Sociocultural factors associated with physical activity in Black prostate cancer survivors

PURPOSE

Prostate cancer disproportionately affects Black men. Physical activity protects long-term health and quality of life outcomes in prostate cancer survivors. This study aimed to identify sociocultural factors related to physical activity among Black prostate cancer survivors to inform culturally tailored intervention development.

METHODS

This secondary analysis included data from 257 men who identified as Black or African American and were diagnosed with prostate cancer between 2013 and 2018. Participants completed validated self-report measures of perceived history of racial discrimination, religiosity, fatalism, sociodemographic (e.g., age, ethnicity, income) and clinical characteristics (e.g., years since diagnosis, comorbidity burden), and leisure-time physical activity. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations between sociocultural factors and mild, moderate, and vigorous physical activity.

RESULTS

Participants were on average 68.7 years old (SD = 7.7), and most were non-Hispanic (97.3%), married (68.9%), reported an annual household income above $50,000 (57.1%), received at least some college education (74.1%), and were overweight or had obesity (78.5%). Participants reported on average 88.1 (SD = 208.6) min of weekly mild physical activity, and most did not meet guidelines for weekly moderate (80.5%) or vigorous (73.0%) physical activity. After adjusting for covariates, older age and greater religiosity were associated with mild physical activity (ps ≤ 0.05). Higher levels of fatalism were associated with lower odds of meeting guidelines for moderate physical activity (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.77-0.99).

CONCLUSIONS

Sociocultural factors such as religiosity and fatalism may be associated with some forms of physical activity in Black prostate cancer survivors. These findings suggest that incorporating faith-based practices into health behavior interventions may be appropriate for this population.

Gendered Racism, Coping, and Traumatic Stress Among Black Women: The Moderating Roles of the Strong Black Woman Schema and Womanist Attitudes

The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between gendered racism, coping strategies, the Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema, womanist attitudes, and traumatic stress symptoms among Black women. Specifically, this study utilized an intersectionality framework to test the link between gendered racism and traumatic stress as mediated by coping strategies (detachment, internalization, drug/alcohol use, education/advocacy, and resistance), and moderated by two aspects of Black women’s identity (SBW schema and womanist attitudes). Participants were 185 Black women from across the United States who completed an online survey. Results from a mediation analysis indicated that disengagement coping (detachment and drug/alcohol use) significantly mediated the gendered racism-traumatic stress link. In addition, the SBW schema moderated the gendered racism-detachment coping link, such that this association was stronger at high levels of SBW schema. Results from the moderated mediation analyses were not significant, though SBW schema was associated with greater disengagement coping (internalization and detachment) and womanist attitudes was associated with greater engagement coping (education/advocacy and resistance). These findings highlight the importance of understanding how Black women cope with gendered racism as well as internalized beliefs that may be beneficial or harmful.

Enacted Ebola Stigma and Health-related Quality of Life in Post Ebola Epidemic: A Psychosocial Mediation Framework Through Social Support, Self-Efficacy, and Coping

On-site experiences and reports have shown that the multiple outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) resulted in pervasive experience of stigma against many people who have recovered from EVD as well as their families and close relatives. Three evidence-based protective factors which are supposed to mitigate the impact of enacted Ebola stigma on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of individuals in this epidemic context were identified. We expected that positive religious coping, perceived social support, and general self-efficacy would mediate the relationship between enacted Ebola stigma and HRQoL. These hypotheses were tested through multiple mediation model using the structural equation modeling among a large sample of adult populations (N = 1614; 50% women) in the province of Equateur in the DRC, in the aftermath of the 9th Ebola outbreak. The mediation model yielded adequate fit statistics and the results provided strong evidence that higher levels of enacted Ebola stigma were associated with lower HRQoL. They confirmed the synergetic mediating effects of positive religious coping, perceived social support from family (but not from others sources) and general self-efficacy. Futher exploratory findings revealed that the perceived social support from family buffered the impact of enacted Ebola stigma on HRQoL. If replicated by a longitudinal study, our findings lay a solid foundation for empirical-based community mental health interventions for reducing enacted Ebola stigma and promoting HRQoL during epidemics, especially in the DRC.

