We assessed whether perceived discrimination predicted changes in psychological distress and substance use over time and whether psychological distress and substance use predicted change in perceived discrimination over time. and depression during the past week and cigarette and alcohol use during the past 30 days. We estimated a series of latent growth models to test our study hypotheses. We found that the intercept of perceived discrimination predicted the linear slopes of anxiety symptoms depressive symptoms and alcohol use. We did not find any associations between the intercept factors of our mental health or substance use variables and the perceived discrimination linear slope factor. We found limited differences across paths by gender. Our findings suggest a temporal ordering in the BAY 80-6946 associations among perceived racial discrimination psychological distress and alcohol use over time among emerging adults. Further our findings suggest LIMK2 antibody that perceived racial discrimination may be similarly harmful among men and women. Using cross-sectional and prospective study designs researchers have found that perceived racial discrimination may contribute to psychological distress (Paradies 2006 Seaton Caldwell Sellers & Jackson 2010 Sellers Caldwell Schmeelk-Cone & Zimmerman 2003 Watkins Hudson Caldwell Seifert & Jackson 2011 and substance use (Bennett Wolin Robinson Fowler & Edwards 2005 Borrell et al. 2010 Borrell Jacobs Williams Pletcher Houston & Kiefe 2007 Brody Kogan & Chen 2012 Guthrie Young Williams Boyd & Kintner 2002 Kwate Valdimarsdottir Guevarra & Bovbjerg 2003 Landrine & Klonoff 2000 Martin Tuch & Roman 2003 Paradies 2006 Purnell et al. 2012 Terrell Miller Foster & Watkin 2006 among Black Americans. Studies employing national data sets have documented associations between perceived discrimination and mental health that are comparable to associations between major life events (e.g. death of a loved one job loss) and mental health (Kessler Mickelson & Williams 1999 In addition Black Americans report greater experiences of discrimination relative to other racial/ethnic groups and associations between major discriminatory experiences and mental health are stronger among Black Americans relative to other racial/ethnic groups (Kessler et al. 1999 Explanations of these associations have relied on the conceptualization of perceived racial discrimination as a socially-derived stressor that leads to both negative mental health outcomes and engagement in substance use and other health risk behaviors as a coping response (Clark Anderson Clark & Williams 1999 Some have argued that perceived racial discrimination may be a particularly noxious stressor as it not only contributes to feelings of hurt anger and frustration (Barksdale Farrug & Harkness 2009 but also may threaten aspects of one’s identity (Brody et al. 2006 Perceived racial discrimination may occur with greater frequency and BAY 80-6946 have especially damaging consequences during the period of emerging adulthood. As young people graduate from high school and begin to seek out jobs continued education or training programs they have increased opportunities for exposure to racial discrimination (Pearlin Schieman Fazio & Meersman 2005 Young Black Americans may begin to BAY 80-6946 experience not being hired for jobs that they are qualified for or not being accepted into colleges or training programs despite meeting the program requirements. In fact a number of well-designed experiments have documented discriminatory hiring practices such as a preference for hiring a White applicant with a criminal record over BAY 80-6946 a Black applicant with a comparable resume BAY 80-6946 and a clean record (Pager 2003 and a 50% greater likelihood of receiving a callback for a white-collar job among applicants possessing distinctively White names (e.g. Emily Alison Greg Brad) in comparison to applicants with distinctively Black names (e.g. Aisha Latisha Darnell Jamal) despite identical resumes (Bertrand & Mullainathan 2004 Notably emerging adulthood is a period when young people begin to interact more independently with the world and do not benefit from the same levels of parental involvement as were present during their school-aged years (Arnett 2000 BAY 80-6946 As Black emerging adults negotiate independent living working and recreational activities in adult settings they may be increasingly likely to.