"I Internalized a Lot" Racialized Pathways to Depression Symptoms Amongst Biracial-Black Girls and Young Women

Background: Biracial-Black girls and young women report worse mental health outcomes (e.g., depressive episodes, suicidality) than their white and monoracial-minoritized counterparts (Oh et al., 2023). Racial stress is a substantial determinant of these disparities as Biracial-Black girls navigate a unique social position where they are exposed to anti-Black racism and unique forms of racial stress like racial identity invalidation (RII). RII is the denial/rection of a Biracial person’s racial identity based on their mixed racial ancestry, which has been linked with a decreased sense of belonging and social isolation. RII may ultimately expose Biracial-Black girls and young women to additional risk factors such as racial identity challenges (RICs) and feelings of inauthenticity. Independent lines of research have linked RII, RICs, and inauthenticity with psychological distress among Biracial adults. However, our understanding of how these processes independently and collectively relate to mental health of young Biracial-Black girls/women is limited. We address this gap in the current study by exploring whether RICs and inauthenticity moderate or mediate the relationship between RII and depressive symptoms amongst 283 Biracial-Black cisgender girls and young women.

Methods: Data for the study comes from a national cross-sectional survey of promotive and protective processes. Participants ranged from ages 12 to 25 years old (M = 18.95, SD = 3.75). The primary analysis was a moderated path analysis using Structural Equation Modeling in STATA. This approach allowed for the simultaneous examination of direct and indirect effects (e.g., mediation) and moderation.

Results: The model fit the data sufficiently (X² = 7.30, df = 3, p=.063, TLI = .93, CFI = .98, RMSEA = .09) and accounted for 32% of the variance in depressive symptoms. Regarding direct associations, RII (β = .25^**) and inauthenticity (β = .47^**) were significantly and positively associated with depression symptoms. There were no significant indirect paths, but significant interactions emerged between RII and (a) RICs and (b) inauthenticity. The simple slope plots illuminated that there was a notable vulnerability to depressive symptoms among those less challenged by their racial identity. Moreover, inauthenticity significantly exacerbated the impact of RII on depressive symptoms.

Implications: Biracial-Black girls and young women are one of the most psychologically at-risk groups in the U.S., but remain nearly invisible in social work research and practice. This study begins to address this gap by examining salient risk factors (e.g., RII, RICs, and inauthenticity) in relation to depression. The results suggest that RII is detrimental to the wellbeing of Biracial females during pivotal developmental periods and that this is particularly true for those who do not regularly struggle with their mixed racial identity or feel more inauthentic to them true selves. The collective results suggest that interventions aimed at reducing occurrences of RII (in the general population) and enhancing racial pride and authenticity (at a personal level) could be important avenues for fostering wellbeing amongst Biracial-Black girls and young women. Additional implications for research and practice will be disucsed.