The Relationship Between Social Anxiety and Internalized Racism in Black Young Adults

The study examined the relationships between social anxiety (SA), generalized anxiety (GA), and depression with racial microaggressions and internalized racism (IR) among Black young adults. Given SA's core features, we expected it to have a unique association with IR, and to moderate the connection between racial microaggressions and IR. Participants were 182 Black university students who completed measures of SA, GA, depressive symptoms, racial microaggressions, and IR. Linear regression models indicated that IR was a significant predictor of SA, but not GA or depression. Racial microaggressions were only positively associated with depressive symptoms. SA and racial microaggressions each predicted IR, but no interaction was found. Black young adults with elevated concerns of others' evaluation may be more prone to accepting negative stereotypes about one's racial group.

The influence of internalized racism on the relationship between discrimination and anxiety

OBJECTIVES

This study used 2 waves of data to longitudinally examine whether internalized racism moderated the association between racial discrimination and anxiety symptom distress.

METHOD

Participants were 157 Black college students attending a predominantly White institution who completed measures of racial discrimination, internalized racism, and psychological distress.

RESULTS

Using hierarchical linear regression, results indicated a positive association between racial discrimination and subsequent anxiety symptom distress for individuals with moderate and high levels of internalization of negative stereotypes and hair change.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that experiences of anxiety symptom distress, in the context of racial discrimination, may differ as a function of one's acceptance and internalization of dominant White culture's actions and beliefs toward Black people. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Religious-Based Sexual Stigma and Psychological Health: Roles of Internalization, Religious Struggle, and Religiosity

The current study examined potential mediators (i.e., internalized heterosexism and religious struggle), moderators (i.e., religiosity), and moderated mediation of the links between experiences of enacted religious-based sexual stigma and both psychological distress and wellbeing. Participants were 193 lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) persons who were currently affiliated with a faith/religion and who completed an online survey. Participants were recruited through paid Facebook advertisements and research announcements sent to a variety of LGB-related Listservs, organizations, and Internet resources. Results from the mediation analyses revealed that religious-based sexual stigma was indirectly related to more psychological distress and less wellbeing via more internalized heterosexism and greater religious struggle. Findings from the moderated-mediation analyses revealed a significant conditional indirect effect, in which the indirect effects of religious-based sexual stigma on both psychological distress and wellbeing via internalized stigma were significant at moderate and high, but not low, levels of religiosity. This finding suggests that lower religiosity plays a buffering or protective role, whereas higher religiosity plays an intensifying role. The results of this study underscore the importance of targeting enacted and internalized sexual stigma-related stressors and religiosity factors to improve the psychological health of religiously identified LGB persons.

Coping with Weight Stigma Among Adults in a Commercial Weight Management Sample

BACKGROUND

Coping responses to weight stigma can adversely affect health. Using data from a large commercial weight management sample, this study examined how adults cope with weight stigma, relationships among experienced weight stigma, weight bias internalization, and coping, as well as coping strategies as mediators of the stigma-health relationship.

METHOD

Participants were adults enrolled in WW (formerly Weight Watchers) who reported at least one lifetime experience of weight stigma (N = 11,924). Participants completed questionnaires about the type and frequency of stigma experiences, weight bias internalization, strategies used to cope with weight stigma, and health-related quality of life.

RESULTS

Active coping, planning, positive reframing, acceptance, emotional support, and exercise avoidance were the most common coping strategies employed in response to acute weight stigma experiences. Weight bias internalization was more strongly associated with coping strategies likely to exacerbate health (e.g., disordered eating, substance use, self-blame) than positive reframing, acceptance, and emotional support. More types of experienced weight stigma (e.g., teasing, unfair treatment) were associated with more frequent use of all coping strategies. Coping strategies did not mediate the stigma-health relationship, and several strategies were associated with poor mental health.

CONCLUSION

More types of experiences with weight stigma were associated with more attempts to cope generally, while weight bias internalization was associated with coping strategies which were in turn associated with poor mental health. Developing effective approaches for identifying individuals likely to internalize weight stigma and helping individuals adopt effective coping strategies in response to stigma are important avenues of future research.

