Working Harder than Others to Prove Yourself: High-Effort Coping as a Buffer between Teacher-Perpetrated Racial Discrimination and Mental Health among Black American Adolescents

Abstract

High-effort coping (feeling like one must work harder than others to succeed due to anticipated discrimination) is an understudied concept in adolescence. The current study examined among Black American adolescents surveyed in eighth and 11^th grade (N = 630, 49% female) how high-effort coping moderated the relations between teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and psychological distress across time, and whether the buffering role of high-effort coping varied by adolescent gender and socioeconomic status. Experiencing racial discrimination from teachers in eighth grade was positively related with depressive symptoms, anger, and suicidal ideation in 11^th grade. High-effort coping buffered against teacher discrimination for suicidal ideation among low socioeconomic status youth, as well as for anger among high socioeconomic status youth. Findings underscore the harmful influence of racial discrimination on Black American adolescents’ mental health, as well as suggest that among certain subpopulations, high-effort coping may be one psychologically protective resource through which Black American youth retain positive feelings that are undermined by racial discrimination, and thus promote mental well-being.

Introduction

Racial disparities in the treatment of White versus Black students in American schools have a long history, and unfortunately continue well into the 21^st century (Pearman et al., 2019). Today, Black American students continue to experience racial discrimination in the classroom in the form of underestimation from their teachers, being prevented from moving up to the next grade, receiving harsher grades, and stricter discipline than their White peers (see Gregory et al., 2010, for a review). Because of such racism, many Black Americans often feel like they must exert more effort and determination than White Americans to succeed (Bronder et al., 2014). This has been called high-effort coping (Bronder et al., 2014), and refers to feeling that because of one’s race, one will always have to work harder than others in life to succeed. One specific conceptualization of this style of effortful coping is known as John Henryism (James, 1994), which has been shown to be harmful to physical health among Black American adults by exaggerating biological responses to stress. However, the implications of high-effort coping for mental health are far less understood. Among Black American adults, some studies find high-effort coping related to more depressive symptoms (Neighbors et al., 2007), while others find it related to less depressive symptoms (Bronder et al., 2014; Matthews et al., 2013). Little is still known about the psychological implications of using high-effort coping to cope with racism experienced in the classroom for young Black adolescents who experience discrimination from teachers. The current study investigates the role of high-effort coping as a buffer against teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination for Black adolescents’ mental health from mid- to late-adolescence.

Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST)

Racial discrimination, defined as unfair, differential treatment based on race, is a common experience for racial minority youth in the United States (García Coll et al., 1996). Within the different contexts that children exist (e.g., home, school, community, etc.), the effects of race and racism influence children’s development, culture, and the environment by limiting resources, segregating neighborhoods, and reducing education opportunities. It is in response to these extra stressors and inhibiting environments that minority children are at risk for emotional and psychological distress as they develop (García Coll et al., 1996). However, many youth faced with adversity do not experience psychological dysfunction, and these differences in outcomes can perhaps be explained by variation in coping.

In order to integrate how racial discrimination experiences, contextual factors, and coping mechanisms work to influence Black American adolescent development, this study relies on Spencer’s (1997) Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST). According to this model, racial/ethnic minority youth perceive and engage with discrimination stress differently based on the challenges and supports they receive in their ecological context (Spencer et al., 1997; Spencer, 2008). The model posits that there are risk contributors (e.g., race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender/sex) which influence one’s exposure to stress (e.g., racial discrimination). Individuals, based on their identity characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender/sex) and engagement with such stress, then develop solutions for coping with this stress. Eventually, behavioral and health outcomes (e.g., mental health) can be understood as “products” of the direct and interactive effects of risk contributors and coping methods (Spencer et al., 1997). Some adaptive solutions for coping with stress may be self-acceptance, positive attitude, and self-efficacy (Spencer et al., 1997). For Black American youth who experience teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination, working hard to achieve highly in school may be an adaptive solution to regain feelings of confidence and efficacy, which could be lost or diminished when faced with worse treatment from their teachers. As characteristics of high-effot coping (determination and achievement) are related to adaptive coping solutions (according to PVEST) such as achieved social status and self-confidence (Spencer et al., 1997), High-effort coping may be a form of protective coping for youth mental health (although possibly stressful to physical health). Additionally, youth who adopt positive and active (compared with passive) ways to cope with race-related stress appear to show greater confidence (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2008), which may facilitate self-esteem and self-efficacy. This is consistent with work on identity development which finds that adolescents who demonstrate high commitment tend to demonstrate more positive mental health (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2008). Black American youth who show effortful coping, such as hard work and determination, may reap the psychological benefits of high commitment and self-efficacy, even when faced with race-related stress.

