Racial Discrimination of Adolescents With Special Healthcare Needs

Abstract

Purpose: Examine racial discrimination of adolescents of color by type of special healthcare need (SHCN).

Methods: Pooled cross-sectional data of youth over 10 years of age from 2018 to 2020 National Surveys of Children's Health were used (n = 48,220). Rates of discrimination by SHCN diagnoses within racial and ethnic groups were examined.

Results: Adolescents of color with SHCNs were almost twice as likely to experience racial discrimination as peers of color without SHCNs. Asian youth with SHCNs were over 3.5 times likely to experience racial discrimination as peers without. Youth with depression experienced highest rates of racial discrimination. Compared to peers without, Black youth with asthma or a genetic disorder, and Hispanic youth with autism or intellectual disabilities, experienced higher rates of racial discrimination.

Discussion: SHCN status heightens racial discrimination for adolescents of color. However, this risk was not uniform by racial or ethnic group for every SHCN type.

Keywords: Racial discrimination; Special healthcare needs.