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Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder has focused primarily on Caucasian boys and men and resulted in limited insight about the experiences of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder among women from an ethnically diverse background. This descriptive qualitative study explored the experience of 16 women diagnosed with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder who were also engaged in their academic pursuits. Three themes emerged: (i) internalized chaos, (ii) cultivation of self-understanding, and (iii) commitment to building capacity. Comorbid psychological disorders (e.g., major depression and anxiety) among women with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder were associated with increased impairment. Broader criteria that demonstrate equitable assessment and recognition of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder symptoms for both genders are requisite to promote effective interventions and recovery. KEYWORDS ethnic diversity, women, ADHD DOI: 10.1080/03630241003601095

We examined the factor structure of the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (PCRW; Spanierman & Heppner, 2004) on 766 White American university students from the southeastern United States. Results from confirmatory factor analyses supported the 3-factor model proposed by Spanierman and Heppner (2004). The construct validity of the PCRW was further strengthened by its convergent validity demonstrated by the associations among its subscales and White racial identity attitudes and White privilege attitude. Our findings support the continued exploration of the validity and reliability of the PCRW as well as its utility as a measure of White individuals' affective responses to racism. Keywords: racism, privilege, scale validation, Whites DOI: 10.1037/a0017278

This investigation adds to the growing body of scholarship on the psychosocial costs of racism to Whites (PCRW), which refer to consequences of being in the dominant position in an unjust, hierarchical system of societal racism. Extending research that identified 5 distinct constellations of costs of racism (L. B. Spanierman, V. P. Poteat, A. M. Beer, & P. I. Armstrong, 2006), the authors used multinomial logistic regression in the current study to examine what factors related to membership in 1 of the 5 PCRW types during the course of an academic year. Among a sample of White university freshmen (n = 287), the authors found that (a) diversity attitudes (i.e., universal diverse orientation and unawareness of privilege) explained PCRW type at entrance, (b) PCRW type at entrance explained participation in interracial friendships at the end of the year. (c) 45% of participants changed PCRW type during the course of the year, and (d) among those who changed type, particular PCRW types at entrance resulted in greater likelihood of membership in particular PCRW types at the end of the year. Keywords: costs of racism to Whites, White racial attitudes, White guilt, racial empathy

This article draws on qualitative in-depth interviews with 63 white middle-class families whose children attend inner London comprehensives. The white middle classes, as they are inscribed in policy discourses, best fit the ideal of the democratic citizen individualistic, rational, responsible, participatory, the active chooser. Yet, narratives of white middle-class choice reveal both powerful defences and the power of the affective. Sublimated in the psyche of the majority white middle classes who avoid inner-city comprehensives and the more inclusive parents in this ESRC-funded research project are multifaceted and differing responses to the classed and ethnic 'other'. This article examines frequently overlooked anxieties, conflicts, desires and tensions within middle-class identities generated by education choice policies. However; the main focus is white middle-class relationships to their classed and ethnic 'other', and the part played by the psychosocial in white middle-class identities and identifications within predominantly working-class, multiethnic schooling. KEY WORDS psychosocial / urban multi-ethnic schooling / white middle classes

Background. Life-space, a measure of movement through one's environment, may be viewed as one aspect of environmental complexity for older adults. We examined the relationship between life-space and subsequent change in cognitive function. Methods. Participants were 624 community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries (49% African American) who completed in-home assessments at baseline and follow-up 4 years later. The Life-Space Assessment was used at baseline to measure extent, frequency, and independence of participants' movement within and outside the home. Cognitive decline was measured with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results. In a regression model adjusted for baseline MMSE, age, gender, race, residence (rural/urban), and education, greater life-space at baseline predicted reduced cognitive decline ([beta] = -.177, p < .001). This association remained statistically significant in subsequent models that examined what proportion of the observed association was explained by baseline physical activity, physical function, vascular risk factors, comorbidity, and psychosocial factors. Physical function accounted for the largest proportion (37.3%) of the association between life-space and cognitive decline. There was no significant interaction between life-space and race, gender, or age in predicting cognitive decline. In a logistic regression analysis, participants in the highest quartile of life-space had 53% reduced odds of substantial cognitive decline ([greater than or equal to] 4 points on MMSE) compared to those in the lowest quartile. Conclusions. These preliminary findings suggest that life-space may be a useful identifier of older adults at risk for cognitive decline. Future research should investigate the potential reciprocal relationship between life-space and cognitive function as well as the interrelationship between these factors and physical function. Key Words: Life-space--Cognition--Older adults--Cognitive decline.