High-Effort Coping: A Race-Relevant Coping Mechanism

“High effort” in this sense is characterized by traits such as efficacious mental vigor, a strong commitment to hard work, and determination to succeed (Bennett et al., 2004; James, 1994). The John Henryism hypothesis (James, 1994), which is named after the folklore of Black steel driver John Henry who raced to defeat a steam-powered drill in a steel-driving contest but died soon after his win from fatigue (Bennett et al., 2004), posits that Black Americans from low socioeconomic (SES) background who utilize a high-effort coping approach to deal with stress will be at risk for hypertension and other health concerns (James, 1994). A large body of research has given support to the John Henryism hypothesis with regard to physical health outcomes among Black American adults (Bennett et al., 2004; Volpe et al., 2020). The research examining John Henryism and physical health for Black American adolescents and young adults is much more limited and somewhat equivocal. One study found low-SES adolescents who scored high on John Henryism had particularly high resting cardiovascular activity (Wright et al., 1996), and a more recent study found that Black college students attending predominantly White institutions (PWIs) with mean and high levels of John Henryism showed higher diastolic blood pressure as exposure to racial discrimination increased (whereas this was not found for those with low John Henryism; Volpe et al., 2020). Conversely, John Henryism has also been shown to buffer the negative effects of economic strain on physiological stress arousal among Black American young adults (Schmeelk-Cone et al., 2003).

Feeling more in control of one’s situation can reduce perceptions of stress (Bernard et al., 2020; Haritatos et al., 2007), which might explain why among the limited research of high-effort coping and mental health, there is a pattern of higher John Henryism being directly related to better mental health (Bronder et al., 2014; Hill & Hoggard, 2018; Matthews et al., 2013). Examining John Henryism as a moderator between racial discrimination and mental health has produced equivocal findings. One study with Black American men found that men who were not high effort copers (but did actively respond to racial discrimination) showed a stronger association between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms compared with men who were high effort copers, thus indicating a protective nature of high-effort coping for this specific population (Black American men who actively respond to racial discrimination; Matthews et al., 2013). However, a different study with Black American adult men and women did not find any evidence of John Henryism moderating the relation between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms (Hudson et al., 2016). With regard to high-effort coping and mental health among young Black Americans, a recent study with Black college students at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) found that John Henryism directly exacerbated social anxiety (Bernard et al. 2020). In sum, little still is known about the utility of high-effort coping to protect the mental health of young Black American adolescents faced with teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination, emphasizing that early and middle adolescence are particularly sensitive periods for experiencing race-based social rejection (Killen et al., 2002), self-confidence and identity development (Martinez & Dukes, 1997), and psychological distress (Keles et al., 2020).

High-Effort Coping and Black American Adolescent Mental Health

There is reason to suggest that high-effort coping may be a psychological coping strategy which is protective for youth mental health in certain instances. As commitment and determination are generally associated with more positive mental health in adolescence (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2008), it is possible that for Black American adolescents, working hard to achieve highly in school may be an effective psychological coping strategy to regain feelings of confidence and efficacy potentially lost from experiencing racial discrimination from their teachers. A young Black adolescent may psychologically benefit from perceiving more control over their environment and taking an effortful coping approach to deal with discrimination from their teachers, as many Black students learn (out of necessity) to remain steadfast and not allow negative treatment to derail their success (Rosenbloom & Way, 2004; Thomas et al., 2009). Additionally, considering their youth and comparatively less life experience than adults, Black American adolescents, who absolutely encounter racial bias and discrimination (Grollman, 2012), may however have less experience with racial discrimination than Black adults. With fewer cumulative racial discrimination experiences over time than their adult counterparts (Blank, 2005), adolescents may not feel so “worn down” by a lifetime of experiencing racial discrimination, and could thus feel more effective and optimistic about hard work getting them where they want to go in life. Adolescents, due to their youth and more limited life experience, may still believe hard work and determination to be equalizers for success. Feeling effective in combating teacher-perpetrated discrimination through determination and commitment to their schoolwork may be one pathway by which high-effort coping may protect Black adolescent mental health from the negative effects of teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination.

Adolescent Gender and SES as Moderators

High-effort coping may be protective against the negative effects of racial discrimination on youth psychological outcomes (Zimmerman et al., 2013); however, these processes may look different among groups with different levels of stress and socialized expectations (e.g., high and low SES, boys and girls, etc.). Racial/ethnic minority boys and girls often experience teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination differently (Brittian et al., 2013; Cogburn et al., 2011). For example, Black American boys are more likely to receive unfair or inequitable discipline and lower expectations from their teachers than Black American girls (Cogburn et al., 2011). Black American girls are also more likely than boys to be socialized to value and perform well in school (Varner & Mandara, 2013), so high-effort coping specifically within the classroom might be more expected of girls. Additionally, due to known gender differences in internalizing and externalizing psychological symptoms (Verhulst et al., 2003), testing the role of adolescent gender as a moderator of the associations between high-effort coping and mental health outcomes is a main goal of the current study.

