Multiple Forms of Perceived Discrimination and Health among Adolescents and Young Adults

Abstract

Research on perceived discrimination has overwhelmingly focused on one form of discrimination, especially race discrimination, in isolation from other forms. The present article uses data from the Black Youth Culture Survey, a nationally representative, racially and ethnically diverse sample of 1,052 adolescents and young adults to investigate the prevalence, distribution, and mental and physical health consequences of multiple forms of perceived discrimination. The findings suggest that disadvantaged groups, especially multiply disadvantaged youth, face greater exposure to multiple forms of discrimination than their more privileged counterparts. The experience of multiple forms of discrimination is associated with worse mental and physical health above the effect of only one form and contributes to the relationship between multiple disadvantaged statuses and health. These findings suggest that past research may misspecify the discrimination-health relationship and fails to account for the disproportionate exposure to discrimination faced by multiply disadvantaged individuals.

A Descriptive Epidemiology of Sexual Behavior and Interest in Older Adults with Diabetes

“…We also see consistent patterns suggesting Black adults with diabetes have compounded disadvantages noted in other populations managing both racial minority status and health-related experiences [11]. When we factor in literatures concerning Black female bodies, sexuality, and health [12,13], for example, these patterns appear quite striking, and suggest there may be much to learn from systematic examinations of the experiences of Black people -and especially Black cis and trans women -managing diabetes, sexualities, and bodily appearance.…”

Social capital, tolerance of diversity and adherence to Mediterranean diet: the Rhea Mother–Child Cohort in Crete, Greece

“…Social capital may provide the motivation, by means of obligation, reciprocity and self-control, to invest in future family health. There is a vast literature suggesting that experiencing different types of personal or institutional discrimination has detrimental effects on health, including nutritional risk (30,31) . In the present study it was revealed that intolerance of diversity had negative associations with the Mediterranean diet score and thus the healthy dietary patterns of the participants.…”

Health Disparities in Nonreligious and Religious Older Adults in the United States: A Descriptive Epidemiology of 16 Common Chronic Conditions

“…To further map the prevalence of chronic conditions within and between such populations, we then asked a core question in intersectional studies of health (Grollman 2012): how do chronic physical condition frequencies vary in relation to intersecting social locations among nonreligious people? We defined "chronic conditions" as any diagnosed health condition capable of producing consistent and recurrent symptoms.…”

“…Such efforts follow the insights of intersectional scholars by critically examining the concrete experiences of people in varied social locations instead of expecting specific relationships a priori or simply repeating dominant cultural discourses (i.e., religion is good, see Barton 2012) that say more about societal power relations than actual health experience (see Grollman 2012;Schultz & Mullins 2006 for examples). This process should begin with assessment of baseline variation in health status between and within populations, and proceed to exploration of the ways in which health may be influenced by intersecting social locations.…”

“…Rather than assuming a relationship a priori, we examine a series of chronic health conditions among both religious and nonreligious respondents from a large survey dataset to gain a picture of variation (or lack there of) in such conditions between these populations. Following intersectional recognitions that health outcomes often vary along lines of social privilege and oppression (see Nowakowski & Sumerau 2015;Grollman 2012), we then compute the prevalence of such conditions among nonreligious respondents occupying different race, class, and sex locations in contemporary American society. In so doing, we seek to (1) provide health outcome prevalence estimates for religious and nonreligious people to aid in evaluating and contextualizing prior research and (2) offer a framework for comparative analyses and further exploration using a wide variety of data sources.…”