The impact of perceived everyday discrimination and income on racial and ethnic disparities in PTSD, depression, and anxiety among veterans

OBJECTIVES: Black and Hispanic/Latinx individuals experience a greater burden of mental health symptoms as compared to White individuals in the general population. Examination of ethnoracial disparities and mechanisms explaining these disparities among veterans is still in its nascence. The current study examined perceived everyday discrimination and income as parallel mediators of the association between race/ethnicity and PTSD, depression, and general anxiety symptoms in a sample of White, Black, and Hispanic/Latinx veterans stratified by gender. METHODS: A random sample of 3,060 veterans living across the U.S. (oversampled for veterans living in high crime communities) completed a mail-based survey. Veterans completed self-report measures of perceived discrimination via the Everyday Discrimination Scale, PTSD symptoms via the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-5, depressive symptoms via the Patient Health Questionnaire, and anxiety symptoms via the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire. RESULTS: Models comparing Black vs. White veterans found that the significant effect of race on PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptoms was mediated by both perceived discrimination and income for both male and female veterans. Results were less consistent in models comparing Hispanic/Latinx vs. White veterans. Income, but not perceived discrimination, mediated the relationship between ethnicity/race and depression and anxiety symptoms, but only among women. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that discrimination and socioeconomic status are important mechanisms through which marginalized social status negatively impacts mental health.