Perceived racial discrimination, depression, and coping: A study of Southeast Asian refugees in Canada

Using data obtained from personal interviews with 647 Southeast Asian refug ees in Canada, this study tests hypotheses regarding both the association b etween perceived racial discrimination and depression and the roles of copi ng and ethnic identity in conditioning the nature of the discrimination-dep ression relation. Refugees who reported that they had experienced racial di scrimination had higher depression levels than their counterparts who repor ted no such experiences. Responding to discrimination through confrontation was not significantly associated with depression. Study findings support t he effectiveness of forbearance in diminishing the strength of the associat ion between discrimination and depression. The moderating effect of forbear ance was conditioned by the level of ethnic identity: The beneficial effect of forbearance was significantly greater among those holding stronger ethn ic identification. Cultural and situational interpretations of the findings are presented.