Effects over time of self-reported direct and vicarious racial discrimination on depressive symptoms and loneliness among Australian school students

Abstract

BackgroundRacism and racial discrimination are increasingly acknowledged as a critical determinant of health and health inequalities. However, patterns and impacts of racial discrimination among children and adolescents remain under-investigated, including how different experiences of racial discrimination co-occur and influence health and development over time. This study examines associations between self-reported direct and vicarious racial discrimination experiences and loneliness and depressive symptoms over time among Australian school students.MethodsAcross seven schools, 142 students (54.2% female), age at T1 from 8 to 15 years old (M = 11.14, SD = 2.2), and from diverse racial/ethnic and migration backgrounds (37.3% born in English-speaking countries as were one or both parents) self-reported racial discrimination experiences (direct and vicarious) and mental health (depressive symptoms and loneliness) at baseline and 9 months later at follow up. A full cross-lagged panel design was modelled using MPLUS v.7 with all variables included at both time points.ResultsA cross-lagged effect of perceived direct racial discrimination on later depressive symptoms and on later loneliness was found. As expected, the effect of direct discrimination on both health outcomes was unidirectional as mental health did not reciprocally influence reported racism. There was no evidence that vicarious racial discrimination influenced either depressive symptoms or loneliness beyond the effect of direct racial discrimination.ConclusionsFindings suggest direct racial discrimination has a persistent effect on depressive symptoms and loneliness among school students over time. Future work to explore associations between direct and vicarious discrimination is required.

Cumulative Effects of Bullying and Racial Discrimination on Adolescent Health in Australia

“…Self-reported race and ethnicity is not routinely collected in Australia, nor are these concepts part of common vernacular. While we acknowledge that immigrant status is not synonymous with race or ethnicity, in Australia, various combinations of "country of birth" and "language spoken at home" categories are widely used as proxies for self-reported ethnicity or race (Priest et al 2017). Following previous approaches (Priest et al 2016), proxy ethnicity categories that identify stigmatized identities based on parental country of birth and Indigenous status were created: Australian-born, Anglo/European (Caucasian or white), visible minority (non-Caucasian or nonwhite, not Indigenous), or Indigenous (Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander; Statistics Canada 2009).…”

Do trait psychological characteristics moderate sympathetic arousal to racial discrimination exposure in a natural setting?

“…Importantly, the exclusionary threats posed by racism and discrimination can be experienced in many different forms. Interpersonal discrimination involves personally receiving differential treatment based on race, such as verbal or nonverbal slights personally directed toward a member of a racial minority group and is based on racial bias (conscious or unconscious), while vicarious discrimination involves learning about or seeing others' experiences of racism (Harrell, 2000; Lewis et al., 2015; Priest et al., 2017). These exposures can trigger rumination , the perseverating thoughts or feelings on these negative experiences (Borders & Liang, 2011; Jochman et al., 2019).…”

Caregiver experiences of racism are associated with adverse health outcomes for their children: a cross-sectional analysis of data from the New Zealand Health Survey

“…For example, a longitudinal study of indigenous Australian children (5 to 10 years) found that child or primary carer experiences of racism, discrimination, or prejudice were associated with poor mental health as measured on the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire but that family experiences were not (Shepherd et al, 2017). In another Australian study (school students aged 8 to 15 years), Priest et al, (2017) reported no association between vicarious racism (students observing racism directed towards other students) on later depressive symptoms or loneliness, beyond the effect of direct experience of racism. Differences in measurement of both exposures and outcomes limit our ability to make direct comparisons between studies; however, it is possible that primacy of the child-caregiver relationship in early childhood underpins the transmission of the negative mental health consequences of vicarious racism for younger children, as compared with peer-group experiences of racism that may impact on mental and emotional wellbeing of older children.…”