Social policy and federal and state legislation require the use of single cut scores when tests of cognitive ability, knowledge, or skills (CAKS) are used to make high-stakes assessment decisions, such as whether students or employees may be promoted. Rationales offered for the requirement are that cut scores provide objective standards and are fairer than using subjective criteria, such as racial group membership. It is argued that failure to consider threats to statistical conclusion validity, such as differences in variability between groups, obscures the differential impact of using a common cut score as the basis for high-stakes decisions. Analyses of 40 Black and White samples revealed that (a) Whites might be considerably advantaged and Blacks might be considerably disadvantaged by the same cut score and (b) depending on where the cut score is set, decisions based on ratios of numbers of Whites to numbers of Blacks might be fairer than use of CAKS test cut scores. Implications for assessment practice and social policy are discussed. Keywords: adverse impact, affirmative action, validity, fairness, racial-group differences

To examine the validity and test the generalizability of the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (PCRW) beyond the original college student sample, a geographically dispersed sample of employed White adults (N = 284) in eight states completed the measure to assess for White empathic reactions toward racism, White guilt, and White fear of people of other races. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor structure, and a test of factorial invariance for the adult sample data compared against the original college-student sample data suggested the need for further refinement and conceptualization of White guilt among employed adults. Convergent validity was documented with indicators of color-blind racial beliefs and openness to diversity. Finally, significant interaction effects between sample (community or college) and sex (male or female) on reported levels of costs were identified.

The purpose of this investigation was to extend earlier conceptual and empirical literature on the ways in which White individuals respond to societal racism. To this end, the authors conducted in-depth interviews to examine 11 midwestern, non-Hispanic, White university students' reactions and experiences related to individual and institutional forms of racism perpetrated against people of color. We used the consensual qualitative research method to analyze these data. Results suggested that White students varied in their understanding of and responses to racism. Three topic domains, each consisting of a number of subcategories, reflected participants' varied responses to racism: (a) affective, (b) social, and (c) cognitive. Findings add to the existing literature by identifying in greater depth the multiple ways in which dominant group members respond to societal racism. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Stigma of mental illness is a major obstacle to its diagnosis and treatment and may be worse among Asians than Caucasians. This study compared the stigma of depression in 50 Chinese Americans (CA) and 50 Caucasian Americans (WA). Subjects were asked to read 5 case vignettes in the following order: diabetes mellitus (DB), major depressive disorder (MDD), somatoform depression (SD), psychotic depression (PD), and fever of unknown origin (HA). Diagnosis of each case was not revealed. Subjects then rated their response to each case, on a Likert scale from 'strongly disagree' to 'strongly agree,' to 25 statements that contained 6 stigma factors: fear, shame, cognitive distortion, social consensus, discrimination, and sanction. Composite scores constructed from ratings of each factor were used to calculate the severity of stigma. Stigma of all 5 cases was worse in CA than WA. Both groups ranked DB and HA to be least and PD to be most stigmatizing. CA rated SD to be less stigmatizing than MDD but not WA. We concluded that stigma formation and severity were determined by fear, shame, cognitive distortion, social communication, consensus, and sanction. Mental symptoms, particularly psychotic symptoms, were more stigmatizing than physical symptoms, especially for CA. Belief that depression was like a physical illness did not diminish its stigma.

