Culturally Informed Shift-&-Persist: A Higher-Order Factor Model and Prospective Associations With Discrimination and Depressive Symptoms

Objectives: Based on the conceptual overlap between shift-&-persist (S&P) and culturally based strategies (critical civic engagement [CCE] and spiritually based coping), this study tests whether associations between these three previously disparate strategies are attributable to the existence of a higher-order coping construct: culturally informed S&P. Methods: Among 364 diverse minoritized youth (Mage = 18.79, 85.2% female), we tested for the existence of this higher-order factor through confirmatory factor analysis. Results: We found theoretical and empirical support for the existence of a higher-order factor structure and for our higher-order factor-culturally informed S&P. Culturally informed S&P promotes fewer depressive symptoms as a main effect in addition to completely protecting against the negative impact of discrimination on depressive symptoms when culturally informed S&P is high. Conclusions: The current study illustrates relations between three previously distinct coping strategies through their association with culturally informed S&P. Results highlight culturally informed S&P's promotive and protective effects in the face of ethnic-racial discrimination. Implications for subsequent study of culturally based coping are discussed. Public Significance Statement Culturally based shift-&-persist is a coping construct that captures the multiple culturally based ways youth may cope with racialized stress. Culturally informed shift-&-persist may promote psychological well-being (i.e., fewer depressive symptoms) among minoritized youth and fully protect them against the negative effects of discrimination.