Racial/Ethnic Inequality Among Older Workers: Focusing On Whites,Blacks, and Latinos Within the Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage Framework

The experience of older racial/ethnic minority workers may differ from that of their non-Hispanic White counterparts because of persistent racial/ethnic differences; however, our knowledge of older minority workers is fragmentary. Using the cumulative advantage/disadvantage framework, this study aimed to identify factors that explain older Americans’ labor market participation after age 65 and whether racial/ethnic differences exist among those factors. Using the 2004 and 2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study data, racially separate analyses were performed to systematically compare factors by race. The results showed that factors influencing labor force participation after age 65 were indeed conditioned by race. Health and meaning of work significantly influenced non-Hispanic Whites, whereas home ownership increased the odds of working among non-Hispanic Blacks, and Latinos were concerned with health alone. The findings suggest that older ethnic minorities appear to experience a greater vulnerability to involuntary labor market exit—as opposed to personal preference or financial necessity. This racial/ethnic inequality should be understood not as sudden occurrences in old age, but as a by-product of the interplay between the individuals’ lifetime experiences and the social structures that impose cumulative advantages/disadvantages on them. Continued research will help reduce racial gaps in the next generation of older workers.     

Racial and Ethnic Variation in the Predictors of Maternal Parenting Stress

ABSTRACT

Little is known about racial and ethnic disparities in maternal parenting stress. Using Belsky's (1984) conceptual model, which characterizes parenting stress as a function of maternal and child characteristics and social context, we examine determinants of parenting stress among Mexican American mothers in comparison to non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black mothers. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being (FFCWB) Study, we analyze a sample of 2,898 mothers. According to our findings, patterns of parenting stress for non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black mothers are fairly consistent with Belsky's model. However, for Mexican American mothers, social support, but not partner support, ameliorates parenting stress, and depression is not associated with parenting stress. Importantly, despite significant social disadvantage, parenting stress levels in Mexican American mothers do not significantly differ from those of non-Hispanic Whites. Specific recommendations are made to practitioners for culturally competent responses to parenting stress with Mexican American families.     

Differences by Race in Social Work Students’ Social Distancing,Treatment Options,and Perceptions of Causes of Mental Illness

ABSTRACT

Research has shown that racial and cultural differences are related to the degree of social distancing associated with mental illness, beliefs about what causes mental illness, and what treatment options are best; however, there is little information on how this may manifest in social workers’ perceptions of these issues. This cross-sectional survey analyzed the differences in perceptions by race of 835 students enrolled in social work classes in the United States. Results indicated that individuals who self-identify as African American/Black expressed the greatest social distance concerning mental illness. Whites were most likely to endorse the use of medication and were least likely to normalize mental illness. The most frequently endorsed mental health provider varied according to racial/ethnic groups. Our findings show that future research may be needed to further investigate the conceptualization of the role of social work among different groups. The need for self-reflection and keeping biases in check are discussed as implications for social work practice and education. Suggestions for working with diverse clients, including religious diversity, are offered as well.     

Variability in the Inter‐group Attitudes of White Children: What We Can Learn from Their Ethnic Identity Labels

The current study examined the ethnic identity of White (N = 120), Latino (N = 87), and African‐American (N = 65) children and early adolescents (aged = 9–14 years), with an emphasis on whether the specific ethnic label White children used to describe themselves might reflect differences in their inter‐group attitudes and whether those differences mirror group differences between White children and children in ethnic minority groups. Results indicated that White children who identified with a minority label (i.e., White biracial, hyphenated American, ethnic/cultural/religious label) had more positive ethnic identities, were more aware of discrimination, and were less likely to show biases in their perceived similarity to in‐group and out‐group peers than youth who identified as White or American. In many instances, White children who identified with a minority label did not differ from ethnic minority youth. In addition, although all participants were more positive about their ethnic in‐group than out‐groups, children who identified their ethnicity as American were less positive about out‐groups relative to other children. Taken together, the findings indicate that children's self‐chosen ethnic identity is as important as their ascribed ethnic or racial identity in predicting their inter‐group attitudes.     