A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Internalized Racial Oppression and Health-Related Outcomes

Internalized racism represents a critical component of the system of racial oppression wherein People of Color adopt the negative beliefs about their race held by members of the White majority group. In this meta-analysis, the authors reviewed 29 studies (32 effect sizes) on the relationships between internalized racism and negative physical and mental health outcomes published between 1999 and 2015 and tested for literature-driven moderator effects using subgroup analyses. Results suggested that the direct overall relation between internalized racism and health was strongest for negative mental health outcomes ( r = .26), followed by negative physical health outcomes ( r = .11). Significant moderator effects were found for scale of measurement, country of sample (United States vs. international), and sampling method. Moderator effects of gender, publication type, year, and sample setting were not statistically significant. These findings are discussed and their implications for practice, advocacy, education/training, and research are described.

What Mediates the Relationship Between Ethnic Discrimination and Stress? Coping Strategies and Perceived Social Support of Russian Immigrants in Germany

OBJECTIVE

Experiences of ethnic discrimination may constitute major stressors for ethnic minority groups. This study examined the associations between different forms of ethnic discrimination and levels of perceived stress in Russian immigrants living in Germany, taking into account potential moderating (in-group identification) and mediating (coping and social support) factors.

METHODS

Russian immigrants (N = 308) were assessed using online questionnaires (e.g., perceived stress scale, behaviors from intergroup affect and stereotype treatment scale, and brief COPE). Three forms of ethnic discrimination were examined: active harm (e.g., open aggression), passive harm (e.g., paternalistic behavior), and everyday discrimination (e.g., receiving poor service). Moderation by in-group identification and mediation via coping and social support were tested.

RESULTS

Passive harm was more prevalent than everyday discrimination and active harm. Passive harm and everyday discrimination were associated with higher perceived stress (rs = .22 and .18, ps <.01), and in-group identification did not moderate these associations (ps >.27). The coping strategy self-blame mediated the association between active harm and stress. Substance use and self-blame mediated the association between passive harm and stress, whereas venting, behavioral disengagement, denial, self-blame, and social support mediated the association between everyday discrimination and stress. A direct effect remained for passive harm and everyday discrimination.

CONCLUSION

The present study revealed that Russian immigrants encounter different forms of ethnic discrimination, and that this is associated with higher levels of stress. This association was partly explained by coping and social support, illustrating possibilities for interventions aimed at improving the use of adaptive coping strategies and promoting social support-seeking for Russian immigrants.

Who Is Happier in China? Exploring Determinant Factors Using Religion as a Moderator

The relationship between religion and happiness has been seriously understudied in non-Western and non-Islamic societies. Taking religious identity and religious practice as strata, the 2015 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) data were used to examine the predicting power of health, politics, and social relationships with regard to happiness in four different groups, as follows: People with a religious identity and practice, people with no religious identity but with a practice, people with a religious identity but no practice, and people with neither a religious identity nor practice. Multiple regression analyses were conducted using the Ordinary Least Squares method. The results demonstrate the influence of the independent variables in the four groups, thus confirming the expectation that different religious practices, as well as identities, play a vital role in moderating the degree of happiness. Physical and mental health are significant predictors of happiness regardless of different religious situations, with the effect of mental health here found to be greater in magnitude on happiness than that of physical health. Political participation was not found to be related to happiness, but having a left-wing political attitude did emerge as strongly predicting happiness. The results concerning social relationships further consolidate the hypothesis that religious practice should be taken into consideration separately from religious identity. This study indicates the importance of further investigating religious practice as an independent factor in religious studies in the context of Chinese society.

The Misunderstood Schema of the Strong Black Woman: Exploring Its Mental Health Consequences and Coping Responses Among African American Women

The internalization of the Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema is associated with negative psychological outcomes. However, not much is known about the mechanisms through which this schema leads to poor health. We examined the direct associations between the SBW schema and depression, anxiety, and loneliness. We also tested four mediators—maladaptive perfectionism, self-compassion, and two Africultural coping strategies of collective coping and spiritual coping—between the schema and psychological outcomes. Moreover, we examined serial mediation effects. A total of 222 African American women participated in an online survey. Structural equation modeling was conducted, and after controlling for age, family income, and level of education, the direct associations were supported, and the mediator roles of maladaptive perfectionism, self-compassion, and collective coping but not spiritual coping were supported. For serial mediation effects, the SBW schema was first positively associated with maladaptive perfectionism, which was associated with low self-compassion and low use of collective coping, which in turn were correlated with negative psychological outcomes. Racial, economic, and structural inequalities that maintain the SBW schema need to be examined and removed. Clinical interventions should focus on reducing maladaptive perfectionism and increasing self-compassion and collective coping among those who have internalized the schema. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ’s website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0361684319883198