Black American individuals from low-SES backgrounds who are high-effort copers are typically exposed to more stressors (i.e., racial and economic strain) and have less access to resources (e.g., therapy, exercise, self-care time) necessary to buffer against excessive wear-and-tear on the body (James, 1994). Examining the direct link between John Henryism and mental health, some research has found that SES does not moderate this association across multiple racial groups (Bronder et al., 2014). However, theoretical considerations point to the possibility that SES may influence the relation among racial discrimination, high-effort coping, and mental health for Black American youth. Without economic privilege, low-SES Black American youth who experience both race-related and economic strain may be disproportionally stressed and less equipped to combat race-related stress, and thus their mental health may be more likely to suffer (Zimmerman et al., 2013). High-SES Black American adolescents may come from families which, consciously or unconsciously, socialize and encourage high-effort coping to achieve success. Given that higher-SES Black Americans often experience high levels of racial discrimination due to their increased likelihood of living and working in predominantly White environments (Salami & Walker, 2014), it is possible that the parents of young high-effort copers may have transmitted strong messaging about the necessity of having to work harder than others due to being Black. For high-SES adolescents, who have the availability of more coping and material resources than their low-SES peers (Clark et al., 2001), high-effort coping may be encouraged and serve as an effective way to cope with discrimination.

Current Study

The psychological implications of using high-effort coping to cope with racism for young Black adolescents are still largely unexplored. The current study longitudinally examined the relations between teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination, high-effort coping, and Black American mental health across mid- to late-adolescence, as well as how these associations varied based on youth gender and SES (see Figure 1). First, it was hypothesized that teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination experienced in eighth grade would be positively associated with depressive symptoms, anger, and suicidal ideation in 11^th grade. Second, it was hypothesized that high-effort coping would buffer the influence of eighth grade teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination for Black adolescent mental health in 11^th grade. Third, it was hypothesized that these relations would look different for boys versus girls and for low-SES versus high-SES adolescents. Specifically, it was hypothesized that high-effort coping would be an effective buffer against teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination for Black adolescent girls and high-SES adolescents. Black American girls are more likely to be socialized with high expectations for academic performance, so high-effort coping specifically within the classroom might be more expected of girls. Without the buffering nature that economic privilege provides, low-SES youth who experience teacher discrimination may be less equipped with other protective factors, thus high-effort coping was not expected to be an effective buffer for low-SES youth, whereas it was expected to buffer the influence of teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination for higher-SES adolescents.

Figure 1.

Conceptual model. Note: W3= Wave 3 (eighth grade). W4 = Wave 4 (11^th grade).

Method

Participants

Data were from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study (MADICS), a longitudinal study of 1482 adolescents and their families (61% African American, 35% European American; Eccles, 1991). Data for the present study were from the eighth grade (wave 3) and 11^th grade (wave 4) MADICS surveys and include youth who identified as African American or Black in the eighth-grade survey, qualifying 630 African American and Black adolescents for this study (49% female). Most of the adolescents’ primary caregivers (86% mother; 66% married) were born in the United States (91%). One-third had a high school diploma or less (36%), and one third completed a 2- or 4-year college degree (31%). The median household income was $45,000-$49,000.

Procedure

The MADICS data were collected by administering questionnaires and interviews in English at multiple waves with target youth and their primary caregiver. In the current study, the primary youth variables of interest were collected via youth self-report surveys in eighth grade (high-effort coping, teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination, and mental health) and 11^th grade (mental health). The MADICS began as part of a larger longitudinal evaluation study of adolescents (for sampling information, see Cook et al., 1999). Data collection began in the fall of target youth’ seventh-grade year in 1991 (Wave 1). The current study utilizes data from Wave 3 when adolescents were in eighth grade (fall 1993) and Wave 4 when adolescents were in 11^th grade (fall 1996 and spring 1997). Waves 3 and 4 are utilized for the current study because these waves include extensive race-related and psychological measures (whereas Waves 1 and 2 do not include all relevant measures). The MADICS remains one of the largest publicly available datasets of Black adolescent normative development that richly measures racial experiences, thus the MADICS data are uniquely equipped to answer the proposed research questions.

Measures

Teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination.

Perceived racial discrimination from teachers was assessed in eighth grade using items developed by the MADICS researchers (Wong et al., 2003). Adolescents responded to five items about how often they felt they were treated unfairly by their teachers due to their race (e.g., “how often do you feel that teachers grade you harder than they grade other kids because of your race?”). These five items were averaged to create the composite variable teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination (α = .88). All discrimination items used a 5-point scale with response options being 1 = never, 2 = a couple of times each year, 3 = a couple of times each month, 4 = once or twice each week, and 5 = every day.

Depressive symptoms.

Adolescents completed Kovacs’ (1992) Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) in eighth and 11^th grade to assess depressive symptoms from the past 2 weeks. The composite variable depressive symptoms is a sum of 26 items assessing themes like feelings of sadness (e.g., I am sad; I feel like crying), loneliness (e.g., I feel alone), and sleeping problems (e.g., I have trouble sleeping; I am tired). Certain items were reverse coded so a higher summed score represented more depressive symptoms. Response options ranged from 0 to 2 depending on the question (α = .87 in eighth grade; α = .84 in 11^th grade).

Anger.

Anger was assessed in eighth and 11^th grade by summing three items from the Symptoms Checklist Revised (SCL-90-R; Derogatis, 1992; Derogatis et al., 1976): Within the last month (including today), how often have you 1) felt so angry you wanted to smash or break something, 2) felt you couldn’t control your temper, and 3) felt so upset you wanted to hit or hurt someone. Response options ranged from 0 = almost never to 4 = almost always (α = .77 in eighth grade; α = .86 in 11^th grade).