Assessing Racial and Ethnic Differences in Attitudes towards the Use of Physical Discipline in Parenting: A Mixed-Methods Approach

Using a concurrent nested mixed-methods approach, this study assessed racial and ethnic differences in attitudes towards the use of physical discipline in parenting based on data recently collected in Nebraska. Relative to Non-Hispanic White parents, African American parents were more likely to approve the practice of physical punishment to correct misbehavior of children, whereas Hispanic parents were less likely to support physical punishment. There was a positive relationship between acculturation and approval of physical discipline among Hispanic parents. Understanding these differences can help inform the design and implementation of future parenting education programs for parents of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.     

Options: Racial/Ethnic Identification of Children of Intermarried Couples*

Objective. Whites of various European ethnic backgrounds usually have weak ethnic attachment and have options to identify their ethnic identity ( Waters, 1990 ). What about children born to interracially married couples? Methods. I use 1990 Census data—the last census in which only one race could be chosen—to examine how African American‐white, Latino‐white, Asian American‐white, and American Indian‐white couples identify their children's race/ethnicity. Results. Children of African American‐white couples are least likely to be identified as white, while children of Asian American‐white couples are most likely to be identified as white. Intermarried couples in which the minority spouse is male, native born, or has no white ancestry are more likely to identify their children as minorities than are those in which the minority spouse is female, foreign born, or has part white ancestry. In addition, neighborhood minority concentration increases the likelihood that biracial children are identified as minorities. Conclusion. This study shows that choices of racial and ethnic identification of multiracial children are not as optional as for whites of various European ethnic backgrounds. They are influenced by race/ethnicity of the minority parent, intermarried couples' characteristics, and neighborhood compositions.     

Effects of Placement Changes on Health Insurance Stability Among a National Sample of Children in the Child Welfare System

ABSTRACT

Children in the child welfare system have entitlements to health insurance coverage—critical because of their considerable physical and mental health needs—based largely on their placement status. This study conducted path and transitions analyses on data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (3,801 children followed-up for 3 years) to examine the interplay between placement changes and insurance stability. Children maintained in-home at Wave 1 had significantly lower odds of being insured (OR = 0.7); children transitioning from out-of-home placement to in-home care had significantly lower odds of maintaining insurance coverage (OR = 0.6). Child welfare workers working with children maintained in-home and those being reunified should safeguard the children's insurance status. Policy makers should consider extension of categorical eligibility to all children presenting to child welfare agencies in order to assure access to needed services for these vulnerable children.     

The Revised 28-Item Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (R28REMS): Examining the Factorial Structure for Black,Latino/Hispanic,and Asian Young Adults

ABSTRACT

Racial and ethnic discrimination has adverse effects on the health and mental health outcomes of people of color. Evidence indicates that modern discriminatory behavior is often a product of brief, commonplace, and often subtle acts that convey derogatory messages to people of color, known as racial and ethnic microaggressions. Accurately measuring microaggression is essential to understanding and preventing behaviors that are consistent with this complex construct. The current study examines evidence for the reliability and validity of the Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (REMS). Data from a sample of 286 randomly selected Black, Latino/Hispanic, and Asian young adults (ages 18–35 years old) were used to examine the REMS. Exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the factor structure of the REMS across racial and ethnic groups. Findings support the reliability of the instrument but also suggest that a shorter 5-factor model offers a promising alternative to the original 6-factor instrument. Results also reveal differences between how members of different racial and ethnic groups conceptualize microaggression. Recommendations for using a revised version of the instrument (the Revised 28-Item REMS) and for future research aimed at optimally measuring microaggression are identified.     

Interracial marriage and family socio-economic well-being: Equal status exchange or caste status exchange?

