School and Neighborhood Contexts,Perceptions of Racial Discrimination,and Psychological Well-being Among African American Adolescents

The present study examined contextual influences on the relationship between racial discrimination (individual, cultural, and collective/institutional) and psychological well-being. Two hundred and fifty two African American adolescents (46% male and 54% female, average age = 16) completed measures of racial discrimination, self-esteem, depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. Archival information regarding the racial/ethnic composition of the participants’ neighborhoods and schools was used and increased school diversity was linked to increased perceptions of cultural discrimination. Regardless of school and neighborhood diversity, high perceptions of collective/institutional discrimination were linked to lower self-esteem for students in high diversity settings. Further, high levels of collective/institutional discrimination were associated with lower life satisfaction for African American youth in low diversity settings.

Eleanor K. SeatonEmail:

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Eleanor K. Seaton   is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Temple University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan. Her research interests examine the influence of perceived discrimination on adolescent development, the development and content of racial identity as it relates to in well-being, and the relation between perceived discrimination and racial identity among Black youth. Tiffany Yip   is an Assistant Professor in the Psychometrics Program at Fordham University. She received her Ph.D. in Community Psychology with concentrations in human development and quantitative methods from New York University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan. Her research interests include the role of everyday contexts in adolescent and young adult identity development, the association between identity and psychological adjustment, and mixed method approaches to the study of identity development.