• Bongki Woo.
• School of Social Work, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467, USA. woob@bc.edu.
• J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2018 Aug 1; 5 (4): 766-773.

ObjectiveThe present study examined whether the health disadvantages consequent of racial discrimination experienced by four racial/ethnic minority groups are equivalent with that of the dominant racial group.MethodData was derived from the 2013 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Logistic regression and heterogeneous choice models were used to test the moderating role of race/ethnicity in regards to the associations between racial discrimination and ten DSM-V diagnoses.ResultsNon-Hispanic blacks reported the highest levels of experiencing racial discrimination, while Non-Hispanic whites reported the lowest. Exposure to racial discrimination was associated with higher odds of psychiatric disorders for non-Hispanic blacks, non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics than it was for non-Hispanic whites, while non-Hispanic American Indians/Alaska Natives had lower odds of psychiatric disorders.ConclusionsAnalyses indicated that racial discrimination poses stronger mental health disadvantages on racial/ethnic minorities than it does to non-Hispanic whites. This finding not only refutes the notion of reverse racism, but also calls for more efforts to close the racial/ethnic health gap for those exposed to racial discrimination.

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