Suicidal ideation.

Adolescent suicidal ideation was assessed in eighth and 11^th grade with one item also adapted from the SCL-90-R (Derogatis, 1992; Derogatis et al., 1976): “During the last month (including today), how often have you had thoughts of ending your life?”. Response options ranged from 0 = almost never to 4 = almost always.

High-effort coping (HEC).

HEC was assessed in eighth grade and was averaged from two items (r = .83) developed by the MADICS: “Because of your race, no matter how hard you work, you will always have to work harder than others to prove yourself” and “Because of your race, it is important that you do better than other kids at school in order to get ahead.” Responses ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree.

Gender.

Self-reported adolescent gender from the eighth-grade survey was included as a moderator for multiple group analyses. Survey response options only included male and female.

Socioeconomic status (SES).

Adolescents’ family socioeconomic status (SES) was determined by their primary caregiver’s highest level of education, most often the child’s mother (86%). Primary caregivers completed interviews during Wave 1 (1991; youth’ seventh-grade year) where they indicated their own highest level of education. As individual income data often lack precision and reliability and do not account for racial inequities in the distribution of wealth in the United States (Shavers, 2007), it has been suggested that primary caregiver’s education is a more reliable measure of youth’s material and nonmaterial resources compared to family income for Black American samples (Cogburn et al., 2011; Entwisle & Astone, 1994 Gordon-Larsen et al., 2003). As a moderator in multiple group analyses, this variable was dichotomized to compare youth whose primary caregiver completed high school or less (low-SES) and those who completed at least some college (high-SES).

Covariates.

Primary caregiver marital status (married; widowed; separated; divorced; never married), adolescent birth order (first-born; not first-born), primary caregiver relation to adolescent (biological parent; foster parent; grandparent; stepparent; adoptive parent; other), primary caregiver gender (male; female), and eighth-grade mental health (depressive symptoms, anger, and suicidal ideation) were included as covariates.

Analysis Plan

Data were prepared in SPSS v.25 and path analyses were conducted in Mplus v.8 in a single and multiple-group framework. First, for each continuous outcome (11^th grade depressive symptoms, anger, suicidal ideation), all main effects were estimated (covariates, teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination, and HEC) simultaneously. Path models were fit using the default maximum likelihood estimator. Second, a 2-way interaction between the eighth-grade predictor variables (teacher-perpetrated discrimination X HEC) was added into the model. Continuous predictor variables were mean-centered, and the interaction terms were computed with the mean-centered variables prior to path analyses. Third, through multiple-group path analysis it was tested whether differences in the structural parameters across groups (males vs. females; low SES vs. high SES) were statistically significant. Adjusted Wald tests were employed to test for significant overall differences in models between groups. Significant interactions (between teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and HEC) were probed at 1 standard deviation above and below the mean of the moderator using procedures described by Aiken and colleagues (1991).

Full-information maximum likelihood (FIML) was used to handle missing data. Less than 2.5% of the data were missing on the eighth-grade predictor variables, eighth-grade anger and suicidal ideation, and covariates. Fifteen percent of the data were missing for eighth-grade depressive symptoms due to this variable being comprised of 26 items, and values for the composite were not computed if a participant was missing data on any of the individual 26 items. A larger portion of data was missing for the 11^th grade mental health outcomes (33.5% for depressive symptoms, 22.5% for anger, and 23.0% for suicidal ideation) due to some 11^th grade participants skipping the mental health portion of the survey. Little’s test of missing completely at random (MCAR; Little, 1988) indicated that all variables except for SES were missing completely at random (χ²(267) = 213.20, p = .993). When SES was added to the MCAR test, the data were not missing completely at random (χ²(340) = 7.82.76, p < .001).

Results

Descriptive Results

Descriptive statistics of the main study variables are shown in Table 1 and correlations among study variables are shown in Table 2. Of note, males reported slightly higher teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination (M = 7.86, SD = 4.00) than females (M = 6.68, SD = 3.58), and independent samples t-test showed these means significantly differed by gender (t = −3.80, p < .001). Regression analyses were run in two models; Model 1 included covariates and main effects (teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and HEC), and Model 2 included covariates, main effects, and the 2-way interaction between teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and HEC.

Table 1.

Descriptive statistics of study variables (N = 630)

Variable	Min	Max	M(SD)	Freq(%)
8th grade Teacher-perpetrated discrimination (mean)	4.20	21.00	7.32(3.87)
8th grade High-effort coping (mean)	1.50	6.00	3.75(1.40)
8th grade Depressive symptoms (sum)	0.00	44.00	10.17(7.96)
8th grade Anger (sum)	0.00	12.00	4.35(3.25)
8th grade Suicidal ideation (single item)	0.00	4.00	0.60(1.07)
11th grade Depressive symptoms (sum)	0.00	31.00	9.46(6.65)
11th grade Anger (sum)	0.00	12.00	3.73(3.14)
11th grade Suicidal ideation (sum)	0.00	4.00	0.38(0.86)
Adolescent gender: female				49%
PCG highest level of education (Adolescent SES) a
11th grade or less				5.6%
Graduated high school				35.9%
Some college				16.6%
Graduated 2-year college				19.9%
Graduated 4-year college				11.0%
1 or 2 year Masters degree				10.0%
MD, Law, PhD, or other doctoral degree				1.0%
PCG marital status
Married				58.9%
Widowed				3.2%
Separated				11.3%
Divorced				14.1%
Never married				11.4%
Adolescent birth order: first-born				49.5%
PCG relationship: mother				86%

Note:

^aAdolescent SES was defined as high-SES = PCG completed at least some college, and low-SES = PCG completed high school or less in multiple group moderation analyses. PCG = primary caregiver.

