Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #110516

Natasha Davis, MSW, MPH, Department of Health Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, 646-240-7318, nd251@columbia.edu and Ilan H. Meyer, PhD, Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, 722 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032.

Introduction: The aim of this report is to examine the methodological challenges in measuring self-perceived prejudice and discrimination. The research on the health impact of discrimination remains equivocal. The instruments vary in the conceptualization and measurement of prejudice and discrimination. Some rely on single-item measures and others on more complex multiple-item scales. Methods: The author examined results from a sub-sample of African Americans (n=24) who self-identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) using subjective (perceived) and objective measures. Relying upon a broad definition of prejudice and discrimination, the proposed study examines the effectiveness of using multiple items to assess individual subjective measures of discrimination combined with an objective probed narrative method to examine discriminatory stress-related events. The first measure involves stressful life events, using a detailed probe narrative to assess prejudice motivated or prejudice involved events. The second measure is the Everyday Discrimination Scale adapted from Williams et al. (1997). Findings: The narratives add to the Everyday Discrimination Scale in that they reveal interesting results that were not evident in the instrument alone. For example, some of the people who reported that they were called racial epithets did not indicate that they were insulted or called names because of their race/ethnicity. Women faced discrimination more because of their race and gender than their sexual orientation. Further study is needed to accurately portray the advantages and disadvantages of this mixed method approach of utilizing subjective and objective measures of prejudice and discrimination.

Learning Objectives:

• To discuss prejudice and discrimination as a social stressor
• To describe some of the methodological considerations regarding measuring self-perceived prejudice and discrimination

Keywords: Stress, Minorities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.