Discrimination and Mental Health in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Black Youth

Background: Although a substantial body of research has documented the adverse mental health impacts of discrimination, few studies have examined these outcomes and their association with ethnicity. Objective: This study characterizes variation in experiences of race-related bullying and adverse mental health symptoms among a sample of ethnically diverse Black adolescents. Methods: We describe experiences of racially motivated bullying and associated protective factors across Black 8th,9th, and 11th grade youth (n=8,201) in the 2022 Minnesota Student Survey, using multivariate logistic regression. Results: Over a quarter of youth (29.5%) across all Black ethnic subgroups reported bullying based on their racial identity. Nigerian, Multiethnic Black, and Multiracial youth reported the highest rates of race-related bullying (40.0%, 35.2%, and 35.2%). We find that Oromo Ethiopian (OR=0.51 CI=0.36-0.72; p<0.001), non-Oromo Ethiopian (OR=0.69; CI=0.50-0.95; p<0.05) and Somali (OR=0.63; CI=0.53-0.75; p<0.001) identities were associated with lower reported odds of depression compared to their African American peers. Oromo (OR=0.60; CI=0.43-0.85; p<0.01), Nigerian (OR=0.6; CI=0.45-0.95; p<0.05), and Somali (OR=0.65; CI=0.54-0.78; p<0.001) youth reported lower odds of anxiety symptoms while Multiracial youth reported greater (OR=1.3; CI= 1.13-1.51; p<0.001) even when controlling for race-related bullying. Similar patterns were seen for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Conclusion: There exists a considerable amount of heterogeneity within Black adolescent populations, with regards to race-based bullying experience and mental health. These findings support the development of culturally or ethnically tailored interventions to address adverse mental health outcomes for Black youth.