigma (e.g., substance abuse) each predict unique variance in depressive symptomatology. In the second, we examine whether experienced discrimination due to a visible stigma is related to greater anticipated stigma for a concealable stigma, which in turn is related to more depression. A total of 265 African American and Latinx adults who reported concealing a stigmatized identity at least some of the time completed measures of racial/ethnic discrimination, anticipated stigma of a concealable stigmatized identity, and depressive symptomatology. Results of a simultaneous linear regression revealed that increased racial/ethnic discrimination and anticipated stigma independently predicted greater depressive symptomatology (controlling for each other). A mediation analysis showed that the positive association between increased racial/ethnic discrimination and higher depressive symptomatology was partially mediated by greater anticipated stigma. These results demonstrate that a person can experience increased psychological distress from multiple types of stigma separately, but also may anticipate greater stigma based on previous experiences of racial discrimination, which in turn relates to increased distress.