Table 2.

Bivariate correlations among study variables (N = 630)

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
1. Teacher disc.	--
2. High-effort coping	.27***	--
3. Depress. symptoms (8th)	.40***	.04	--
4. Anger (8th)	.33***	.11**	.40***	--
5. Suicidal ideation (8th)	.40***	.01	.55***	.37***	--
6. Depress. symptoms (11th)	.24***	.03	.46***	.19***	.17**	--
7. Anger (11th)	.14**	.05	.24***	.32***	.08	.41***	--
8. Suicidal ideation (11th)	.16***	.01	.21***	.07	.23***	.50***	.36***	--
9. Adolescent gender a	.15***	−.03	.03	.02	.07	−.03	.03	.04	--
10. Adolescent SES a	−.06	.08	−.01	−.07	−.09*	−.06	−.06	.03	−.02	--
11. PCG marital status	−.05	−.01	−.01	−.04	−.07	−.01*	−.11*	−.06	−.01	−.14**	--
12. Birth order a	−.04	.02	.00	−.01	−.05	−.08	−.06	−.04	−.01	−.05	.88***	--
13. PCG relationship	.01	.04	.03	−.01	.01	.02	−.05	.00	.08	−.03	−.02	−.02	--
14. PCG gender a	.02	.06	.02	−.03	.02	.06	−.09*	.04	−.12**	.04	.03	.03	.04	--

Note:

^aAdolescent gender (male = 1; female = 0), adolescent SES (PCG completed at least some college = 1; PCG completed high school or less = 0), and birth order (not first-born = 1; first born = 0), and PCG gender (male = 1; female = 0) are dummy variables. PCG = primary caregiver.

^*p < .05.

^**p < .01.

^***p < .001.

Linking Teacher-Perpetrated Racial Discrimination, High-Effort Coping (HEC), and Mental Health (Hypotheses 1 and 2)

First, results for the baseline, unconstrained path model for the total sample are presented. This model fit the data well, χ²(45) = 395.14, p < .001, CFI = .97, RMSEA = .05 [CI: .02, .09], SRMR = .01. Unstandardized path coefficients are provided in Table 3. There were no significant effects of teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination or HEC on 11^th grade depressive symptoms or anger among the total sample. For 11^th grade suicidal ideation, a significant interaction was observed between eighth-grade teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and HEC among the total sample (b = −.31, p = .002). Post-hoc probing revealed that among youth with low HEC in eighth grade, as exposure to teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination was higher, suicidal ideation in 11^th grade increased (t = 1.05, p < .001; see Figure 2). Youth with high HEC in eighth grade did not show a significant difference in 11^th grade suicidal ideation based on how much teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination they experienced in eighth grade. There were no significant interactions between teacher-perpetrated discrimination and HEC for anger or depressive symptoms for the total sample.

Table 3.

Associations among demographic variables, discrimination, and high-effort coping for the total sample and by SES.

	Total Sample			Low SES (N = 275)			High SES (N = 345)
	W4 Depressive Symptoms	W4 Anger	W4 Suicidal Ideation	W4 Depressive Symptoms	W4 Anger	W4 Suicidal Ideation	W4 Depressive Symptoms	W4 Anger	W4 Suicidal Ideation
Model 1: Covariates & Main Effects
PCG Marial Status	.02	.01	.03	−.01	.03*	.06	.04	−.01	.00
Adolescent Birth Order	.03	.00	.05	−.04	−.02	−.09	.04	.01	.16
Adolescent SES	−.07	−.02	.12	--	--	--	--	--	--
PCG Relationship	.02	−.05*	.02	−.06	−.06*	.07	.07	−.04	−.05
Adolescent Gender	−.09	.00	.04	−.10	−.02	.02	−.10	.02	.05
PCG Gender	.15*	−.10	.16	.20	−.16	−.02	.10	−.01	.36**
W3 Depressive Symptoms	.29***	--	--	.25***	--	--	.33***	--	--
W3 Anger	--	.30***	--	--	.16**	--	--	.41***	--
W3 Suicidal Ideation	--	--	.22***	--	--	.14*	--	--	.27***
Teacher Discrimination	.18	.02	.16	.41**	.06	.12	−.07	.00	.27
High-Effort Coping	.00	.00	−.01	−.05	.01	−.03	.03	.00	−.01
Model 2: Covariates, Main Effects, & 2-Way Interaction
PCG Marial Status	.02	.01	.04	.00	.03*	.08*	.04	−.01	.00
Adolescent Birth Order	.02	.00	.04	−.03	−.02	−.02	.03	.00	.13
Adolescent SES	−.08	−.02	.10	--	--	--	--	--	--
PCG Relationship	.02	−.05**	.02	−.06	−.06*	.05	.07	−.05**	−.05
Adolescent Gender	−.09	−.01	.03	−.08	−.02	.08	−.09	.01	.05
PCG Gender	.15*	−.09	.17	.18	−.10	−.07	.09	−.01	.38**
W3 Depressive Symptoms	.30***	--	--	.27***	--	--	.36***	--	--
W3 Anger	--	.30***	--	--	.18**	--	--	.40***	--
W3 Suicidal Ideation	--	--	.21***	--	--	.15**	--	--	.28***
Teacher Discrimination	.30*	.10	.62**	.62**	.11	.84**	.00	.11	.52*
High-Effort Coping	−.01	−.01	−.03	−.05	.00	−.03	.02	−.02	−.04
Teacher Disc X HEC	−.08	−.06	−.31**	−.10	.03	−.53**	−.02	−.17***	−.18