This study examines the reactions of African Americans and Whites to affirmative action programs (AAPs) applied to 4 human resource activities: hiring, promotion, training, and layoffs. The results of a scenario-based experimental study conducted on a large sample (N > 800) of advanced undergraduate and MBA business school participants generally supported the hypothesis that human resource activity elicited systematic differences in reaction to AAPs between African Americans and Whites. The authors also replicated previous research on the effect of AAP strength and prior discrimination by the organization on reactions to AAPs. Results indicated that AAP strength levels moderated racial differences in reaction to AAPs, while the moderating role of prior discrimination by the organization was not supported. Implications for future research are discussed. Keywords: affirmative action programs, racial attitudes, human resource activities, perceived fairness, referent cognitions theory

A study that was carried out the find out whether elementary cognitive tasks performance could mediate Black-White IQ and grade point average differences is addressed. Results revealed that inspite of restriction of range elementary cognitive task performance completely mediated Black-White differences on IQ.

Multicultural competence has become a mainstay within the training of professional psychologists, yet important areas within this framework remain to be more fully addressed. In particular, the dynamics of contemporary forms of racism have largely gone unexplored, depriving psychologists of clear direction in exploring the deepest levels of racist influences in their work. This qualitative analysis sought to shed light into this area by studying White people's experiences of race and racism. Although most affirmed the existence of racism, it was 'spun' by most White participants--in other words, interpreted to their own advantage--into a problem that lies outside the scope of their own lives and responsibilities. Implications and resources for the practice and training of professional psychologists are presented. Keywords: multicultural competence, racism, White identity, qualitative methods

Racial inequity was theorized to threaten Whites' self-image when inequity is framed as White privilege but not when framed as anti-Black discrimination. Manipulations of Whites' need for self-regard were hypothesized to affect their perceptions of White privilege but not of anti-Black discrimination. In Experiment 1, White participants reported less privilege when given threatening (vs. affirming) feedback on an intelligence or personality test; in contrast, perceptions of anti-Black discrimination were unaffected by self-concept manipulations. In Experiment 2, threatening (vs. affirming) feedback decreased privilege perceptions only among Whites high in racial identity. Using a value-based self-affirmation manipulation, Experiment 3 replicated the effect of self-image concerns on Whites' perceptions of privilege and provided evidence that self-concerns, through their effect on perceived privilege, influence Whites' support for redistributive social policies. Keywords: inequity; self-enhancement; White identity; White privilege

A survey done on African-Americans and Whites in order to evaluate whether racial differences in IQ are due to differences in intellectual ability or to differences in exposure to information is presented. Results arrived at the conclusion that cultural differences in the provision of information account for racial differences in IQ.

An analysis of the three standardizations of the Woodcock-Johnson battery of tests in terms of birth cohorts from 1920 through 1991 is presented. The analysis revealed consistently that a black-white IQ difference has increased slightly for persons born after the 1960s, but mostly it has remained unchanged.

Risk factors for suicidal ideation and attempts have been shown to differ between African Americans and Whites across the lifespan. In the present study, risk factors for suicidality were examined separately by race/ethnicity in a populafion of 131 older adult patients considered vulnerable to suicide due to substance abuse and/or medical frailty. In adjusted analyses, social support was significantly associated with suicidality in African American patients, while younger age and the presence of an anxiety disorder were significantly associated with suicidality in White patients. The results suggest that race/ethnicity-specific risk profiles may improve the detection of suicidality in vulnerable populations.

In 2 studies, the authors investigated the determinants of anger and approach-related intentions and behavior toward outgroup members in interracial interactions. In Study 1, White and Black participants who were led to believe that their interracial interaction partner was not open to an upcoming interaction reported heightened anger and approach-related intentions concerning the interaction, including viewing their partner as hostile, intending to ask sensitive race-relevant questions during the interaction, and planning to blame the partner if the interaction went poorly. Results of Study 2 showed that White participants who received negative feedback about their Black partner's openness to interracial interactions behaved in a hostile manner toward their interaction partner. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the quality of interracial interactions. Keywords: expectations, outgroup members, interracial interactions, intergroup emotions

