Moderating Effects Of Race Research Articles

Race and gender as moderators of the relationship between the endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology and alexithymia: An intersectional perspective.

Using a large (n 1127) racially diverse (Black Americans, 24.3%; Latino/a Americans, 40.7%; and White Americans, 35.0%) dataset from a prior study (Levant, Richmond, et al., 2003), this study examined the role of race and gender as moderators of the relationship between the endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology and alexithymia. While neither race nor gender moderated the relationship between these two variables, the moderating effect of race on the relationship between endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology and alexithymia was strongly affected by gender: the endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology was more strongly related to alexithymia for White men than for racial minority men, whereas the endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology was more strongly related to alexithymia for racial minority women than for White women.

ADOLESCENT MOTHERHOOD AND CAPITAL: INTERACTION EFFECTS OF RACE/ETHNICITY ON HARSH PARENTING

This study used large, longitudinal data to examine the moderating effects of race and ethnicity of mothers on the associations between (a) adolescent motherhood, (b) human, social, and cultural capital factors, and (c) harsh parenting. The study sample included adolescent mothers who were 19 years old or younger (n = 379) and adult mothers 26 years old or older (n = 881). Of these, about 31% were White, 48% Black, and 21% Hispanic. The Parent to Child version of the Conflict Tactics Scales was used as a proxy for maternal harsh parenting when their children were 3 years old. Results indicated that adolescent motherhood and different capital factors contributed to the prediction of maternal harsh parenting for each racial/ethnic group. The findings suggest the importance of differentiating strategies for preventing adolescent motherhood and for reducing the likelihood of harsh parenting among different racial/ethnic groups of mothers.

Autobiographical Memory as a Predictor of Depression Vulnerability in Girls

Overgeneral autobiographical memory (AM), the tendency to recall categories of events when asked to provide specific instances from one's life, is purported to be a marker of depression vulnerability that develops in childhood. Although early adolescence is a period of risk for depression onset especially among girls, prospective examination of this putative risk factor is lacking. The current study examined the prospective associations between AM recall and depressive symptomatology in an enriched community sample of predominantly African American girls. Girls (n = 195) were interviewed about depressive symptoms at ages 11 and 12 years, and AM recall was assessed at age 11. The findings showed that overgeneral retrieval to positive, but not negative, cue words predicted subsequent depressive symptoms after controlling for age 11 symptoms, race, poverty, and Verbal IQ. A moderating effect of race was also shown, whereby overgeneral AM bias predicted depressive symptoms more strongly among European American girls.

COMMUNITY VIOLENCE AND EXTERNALIZING PROBLEMS: MODERATING EFFECTS OF RACE AND RELIGIOSITY IN EMERGING ADULTHOOD.

The present study examined racial differences in the relationship between exposure to community violence and public and private religiosity in predicting externalizing problems among at-risk emerging adults. Participants were 178 African American and 163 European American emerging adults at risk for exposure to community violence. Exposure to community violence related to more externalizing problems. Greater public religious affiliation buffered the relationship between community violence and substance abuse, for both African American and European emerging adults. In addition, more privately religious African American emerging adults engaged in less deviant behavior when exposed to higher levels of community violence. European Americans were not protected by private religiosity.

Postsecondary education and heavy drinking by young adults: the moderating effect of race.

This study examined racial differences in the relationship between postsecondary education (PSE) and heavy drinking among young adults who participated in the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. In-home survey data collected from 6,374 18-25 year olds were analyzed to examine black-white differences in the relationship between PSE and past-month heavy drinking (five or more consecutive alcoholic beverages). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the interactive effect of PSE and race on heavy drinking, and the degree to which selected psychosocial risk and protective factors help to explain the differential association between PSE and heavy drinking. The prevalence of past-month heavy drinking was significantly higher among whites with at least some PSE than whites without any PSE (41% vs 30%/6), whereas no differences in past-month heavy drinking were observed among blacks who did and did not have at least some PSE (15% vs 16%). This differential relationship persisted when early initiation of alcohol use and demographic characteristics were adjusted for. The effect of PSE on heavy drinking among whites was substantially reduced by controlling for perceived drinking among friends, friends' social support and subjects' propensity for risk taking or sensation seeking. PSE was inversely, although not significantly, associated with heavy drinking among blacks, after adjusting for early alcohol use and demographic characteristics. This inverse relationship was no longer present after controlling for psychosocial factors (e.g., religiosity, perceived harm of heavy drinking) that were associated with PSE and heavy drinking among blacks. The apparent effect of college attendance on heavy drinking among young adults is driven by the fact that the majority of young adults who attend college are white. College attendance does not appear to increase the likelihood of heavy drinking among black young adults. Additional research with longitudinal data is needed to better understand how the college environment affects alcohol use among whites, and whether blacks who attend predominantly white colleges are more likely to drink heavily than those who attend traditionally black colleges.

