Coping with racial discrimination: a preliminary examination of coping strategies in college students at a University in Northeastern U.S.

Objective: We examined the associations between coping strategies in response to racism and distress symptoms.

Sample: One hundred forty-four racially minoritized students at a northeastern university completed an online survey.

Methods: Participants completed self-report active and emotion-focused coping and distress symptom (i.e., depression and anxiety) measures. Hierarchical regressions were conducted to test: 1) correlations between coping strategies in response to racism and distress symptoms, and 2) whether emotional acceptance moderates the association between active coping in response to racism and distress symptoms.

Results: Students' self-compassionate responses to their emotional reactions to discrimination uniquely predicted less distress. In contrast, reports of using resistance and education in response to discrimination were positively correlated with distress symptoms; however, these associations were no longer significant when accounting for emotional acceptance.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that emotional acceptance coping may be associated with lower distress symptoms. Active coping was associated with increased distress symptoms, except when accounting for emotional acceptance coping.