(PS8-65) Meaning-making and Civic Engagement as Pathways to Resilience in the Context of Racial/ethnic Discrimination

The present study examined two levels of coping as pathways to resilience in individuals who face racial/ethnic discrimination (RD). RD is a stressor that racially/ethnically minoritized individuals encounter interpersonally and structurally both within and outside of treatment settings. This study aimed to spotlight individuals impacted by RD by examining responses to these experiences that may serve to mitigate the harmful outcomes of this stressor and promote resilience. We hypothesized that meaning-making (i.e., the effortful process of understanding why an event occurred and its implications to better fit into one’s life narrative) and engaging in group-oriented action (i.e., civic engagement for the betterment of one’s community) would be associated with significantly less mental and physical health problems. To test our hypothesis, we collected data on experiences of RD, levels of civic engagement, activism, meaning-making, physical health, life satisfaction, and depression in a nationwide sample of 404 self-identified Black and Latine college students (M_age = 23.7), via the online platform Prolific. Results revealed that in individuals who have recently experienced RD, civic engagement and meaning-making predicted less depression. This association was not present for physical health outcomes. Additionally, there was a significant interaction between meaning-making and civic engagement in predicting depression such that greater meaning-making of experiences of RD was associated with less depressive symptoms across the sample, but the strength of this relationship differed by the amount of civic engagement reported. Specifically, for individuals reporting high levels of civic engagement, meaning-making was associated most strongly with less depressive symptoms

This study has practical implications in a clinical setting as it provides evidence for the potential effectiveness of both individual and community level interventions that could increase the well-being of individuals in our practice who face RD. Particularly, promoting the incorporation of experiences of RD into meaningful narratives to help clients understand why such events take place and their implications as well as promoting engagements in their communities for their betterment for all can have positive impacts in their well-being. Future research that assesses these strategies within controlled clinical settings are recommended for the integration of interventions that advance community resilience and public health in oppressed groups.