Minorities outmarried to Whites are often assumed to exchange their higher achieved status for an ascribed racial status. This study challenges this traditional exchange perspective by examining three SES measures (education, job prestige and income), using census 2000 PUMS data. Findings indicate that couples have similar statuses in all types of marriages, either endogamous or exogamous, and there is no evidence of status-caste exchange in intermarriage to Whites, except in Asian husband–White wife marriages in income (not in education or job prestige). Equal status exchange in intermarriages, however, may have stratified racial groups, especially for Native Americans, Native Hawaiians and Hispanics. Intermarriage thus widens gaps of inequality between endogamous minorities and endogamous Whites through equal status exchange between spouses.     

Poverty affects access to regular source of primary care among the general population in Hong Kong

A territory‐wide two‐stage stratified random sample of 2,282 community‐dwelling Hong Kong adults were surveyed between 2014 and 2015 to investigate the association between poverty and regular source of primary care utilization. Poverty was operationalized by income‐poverty and deprivation. About 94% of our sample reported having regular source of primary care (Western and/or Chinese medical practitioner) and about 69% among them were in private sector. Multivariable logistic regression showed that people who were income‐poor and deprived were less likely to have regular source of primary care (income‐poor: OR = 0.523, p = .027; deprived: OR = 0.488, p = .007) and visit private primary care doctors (income‐poor: OR = 0.445, deprived: OR = 0.222, both p < .0001). Those who had chronic diseases were more likely to have regular source of primary care (multimorbid: OR = 10.709, p < .0001), but less likely to access care in the private sector (one chronic disease: OR = 0.690, p = .019; multimorbid: OR = 0.374, p < .0001) than those without. Further, being older and less skilled were significantly associated with less likelihood of visiting a private doctor. Path analysis showed that the number of chronic diseases had significant indirect effect on having regular source of primary care with being income‐poor and deprived as the mediators (β = ?.0183, p = .0016). Therefore, despite a public health‐care system that aims to deny no one from adequate health care for lack of means, regular source of primary care in Hong Kong is found to be pro‐rich. Future policies should tackle the problem of health‐care inequalities to meet the needs of the underprivileged.     

Race differentials in employment effects of psychological distress: A study of non-Hispanic Whites and African-Americans in the United States

This study used two sub-samples of African-Americans and non-Hispanic Whites from the 2002–2003 U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health to examine differential effects of psychological distress (PD) on employment. Failing to reject exogeneity of PD in the employment specifications, we estimated standard probit of employment. We found that PD significantly reduced employment probability regardless of race; but the reduction was 7.4% for African-Americans, compared to 5.3% for Whites. Using individuals with PD only, we estimated the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition and found endowments explained 61% of employment differences between Whites with PDs and African-Americans with PDs while 39% of these differences were due to unexplained factors. These findings suggest that targeted policies for prevention and effective treatment of PD might yield higher employment benefits for minorities.     

Variations in the Life Histories of Incarcerated Parents by Race and Ethnicity: Implications for Service Provision

ABSTRACT

Incarcerated parents have complex life histories that often remain unresolved during incarceration, can continue to create barriers to prosocial success on release, and present similar intergenerational challenges for their children. This study examines the life histories of incarcerated fathers and mothers from the Pacific Northwest and how their experiences vary based on race and ethnicity. Five areas examined were exposure to trauma, child welfare involvement, mental health and substance abuse problems, juvenile justice and adult criminal justice involvement, and intergenerational criminal justice involvement. The sample comprised 359 incarcerated parents, and their racial/ethnic composition was 59% White, 14% African American, 11% multiracial, 8% Native American, and 7% Latino. Few differences were found across racial and ethnic groups. Mothers appeared more similar to each other across groups than fathers. Results illustrated similarities yet some surprising differences with national trends on key study variables. Implications for future research and intervention and prevention are discussed.     

