Poster #152 - Adolescents’ Experience of Discrimination, Microprotections, and Well-being

• In Event: Poster Session 01

Abstract

Discrimination and bias-based victimization refers to mistreatment that occurs because of some aspect of one’s social identity such as race/ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. Previous research highlights the pervasiveness of discrimination and bias-based victimization among adolescents in the United States (Russell et al., 2012). A body of work documents that perceived ethnic-racial minority stressors among adolescents are associated with poorer mental health outcomes (Benner & Graham, 2013; Dotterer & James, 2018). Similarly, minority stress theory posits that sexual minorities experience distinct, chronic stressors related to their stigmatized identities, including victimization, prejudice, and discrimination.

A unique challenge for parents is to engage in socialization that promotes the positive development of their children in the face of such pervasive discrimination. To buffer the negative effects of discrimination, parents engage in “small daily caring, supportive, and loving behaviors (as interpreted by the child)”, referred to as microprotections (James, 2016, p. 2). While James (2016) conceived of microprotections in the context of Black youth and parenting, the concept of microprotections may be useful in measuring daily acts of support that promote resilience in other minoritized groups that have less power and privilege in society based on their social identities.

Guided by a risk and resilience framework, the current study examined the associations between adolescents’ perceptions of discrimination in multiple settings (from teachers at school, from peers at school, and online) and well-being (risky behavior, positive outlook), and investigated whether parental daily microprotections moderated the association between discrimination and well-being. We hypothesized that discrimination would be associated with more engagement in risky behavior and less positive outlook and that parental daily microprotections would mitigate the negative effects of discrimination.

A Qualtrics survey panel was utilized to recruit and survey 395 parent-adolescent dyads. Approximately 1/3 of the sample identified as White, 1/3 identified as Black/African American, and 1/3 identified as Hispanic/Latinx. Adolescents’ (in grades 9-12) reported on their perceptions of discrimination, parental daily microprotections, and engagement in risk-taking behaviors. Parents reported on perceptions of adolescents’ positive outlook with items that assessed positive identity and positive values/decision-making.

Multiple regression analyses showed that discrimination from teachers and in online settings were associated with greater engagement in risk-taking behaviors, whereas parental microprotections was associated with less engagement in risk-taking behaviors. As hypothesized, parental daily microprotections moderated the association between discrimination from teachers and risky behavior. As shown in Figure 1, at high levels of parental microprotections, the association between discrimination from teachers and risky behaviors was reduced; in the context of low microprotections, however, more discrimination was associated with greater engagement in risky behaviors. A similar pattern was observed for adolescents’ positive youth outlook: Discrimination from teachers was associated with less positive outlook, whereas parental microprotections were associated with more positive outlook. These effects were qualified by a significant interaction that revealed minimal association between discrimination from teachers and positive outlook in contexts of high microprotections; in contexts of low micrprotections, however, more discrimination was associated with less positive youth outlook (Figure 2).

Authors

• Aryn M Dotterer, Utah State University
  Presenting Author

• Melissa Ferguson, Utah State University