Participants (230 White college students) completed the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites (PCRW) Scale. Using cluster analysis, we identified 5 distinct cluster groups on the basis of PCRW subscale scores: the unempathic and unaware cluster contained the lowest empathy scores; the insensitive and afraid cluster consisted of low empathy and guilt scores, with the highest score on fear; the fearful guilt cluster exhibited elevations on guilt and fear; the empathic but unaccountable cluster reflected high empathy with low guilt and fear; and the informed empathy and guilt cluster represented those high on empathy and guilt in conjunction with low levels of fear. Groups were validated on an additional sample (n = 366) and were found to differ significantly on theoretically related measures. Keywords: costs of racism to Whites, White racial attitudes, White guilt, cluster analysis

The authors examined how numbers of live births and pregnancy losses affected the self-rated health and depressive symptoms of women aged 50 years and older, contrasting African Americans and Whites. The authors used data from Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities, a large, prospective study with substantial minority representation. They tested hypotheses that childbearing-history variables would influence self-rated well-being among older women and that perceived social support would mediate the associations. The authors also tested whether these associations would be stronger among older African American versus White women. The results suggest that the impact of childbearing history is greater among older African American than White women. Pregnancy loss worsened depressive symptoms and self-rated health among African American women; the effect was reduced by social-support variables. High parity was associated with worse self-rated health among African American women, mediated by social support. Having no live births was not associated with diminished well-being among older women of any race. Keywords: race; ethnicity; older women; self-reported health; depressive symptoms; childbearing history

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which observed differences between White and African American nursing home residents in having an advance directive are attributable to differences between the groups in personal characteristics, the organizational environment of the nursing home, and the geographical environment of the counties in which the nursing homes are located. Methods. By using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Nursing Home Component matched with county-level measures from the Area Resource File, we modeled the probability of having an advance directive as a function of nursing home resident, facility, and county characteristics for African American and White residents. Results. The probability of having an advance directive was 27.0% for African American residents and 63.6% for White residents. Nearly half of this 36.6 percentage point gap could be explained by group differences in personal, facility, and county characteristics. Discussion. County characteristics play a more prominent role than do personal or facility measures in explaining the observed ethnic gap in the prevalence of advance directives. Additional studies should focus further on geographic, health status, and attitudinal variations among nursing home residents that may account for the remaining ethnic difference in the prevalence of advance directives among nursing home residents.

Using a sample of 328 White, Latino, and Black Los Angeles County adults, the authors examined the tendency to employ various affirmative action 'frames' (e.g., affirmative action as a 'tie-breaking' device or as a quota-based policy). All three groups agreed about which frames cast affirmative action in a positive light and which cast it in a negative light. Although minorities had a tendency to frame affirmative action in terms that most people find morally acceptable, Whites had a tendency to frame affirmative action in terms most people find unacceptable. In addition, compared to minorities, Whites were less supportive of affirmative action regardless of how it was framed. LISREL modeling also was employed to test two competing models regarding predictors of the tendency to use frames that one personally finds to be relatively negative versus positive. Consistent with the expectations of social dominance theory and a motivated cognition perspective, the authors found that social dominance orientation (SDO) had significant net direct and indirect effects on one's framing of affirmative action. Keywords: affirmative action; framing effects; motivated reasoning; social dominance theory; social dominance orientation

The potential contribution of general implicit evaluative associations with the color white and black is examined to implicit race preferences as measured by Implicit Association Test (IAT). Results support the position that racial IAT responses substantially reflect racial evaluative associations.

This study extends the research on racial prejudice by combining previously identified predictors into 1 study to determine their relative importance in contributing to racial prejudice. Results revealed that White [...]

The relation between cultural mistrust and psychological health was examined using a sample of 125 African American students. Results did not support the notion that mistrust of Whites is psychologically [...]

