Mental health impacts of racial discrimination in Australian culturally and linguistically diverse communities: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

BackgroundRacial discrimination denies those from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds access to rights such as the ability to participate equally and freely in community and public life, equitable service provision and freedom from violence. Our study was designed to examine how people from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds in four Australian localities experience and respond to racial discrimination, as well as associated health impacts.MethodsData were collected from 1,139 Australians regarding types of racial discrimination experienced, settings for these incidents, response mechanisms and psychological distress as measured by the Kessler 6 (K6) Psychological Distress Scale.ResultsAge, education, religion, gender, visibility and rurality were all significantly associated with differences in the frequency of experiencing racial discrimination. Experiencing racial discrimination was associated with worse mental health. Mental health impacts were not associated with the type of discriminatory experience, but experiencing racial discrimination in shops and in employment and government settings was associated with being above the threshold for high or very high psychological distress. One out of twelve response mechanisms was found to be associated with lower stress following a discriminatory incident.ConclusionsStudy results indicate that poorer mental health was associated with the volume of discrimination experienced, rather than the type of experience. However, the impact of experiencing discrimination in some settings was shown to be particularly associated with high or very high psychological distress.Our findings suggest that interventions designed to prevent the occurrence of racism have more potential to increase mental health in racial and ethnic minority communities than interventions that work with individuals in response to experiencing racism.

Resilience to Discrimination Among Indigenous Sami and Non-Sami Populations in Norway: The SAMINOR2 Study

“…A uniform protective role of the RSA-10 was not evident in the wellbeing data except in the strong Sami group, which showed a similar protective effect as above that again underscores the protective role of family cohesion among Sami individuals. The lack of a uniform interaction effect in the remaining groups (for wellbeing) may relate to the fact that discrimination in general affect negative mental health states more strongly than positive constructs like wellbeing (Paradies et al, 2015).…”

“…Given the fact that this group also experience 5 times more often any kind of discrimination, and 10 times more often ethnic discrimination than majority Norwegians (Hansen & Sørlie, 2012), this group stands out as especially resistant (or, protected). Since discrimination related to race may be considered as particularly hurtful, arousing and compromising of mental health (Paradies, 2006;Paradies et al, 2015), the resilience observed in the strong Sami group is remarkable.…”

Evaluating the Sharing Stories youth theatre program: an interactive theatre and drama‐based strategy for sexual health promotion among multicultural youth

“…Studies show that migrant youth have little experience accessing sexual health services due to language, social and environmental barriers, and may experience stigma and discrimination that can have adverse effects on quality of life, sexual health, self-esteem and sense of belonging. [8][9][10] Reproductive and sexual health education is important for young people from both refugee and non-refugee backgrounds in order to prevent future health complications, however it is often a subject that is overlooked by settlement services and programs. 8 …”

How Young Refugees Cope with Conflict in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Urban Schools

“…Cultural and linguistic diversity within secondary schools increases the risk of discrimination and/or racism which are strong triggers for destructive interpersonal conflicts (Opotow & Deutsch, 1999). A survey of CALD people living in urban Victoria indicates that nearly two thirds reported experiencing racism in the previous year which had a significant and negative impact on their mental health (Ferdinand, Kelaher, & Paradies, 2013). Social groups formed within secondary school settings are characteristically homogeneous on criteria such as cultural background, appearance, and behaviour, and are likely to engage in conflict based on such criteria (Ennett & Bauman, 1994).…”