Skin color and mental health in Peru: the mediating role of experiences of discrimination among university students.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine the mediating role of experiences of discrimination in the association between skin color and mental health among university students.

METHODS

A cross-sectional correlational design was used. The sample comprised 603 university students aged 18 to 38 years from Metropolitan Lima. Skin color was assessed using the PERLA color palette, experiences of discrimination were measured using the Experiences of Discrimination Scale, and mental health was assessed using the Mental Health Inventory-5 (MHI-5), considering its two-dimensional structure of psychological well-being and psychological distress. The analyses included descriptive statistics, Spearman's rank correlations, linear regression models with HC3 robust standard errors, and mediation models with 95% bootstrap confidence intervals based on 5,000 resamples.

RESULTS

Darker skin tones were significantly associated with greater discrimination. In turn, discrimination was associated with lower levels of psychological well-being and greater psychological distress. No significant direct associations were found between skin color and either psychological well-being or psychological distress. The mediation analysis showed a significant indirect effect of skin color on psychological distress through experiences of discrimination, whereas the indirect effect on psychological well-being was not significant. Overall, the findings suggest that discrimination constitutes an important psychosocial pathway linking darker skin tones to greater psychological distress.

CONCLUSION

In this sample, skin color was not directly associated with mental health; however, it acquired psychosocial relevance through its association with greater exposure to experiences of discrimination. These findings suggest that phenotypic hierarchies may be associated with the mental health of Peruvian university students through greater exposure to discrimination. Addressing discrimination within university settings may help reduce psychological distress and promote students' mental health.