Will the Children be Alright?: Exploring the Association of Structural Racism Awareness and Mental Health Outcomes of Black Adolescents

Abstract

Studies examining the impact of racism on Black adolescent mental health have largely focused on interpersonal racial discrimination, with limited attention to structural racism as a social determinant of health (SoDH). As awareness of structural racism’s influence grows, new frameworks are needed to explain how macrosystem-level processes filter through the lives of Black youth to shape their everyday experiences and mental health outcomes. This three-manuscript dissertation addresses this gap by exploring how structural racism influences Black adolescents’ mental health through cognitive, social, and digital pathways. The first manuscript critically reviews theoretical and conceptual frameworks that link racism to Black youth mental health. It evaluates the extent to which these frameworks account for structural racism’s influence and proposes a model that explains how youth exposed to structural racism cognitively recognize and interpret these experiences. The model highlights youth’s stress appraisal and coping processes that forecast variability in mental health outcomes. The second manuscript investigates the role of structural racism in predicting depressive symptoms among Black adolescents. Using secondary data from the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS) and a sample of 741 Black American middle adolescents, this study examines whether neighborhood segregation and individual causal attributions of inequality predict depressive symptoms. Findings revealed that individual causal attributions of inequality, but not segregation, significantly predicted depressive symptoms. Additionally, cultural pride socialization moderated the relationship between causal attributions of inequality and depressive symptoms among girls. These findings underscore the influence of internalized cultural ideologies on youth mental health. The third manuscript examines social media as a contemporary context in which messages about racism are shared and interpreted. In light of increasing hostility toward formal discussions of racism in public institutions, this study explores how TikTok content serves as a platform for transmitting racialized messages. A thematic analysis of 250 videos under five commonly viewed racism-related hashtags revealed that while racism is rooted in systemic and structural oppression, TikTok content predominantly depicted interpersonal racism. This finding highlights social media’s potential role in shaping adolescents' emerging perceptions of racism and their ability to recognize its structural origins. Together, these studies advance understanding of how Black youth come to recognize and make meaning of structural racism, with implications for future research and preventive interventions aimed at promoting adolescent mental health.