This study investigates the same-day associations between discrimination and sleep among 350 adolescents ages 13-15 (M = 14.29, SD = 0.65; Asian = 41%, Black = 22%, Latinx = 37%). Assessing sleep duration, sleep onset latency, and wake minutes after sleep onset using wrist actigraphy, Black adolescents slept 35 min less than Asian and 36 min less than Latinx youth. Black adolescents suffered the most wake minutes after sleep onset, followed by Latinx and Asian youth. Latinx youth reported the highest levels of sleep disturbance, whereas Asian youth reported the highest levels of daytime dysfunction. Daily discrimination was associated with lower levels of same-night sleep onset latency, more sleep disturbance, more next-day daytime dysfunction, and higher next-day daytime sleepiness.
As the United States continues to diversify, we review research on both the benefits and challenges of diversity in developmental science. Taking a "contact in context" approach, we focus on the ways that structural and interpersonal diversity influence ethnic/racial developmental processes and outcomes from early childhood to adolescence. We also consider the ways in which a child's own ethnicity/race may shape diversity experiences and outcomes over time. Although we review both the benefits and challenges of moving toward diversity, we offer this review with the ultimate goal of optimizing benefits and minimizing challenges. We offer a conceptual model of "contact in context" that integrates diversity at multiple levels, child ethnicity/race, and developmental changes over time. We conclude with recommendations for future research including: development of more nuanced measures that incorporate multiple levels of diversity, time, and child's ethnicity/race.
Keywords diversity; development; paradoxThe changing demographic landscape, visible national protests, and the election of the first African American president followed by the election of a president with strikingly divergent viewpoints and policies have highlighted racial tensions in the United States. At the same time, the United States is moving towards greater ethnic/racial diversity in the coming decades. Recent and projected demographic changes in the United States' landscape have been attributed to immigration, higher rates of exogamy, and an increase in multiracial births (Lee & Bean, 2010). The United States census has been instrumental in documenting demographic shifts; for example, beginning in the 2000 census individuals were able to indicate more than one race. Ethnic/racial minority (ERM) citizens are projected to outnumber White citizens by the mid-21 st century. For some, more diversity is a welcome change; and for others, it is not.
Ethnic/racial minority adolescents face the task of forming an identity in relation to their ethnic/racial group as well as to American society, while also developing awareness of their social status relative to salient social groups. Whereas previous studies have investigated individual social identity dimensions or examined how objective measures of ethnicity/race and socioeconomic status intersect, studies that take a holistic and person-centered approach to considering various configurations of multiple social identities with subjective measures have been less common. The current study addresses these gaps and explores profiles of ethnic/racial identity, American identity, and subjective social status among ethnic/racial minority adolescents. Next, differences in discrimination experiences, mental health and academic outcomes across these profiles were examined. Three distinct identity profiles emerged from the data-"weakly identified," "high ethnic/racial identity moderate American identity," and "moderate ethnic/racial identity and American identity." The "weakly identified" demonstrated the highest levels of past discrimination experiences and depressive symptoms, while the "moderate ethnic/racial identity and American identity" group reported the lowest levels of school engagement. Interpretation of the profiles and associated outcomes and implications are discussed.
Unfair treatment based on race is an unfortunate reality. While there is increasing interest in mapping the daily and longer-term impact of discrimination in psychology, studies that examine the psychometric properties of indicators spanning these timeframes are limited. Item response analysis examined the measurement characteristics of two daily measures of ethnic/racial discrimination: (a) the six-item Racial/ Ethnic Discrimination Index (REDI), and (b) the modified five-item Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS; Williams et al., Journal of Health Psychology, 1997, 2, 335). This study investigated whether the two scales can be appropriately adapted to access adolescents' daily-level ethnic/racial discrimination experiences. Both measures were administered for 14 consecutive days in a sample of 350 adolescents attending public schools in a large, urban area. Results suggest that the REDI has high loading and high difficulty. All REDI items functioned similarly at daily and person levels, suggesting that any single REDI item measured on a single day is sufficient for measuring daily ethnic/racial discrimination experiences. The EDS also shows high loading and high difficulty. However, EDS items functioned differently at the daily and person levels. REDI items were invariant across gender and race/ethnicity (African Americans, Asians, and Latinx). Recommendations for measuring daily ethnic/racial discrimination are discussed.
Public Significance StatementThis study investigates two measures of everyday racial/ethnic discrimination: the Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) and the Racial/Ethnic Discrimination Index (REDI). Our analyses suggest that the latter is a more sensitive measure of everyday racial/ethnic discrimination (RED) when administered at the daily level.
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