Religious Coping and Depressive Symptoms Among Black Americans Living with HIV: An Intersectional Approach

This exploratory quantitative study examined the association between religious coping and depressive symptoms among a sample of 216 Black Americans living with HIV (BALWH) in the Southeastern United States. Descriptive analyses and multiple linear regression were used to determine statistically significant associations between religious coping styles and depressive symptoms, and to investigate the potential of sexual orientation and gender to moderate the associations between religious coping styles and depressive symptoms. Negative religious coping, but not positive religious coping, significantly predicted depressive symptoms. Sexual orientation, but not gender, significantly moderated the association between positive religious coping and depressive symptoms so that the relationship was only significant for heterosexual BALWH. Implications of these findings for future research and clinical work with BALWH are discussed.

Positive and Negative Religious Coping Styles as Prospective Predictors of Well-Being in African Americans

Research on religious coping has proliferated in recent years, but many key questions remain, including the independent effects of positive and negative religious coping styles on well-being over time. Further, little research on religious coping styles has been conducted with African Americans in spite of their documented importance in this population. The present study examined the independent prospective effects on well-being of positive and negative religious coping styles over the subsequent 2.5 years in a national sample of African American community-dwelling adults. Well-being indicators included depressive symptoms and positive and negative affect as well as self-esteem and meaning in life. Results indicated that when considering positive and negative religious coping styles together, baseline positive religious coping consistently and positively predicted the well-being indicators 2.5 years later, while negative religious coping consistently and negatively predicted the well-being indicators 2.5 years later. These effects remained when examining change in well-being levels over time, although they attenuated in magnitude. Finally, negative religious coping more strongly predicted the negative aspects of well-being (e.g., depressive symptoms, negative affect) 2.5 years later than did positive religious coping, an effect that also remained but was attenuated when controlling for baseline levels of well-being. These results highlight the nuanced relationships between both positive and negative religious coping styles and positive and negative aspects of well-being over time among African Americans. Future research might usefully examine how to minimize negative effects and capitalize on the salutary effects of positive religious coping.

How Do Feminist-Identified Women Cope With Discrimination? A Feminist Standpoint and Grounded Theory Study

Women experience a higher incidence of mental health concerns compared to men, and scholars have located these challenges within a discriminatory sociocultural context. Although scholars have suggested that feminist attitudes may shield women from discrimination, research on the protective role of feminist attitudes is discrepant and suggests that there are distinct differences between those who do and do not self-identify as feminist; namely, self-identifiers may be more protected in the face of discrimination. Utilizing grounded theory and intersectional feminist standpoint methodologies, in this study we sought to understand the ways that self-identified womanist and feminist women cope with discrimination. We found that women’s feminist and cultural identities intersected, each informing the other and influencing coping mechanisms and well-being. Moreover, results demonstrated that feminist women call upon a variety of different coping mechanisms in response to discrimination, including advocacy, social support, self-care, cognitive processes, disengagement, connecting to one’s femininity, and religion and spirituality. Although possessing a feminist and/or womanist identity appeared to be protective in some cases, at other times it did not. Some participants expressed feeling marginalized from the feminist community and felt that their greater awareness of oppression was an additional source of distress. Based on these findings, we provide suggestions for mental health clinicians and research scholars.

Acculturative Stress, Psychological Distress, and Religious Coping Among Latina Young Adult Immigrants

Religion is a source of strength in Latina/o culture during challenging life transitions, such as the immigration process. Guided by a sociological stress-process model, this study examines relations between dimensions of religious coping, acculturative stress, and psychological distress among 530 young Latina women (ages 18-23 years) who recently immigrated to the United States (i.e., approximately 12 months prior to assessment). Higher levels of acculturative stress were associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Negative religious coping (i.e., the tendency to struggle with faith) moderated the relation between acculturative stress and psychological distress. Participants experiencing higher levels of acculturative stress reported greater psychological distress when they indicated more negative religious coping. Positive religious coping (i.e., the tendency to relate to faith with comfort and certainty) was not linked with acculturative stress or psychological distress. Implications for culturally tailored counseling interventions for this underserved and understudied population are discussed.

