Editorial: Interpersonal Racial-Ethnic Discrimination and Psychopathology in the ABCD Cohort.

Abstract

Discrimination and structural factors that promote discrimination and sociocultural inequities are social determinants of health that contribute to poorer health outcomes among minoritized youth. Discrimination consists of institutional or individual-level biases leading to disparate and unequitable access to resources. If individuals are aware of these experiences and their impact on one's own ability to access resources or opportunities, individuals may self-report these occurrences. Experiences of discrimination, and one's personal experience of discrimination at individual, social, and/or institutional levels have been shown to contribute to worse psychiatric outcomes through the emergence of and increased severity of psychopathology, reduced access to treatment, decreased likelihood of active treatment seeking, and poorer treatment retention.^1,2 For youth, early and repeated exposures to discrimination, and perception of discrimination, may contribute to health disparities in psychopathology in adolescence, young adulthood, and beyond. Our understanding of protective factors and primary and secondary prevention strategies is limited, given the lack of systematic research on early and persistent exposure to discrimination on developmental outcomes in minoritized youth. Large longitudinal research studies with representative heterogeneous samples may allow for the study of these relationships.