Note: Adjusted Wald test revealed significant overall differences in the paths between low and high SES adolescents (Wald estimate = 48.36; df = 15; p < .001). Path coefficients are unstandardized. PCG = primary caregiver; HEC = high-effort coping. All predictors are reported in eighth grade (W3); all outcomes are reported in 11^th grade (W4).

^*p < .05.

^**p < .01.

^***p < .001.

Figure 2.

The interaction between eighth-grade teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and high-effort coping predicting Black adolescents’ suicidal ideation in 11^th grade (total sample). The slope for low-HEC adolescents (solid line) is significant (t = 1.45, p < .001). The slope for high-HEC adolescents (dashed line) is not significant (t = .21, p = .84). Note: HEC = high-effort coping.

Multiple-Group Path Analysis by Gender (Hypothesis 3)

The path model grouping male and female adolescents fit the data well, χ²(12) = 23.05, p = .03, CFI = .97, RMSEA = .06 [CI: .02, .09], SRMR = .02. However, the adjusted Wald test revealed no significant overall difference in the paths between male and female adolescents (Wald’s χ² (15) = 18.24, p = .25). Therefore, testing paths by gender was not conducted.

Multiple-Group Path Analysis by SES (Hypothesis 3)

The path model grouping low-SES and high-SES adolescents fit the data well, χ²(12) = 30.18, p = .03, CFI = .96, RMSEA = .07 [CI: .04, .10], SRMR = .02. The adjusted Wald test revealed significant overall differences in the paths between low and high SES adolescents (Wald’s χ² (15) = 48.36, p < .001).

Low SES.

Among low SES adolescents, eighth grade teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination was significantly related to more depressive symptoms (b = .41, p = .001) and suicidal ideation (b = .84, p = .01) in 11^th grade. A significant interaction was observed between HEC and teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination (b = −.53, p = .001) predicting 11^th grade suicidal ideation for low SES adolescents. Post-hoc probing revealed that among low SES youth with low HEC in eighth grade, higher exposure to teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination was related to increases in suicidal ideation in 11^th grade (t = 1.63, p < .001; see Figure 3). Low SES youth with high HEC in eighth grade did not show a significant difference in 11^th grade suicidal ideation based on how much teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination they experienced in eighth grade.

Figure 3.

The interaction between eighth-grade teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and high-effort coping predicting low-SES adolescents’ suicidal ideation in 11^th grade. The slope for low-HEC, low-SES adolescents (solid line) is significant (t = 1.98, p < .001). The slope for high-HEC, low-SES adolescents (dashed line) is not significant (t = .21, p = .84). Note: HEC = high-effort coping.

High SES.

Among high SES adolescents, there were no significant effects of eighth grade teacher-perpetuated racial discrimination or HEC for 11^th grade depressive symptoms or suicidal ideation. For 11^th grade anger, a significant interaction was observed between HEC and teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination among high SES adolescents. Post-hoc probing revealed a similar pattern, such that high SES adolescents with low HEC in eighth grade showed significantly higher anger in 11^th grade with higher exposure to eighth grade teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination (t = .33, p < .001; see Figure 4). High SES adolescents with high HEC in eighth grade did not show a significant difference in 11^th grade anger based on how much teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination they experienced in eighth grade.

Figure 4.

The interaction between eighth-grade teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and high-effort coping predicting high-SES adolescents’ anger in 11^th grade. The slope for low-HEC, high-SES adolescents (solid line) is significant (t = .57, p < .001). The slope for high-HEC, high-SES adolescents (dashed line) is not significant (t = −.15, p = .88). Note: HEC = high-effort coping.

Alternate Model

An alternative model testing eighth grade mental health outcomes predicting 11^th grade teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and high-effort coping was conducted. This model did not fit the data well (just-identified) and none of the paths were significant, indicating that the original model of eighth-grade teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and HEC predicting 11^th grade mental health is a better model, and that adolescents’ mental health problems were not contributing to adolescents’ reports of teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination nor high-effort coping.