The Impact of Religious Coping on the Acculturative Stress and Alcohol Use of Recent Latino Immigrants

Religion plays a prominent role in Latino culture and could be influential during difficult life transitions, such as those experienced during the immigration process. This study examines relations between religious coping, acculturative stress, and alcohol use in a sample of 415 recent Latino immigrants. Higher levels of acculturative stress were associated more positive and negative religious coping. Positive religious coping was related to lower alcohol use. Negative religious coping moderated the relationship between acculturative stress and alcohol use. Participants who used more negative religious coping had higher rates of alcohol use when experiencing high levels acculturative stress. Implications for culturally tailored prevention/interventions are discussed.

Gendered Racism, Coping, Identity Centrality, and African American College Women’s Psychological Distress

In this study, we examined how engagement and disengagement strategies for coping with discrimination might explain how gendered racism influences psychological distress among 212 African American women enrolled in an institution of higher education. Engagement strategies were coping with discrimination using resistance and education/advocacy. Disengagement coping strategies were detachment from the stressor, internalization/self-blame, and use of drugs and alcohol. In addition, we examined the potential moderating or buffering role of gendered racial identity centrality (i.e., how important being an African American woman is to one’s self-concept) in the links between gendered racism and psychological distress, and between gendered racism and strategies for coping with discrimination. Results from our online survey revealed that both coping with discrimination via detachment and internalization/self-blame uniquely mediated the gendered racism–psychological distress links. In addition, findings from the moderation analyses indicated that the direct effect of gendered racism and detachment coping and the conditional indirect effect of gendered racism on psychological distress were contingent on gendered racial identity centrality; these relations were only significant among African American women with moderate to high levels of identity centrality, suggesting that identity centrality does not play a buffering role. Our findings suggest the importance of applying an intersectionality framework to explore the experiences of gendered racism and gendered racial identity centrality in African American women’s lives. Our results also lead us to recommend future work that helps African American women reduce the use of disengagement strategies to cope with discrimination. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available to PWQ subscribers on PWQ's website at http://pwq.sagepub.com/supplemental

Racism as a Determinant of Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Despite a growing body of epidemiological evidence in recent years documenting the health impacts of racism, the cumulative evidence base has yet to be synthesized in a comprehensive meta-analysis focused specifically on racism as a determinant of health. This meta-analysis reviewed the literature focusing on the relationship between reported racism and mental and physical health outcomes. Data from 293 studies reported in 333 articles published between 1983 and 2013, and conducted predominately in the U.S., were analysed using random effects models and mean weighted effect sizes. Racism was associated with poorer mental health (negative mental health: r = -.23, 95% CI [-.24,-.21], k = 227; positive mental health: r = -.13, 95% CI [-.16,-.10], k = 113), including depression, anxiety, psychological stress and various other outcomes. Racism was also associated with poorer general health (r = -.13 (95% CI [-.18,-.09], k = 30), and poorer physical health (r = -.09, 95% CI [-.12,-.06], k = 50). Moderation effects were found for some outcomes with regard to study and exposure characteristics. Effect sizes of racism on mental health were stronger in cross-sectional compared with longitudinal data and in non-representative samples compared with representative samples. Age, sex, birthplace and education level did not moderate the effects of racism on health. Ethnicity significantly moderated the effect of racism on negative mental health and physical health: the association between racism and negative mental health was significantly stronger for Asian American and Latino(a) American participants compared with African American participants, and the association between racism and physical health was significantly stronger for Latino(a) American participants compared with African American participants. Protocol PROSPERO registration number: CRD42013005464.

Race-Related Stress and Racial Identity as Predictors of African American Activism

The purpose of this study was to examine three forms of race-related stress (i.e., cultural, institutional, and individual) and six racial identity dimensions (i.e., Pre-Encounter Assimilation, Miseducation, and Self-Hatred, Immersion-Emersion Anti-White, and Internalization Afrocentricity and Multiculturalist Inclusive) as predictors of involvement in African American activism in a sample of 185 African American undergraduate women and men. When examined concurrently, these race-related variables accounted for more than one fourth of the variance in involvement in African American activism scores. Results indicated that cultural race-related stress, Immersion-Emersion Anti-White, Internalization Afrocentricity, and Internalization Multiculturalist Inclusive were the only significant and unique positive predictors of involvement in African American activism. In addition, Internalization Afrocentricity attitudes mediated the cultural race-related stress → activism link and both Immersion-Emersion Anti-White and Internalization Afrocentricity attitudes mediated the institutional race-related stress → activism link.

