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Perceived discrimination, race and health in South Africa

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  • Williams, David R.
  • Gonzalez, Hector M.
  • Williams, Stacey
  • Mohammed, Selina A.
  • Moomal, Hashim
  • Stein, Dan J.

Abstract

To assess the levels of perceived acute and chronic racial and non-racial discrimination in South Africa, their association with health, and the extent to which they contribute to racial differences in physical and mental health, data were used from a national probability sample of adults, the South African Stress and Health Study (SASH). All Black groups in South Africa (African, Coloured and Indian) were two to four times more likely than Whites to report acute and chronic experiences of racial discrimination. Africans and Coloureds report higher levels of ill health than Whites, but acute and chronic racial discrimination were unrelated to ill health and unimportant in accounting for racial differences in self-rated health. In contrast, all Black groups had higher levels of psychological distress than Whites, and perceived chronic discrimination was positively associated with distress. Moreover, these experiences accounted for some of the residual racial differences in distress after adjustment for socioeconomic status. Our main findings indicate that, in a historically racialized society, perceived chronic racial and especially non-racial discrimination acts independently of demographic factors, other stressors, psychological factors (social desirability, self-esteem and personal mastery), and multiple SES indicators to adversely affect mental health.

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  • Williams, David R. & Gonzalez, Hector M. & Williams, Stacey & Mohammed, Selina A. & Moomal, Hashim & Stein, Dan J., 2008. "Perceived discrimination, race and health in South Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 441-452, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:67:y:2008:i:3:p:441-452
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    5. Scheim, Ayden I. & Bauer, Greta R., 2019. "The Intersectional Discrimination Index: Development and validation of measures of self-reported enacted and anticipated discrimination for intercategorical analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 225-235.
    6. Yingxin Chen & Huihua He & Yan Yang, 2023. "Effects of Social Support on Professional Identity of Secondary Vocational Students Major in Preschool Nursery Teacher Program: A Chain Mediating Model of Psychological Adjustment and School Belonging," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-14, March.
    7. 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).
    8. Harnois, Catherine E., 2022. "What do we measure when we measure perceptions of everyday discrimination?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    9. Zahodne, Laura B. & Sharifian, Neika & Kraal, A. Zarina & Morris, Emily P. & Sol, Ketlyne & Zaheed, Afsara B. & Meister, Lindsey & Mayeux, Richard & Schupf, Nicole & Manly, Jennifer J. & Brickman, Ada, 2023. "Longitudinal associations between racial discrimination and hippocampal and white matter hyperintensity volumes among older Black adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    10. Smith-Greenaway, Emily, 2015. "Are literacy skills associated with young adults' health in Africa? Evidence from Malawi," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 124-133.
    11. Ameed Saabneh, 2015. "Ethnic Health Inequalities in Unequal Societies: Morbidity Gaps Between Palestinians and Jews in Israel," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 31(4), pages 445-466, October.
    12. Seung-Sup Kim & David R Williams, 2012. "Perceived Discrimination and Self-Rated Health in South Korea: A Nationally Representative Survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(1), pages 1-8, January.
    13. Jayati Das-Munshi & Crick Lund & Catherine Mathews & Charlotte Clark & Catherine Rothon & Stephen Stansfeld, 2016. "Mental Health Inequalities in Adolescents Growing Up in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Cross-Sectional Survey, SHaW Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(5), pages 1-16, May.
    14. Harnois, Catherine E. & Bastos, João L. & Campbell, Mary E. & Keith, Verna M., 2019. "Measuring perceived mistreatment across diverse social groups: An evaluation of the Everyday Discrimination Scale," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 298-306.
    15. Dutra, Lauren M. & Williams, David R. & Gupta, Jhumka & Kawachi, Ichiro & Okechukwu, Cassandra A., 2014. "Human rights violations and smoking status among South African adults enrolled in the South Africa Stress and Health (SASH) study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 103-111.
    16. Brook, David W. & Rubenstone, Elizabeth & Zhang, Chenshu & Morojele, Neo K. & Brook, Judith S., 2011. "Environmental stressors, low well-being, smoking, and alcohol use among South African adolescents," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(9), pages 1447-1453, May.
    17. Harell, Allison & Lieberman, Evan, 2021. "How information about race-based health disparities affects policy preferences: Evidence from a survey experiment about the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    18. Raj, Anita & Chatterji, Sangeeta & Johns, Nicole E. & Yore, Jennifer & Dey, Arnab K. & Williams, David R., 2023. "The associations of everyday and major discrimination exposure with violence and poor mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    19. Nancy Krieger & Pamela D Waterman & Anna Kosheleva & Jarvis T Chen & Dana R Carney & Kevin W Smith & Gary G Bennett & David R Williams & Elmer Freeman & Beverley Russell & Gisele Thornhill & Kristin M, 2011. "Exposing Racial Discrimination: Implicit & Explicit Measures–The My Body, My Story Study of 1005 US-Born Black & White Community Health Center Members," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(11), pages 1-24, November.
    20. Lawrence, Jourdyn A. & Kawachi, Ichiro & White, Kellee & Bassett, Mary T. & Williams, David R., 2022. "Associations between multiple indicators of discrimination and allostatic load among middle-aged adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).

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