The Greater Complexity of Lived Race: An Extension of Harris and Sim*

Objectives. Harris and Sim (2002) recently demonstrated the complexity of lived race by exploring patterns of racial self‐identification. They raised important sociological questions about the role of context in racial self‐identification, but offered an incomplete picture of ethnic fluidity by excluding Hispanics from their analyses. We address this limitation with data on Hispanics from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Methods. Our social‐psychological approach, using compositional analysis, focuses on the lived experience of race and ethnicity as qualitatively similar conceptual categories. Results. Informed by the cognitive process of social categorization, we find that considerably more individuals show fluidity in racial and ethnic self‐identification across contexts than suggested by Harris and Sim. Conclusions. Harris and Sim's thesis is even more strongly supported by these findings than in their original analysis, and our findings reinforce their challenge to the assumed stability of racial and ethnic measurement in sociology. We conclude by proposing a change in the measurement of race/ethnicity in America.     

The inclusion of minority groups in clinical trials: problems of under representation and under reporting of data

Objective: To evaluate the representation of minority groups in randomized control trials (RCTs), and the frequency with which this information is reported. Study Design: Reviewers collected data on the racial/ethnic composition of study samples from all RCTs published in six leading medical journals in 1999. Results: Of the 280 RCTs, most (204, 71.3%) provided no information on the race/ethnicity of participants. Of the 89 U.S.-based RCTs, 50 (56.1%) reported their minority distribution. Relative to other trials, those funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) (n = 52) were more likely to report race/ethnicity data (55.8% vs. 23.7%; x2 = 20.9, p <_0.001) and to include nonwhite participants (13.5 % vs. 12.5%; x2=22.7, p<_0.001). Conclusion: Minority groups are currently under-represented in clinical trials. Information on the race and ethnicity of clinical trial participants is currently underreported in six leading medical journals. Reporting of minority group information was significantly better only in NIH funded trials, which also were more likely to include nonwhite participants. This suggests that mandatory reporting policies may have a positive effect on both reporting and representation.     

The Racial Divide in Response to the Aftermath of Katrina: A Boundary Condition for Common Ingroup Identity Model

The disastrous aftermath of Katrina brought to light a great rift between Blacks and Whites in the United States. Polls taken shortly after the disaster gave clear indication that many Blacks felt that the response to Katrina was slowed by racism. At the same time, many Whites felt that the residents of New Orleans were to blame for their predicament. To understand the causal role ethnic identity plays in shaping individuals' perceptions, the present study experimentally manipulated Whites' social identification and measured their perceptions of the Katrina disaster's aftermath. Our results indicate that White Americans exhibited greater prejudice when thinking of themselves as "American" (an identity seemingly inclusive of Blacks) than when identifying as "White American" or "European American" (an identity that seemingly excludes Blacks). This finding demonstrates a boundary condition to the Common Ingroup Identity Model, such that a dual identity is more conducive to positive intergroup relations when strong racial assumptions exist about the overarching identity.     

Does anti-Semitism among African Americans simply reflect anti-White sentiment?

In his classic essay (1967) titled “Negroes Are Anti-Semitic Because They’re Anti-White,” writer James Baldwin argues that African American resentment of Jews reflects generalized anti-White sentiment. The current study examines levels of anti-Semitic attitudes in the United States among African Americans and other racial/ethnic groups. Using General Social Survey (2000) data for a nationally representative sample of adults (n = 1,118), this research investigates whether variation in anti-White attitudes explains variation in anti-Semitic attitudes. Multiple indicators are used to operationalize anti-Semitic and anti-White attitudes. One such indicator is the degree to which one opposed living in a Jewish (or White) neighborhood. Control variables include measures of perception of wealth for Jews and Whites. A series of logistic regression analyses offers mixed results. One analysis indicates that while some anti-Semitic attitudes are strongly associated with anti-White attitudes, African Americans are still significantly more likely than White, Latino, and Asian groups to express anti-Semitic views when the level of anti-White sentiment is held constant (p < .05). In a second analysis the respondent's race is not a significant effect on expressed anti-Semitism when controlling for anti-White attitudes.     

