Does hearing about or witnessing someone else experience discrimination harm individuals’ mental health? Using data from the Nashville Stress and Health Study, we answer this question by examining how vicarious discrimination impacts depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and anger among black Americans. We also test whether mastery and self-esteem moderate the association between vicarious discrimination and each mental health outcome. Findings indicate experiencing vicarious discrimination via a family member has a similar impact on mental health to personally experiencing discrimination. While experiencing vicarious discrimination via a close friend also increased mental health problems, it appeared to be less harmful than personally experiencing discrimination. Moreover, self-esteem moderated the association between vicarious discrimination via a family member and via a close friend and mental health, while mastery did not. This study provides new insights into ways vicarious discrimination impacts health as well as the role that psychosocial resources play in shaping this relationship.

听说或目睹他人遭受歧视是否会损害个人的心理健康？使用来自纳什维尔压力与健康研究的数据，我们通过研究替代歧视如何影响美国黑人的抑郁症状、焦虑症状和愤怒来回答这个问题。我们还测试了掌握和自尊是否会调节替代歧视与每种心理健康结果之间的关联。调查结果表明，通过家庭成员遭受替代性歧视对心理健康的影响与个人遭受歧视的影响相似。虽然通过密友遭受替代性歧视也会增加心理健康问题，但它似乎比个人遭受歧视的危害要小。而且，自尊缓和了通过家庭成员和密友进行的替代性歧视与心理健康之间的关联，而掌握则没有。这项研究为替代歧视影响健康的方式以及心理社会资源在塑造这种关系中所起的作用提供了新的见解。