Background. Black elders have a greater frequency of functional decline than do white elders. The impact of cognitive function on explaining black-white disparities in functional decline has not been extensively explored. Methods. To compare the extent to which different risk domains (comorbidity, smoking, socioeconomic status (SES), self-rated health, and cognitive function) explain more frequent functional decline in black elders, we studied 779 black and 4892 white community-dwelling adults aged 70 and older from the Assets and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD), a population-based cohort study begun in 1993. Our primary outcome was worse functional status at 2 years than at baseline. We used logistic regression to compare the unadjusted with the adjusted black-white odds ratios (ORs) after adjusting for each risk domain. Results. At baseline black participants aged 70-79 had higher rates of smoking, diabetes, and hypertension; lower SES; and worse cognitive function than did white participants (p < .05 for all). The mean cognitive score was 15.7 in black and 21.8 in white participants (p < .01). Black participants had a higher frequency of 2-year functional decline than did white participants (10.9% vs 4.7%; OR = 2.61, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.69-4.03 adjusted for age and sex). Adjustment for comorbidity and smoking did not significantly change the black-white OR, whereas self-rated health and SES accounted for about half the risk. Adjustment for cognitive function accounted for nearly all the associated decline (OR=1.10, 95% CI, 0.67-1.79). Among participants aged 80 and over, those who were black had significantly lower risk for functional decline after adjustment for cognitive function (OR = 0.61, 95% CI, 0.38-0.96 vs OR = 1.08, 95% CI, 0.70-1.66 adjusted for age and sex only). Conclusions. Cognitive function mediated the higher frequency of functional decline among black elders. Efforts to understand cognitive function may enhance our understanding of black-white disparities in health outcomes.

Among members of privileged groups, social inequality is often thought of in terms of the disadvantages associated with outgroup membership. Yet inequality also can be validly framed in terms of ingroup privilege. These different framings have important psychological and social implications. In Experiment 1 (N = 110), White American participants assessed 24 statements about racial inequality framed as either White privileges or Black disadvantages. In Experiment 2 (N = 122), White participants generated examples of White privileges or Black disadvantages. In both experiments, a White privilege framing resulted in greater collective guilt an d lower racism compared to a Black disadvantage framing. Collective guilt mediated the manipulation's effect on racism. In addition, in Experiment 2, a White privilege framing decreased White racial identification compared to a Black disadvantage framing. These findings suggest that representing inequality in terms of outgroup disadvantage allows privileged group members to avoid the negative psychological implications of inequality and supports prejudicial attitudes. Keywords: racial inequality; collective guilt; White privilege; White identification; prejudice

The purpose of this research is to examine how Whites respond to African Americans who differ in their attitudes about racism and strategies for handling racism. In one condition, White participants read about an African American student who described racism as a minor problem and expressed an individualistic strategy for dealing with it (bargainer). In another condition, the student described racism as a large problem and endorsed a more collective strategy (challenger). Results showed that the bargainer was perceived more favorably; however, participants low in modern racism gave higher favorability ratings to the challenger than did those high in modern racism. Results are discussed in terms of the limitations of the bargainer approach, as well as its appeal to Whites.

This study examines differences between Blacks and Whites in the effect of widowhood on depressive symptoms and anxiety: in grief symptoms six months after spousal loss: and the extent to which these differences are explained by marital quality, social support from children and friends, and religiosity. Analyses are based on the Changing Lives of Older Couples, a prospective study of 1,532 married individuals aged 65 and older. Widowhood is associated with elevated anxiety and depressive symptoms, yet these effects do not differ by race. Among widowed persons only, Blacks and Whites report similar levels of overall grief, yearning, intrusive thoughts, shock, depressive symptoms, and anxiety, whereas Blacks report significantly lower levels of anger and despair. The racial gap in anger is explained by Blacks' higher levels of religious participation and social support from children, whereas the difference in despair reflects Blacks' higher levels of preloss marital conflict. Keywords: African Americans; bereavement; grief; psychological adjustment; racial differences: widowhood

Using the spontaneous memories of a national sample of Americans in 1985, Schuman and Scott (1989) largely confirmed Mannheim's theory of generational identity by demonstrating that respondents' age structured their recall of important national and world events over the past 50 years. But they did not find the predicted age patterns for whites' recollections of civil rights. I argue that their failure was the consequence of ignoring regional differences in the impact of the Civil Rights movement on whites. Because the South was the target of and the battlefield for civil rights, 'civil rights memory' should be greater for southern whites who experienced the movement as mature teenagers or young adults than for their equal-aged peers elsewhere or for southern whites in different age groups. I also hypothesize that this cohort of southern whites should attribute more historical importance to civil rights than do others. Both hypotheses are supported by analysis of the 1993 General Social Survey and Schuman's and Scott's original 1985 data. The theoretical import of the study is that where highly charged events happen shapes consciousness and memory, suggesting that Mannheim's idea of the 'social location' of generational identity formation is place-specific, as well as age-dependent.