Ethnic and University Identities across the College Years: A Common In-Group Identity Perspective

The common in-group identity model advocates the creation of a superordinate group identity in order to reduce conflict between members of different ethnic subgroups. This study demonstrates that a university identity can serve as an effective common in-group identity for students from different ethnic groups. Longitudinal data were collected from an ethnically diverse sample of university students at the end of each year of college. Although ethnic identification tended to be correlated with status-legitimizing orientations and ideologies in a way that reinforces ethnic-status differences (i.e., these variables tended to be positively related for Whites but less so for ethnic minorities), the status-legitimizing variables were largely unrelated to university identification during each year in college. The longitudinal data also allowed us to examine these relationships over time. The relationships between ethnic and university identification and status-legitimizing orientations and ideologies did not change. Ethnic and university identities are discussed in terms of the common in-group identity model.     

Gender Differences in Determinants of Self-Rated Health Among African American in Omaha Nebraska: A Church-Based Study

Abstract

This study assessed the gender differences in determinants of fair/poor self-rated health among African American churchgoers in Omaha, Nebraska. Using data collected from 353 African American (245 women and 108 men) by the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2017, univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were performed to examine the gender differences in the relationships between fair/poor self-rated health and potential health determinants. Overall, 14.3% of women and 17.6% of men reported fair/poor self-rated health. There was a significant association between depression and poor/fair self-rated health among women (p?=?0.044) and men (p?=?0.001). For women, the fully controlled model confirmed the crude association between perceived poor/fair self-rated health and heart disease (OR = 3.10) and education (OR = 2.19). For men, the final model identified significant determinants of perceived fair/poor self-rated health such as depression (OR = 12.51) and diabetes (OR = 3.89). When assessing gender differences in determinants of self-rated health, similarities are higher than differences between the two groups. In both groups, the presence of depression was the strongest determinant of poor health. Future research should assess the immunological aspects of the association between psychological factors and perceived chronic diseases.     

The Inclusion of Minority Groups in Clinical Trials: Problems of Under Representation and Under Reporting of Data

Objective: To evaluate the representation of minority groups in randomized control trials (RCTs), and the frequency with which this information is reported.

Study Design: Reviewers collected data on the racial/ethnic composition of study samples from all RCTs published in six leading medical journals in 1999.

Results: Of the 280 RCTs, most (204, 71.3%) provided no information on the race/ethnicity of participants. Of the 89 U.S.-based RCTs, 50 (56.1%) reported their minority distribution. Relative to other trials, those funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) (n = 52) were more likely to report race/ethnicity data (55.8% vs. 23.7%; χ² = 20.9, p ≤ 0.001) and to include nonwhite participants (13.5% vs. 12.5%; χ² = 22.7, p ≤ 0.001).

Conclusion: Minority groups are currently under-represented in clinical trials. Information on the race and ethnicity of clinical trial participants is currently underreported in six leading medical journals. Reporting of minority group information was significantly better only in NIH funded trials, which also were more likely to include nonwhite participants. This suggests that mandatory reporting policies may have a positive effect on both reporting and representation.     

A racial comparison of Family Group Decision Making in the USA1

This study examined Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) among a nationally representative sample of African‐American and White children investigated for maltreatment in the US. While FGDM was developed for work with ethnic minority families, there is no research on how this is being carried out in the US, where African‐American children are overrepresented in child welfare services. The study views racial differences in child, caregiver and maltreatment characteristics related to FGDM; composition of FGDM meetings; service referrals and receipt; and service satisfaction. Data are from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well‐being (NSCAW), a study of 5501 children ages 0–14. Current analyses include African‐American and White children (n= 4129). Stratified, bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were used. Results showed that while race was not related FGDM receipt, different characteristics lead to FGDM among African‐American and White families. Surprisingly, caregivers report feeling no more involved in decision‐making in association with FGDM. FGDM is provided at low rates overall (10%) and less frequently among White caseworkers. Child access to mental health services increases in relation to FGDM. Implications are discussed.