IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v199y2018icp230-240.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Transmitting Trauma: A systematic review of vicarious racism and child health

Author

Listed:
  • Heard-Garris, N.J.
  • Cale, M.
  • Camaj, L.
  • Hamati, M.C.
  • Dominguez, T.P.

Abstract

Racism is a pervasive stressor. Although most research focuses on direct targets, racism can also have unintended victims. Because children's lives are inevitably linked to the experiences of other individuals, and they are in critical phases of development, they are especially vulnerable to such stressors. Despite the growing body of literature on children's direct exposure to racism, little is known about the relationship between vicarious racism (i.e. secondhand exposure to racism) and child health. To examine the state of this literature, we performed a systematic review and screened 1371 articles drawn from 7 databases, with 30 studies meeting inclusion criteria. For these 30, we reviewed research methodology, including conceptualization and measurement of vicarious exposure, sample characteristics, significant associations with child health outcomes, and mediators and/or moderators of those associations. Most studies were published after 2011 in urban areas in the U.S., employed longitudinal designs, and focused on African American populations. Socioemotional and mental health outcomes were most commonly reported with statistically significant associations with vicarious racism. While all studies examined racism indirectly experienced by children, there was no standard definition of vicarious racism used. We organize the findings in a schematic diagram illustrating indirectly-experienced racism and child health outcomes to identify current gaps in the literature and ways in which to bridge those gaps. To further the field, vicarious racism should be uniformly defined and directly measured using psychometrically validated tools. Future studies should consider using children as the informants and follow children into early adulthood to better understand causal mechanisms. Given the recent national exposure to racially-charged events, a deeper understanding of the association between vicarious racism and child health is crucial in fueling research-informed social action to help children, families, and communities exposed to racism. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42016039608.

