Williams David R, Neighbors Harold W, Jackson James S
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, PO Box 1248, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, USA.
Am J Public Health. 2008 Sep;98(9 Suppl):S29-37. doi: 10.2105/ajph.98.supplement_1.s29.
The authors review the available empirical evidence from population-based studies of the association between perceptions of racial/ethnic discrimination and health. This research indicates that discrimination is associated with multiple indicators of poorer physical and, especially, mental health status. However, the extant research does not adequately address whether and how exposure to discrimination leads to increased risk of disease. Gaps in the literature include limitations linked to measurement of discrimination, research designs, and inattention to the way in which the association between discrimination and health unfolds over the life course. Research on stress points to important directions for the future assessment of discrimination and the testing of the underlying processes and mechanisms by which discrimination can lead to changes in health.
作者们回顾了基于人群的研究中有关种族/民族歧视认知与健康之间关联的现有实证证据。这项研究表明,歧视与身体状况较差的多个指标相关,尤其是心理健康状况。然而,现有研究并未充分探讨遭受歧视是否以及如何导致疾病风险增加。文献中的空白包括与歧视测量、研究设计相关的局限性,以及对歧视与健康之间的关联在生命历程中如何展开缺乏关注。压力研究为未来歧视评估以及对歧视导致健康变化的潜在过程和机制的检验指明了重要方向。