Labor Market Mobility and Cash Compensation: The Moderating Effects of Race and Gender

Building upon the gender-based study conducted by Brett and Stroh (1997), we examined the moderating effects of gender and race on the relationship between changing employers and compensation attai...

Religious activity and depression among community-dwelling elderly persons with cancer: the moderating effect of race.

Research has been oriented toward elucidating the links between religion and mental health. The purpose of this article is to further our knowledge in this area by examining the effect of religious activity on depressive symptomatology among community-dwelling elderly persons with cancer. We also test whether these effects differ between Blacks and Whites. We use two waves of data collected from a community-dwelling sample of elderly persons living in North Carolina. Depressive symptomatology is measured using four subscales from the CES-D 20 scale: somatic-retarded activity, depressed affect, positive affect, and interpersonal relations. Measures of religious activity include service attendance, religious devotion, and watching or listening to religious programs. The findings indicate that among Blacks with cancer, religious activity is related to lower levels of depressive symptomatology; no such relationship is found for respondent with other illnesses or no illness. Further, the effects of religious activity are stronger among Blacks than Whites. The analyses lend support to the hypothesis that religious activity is a strong predictor of depression in elderly adults with cancer. This finding, however, is not as strong as we had anticipated.

The moderating effects of race on return visits to the psychiatric emergency room.

Racial differences in variables that predict return to the psychiatric emergency room were examined. A random sample of 319 clients was obtained from the logs of a psychiatric emergency room of a state-operated, acute care psychiatric hospital. The dependent variable was a return visit to the psychiatric emergency room within 18 months of the index visit. Separate logistic regression equations were calculated for African Americans (N = 163) and Caucasians (N = 156) to estimate the moderating effects of race. Four variables predicted return to the emergency room for both African Americans and Caucasians: previous visits to the psychiatric emergency room, previous psychiatric hospitalizations, current receipt of outpatient treatment, and nonreceipt of aftercare following the index visit to the emergency room. Three unique predictors were found for African Americans: never having been married, not living in stable housing, and not being admitted at the index visit. Generally, repeat visitors from both racial groups tended to be chronic users of psychiatric services who may be using the psychiatric emergency room for routine psychiatric care. However, race was also an important moderator variable; several risk factors predicted a return visit only for African Americans.

Aggression, Social Acceptance, and Race as Predictors of Negative Adolescent Outcomes

The current study examined a mixed-race, longitudinal sample of 114 boys to assess the relative power of aggression, low peer acceptance, and race in predicting a broad range of adolescent outcomes and behaviors. Outcomes were assessed through self-report and through peer, teacher, and independent observer ratings. Results indicate that preadolescent levels of aggression are predictive of boys' subsequent adolescent involvement in marijuana, drugs, and alcohol and in delinquent activity. Aggression and low peer acceptance served as predictors of teacher, peer, and independent observer ratings of externalizing and internalizing behavior at follow-up. Results also indicate that peer ratings of social acceptance and of aggressive behavior operate differently across racial groups, when predicting to self-reported follow-up behaviors. Aggressive and socially disliked boys are at risk for engaging in a progressive series of behaviors that increase their engagement in contranormative behavior. The moderating effects of race may be due to biases in elementary school peer ratings in mixed-race samples, or they may represent actual differences in how early risk markers operate with boys of different racial status.