Suggested Citation

  • Heard-Garris, N.J. & Cale, M. & Camaj, L. & Hamati, M.C. & Dominguez, T.P., 2018. "Transmitting Trauma: A systematic review of vicarious racism and child health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 230-240.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:199:y:2018:i:c:p:230-240
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.04.018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953617302411
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.04.018?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Berkman, Lisa F. & Glass, Thomas & Brissette, Ian & Seeman, Teresa E., 2000. "From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 843-857, September.
    2. Krieger, N. & Sidney, S., 1996. "Racial discrimination and blood pressure: The CARDIA study of young black and white adults," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 86(10), pages 1370-1378.
    3. Krieger, Nancy, 1990. "Racial and gender discrimination: Risk factors for high blood pressure?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 30(12), pages 1273-1281, January.
    4. Priest, Naomi & Paradies, Yin & Trenerry, Brigid & Truong, Mandy & Karlsen, Saffron & Kelly, Yvonne, 2013. "A systematic review of studies examining the relationship between reported racism and health and wellbeing for children and young people," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 115-127.
    5. Caughy, M.O. & O'Campo, P.J. & Muntaner, C., 2004. "Experiences of racism among African American parents and the mental health of their preschool-aged children," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(12), pages 2118-2124.
    6. Collins Jr., J.W. & David, R.J. & Handler, A. & Wall, S. & Andes, S., 2004. "Very low birthweight in African American infants: The role of maternal exposure to interpersonal racial discrimination," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(12), pages 2132-2138.
    7. Mustillo, S. & Krieger, N. & Gunderson, E.P. & Sidney, S. & McCreath, H. & Kiefe, C.I., 2004. "Self-reported experiences of racial discrimination and black-white differences in preterm and low-birthweight deliveries: The CARDIA study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(12), pages 2125-2131.
    8. Bécares, Laia & Nazroo, James & Kelly, Yvonne, 2015. "A longitudinal examination of maternal, family, and area-level experiences of racism on children's socioemotional development: Patterns and possible explanations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 128-135.
    9. Gee, G.C. & Walsemann, K.M. & Brondolo, E., 2012. "A life course perspective on how racism may be related to health inequities," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(5), pages 967-974.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dudovitz, R.N. & Biely, C. & Barnert, E.S. & Coker, T.R. & Guerrero, A.D. & Jackson, N. & Schickedanz, A. & Szilagyi, P.G. & Iyer, S. & Chung, P.J., 2021. "Association between school racial/ethnic composition during adolescence and adult health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    2. Myles D. Moody, 2022. "Vicarious Experiences of Major Discrimination and the Life Satisfaction of Black and White Adults from a Community Sample," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2725-2743, August.
    3. McKinnon, Izraelle I. & Johnson, Dayna A. & Murden, Raphiel J. & Erving, Christy L. & Parker, Rachel & Van Dyke, Miriam E. & Vaccarino, Viola & Booker, Bianca & Moore, Renee H. & Lewis, Tené T., 2023. "Extreme racism-related events and poor sleep in African-American women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    4. McKinnon, Izraelle I. & Johnson, Dayna A. & Murden, Raphiel J. & Erving, Christy L. & Parker, Rachel & Van Dyke, Miriam E. & Vaccarino, Viola & Booker, Bianca & Moore, Renee H. & Lewis, Tené T., 2022. "Extreme racism-related events and poor sleep in African-American women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 310(C).
    5. Neslihan Bisgin & Halil Bisgin & Daniel Hummel & Jon Zelner & Belinda L. Needham, 2023. "Did the public attribute the Flint Water Crisis to racism as it was happening? Text analysis of Twitter data to examine causal attributions to racism during a public health crisis," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 165-190, April.
    6. Moody, Myles D. & Browning, Wesley R. & Hossain, Monir & Clay, Olivio J., 2023. "Vicarious experiences of major discrimination, anxiety symptoms, and mental health care utilization among Black Adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    7. Madeleine F. Cohen & Anne L. Dunlop & Dayna A. Johnson & Alexis Dunn Amore & Elizabeth J. Corwin & Patricia A. Brennan, 2022. "Intergenerational Effects of Discrimination on Black American Children’s Sleep Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Qureshi, Farah & Derks, Ivonne P.M. & Williams, Michelle A. & Koenen, Karestan C. & Tiemeier, Henning & Kubzansky, Laura D., 2021. "Adverse intergenerational effects of ethnically-divisive social contexts on children's mental health: A prospective cohort study in the Netherlands," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    9. Quinn, Edward B. & Ross, Jessica D. & Boston, P. Qasimah & Committee, HEAT Steering & Mulligan, Connie J. & Gravlee, Clarence C., 2023. "The social patterning of vicarious discrimination: Implications for health equity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 332(C).
    10. Holloway, Kathleen & Varner, Fatima, 2023. "Forms and frequency of vicarious racial discrimination and African American parents’ health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    11. Cerdeña, Jessica P. & Rivera, Luisa M. & Spak, Judy M., 2021. "Intergenerational trauma in Latinxs: A scoping review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    12. Manuel Garcia-Ramirez & Belen Soto-Ponce & María J. Albar-Marín & Daniel La Parra-Casado & Dena Popova & Raluca Tomsa, 2020. "RoMoMatteR: Empowering Roma Girls’ Mattering through Reproductive Justice," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-16, November.