Discussion

Experiencing teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination in the classroom is a common occurrence for Black American adolescents, and it is detrimental to adolescents’ mental health. The current study explores the potential buffering role of high-effort coping, or feeling like one must work harder than others to succeed due to anticipated discrimination, in the relation between teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and Black American adolescents’ mental health. Findings underscore the harmful influence of racial discrimination on Black American adolescents’ mental health, as well as suggest that among certain subpopulations, high-effort coping may be one important psychologically protective resource through which Black American youth retain positive feelings that are undermined by racial discrimination, and thus promote mental well-being.

Consistent with the hypotheses, results indicated that racial discrimination from teachers is harmful to adolescent mental health. This finding extends previous research which mainly finds teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination to be harmful to youth academic achievement (Thomas et al., 2009). Teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination experienced in eighth grade was consistently related to increased depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation in 11^th grade, both among the total sample and for both SES groups. Experiencing racial bias from teachers would presumably foster a more negative student-teacher relationship, which could increase the risk for psychological distress later. Racial discrimination is also a known stressor that increases the risk for suicidal behavior (Gomez et al., 2011), and experiencing racial bias from teachers should be considered a risk factor for Black American adolescent suicidal ideation.

In examining the buffering role of high-effort coping, which is characterized by high effort and determination to succeed despite racial barriers (Bronder et al., 2014), results suggest that high-effort coping has the potential to protect Black American adolescents’ mental health from the negative influence of teacher-perpetrated discrimination, consistent with hypotheses. Specifically, Black American adolescents who were not high-effort copers in eighth grade exhibited higher levels of suicidal ideation in 11^th grade when their eighth-grade experiences of teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination were higher. Conversely, adolescents who were high-effort copers in eighth grade did not exhibit a difference in 11^th grade suicidal ideation based on the level of their experiences with teacher-perpetrated discrimination in eighth grade. Lacking a sense of control over one’s life and situations can lead young people to develop thoughts of suicide (Au et al., 2010), and thus by coping with experiencing racism from teachers through high effort, Black American adolescents may regain a sense of confidence and control which might have been lost due to experiencing racial discrimination from their teachers. This finding extends prior research demonstrating the benefits of high-effort coping for Black American adult mental health (Bronder et al., 2014; Matthews et al., 2013), such that high-effort coping may also be an adaptive way by which Black American adolescents psychologically cope with racial discrimination.

Gender and SES differences in the moderating role of high-effort coping among the relation between teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and mental health were also tested. Contrary to hypotheses, high-effort coping buffered the influence of teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination for 11^th grade suicidal ideation among low-SES adolescents but not high-SES adolescents. Said differently, low-SES adolescents who were not high-effort copers in eighth grade showed higher suicidal ideation in 11^th grade based on high teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination in eighth grade. Low-SES adolescents who were high-effort copers did not show a significant increase in their suicidal ideation based on how much teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination they experienced. Taken together, high-effort coping appeared to buffer the influence of teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination for low-SES adolescents’ suicidal ideation. As increased status is generally related to increased psychological well-being, low-SES Black American youth should certainly not be overlooked when intervening to prevent adolescent suicidal cognitions. Among low-SES Black American youth, given that they experience both race- and economic-related strain, being a hard-working student may encourage feelings of control over their difficult situation, feelings which are in direct opposition to what typically leads to suicidal ideation.

Consistent with the hypotheses, high-effort coping buffered the influence of teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination for high-SES adolescents’ feelings of anger. Specifically, high-SES adolescents who did not engage in high-effort coping in eighth grade showed increased anger in 11^th grade based on increased teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination in eighth grade. High-SES adolescents who were high-effort copers did not show a significant increase in their anger based on how much teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination they experienced. The current study operationalized high-SES as having a primary caregiver with more than a high school diploma, and previous research has found positive associations between higher parental education and youth externalizing symptoms (Reising et al., 2013). High-SES adolescents who were high-effort copers were protected from developing increased anger as they experienced increased racial discrimination from their teachers. High-SES adolescents who were not high-effort copers showed increased anger in 11^th grade as they experienced more teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination in eighth grade. For high-SES Black American youth, who are equipped with more material resources and do not incur economic-related strains, high-effort coping may be one mechanism by which they can combat the feelings of anger that may arise from experiencing racial discrimination from their teachers. It is possible that higher-SES Black American adolescents in this sample may have less experience with daily racial discrimination due to the unique historical and geographical location that was sampled for the MADICS. In the 1990s, approximately 50% of Prince George County was Black, and Black households held median incomes similar to countywide median incomes (Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, 2003). Thus, high-SES Black American adolescents from this historical and geographical location may have had less negative race-related interactions in their day-to-day lives, given that they were not a numerical minority, nor did they experience significant economic strain compared to their environment. Youth who have less experience with a certain stressor (i.e., racial discrimination) can be particularly distressed when it does happen, given they may lack knowledge and experience with how to cope with such hardship. Anger, frustration, and stress can be evoked when one does not have the adequate coping skills or availability to deal with a novel stressor (Crane et al., 2019), which may be the case for the high-SES Black American adolescents in this sample when they experienced teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination. High-effort coping again appeared to counteract the harmful effect of teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination for high-SES adolescents’ anger, further suggesting its utility as a psychological coping resource for youth who are treated unfairly by their teachers.