Some research reports that divorce exerts greater negative effects on the mental health of Whites compared with African Americans. However, this literature is limited by inadequate attention to temporal dimensions of marital dissolution, in particular stages of the process and duration in each stage. This study incorporates stage and duration into an examination of race differences in the effects of marital dissolution on symptoms of depression and substance abuse or dependence. Data are drawn from the 1983 Piedmont Health Survey (PHS) of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program (N = 1,941). Results suggest that the mental health effects of marital dissolution are not weaker for African Americans; rather, the nature and timing of the effects vary by race. Furthermore, gender interacts with race to influence the impact of separation and divorce on mental health. Keywords: separation; divorce; African Americans; mental health; gender

This study investigated psychological dimensions of race and religion by examining the relationship between the White racial identity statuses proposed by J. E. Helms (1984, 1990d, 1995), Contact, Disintegration, Reintegration, Pseudo-Independence, Immersion/Emersion, and Autonomy, and 4 forms of religious orientation, intrinsic, extrinsic, fundamentalism, and quest. Participants included 233 undergraduates from a public university in the southeastern United States. They completed the White Racial Identity Attitudes Scale (J. E. Helms & R. T. Carter, 1990), 3 measures of religious orientation, and a demographic questionnaire. A canonical correlation analysis found 3 significant canonical pairs suggesting that higher and more complex racial identity statuses may be positively related to more integrated and flexible forms of religious orientation. Implications for counseling are noted., During the last 40 years, researchers have studied the relationship between psychological development and religion (see Worthington, 1989 for an extensive review of the literature regarding psychological and religious development). [...]

Purpose: We developed manual-guided, replicable interventions based on common needs and cultural preferences of White and African American family caregivers (CGs) of individuals with dementia, and we evaluated these interventions after a 6-month follow-up. Design and Methods: We randomly assigned White (n = 70) and African American (n = 48) CGs of individuals with dementia to either a skills training condition or a minimal support control condition. Results: The degree of treatment implementation was methodically assessed, and findings demonstrated that both interventions were delivered according to protocol and were well received by CGs. CGs in both groups reported decreasing levels of problem behaviors and appraisals of behavioral bother, and increased satisfaction with leisure activities over time. On a measure of appraisal of distress related to behavior problems, White CGs showed more improvement in the minimal support control condition, and African American CGs showed the greatest improvements in the skills training condition. Spouse and nonspouse CGs also showed differential responses to intervention. Implications: Brief manual-guided interventions can be effective with White and African American CGs, and greater attention should be paid to possible differential responses to interventions by race and relationship to care recipient. Key Words: Dementia caregiving, Intervention, Racial diversity

Building on previous literature of deracialization and white voting behavior, the author empirically tests whether the effectiveness of deracialization, measured by white crossover vote, may be conditional, dependent on urban racial contexts. The author examined 81 black candidates' white votes in New Orleans biracial elections between 1977 and 1998. The results of ordinary least squares multiple regressions show that the differences in white crossover voting in New Orleans during the past two decades were related to black candidates' strength. The relatively larger effect of newspaper endorsement on white crossover voting, compared to that of black incumbency, confirms previous findings regarding the powerful influence of news media on biracial elections in general and the deracialization strategy in particular. The most important finding of this research, however, is that the deracialization strategy was most effective when white voters were no longer the majority in the urban elections. Keywords: deracialization; white voting behavior; urban election; biracial elections

Psychosocial buffers were evaluated for their relative contributions to adolescents' perceived risk for suicide. A community sample of African American and White adolescents (N = 1,098) rated the likelihood that they would die by suicide and completed standardized measures of depression, hopelessness, intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity, orthodoxy, social support, and causal attributional style. Orthodoxy--commitment to core beliefs--emerged as the single strongest correlate after controlling for the effects of other buffers. The effect of depression on perceived suicide risk was moderated by the adolescent's degree of orthodoxy. Commitment to core, life-saving beliefs may help explain the religion-suicide link for adolescents.