    13. Chegwin, Valentina & Teitler, Julien & Muchomba, Felix M. & Reichman, Nancy E., 2023. "Racialized police use of force and birth outcomes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    14. Webb, Lindsey & Jackson, Dylan B. & Jindal, Monique & Alang, Sirry & Mendelson, Tamar & Clary, Laura K., 2022. "Anticipation of racially motivated police brutality and youth mental health," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Harris, Ricci & Tobias, Martin & Jeffreys, Mona & Waldegrave, Kiri & Karlsen, Saffron & Nazroo, James, 2006. "Racism and health: The relationship between experience of racial discrimination and health in New Zealand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 1428-1441, September.
    2. Priest, Naomi & Paradies, Yin & Trenerry, Brigid & Truong, Mandy & Karlsen, Saffron & Kelly, Yvonne, 2013. "A systematic review of studies examining the relationship between reported racism and health and wellbeing for children and young people," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 115-127.
    3. Bécares, Laia & Nazroo, James & Kelly, Yvonne, 2015. "A longitudinal examination of maternal, family, and area-level experiences of racism on children's socioemotional development: Patterns and possible explanations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 128-135.
    4. Cunningham, Timothy J. & Seeman, Teresa E. & Kawachi, Ichiro & Gortmaker, Steven L. & Jacobs, David R. & Kiefe, Catarina I. & Berkman, Lisa F., 2012. "Racial/ethnic and gender differences in the association between self-reported experiences of racial/ethnic discrimination and inflammation in the CARDIA cohort of 4 US communities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(5), pages 922-931.
    5. Irizar, Patricia & Kapadia, Dharmi & Amele, Sarah & Bécares, Laia & Divall, Pip & Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal & Kibuchi, Eliud & Kneale, Dylan & McCabe, Ronan & Nazroo, James & Nellums, Laura B. & T, 2023. "Pathways to ethnic inequalities in COVID-19 health outcomes in the United Kingdom: A systematic map," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    6. Cave, Leah & Cooper, Matthew N. & Zubrick, Stephen R. & Shepherd, Carrington C.J., 2020. "Racial discrimination and child and adolescent health in longitudinal studies: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    7. Anders Larrabee Sonderlund & Antoinette Schoenthaler & Trine Thilsing, 2021. "The Association between Maternal Experiences of Interpersonal Discrimination and Adverse Birth Outcomes: A Systematic Review of the Evidence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-31, February.
    8. Chae, David H. & Lincoln, Karen D. & Adler, Nancy E. & Syme, S. Leonard, 2010. "Do experiences of racial discrimination predict cardiovascular disease among African American men? The moderating role of internalized negative racial group attitudes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(6), pages 1182-1188, September.
    9. Seung-Sup Kim & Yeonseung Chung & S V Subramanian & David R Williams, 2012. "Measuring Discrimination in South Korea: Underestimating the Prevalence of Discriminatory Experiences among Female and Less Educated Workers?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(3), pages 1-8, March.
    10. Ruqaiijah Yearby, 2018. "Racial Disparities in Health Status and Access to Healthcare: The Continuation of Inequality in the United States Due to Structural Racism," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(3-4), pages 1113-1152, May.
    11. Subramanyam, Malavika A. & Diez-Roux, Ana V. & Hickson, DeMarc A. & Sarpong, Daniel F. & Sims, Mario & Taylor, Herman A. & Williams, David R. & Wyatt, Sharon B., 2012. "Subjective social status and psychosocial and metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease among African Americans in the Jackson Heart Study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(8), pages 1146-1154.
    12. M. Anne George & Cherylynn Bassani, 2018. "Influence of Perceived Racial Discrimination on the Health of Immigrant Children in Canada," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 527-540, August.
    13. Nancy Krieger & Pamela D Waterman & Anna Kosheleva & Jarvis T Chen & Kevin W Smith & Dana R Carney & Gary G Bennett & David R Williams & Gisele Thornhill & Elmer R Freeman, 2013. "Racial Discrimination & Cardiovascular Disease Risk: My Body My Story Study of 1005 US-Born Black and White Community Health Center Participants (US)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-15, October.
    14. Eli K. Michaels & Alexis N. Reeves & Marilyn D. Thomas & Melisa M. Price & Rebecca E. Hasson & David H. Chae & Amani M. Allen, 2019. "Everyday Racial Discrimination and Hypertension among Midlife African American Women: Disentangling the Role of Active Coping Dispositions versus Active Coping Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-18, November.
    15. Lukachko, Alicia & Hatzenbuehler, Mark L. & Keyes, Katherine M., 2014. "Structural racism and myocardial infarction in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 42-50.
    16. Diane Lauderdale, 2006. "Birth outcomes for Arabic-named women in California before and after September 11," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(1), pages 185-201, February.
    17. Allan K. Nkwata & Ming Zhang & Xiao Song & Bruno Giordani & Amara E. Ezeamama, 2021. "The Relationship of Race, Psychosocial Stress and Resiliency Indicators to Neurocognitive Impairment among Older Americans Enrolled in the Health and Retirement Survey: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-15, February.
    18. Krieger, Nancy & Smith, Kevin & Naishadham, Deepa & Hartman, Cathy & Barbeau, Elizabeth M., 2005. "Experiences of discrimination: Validity and reliability of a self-report measure for population health research on racism and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(7), pages 1576-1596, October.
    19. Madeleine F. Cohen & Anne L. Dunlop & Dayna A. Johnson & Alexis Dunn Amore & Elizabeth J. Corwin & Patricia A. Brennan, 2022. "Intergenerational Effects of Discrimination on Black American Children’s Sleep Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-18, March.
    20. Krieger, Nancy & Chen, Jarvis T. & Waterman, Pamela D. & Hartman, Cathy & Stoddard, Anne M. & Quinn, Margaret M. & Sorensen, Glorian & Barbeau, Elizabeth M., 2008. "The inverse hazard law: Blood pressure, sexual harassment, racial discrimination, workplace abuse and occupational exposures in US low-income black, white and Latino workers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 1970-1981, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:199:y:2018:i:c:p:230-240. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.