Discrimination from family and substance use for multiracial individuals

Alcohol use in multiracial American youth compared with monoracial youth: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Although multiracial people comprise the fastest growing population in the United States, multiracial youth are nearly invisible in alcohol research. This meta-analysis synthesized the youth alcohol literature to estimate the magnitude of difference in alcohol use as a function of multiracial status.

DESIGN AND MEASUREMENTS

Empirical studies reporting multiracial and monoracial comparisons in youth (aged 10-24 years) alcohol use were identified through a systematic literature search. A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted using 85 effect sizes extracted from 16 studies assessing life-time, past-year, past-month and binge alcohol use.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

A total of n=1 555 635 youth were assessed in the United States.

FINDINGS

Multiracial youth are suggested to be more likely to endorse life-time alcohol use than Asian youth [number of studies (k) = 3; odds ratio (OR) = 1.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.01, 3.24; p = 0.04], with significant between-study heterogeneity (Q = 8.42; p < 0.001; I2  = 76%) in effect size comparisons. Multiracial youth are suggested to be more likely to endorse past-month alcohol use than Black (k = 6; OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.38, 1.71; p < 0.001) and Asian (k = 4; OR = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.52, 2.88; p < 0.001) youth, but less likely than White (k = 6; OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.84, 0.91; p < 0.001) youth, with significant between-study heterogeneity for Black youth (Q = 11.94; p = 0.03; I2  = 58%) in effect size comparisons. Lastly, multiracial youth are suggested to be more likely to endorse binge alcohol use than Black (k = 4; OR = 1.98, 95% CI = 1.62, 2.44; p < 0.001) and Asian (k = 4; OR = 2.82, 95% CI = 2.28, 3.48; p < 0.001) youth, but less likely than White (k = 5; OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.70, 0.81; p < 0.001) and American Indian/Alaska Native (k = 3; OR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.71, 0.85; p < 0.001) youth, with significant between-study heterogeneity among Black (Q = 23.99; p < 0.001; I2  = 87%) and Asian (Q = 17.76; p < 0.001; I2  = 83%) youth in effect size comparisons.

CONCLUSIONS

In the United States, multiracial youth report distinct alcohol use patterns compared with monoracial youth and may be at elevated alcohol use risk compared with Black and Asian youth.

Racial differences in associations between adverse childhood experiences and physical, mental, and behavioral health

Purpose

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with poor adulthood health. Multiracial people have elevated mean ACEs scores and risk of several outcomes. We aimed to determine whether this group should be targeted for prevention efforts.

Methods

We analyzed three waves (1994-2009) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 12,372) in 2023, estimating associations between four or more ACEs and physical (metabolic syndrome, hypertension, asthma), mental (anxiety, depression), and behavioral (suicidal ideation, drug use) outcomes. We estimated adjusted risk ratios for each outcome in modified Poisson models interacting race and ACEs. We used the interaction contrast to estimate race-specific excess cases per 1000 relative to Multiracial participants.

Results

Excess case estimates of asthma were smaller for White (-123 cases, 95% CI: -251, -4), Black (-141, 95% CI: -285, -6), and Asian (-169, 95% CI: -334, -7) participants compared to Multiracial participants. Black (-100, 95% CI: -189, -10), Asian (-163, 95% CI: -247, -79) and Indigenous (-144, 95% CI: -252, -42) participants had fewer excess cases of and weaker relative scale association with anxiety compared to Multiracial participants.

Conclusions

Adjusted associations with asthma and anxiety appear stronger for Multiracial people. Existing ACEs prevention strategies should be tailored to support Multiracial youth and families.

Family Racial/Ethnic Socialization Through the Lens of Multiracial Black Identity: A M(ai)cro Analysis of Meaning-Making

The role of family members in racial identity development is often constrained to conceptualizations of parental socialization, with a focus on socialization during childhood and adolescence. However, parents may continue to play a role in racial identity development as youth enter young adulthood and continue to explore who they are. Our study investigates how parents feature in the racial identity meaning-making of multiracial Black college students to understand the role that parents may continue to play for youth's identities as they age. We invoke a critical m(ai)cro perspective to fully consider how parent influence necessarily intertwines with macrosystem dynamics of anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and monoracism for multiracial Black youth's identity meaning-making in the context of Black Lives Matter. Through inductive analysis of semi-structured interviews with 11 multiracial Black ("Black + ") college students, we found that young adults mention parents or familial adults when discussing their racial identity to (1) recount parental guidance on racial identity, (2) illustrate the racial politics of multiracial identification, and (3) expose the nuances of navigating (un)shared identity spaces within the family. Our findings highlight the relevance of parental socialization in the adulthood years, and that parents are inextricably implicated in how youth are making sense of macrosystem dynamics of anti-Blackness and monoracism. We end with a discussion of takeaways for parents of multiracial youth.

Neural Impacts of Stigma, Racism, and Discrimination

Racism is a chronic stressor fueled by stigma that can result in significant distress and dysfunction as well as negatively affect emotions, behavior, quality of life, and brain health. The effects of stigma and discrimination emerge early in life and have long-term consequences. In this review, we sought to use neuroscience research to describe how stigma, racism, and discrimination can impact brain and mental health. Societal stigmas may be encoded by associative fear learning and pattern completion networks, and experiences of racial discrimination may similarly affect threat-responsive regions and circuits. Race-related differences in brain function and structure supporting threat circuitry are largely attenuated when negative life experiences and discrimination are taken into account. Downstream, chronic activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary axis in the context of discrimination and stigma can contribute to physical health disparities in minoritized and marginalized groups. Finally, we discuss models that provide a framework for interventions and societal-level strategies across ecologic systems to build resilience and foster posttraumatic growth.

How Policies Can Address Multiracial Stigma

Twenty years ago, Multiracial Americans completed the U.S Census with the option to indicate more than one race for the first time. As we embark on the second anniversary of this shift in Multiracial recognition, this article reviews the research related to known sources and systems that perpetuate Multiracial-specific stigma. Policy recommendations address the needs and the continued acknowledgment of this growing racial/ethnic minority population.

A Qualitative Examination of Bisexual Identity Invalidation and its Consequences for Wellbeing, Identity, and Relationships

Bisexual people face unique stressors related to their sexual orientation, but identity invalidation (experiences in which others deny, negate, or refuse to accept an individual's identity) has received limited empirical attention. As such, the goals of the current study were to examine manifestations of bisexual identity invalidation and their consequences for wellbeing, identity, and relationships. Fifty-two bisexual and other non-monosexual (e.g., pansexual, queer) participants completed a qualitative survey that asked them to describe their most stressful experience of identity invalidation. Three coders analyzed the data using a consensual qualitative research approach, and the coding scheme was confirmed by two auditors. Most participants (85%) had experienced identity invalidation. They described five perceived reasons: (1) others did not understand or accept bisexuality; (2) the gender of their partner did not fit with others' beliefs about bisexuality; (3) others believed they were confused; (4) others believed they were "faking" it; and (5) others rejected bisexuality for religious reasons. Participants described consequences of identity invalidation including negative emotions, identity-related challenges, and relational difficulties. These findings suggest that identity invalidation is a common experience among bisexual people and it may be an important intervention target.