COLORISM UNVEILED: EXAMINING HOW SKIN COLOR DISCRIMINATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, MENTAL HEALTH, AND SUBSTANCE USE AMONG LATINX ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

We examined associations between colorism and developmental outcomes among Latinx adolescents. Colorism was operationalized as adolescents’ experiences with discrimination based on skin color. Developmental outcomes included academic achievement, mental health, and substance use. Participants were Latinx adolescents (N = 703; M_age = 15.93, SD_age = 1.21; 47.56% female). Anonymous cross-sectional survey data were analyzed. Results indicated that colorism was negatively associated with academic achievement and self-esteem, and positively associated with depressive symptoms and substance use. Results showed that colorism is an important correlate to academic achievement and several indicators of health and well-being for Latinx adolescents, who are a marginalized population

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. We chose the term “Latinx” to be inclusive of genders.

Additional information

Funding

Our work was supported by funding awarded to Zena R. Mello, PhD, from The Regents of the University of California, Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program [Grant T31IP1855]. The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the author, ZRM. The data are not publicly available due to the privacy of research participants.