Online Racial Discrimination and Psychological Adjustment Among Adolescents

Purpose: To examine associations between individual and vicarious racial discrimination via the Internet and psychological adjustment. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey using a school-based sample of adolescents. Two hundred sixty-four high school students aged 14-18 completed the online survey. Results: Twenty percent of whites, 29% of African Americans and 42% of multiracials/other experienced individual discrimination and approximately 71% of African Americans and whites and 67% of multiracials witnessed discrimination experienced by same-race and cross-race peers. Hierarchical linear regressions revealed that individual racial discrimination was significantly related to depression and anxiety over and above offline measures. Vicarious discrimination was not related to psychological adjustment measures. Conclusions: Adolescents frequently experienced both individual and vicarious discrimination online. Consistent with offline studies, online racial discrimination was negatively associated with psychological functioning. This study highlights the need to address racial issues in Internet safety prevention. © 2008 Society for Adolescent Medicine.