Racial discrimination poses a major threat to women's mental health
Washington: Despite election of Barack Obama, the first black US President, racial discrimination not only exists in America but also poses a major threat to the African-origin women's mental health, a recent study claimed.
According to researchers at Florida State University,
racial discrimination faced by African American women
undermines their view of themselves as masters of their own
life circumstances and makes them less psychologically
resilient and more prone to depression.
"Our results show that perceptions of unfair treatment,
like other chronic stressors, are psychologically burdensome
to African American women," researchers said.
During the study, the team led by Dr Verna Keith used
data from the National Survey of American Life: Coping with
Stress in the 21st Century to analyse the relationship between
perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms among 2,300
African American adult women, journal Sex Roles reported.
Women who were subjected to higher levels of unfair
treatment experienced more depressive symptoms, in part,
because day-to-day discrimination undermined their overall
confidence in their ability to manage life challenges, leaving
them feeling powerless and depressed, they said.
According to the study, older black women reported
slightly fewer experiences of discrimination, lower levels of
mastery and fewer depressive symptoms than younger women,
while the more educated women felt more in control of their
lives and experienced fewer depressive symptoms.
Bureau Report