Multiracial discrimination, religious struggles, and race-based stress among biracial Black–White and Asian-White Christians in the early 2020s: a mediation model

ABSTRACT Using a community-based sample of Black-White (N = 177) and Asian-White (N = 87) biracial Christian adults, we explored associations between multiracial discrimination (discrimination due to being mixed race), religious/spiritual (r/s) struggles, and race-based traumatic stress during the two year period of 2020–2021. We assessed whether r/s struggles mediated the association between multiracial discrimination and race-based stress for the two groups. The two mediation analyses revealed a positive indirect effect of multiracial discrimination on race-based traumatic stress through r/s struggles for both groups. In addition, the two groups showed significant differences in their reports of discrimination during the two-year period, with Black-White biracial individuals reporting more multiracial discrimination (including lack of family acceptance) than Asian-White biracials. However, no differences were found in their reports of race-based stress or r/s struggles. Implications for assessment and intervention and directions for future research are provided.