Online Racism, Smoking Motives, and Loneliness Among Black Emerging Adults: The Role of Rumination and Vigilance.

OBJECTIVES

Racism is an important social determinant that disproportionately increases the risk of smoking among Black emerging adults. In today's digital era, Black emerging adults encounter online racism, including online racial discrimination (direct and vicarious) and exposure to racist content on systemic racism and race-related hate crimes. Yet, little is known about the relationship between online racism and smoking motives among Black emerging adults. Thus, we examined whether the associated anticipatory psychosocial costs (rumination, vigilance) would help explain the link between online racism and the outcomes of smoking motives and feelings of loneliness.

METHODS

With a sample of 436 Black emerging adults (Mage = 25.32, SD = 3.27), we conducted a latent variable path analysis to examine the indirect relation of online racism on our outcome variables (smoking motives, loneliness) via online racism-related rumination and racism-related vigilance.

RESULTS

Controlling for current tobacco product use and average hours online per day, rumination and vigilance explained significant indirect associations between online racism and smoking motives and loneliness. The direct associations between online racism and the outcome variables were not significant.

CONCLUSION

Results suggest that online racism may be a potential risk factor that may motivate Black emerging adults to engage in smoking to cope with their anticipatory costs and the negative social implications of racism-related vigilance. The pathway tested in the current study provides considerations for interventions to disrupt the negative impact of online racism on smoking behaviors among Black emerging adults.