When Race Becomes Central: Profiles of Racial Centrality and Mental Health Across Adulthood in the National Survey of American Life

The National Survey of American Life (NSAL) has advanced the sociology of Black American life, documenting how racism, resilience, and identity shape well-being. Building on this legacy, we examined how racial centrality (i.e., how central being Black is to one’s identity) is associated with depressive symptoms and buffers against everyday discrimination among 1,627 African American adults in the NSAL. Latent profile analysis identified three distinct racial centrality profiles: detached identity (personally salient but weakly collective), integrated identity (relationally grounded), and contextual identity (peripheral). Weighted linear regression models showed that the racial centrality–depressive symptoms association varied across adulthood. Detached young adults and contextual older adults reported elevated depressive symptoms. Among middle-aged adults, however, the discrimination–depressive symptoms association varied by racial centrality profile: Symptoms were highest among detached adults experiencing low discrimination and among contextual adults facing high discrimination. Findings indicate that racial centrality functions as a dynamic psychosocial resource whose implications depend on developmental and social context. By distinguishing between different expressions of racial centrality and situating them within a life-course and stress-process framework, this study demonstrates how the NSAL continues to illuminate the complex interplay between racism, identity, and mental health among African Americans.