Past studies have found that Asian Americans and White Americans differ not only on global levels of well-being but also on the bases for judgments of well-being. The authors examined whether cultural norms about specific mental health problems predict self-reports of those symptoms above and beyond the subjective assessment of their own functioning. Asian Americans (n = 200) and White Americans (n = 200) rated how normative they viewed depression and social anxiety syndromes and completed self-report measures of depression, social anxiety, and disability. The results revealed that perceived cultural norms about depression were related to depressive symptom reports among Asian Americans but not among White Americans. Cultural norms about social anxiety were not differentially associated with reports of social anxiety in the two ethnic groups.

This study employed the integrated threat theory of intergroup attitudes to examine the attitudes of Black and White students toward the other racial group. This theory synthesizes previous research on the relationships of threats to intergroup attitudes. Structural equation modeling revealed that for both racial groups, realistic threats, symbolic threats, and intergroup anxiety predicted attitudes toward the other group. To varying degrees, the effects of negative contact, strength of ingroup identity, perceptions of intergroup conflict, perceived status inequality, and negative stereotyping on negative racial attitudes were mediated by the three threat variables. The model accounted for more variance in the negative attitudes of Whites toward Blacks than in the negative attitudes of Blacks toward Whites. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The increasing ethnic diversity in the U.S. population raises important challenges for community service systems. Little is known about the extent to which service systems meet the needs of different communities of color. This paper examines service utilization and unmet needs of Puerto Rican adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) in comparison to non-Latino white adults with ID to understand better the experiences of midlife and aging families from diverse backgrounds who have entered the service system. In addition, we examine the relationship of maternal support groups to service utilization and unmet service needs. We hypothesize that support groups would be an important resource for Puerto Rican mothers of adults with ID in facilitating greater use of formal services and decreasing the level of unmet service needs for their son or daughter with ID. Findings indicate that Puerto Rican adults with ID in this study had more severe impairments, received a comparable number of services, and had higher unmet service needs than non-Latino white adults with ID. In the multivariate analysis we examined factors that contribute to service utilization and unmet need for each group. We found that maternal support group participation was a significant predictor of greater service utilization and lower unmet need for Puerto Rican adults with ID, but not for non-Latino whites. These findings suggest that offering caregiver support groups may be a culturally relevant way for service systems to reach out to Puerto Rican families.

Individuals experience solo status when they are the only members of their social category (e.g., gender or race) present in a group. Field research indicates that women and racial minorities are more debilitated by solo status than White men. However, laboratory research indicates that men and women are equally debilitated as solos. We noted that laboratory studies introduced solo status during learning, whereas field research examined solo status at performance. Therefore, we predicted that high and low social status group members would be differentially influenced by solo status experienced during testing. In two laboratory experiments, men and women and African Americans and Whites experienced solo status during an oral examination. In Experiment 1, White women performed more poorly than White men taking the exam before an opposite-sex (but same-race) audience. In Experiment 2, African American women performed more poorly than White women taking the exam before an other-race (but same-gender) audience.

This study investigated the interactive influences of diagnosticity instructions, gender, and ethnicity as they related to task performance. In a laboratory experiment of 120 male and female, Latino and White college students, both a gender-based and an ethnicity-based stereotype-threat effect were found to influence performance on a test of mathematical and spatial ability. Closer inspection revealed that the gender effect was qualified by ethnicity, whereas the ethnicity effect was not qualified by gender. This suggests that the ethnicity of Latino women sensitized them to negative stereotypes about their gender, leading to a performance decrement in a context in which stereotype threat was activated. In contrast, it appeared that the gender of Latino women did not sensitize them to negative stereotypes about their ethnicity, because both male and female Latinos evidenced ethnicity-based stereotype threat. These findings have implications for the interplay between multiple group identities as they relate to concern for confirming negative stereotypes.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) was applied to 1,558 Caucasian and 229 African American psychiatric inpatients, and the results were examined for ethnic differences and test bias. Although some MMPI-2 scales exhibited bias in underpredicting psychopathology in the African American patients, in the majority of applications the differences were minor and clinically insignificant.

