Age, class and race discrimination: their interactions and associations with mental health among Brazilian university students

Abstract

Although research on discrimination and health has progressed significantly, it has tended to focus on racial discrimination and US populations. This study explored different types of discrimination, their interactions and associations with common mental disorders among Brazilian university students, in Rio de Janeiro in 2010. Associations between discrimination and common mental disorders were examined using multiple logistic regression models, adjusted for confounders. Interactions between discrimination and socio-demographics were tested. Discrimination attributed to age, class and skin color/race were the most frequently reported. In a fully adjusted model, discrimination attributed to skin color/race and class were both independently associated with increased odds of common mental disorders. The simultaneous reporting of skin color/race, class and age discrimination was associated with the highest odds ratio. No significant interactions were found. Skin color/race and class discrimination were important, but their simultaneous reporting, in conjunction with age discrimination, were associated with the highest occurrence of common mental disorders.

Moderators of the association between discrimination and alcohol consumption: findings from a representative sample of Brazilian university students

“…30 The number of reasons for being discriminated against was not associated with patterns of alcohol consumption in the whole UFSC sample, but over half of the students reported more than one reason for being discriminated against. In our review of the literature, the only two studies that examined the association between multiple reasons for being discriminated against and adverse health conditions found positive results, 8,21 which support the hypothesis that discriminatory experiences attributed to multiple reasons may have worse health effects.…”

“…Moreover, recent studies suggest the existence of a possible association between discrimination and alcohol use or abuse. 4,[6][7][8][9][10] Alcohol use or abuse is a considerable problem in contemporary societies, and it is closely associated with negative short-and long-term health outcomes.…”

“…Our review of the literature revealed that only two studies 8,21 was modified by year of study in university, common mental disorders and age.…”

Differential reporting of discriminatory experiences in Brazil and the United States

“…A nationally-representative sample showed that self-identified Black Brazilians reported higher levels of racial discrimination (37%) than Browns (10%) or Whites (6.7%), with similar race gaps whether interviewer-classified race or respondent self-classification was used 7 . Finally, Black and Brown university students in Rio de Janeiro reported more discrimination that they attributed to their race -or a combination of multiple identities, including race -than did their White counterparts, while Whites reported more discrimination on the basis of class, age, and for other reasons 6 .…”

“…Most of the extant research on perceived discrimination has been conducted in the United States, a society with a long history of institutionalized racial discrimination, but one that experienced a Civil Rights movement in the 1960s that led to legal restrictions on racial discrimination, and a need to monitor compliance with these new laws. Researchers in other societies have also begun to explore the prevalence of perceived racial discrimination in the context of their own distinctive social and legal histories around race, such as South Africa 3 and Brazil 4,5,6,7 . Brazil stands out as a society without racially-discriminatory laws after the abolition of slavery, and a unique reputation as a supposed "racial democracy" as compared to other multiracial societies, but only recently has begun to officially acknowledge the persistence of racebased inequalities and discrimination.…”