Skip to main content
Log in

Perceived Discrimination and Peer Victimization Among African American and Latino Youth

  • Empirical Research
  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Perceptions of racial discrimination constitute significant risks to the psychological adjustment of minority youth. The present study examined the relationship between perceived racial discrimination and peer nominations of victimization among 173 (55 % female) African American, European American and Latino youth. All respondents completed peer nominations of victimization status whereas the African American and Latino youth completed subjective measures of racial discrimination. The results indicated that African American and Latino’s subjective perceptions of racial discrimination were linked to nominations of overt and relational victimization when rated by their European American peers. The results suggest that there is consistency between African American and Latino youth’s perceptions of racial discrimination and nominations of peer victimization by their European American peers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barksdale, D. J., Farrug, E. R., & Harkness, K. (2009). Racial discrimination and blood pressure: Perceptions, emotions, and behaviors of Black American adults. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 30, 104–111. doi:10.1080/01612840802597879.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brody, G. H., Chen, Y., Murry, V. M., Ge, X., Simons, R. L., Gibbons, F. X., et al. (2006). Perceived discrimination and the adjustment of African American youths: A five-year longitudinal analysis with contextual moderation effects. Child Development, 77, 1170–1189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coie, J., & Dodge, K. (1983). Continuities and changes in children’s social status: A five-year longitudinal study. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly: Journal of Developmental Psychology, 29, 261–282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deater-Deckard, K. (2001). Annotation: Recent research examining the role of peer relationships in the development of psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42, 565–579. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00753.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, L. M., & Romero, A. J. (2008). Coping with discrimination among Mexican descendent adolescents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 30, 24–39. doi:10.1177/0739986307311431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Felix, E. D., & You, S. (2011). Peer victimization within the ethnic context of high school. Journal of Community Psychology, 39, 860–875. doi:10.1002/jcop.20465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, C. B., Wallace, S. A., & Fenton, R. E. (2000). Discrimination distress during adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 679–695. doi:10.1023/A:1026455906512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flores, E., Tschann, J. M., Dimas, J. M., Pasch, L. A., & de Groat, C. L. (2010). Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and health risk behaviors among Mexican American adolescents. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57, 264–273. doi:10.1037/a0020026.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Franzoi, S., Davis, M., & Vasquez-Suson, K. (1994). Two social worlds: Social correlates and stability of adolescent status groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 462–473. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.3.462.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gee, G., & Walsemann, K. (2009). Does health predict the reporting of racial discrimination or do reports of discrimination predict health? Findings from the national longitudinal study of youth. Social Science and Medicine, 68, 1676–1684. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.02.002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons, F. X., Gerrard, M., Cleveland, M. J., Wills, T. A., & Brody, G. (2004). Perceived discrimination and substance use in African American parents and their children: A panel study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 517–529. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.86.4.517.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S. (2006). Peer victimization in school: Exploring the ethnic context. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 317–321. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2006.00460.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawker, D. S., & Boulton, M. J. (2000). Twenty year’s research on peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment: A meta-analytic review of cross-sectional studies. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 4, 441–455. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00629.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huynh, V. W., & Fuligni, A. J. (2010). Discrimination hurts: The academic, psychological, and physical well-being of adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 20, 916–941. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00670.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inderbitzen, H., Walters, K., & Bukowski, A. (1997). The role of social anxiety in adolescent peer relations: Differences among sociometric status groups and rejected subgroups. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 26, 338–348. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp2604_2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krieger, N., & Sidney, S. (1996). Racial discrimination and blood pressure: The CARDIA study of young black and white adults. American Journal of Public Health, 86, 1370–1378. doi:10.2105/AJPH.86.10.1370.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lai, M., & Tov, W. (2004). California healthy kids survey 2002 analysis. Asian Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center. Oakland, CA: Asian Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center, National Council on Crime and Delinquency.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matza, L. S., Kupersmidt, J. B., & Glenn, D. M. (2001). Adolescents’ perceptions and standards of their relationships with their parents as a function of sociometric status. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 11, 245–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neblett, E. W. J., Shelton, J. N., & Sellers, R. M. (2004). The role of racial identity in managing daily racial hassles. Racial identity in context: The legacy of Kenneth B. Clark (pp. 77–90). Washington, DC US: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/10812-005.

  • Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pepler, D., Craig, W. M., & O’Connell, P. (1999). Understanding bullying from a dynamic systems perspective. In A. Slater & D. Muir (Eds.), Developmental psychology: An advanced reader (pp. 440–451). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prelow, H. M., Danoff-Burg, S., Swenson, R. R., & Pulgiano, D. (2004). The impact of ecological risk and perceived discrimination on the psychological adjustment of African American and European American Youth. Journal of Community Psychology, 32, 375–389. doi:10.1002/jcop.20007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rock, P. F., Cole, D. J., Houshyar, S., Lythcott, M., & Prinstein, M. J. (2011). Peer status in an ethnic context: Associations with African American adolescents' ethnic identity. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 32, 163–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romero, A. J., & Roberts, R. E. (2003). Stress within a bicultural context for adolescents of Mexican descent. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 9, 171–184. doi:10.1037/1099-9809.9.2.171.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenbloom, S. R., & Way, N. (2004). Experiences of discrimination among African American, Asian American, and Latino adolescents in an urban high school. Youth & Society, 35, 420–451. doi:10.1177/0044118X03261479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sawyer, A. L., Bradshaw, C. P., & O’Brennan, L. M. (2008). Examining ethnic, gender, and developmental differences in the way children report being a victim of ‘bullying’ on self-report measures. Journal of Adolescent Health, 43, 106–114. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.12.011.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seaton, E. K., Caldwell, C. H., Sellers, R. M., & Jackson, J. S. (2008). The prevalence of perceived discrimination among African American and Caribbean Black youth. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1288–1297. doi:10.1037/a0012747.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seaton, E. K., Neblett, E. W., Upton, R., Hammond, W. P., & Sellers, R. M. (2011). The moderating capacity of racial identity in the longitudinal relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological well-being among African American youth. Child Development, 82(6), 1850–1867.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sellers, R. M., & Shelton, J. (2003). The role of racial identity in perceived racial discrimination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1079–1092. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.5.1079.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Siann, G., Callaghan, M., Glissov, P., Lockhart, R., & Rawson, L. (1994). Who gets bullied? The effect of school, gender and ethnic group. Educational Research, 36, 123–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P. K., Cowie, H., Olafsson, R. F., Liefooghe, A. P. D., et al. (2002). Definitions of bullying: A comparison of terms used, and age and gender differences, in a fourteen-country international comparison. Child Development, 73, 1119–1133. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00461.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B. (2006). Phenomenology and ecological systems theory: Development of diverse groups (Chapter 15). In W. Damon & R. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology, Vol. 1 (R. Lerner, Ed.): Theoretical models of human development (6th ed., pp. 829–893). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B., Fegley, S. G., & Harplani, V. (2003). A theoretical and empirical examination of identity as coping: Linking coping resources to the self-process of African American youth. Applied Developmental Science, 7, 181–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szalacha, L. A., Erkut, S., Coll, C. G., Alarcon, O., Fields, J. P., & Ceder, I. (2003). Discrimination and Puerto Rican children’s and adolescents’ mental health. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 9, 141–155. doi:10.1037/1099-9809.9.2.141.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, C. (1987). Racism or neuroticism: An entangled dilemma for the black middle class patient. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 15(3), 395–405.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tynes, B. M., Umana-Taylor, A. J., Rose, C. A., Lin, J., & Anderson, C. J. (2012). Online racial discrimination and the protective function of ethnic identity and self-esteem for African American adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 48, 343–355. doi:10.1037/a0027032.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Umaña-Taylor, A. J., & Guimond, A. B. (2012). A longitudinal examination of parenting behaviors and perceived discrimination predicting Latino adolescents’ ethnic identity. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 1(S), 14–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verkuyten, M., & Jochem, T. (2006). Ethnic discrimination and global self-worth in early adolescents: The mediating role of ethnic self-esteem. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 30, 107–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Way, N. (1997). Adult and peer discrimination measure. Unpublished document.

  • Williams, D. R., Neighbors, H. W., & Jackson, J. S. (2003). Racial/ethnic discrimination and health: Findings from community studies. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 200–208. doi:10.2105/AJPH.93.2.20.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

ES, EN and DC conceived of the study and participated in the design and coordination of the study. ES and DC performed the statistical analyses. ES, EN and DC helped to draft the manuscript. MP conceived and designed the larger study of which the current manuscript is based and helped with the design of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eleanor K. Seaton.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Seaton, E.K., Neblett, E.W., Cole, D.J. et al. Perceived Discrimination and Peer Victimization Among African American and Latino Youth. J Youth Adolescence 42, 342–350 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9848-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9848-6

Keywords

Navigation