Trajectories of Discrimination across the College Years: Associations with Academic,Psychological, and Physical Adjustment Outcomes

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Despite growing evidence that racial-ethnic discrimination has a critical impact on college students of color, there is a shortage of longitudinal studies...     

Discrimination Distress During Adolescence

Amidst changing patterns of accommodation and conflict among American ethnic groups, there remains a paucity of research on the nature and impact of racial and ethnic discrimination on development in multiethnic samples of youth. The Adolescent Discrimination Distress Index along with measures of caregiver racial bias preparation and self-esteem was administered to 177 adolescents drawn from 9th–12th graders self-identified as African American, Hispanic, East Asian, South Asian, and non-Hispanic white. Youth from all ethnic backgrounds reported distress associated with instances of perceived racial prejudice encountered in educational contexts. Instances of institutional discrimination in stores and by police were higher for older youth and particularly for African American and Hispanic teenagers. Encounters with peer discrimination were reported most frequently by Asian youth. Reports of racial bias preparation were associated with distress in response to institutional and educational discrimination and self-esteem scores were negatively correlated with distress caused by educational and peer discrimination. The importance of research on discrimination distress to understanding adolescent development in multiethnic ecologies is discussed here.     

Acculturative Stress,Perceived Discrimination,and Vulnerability to Suicide Attempts Among Emerging Adults

Cultural factors are often neglected in studies of suicidal behavior among emerging adults. The present study examined acculturative stress and perceived discrimination as statistical predictors of a suicide attempt history among an ethnically diverse sample of 969 emerging adults, ages 18–25 (M = 18.8). Females made up 68% of the sample, and the racial/ethnic composition included Asian, Latino, Black, and White (US-born and non-US-born) individuals. There were no statistically significant racial/ethnic differences in endorsement of a suicide attempt history, with an overall rate of 8% in the sample. Asian participants reported higher acculturative stress than all other racial/ethnic groups, while both Asian and Black participants reported having experienced more discrimination in the previous year, compared to other groups. Logistic regression analyses suggested that familial acculturative stress was associated with 2 times higher odds of endorsing a past suicide attempt, overall. More specifically, it was associated with over 2 times higher odds among Asian participants, over 4 times higher odds among Black participants, and over 3 times higher odds among non-US-born White participants, while social acculturative stress was associated with over 3 times higher odds of endorsing a past suicide attempt among Latino participants. Environmental acculturative stress was associated with decreased odds of endorsing a suicide attempt history, overall, but not when examined separately by racial/ethnic group. Perceived discrimination was associated with over 5 times higher odds of a suicide attempt, overall, and specifically was associated with over 3 times higher odds among Latino participants and over 10 times higher odds among White, US-born participants. These findings suggest the importance of addressing culturally-related variables in treatment with emerging adults of racially/ethnically diverse backgrounds to reduce risk for suicidal behavior.     

Acculturation,Gender, Depression,and Cigarette Smoking Among U.S. Hispanic Youth: The Mediating Role of Perceived Discrimination

Hispanic youth are at risk for experiencing depressive symptoms and smoking cigarettes, and risk for depressive symptoms and cigarette use increase as Hispanic youth acculturate to U.S. culture. The mechanism by which acculturation leads to symptoms of depression and cigarette smoking is not well understood. The present study examined whether perceived discrimination explained the associations of acculturation with depressive symptoms and cigarette smoking among 1,124 Hispanic youth (54% female). Youth in Southern California completed surveys in 9th–11th grade. Separate analyses by gender showed that perceived discrimination explained the relationship between acculturation and depressive symptoms for girls only. There was also evidence that discrimination explained the relationship between acculturation and cigarette smoking among girls, but the effect was only marginally significant. Acculturation was associated with depressive symptoms and smoking among girls only. Perceived discrimination predicted depressive symptoms in both genders, and discrimination was positively associated with cigarette smoking for girls but not boys. These results support the notion that, although Hispanic boys and girls experience acculturation and discrimination, their mental health and smoking behaviors are differentially affected by these experiences. Moreover, the results indicate that acculturation, gender, and discrimination are important factors to consider when addressing Hispanic youth’s mental health and substance use behaviors.     

选人还是选美:就业歧视浮出水面

现实生活中普遍存在的就业歧视现象,严重影响了劳动力市场的正常发育与成长,损害了就业市场的公平竞争环境,也损害了劳动者的劳动就业权。本文结合反就业歧视的历史和现状,针对目前我国反就业歧视立法存在的不足和问题,探讨了加强和完善反就业歧视立法的途径和主要内容。