Racial Identity, Perpetrator Race, Racial Composition of Primary Community, and Mood Responses to Discrimination

Studies suggest that racial identity, race of the perpetrator, and prior race-related experiences influence responses to racial discrimination. This study employed a visual imagery paradigm to examine how racial centrality (or the significance of one’s race), perpetrator race, and the racial composition of one’s primary community were associated with mood responses to racial discrimination vignettes. Participants were 129 self-identified African American young adults (55% female) recruited from a southeastern university in the United States. Participants completed measures of sociodemographic characteristics and racial centrality and rated their mood following exposure to vignettes consisting of blatant and subtle discrimination with Black and White actors. Individuals with higher racial centrality endorsed greater anger and disgust and had stronger overall mood ratings following the subtle discrimination condition. Also, participants reported significantly higher levels of distress and disgust when the perpetrator was White. These results suggest that individual and situational factors help shape affective responses to discrimination. We discuss implications of the findings and highlight being connected to one’s racial identity as a healthy psychological response to racism.

Understanding the Link Between Multiple Oppressions and Depression Among African American Women

The purpose of our study was to examine the multiple oppression experiences of sexual objectification, racism, and gendered racism as predictors of depressive symptoms among a clinical sample of low-income African American women. In addition, we examined coping with oppression via internalization (i.e., the tendency to attribute responsibility or the cause of an oppressive event to oneself) as a mediator between these three intersecting forms of oppression and depressive symptoms. Participants included 144 African American women who sought some type of mental health treatment at a U.S. southeastern, public, urban, university-affiliated hospital that attends to a primarily indigent and underserved population. The results of our mediational analysis using bootstrapping provided support for a theorized model in which coping with oppressive events via internalization mediated the links between sexual objectification and depression and between racist events and depression but not between gendered racism and depression. In addition, a unique and direct effect of racist events on depression was found. Finally, the four variables in the model accounted for 42% of variance in depression scores. The study includes implications for future research and clinical work such as exploration of other mediators and the importance of comprehensive intake assessments and multicultural/feminist coping interventions.

The Influence of Religious Coping on the Acculturative Stress of Recent Latino Immigrants

Acculturative stress negatively impacts the physical and mental health of Latino immigrants. Little is known about the pre-immigration resources that may influence the acculturative stress of Latino immigrants. Religion plays a prominent role in Latino culture and may prove to be an influential resource during difficult life transitions, such as those experienced during the immigration process. The present study examines the association between religious coping resources prior to immigration and acculturative stress after immigration within a multiethnic sample of 527 adult Latinos who have lived in the United States for less than 1 year. Path analyses revealed that pre-immigration external religious coping was associated with high levels of post-immigration acculturative stress. Illegal immigrant status was associated with high levels of pre-immigration religious coping as well as post-immigration acculturative stress. These findings expand scientific understanding as to the function and effect of specific religious coping mechanisms among Latino immigrants. Furthermore, results underscore the need for future research, which could serve to inform culturally relevant prevention and treatment programs.

Racist Events and Individual Coping Styles as Predictors of African American Activism

The purpose of this study was to examine racist events and three individual coping styles (reflective, suppressive, and reactive) as predictors of involvement in African American activism in a sample of 269 African American women and men. In addition, it examined the moderating roles of individual coping styles in the racist events-African American activism link. Results indicated that racist events, reflective coping, and the interaction of racist events and reflective coping uniquely and significantly predicted involvement in African American activism, accounting for 33% of the variance. Racist events and reflective individual coping styles were related to involvement in African American activism. Results also supported a moderating role of individual reflective coping styles in the link between frequency of racist events and involvement in African American activism. That is, participants with high reflective coping engaged in more African American activism than participants with low reflective coping when experiences of racist events were low, but a larger number of racist events mitigated this effect.