Contrary to the hypotheses, no gender differences were found in the moderating effect of high-effort coping, which implies that high-effort coping may operate similarly across gender. The nuanced moderating role of high-effort coping may be tied more strongly to SES rather than gender, as is suggested by the John Henryism hypothesis (which suggests SES moderates how high-effort coping impacts health; James, 1994). Sherman James’ foundational high-effort coping research displayed similar prevalence and implications of high-effort coping for Black American men and women (James et al., 1992), and he argues that John Henryism is applicable to both men and women given that gender would not prevent Black Americans from experiencing the similar economic and social factors which incite high-effort coping (James, 1994). More contemporary research has also confirmed that Black American men and women utilize high-effort coping at similar rates and show similar patterns in how high-effort coping works to influence health (Bernard et al., 2020; Volpe et al., 2020).

The current study fills the gap in the existing high-effort coping literature, which has mainly focused on the adult population, by providing insights about the protective role of high-effort coping for Black adolescents’ mental health in the face of teacher-perpetrated discrimination. Several implications can be drawn from the current study to inform clinical and educational practice. First, findings of significant associations between teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and poorer youth mental health underscore the need for schools to create climates where all youth feel safe and supported by their teachers. There are currently many existing resources for schools to take concrete steps to reduce teacher biases and improve school safety and belonging for all students (Fredricks et al., 2004). Additionally, in the context of school-based racial discrimination, clinicians and educators can assist students in adopting adaptive coping strategies that may engender positive self-appraisals and increased self-efficacy in the school context.

However, several caveats should be considered when interpreting the findings reported here. First, regarding the high-effort coping measure, the survey items merely asked about high-effort coping beliefs instead of actual effortful behaviors. While a limitation in the current study, other measures of effortful coping (such as the John Henryism Active Coping Scale) also only measure beliefs instead of behaviors (James, 1994). Future research would benefit from better measurement of race-relevant coping behaviors. Second, the early waves of the MADICS sample which were used in this study were collected in the mid-1990s, therefore limiting the generalizability of the results to contemporary youth. However, at the time of this publication, the MADICS remains to be one of the largest publicly available longitudinal datasets of Black American adolescents with comprehensive measures of race-related experiences, as well as a sample normally distributed across a wide economic spectrum. Additionally, many contextual similarities exist for Black Americans who were adolescents between 1993-1997 and Black American adolescents today. For example, contemporary Black American adolescents still commonly report experiencing racial discrimination from their teachers (Banerjee et al., 2018). Additionally, both the 1990s and the 2020s are decades marked by social movements regarding race and prominent news coverage regarding race relations (e.g., Los Angeles Riots, Million Man March, and more recently the series of deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police officers, the Charleston church shooting, Black Lives Matter, and the election of Kalama Harris as the first Black U.S. Vice President). As such, many researchers continue to analyze and publish using the early waves of MADICS data (McKellar et al., 2018; Rapa et al., 2018), indicating these data and measures remain relevant to contemporary science and knowledge of Black American youth.

The third limitation is regarding the measure of gender used in the current study. The current study assessed gender as a binary construct (i.e., males/females); however, recent research has operationalized gender as consisting of several facets (e.g., physiological aspects, gender identity, legal identity, social gender) and thus should not be measured as a binary category (Lindqvist, 2021). Thus, future studies should incorporate more comprehensive gender measures to examine whether the relations found in the current study still hold. Lastly, the current study was not able to capture Black adolescents’ marginalized experiences beyond race. Research on intersectionality (Cole, 2009) suggests that possessing multiple disadvantage identities (e.g., Black and female) may be more detrimental compared to the discriminatory treatment based on one identity. Therefore, future research examining the Black adolescents’ multiple group identities is needed.

Conclusion

Experiencing racial discrimination from teachers increases risk of mental health issues among Black American adolescents. Even though high-effort coping in some studies has been found to buffer the detrimental psychological effects of racial discrimination among adults, the protective role of high-effort coping among Black adolescents may differ from adults because of context (i.e., experiencing teacher-perpetrated discrimination in the classroom setting) and developmental timing, including differences in lifetime exposure to racial discrimination and cumulative engagement in coping. The present study advances the literature by examining the longitudinal pathways by which Black American youth cope with experiencing teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination. Specifically, the current study found that high-effort coping was an effective buffer against teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination for low-SES youth’ suicidal ideation and high-SES youth’ anger. Yet, the authors of this study caution readers against deducing that high-effort coping is uniformly beneficial for youth well-being. High-effort coping may provide positive psychological benefits for certain youth faced with discrimination, however many caveats to this association should be considered before implemented into practice. These results do not excuse that due to racial bias, Black American youth have often internalized feelings of inadequacy or obligation to work harder than others. These results highlight Black American youth resiliency and that high-effort coping is one way by which Black American youth cope with racial discrimination. There is still much work to be done to give all youth equal opportunity to work hard in school due to their own intrinsic motivation to succeed. Schools have an obligation to provide environments not where Black students feel like they must “work twice as hard to get half as far”, but where all Black students are provided equal opportunity to thrive.