Inman and Baron (1996) found that African Americans and Whites possess prototypes for racist behavior that involve Whites oppressing African Americans. However, prototypical content may be more detailed and specific for African Americans because of differing cultural experiences. In the present experiment, undergraduates read stories about interpersonal encounters representing prototypical and nonprototypical situations. Actor race ambiguity was manipulated by the presence or absence of photographs. As expected, Whites tended to make equal ratings of prejudiced behavior for prototypical and nonprototypical situations. However, African Americans perceived more prejudice in prototypical vignettes than in nonprototypical vignettes. They also perceived stronger prejudicial displays and more dispositional motivation for targets in prototypical vignettes. The results suggest that African Americans have heightened sensitivity to prejudice in specific situations, a factor that may contribute to racial confrontations and misunderstandings.

Research suggests cognitive empowerment is not directly related to citizen participation, and this principle applies equally to African Americans and whites. African Americans have generally demonstrated greater understanding of how power shapes relationships than whites.

Why do racial differences in many indicators of mental and emotional well-being show inconsistent patterns? We propose that mental and emotional well-being are influenced by aspects of the social context, including experiences of unfair treatment and the concentration of households with incomes below the poverty level, and that differential exposure to these factors influences racial differences in mental well-being. We analyze the reporting of psychological distress and life satisfaction in a multistage area probability sample of 1,139 African American and white residents of the Detroit metropolitan area aged 18 and older. Both psychological distress and life satisfaction are significantly associated with exposure to unfair treatment and with the proportion of households in the census block group that were below the poverty level. Racial differences in psychological distress and life satisfaction were eliminated or reversed once differentials in the percent of households living below the poverty line and exposure to unfair treatment were accounted for. These findings contribute to a growing body of evidence that 'race' effects operate through multiple pathways that include race-based residential segregation and its attendant economic disinvestment at the community level, and interpersonal experiences of unfair treatment.

This study examined whether Asian Americans and White Americans would show differential patterns of reporting their levels of depressive and social anxiety symptoms depending on the method of reporting, Standard self-report measures of depressive, social anxiety, and somatic symptomatology as well as measures of cultural self-construal and social desirability were administered twice to Asian American and White American participants. The results showed that there were no interaction effects between ethnicity and reporting method in any of the self-report measures, both ethnic groups reported lower levels of depressive symptoms in interview condition than in written condition, and Asian Americans reported higher levels of social anxiety than White Americans on both interview and written conditions. The findings suggest that although the method of reporting does not differentially affect Asian Americans, there are persistent ethnic differences between Asian Americans and White Americans in the types and levels of distress they report.

This article examines cultural differences in perceptions of elder abuse in three ethnic groups. Results indicate that whites and African Americans had similar attitudes toward abuse but Korean Americans had higher tolerance levels for abusive behaviors such as financial exploitation and medical mistreatment and more negative perceptions of reporting abuse.

Using a sample of four to nine year-old children from the 1992 wave of the Children of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth data set, we evaluated racial and ethnic differences in the effects of current poverty and the persistence of poverty on child emotional and behavioral problems, and in the variables responsible for those effects. We considered three sets of variables in the latter analysis - mother's early characteristics and behaviors; correlated sociodemographic characteristics; and mediators (neighborhood problems, mother's psychological resources, and characteristics of the home environment) - and evaluated their relevance across three racial/ethnic subgroups (blacks, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites). Consistent with our expectations, we observed a significantly stronger effect of the persistence of poverty on child problems for whites than for blacks, an effect that is attributable to the relatively strong association between poverty and mother's prior history of delinquency and current marital status among whites. The effect of poverty on child problems was substantially explained for blacks by mother's early self-esteem, whereas mediating processes took on greater relevance for Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites. Our results support the conclusion that there are racial/ethnic differences in the selection processes and proximal conditions that are responsible for the diminished psychological well-being of poor children.