Interpersonal ethnic-racial discrimination and tobacco products: The moderating role of critical action.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to understand the role of critical action, sociopolitical participation, an essential form of consciousness in the relationship between interpersonal discrimination and the use of tobacco products. METHOD: The present study was part of a more extensive longitudinal study on students' genetic and environmental experiences. To examine these associations, 164 racially minoritized college students (Mage = 19.86, SD = 0.28) were surveyed for this study. RESULTS: Findings indicated that the relation between interpersonal ethnic-racial discrimination (IERD) and tobacco products was moderated by critical action. Specifically, IERD was associated with greater use of tobacco products when students had low critical consciousness-critical action. The relation between IERD and the use of tobacco products became nonsignificant when students had high critical action. CONCLUSIONS: Critical action was protective in mitigating increased tobacco use in the context of discrimination experiences. Research, clinical, and policy implications are discussed in efforts to reduce tobacco-related disparities among racially minoritized college students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Associations between ethnic-racial identity and alcohol problems among diverse emerging adults.

Excessive alcohol use and problems during college is a major public health concern, and there are health disparities in patterns of drinking and alcohol-related illnesses based on ethnicity and race. Given the prevalence and disparities in excessive alcohol use and problems and associated negative impacts, it is important to examine potential protective factors such as dimensions of ethnic-racial identity (ERI). Thus, the current study examined how multiple dimensions of ERI were associated with alcohol use and alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms, and how these relations varied by individuals' ethnic-racial group among 1850 diverse emerging adults (M = 18.46, SD = .38). Findings indicated that there were significant differences by race/ethnicity. ERI affirmation was negatively associated with AUD symptoms for Asian individuals and African American individuals, while ERI exploration was positively associated with AUD symptoms among African American individuals. ERI resolution was negatively associated with alcohol use for Latinx individuals and positively associated with alcohol use for Multiracial individuals. Among White individuals, ERI exploration was negatively associated with alcohol use and ERI affirmation was negatively associated with AUD symptoms. Overall, the current study builds on our understanding of nuanced ways in which ethnic-racial identity impacts alcohol problems among emerging adults and highlights areas for future research.

Depressive symptoms and developmental change in mothers' emotion scaffolding: Links to children's self-regulation and academic readiness.

This study examined whether the mechanism linking changes in Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' depressive symptoms to children's subsequent self-regulation and academic readiness was via their emotion scaffolding when their children were 2, 3, 4, and 5 years of age. Data included home interviews with adolescent mothers (N = 204), observations of mother-child interactions during a task that challenged children's abilities to manage their emotional arousal, and assessments of children's performance on measures of self-regulation and academic readiness. Adolescent mothers' higher depressive symptoms at child age 2 years were associated with a greater decline in mothers' emotion scaffolding from child age 2 to 5 years, which was subsequently linked to children's lower self-regulation and academic readiness at age 5. Possible implications from this line of work for adolescent mothers and their children are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).