Racial Discrimination and Depressive Symptoms among African American men: The mediating and moderating roles of Masculine Self-Reliance and John Henryism

Racial discrimination is a primary risk-factor for depression among African American men. Yet, mechanisms underlying this relationship are not well understood. John Henryism is a coping mechanism shown to modify the physical health effects of racial discrimination among this group. However, it is unclear if John Henryism similarly modifies racism's mental health effects. Men's mental health outcomes are also shaped by masculine norms, which may reinforce active-coping stress responses. We investigate the mediating role of John Henryism and the moderating role of self-reliance in the relationship between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms in a sample of African American men (N=255) recruited from barbershops in the South and West regions of the US. Participants completed measures assessing John Henryism, self-reliance and racial discrimination. We used a 12-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale to assess our outcome. Our regression analyses revealed African American men with more frequent racial discrimination experiences also reported more depressive symptoms (β = .30, p < .001). African American men who reported more John Henryism reported fewer depressive symptoms (β = -.31, p < .001), though John Henryism did not mediate the racial discrimination-depression relationship. Tests for moderation detected a more pronounced positive relationship between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms among men with higher self-reliance (β = .28, p < .05). Although John Henryism was associated with fewer depressive symptoms, our findings suggest this strategy is not a primary mechanism linking racial discrimination to poor mental health among African American men.