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David R. Williams, PhD, MPH, Harold W. Neighbors, PhD and James S. Jackson, PhD

The authors are with the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to David R. Williams, PhD, MPH, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, PO Box 1248, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248 (e-mail: wildavid{at}umich.edu).

ABSTRACT

The authors review the available empirical evidence from population-based studies of the association between perceptions of racial/ethnic discrimination and health. This research indicates that discrimination is associated with multiple indicators of poorer physical and, especially, mental health status.

However, the extant research does not adequately address whether and how exposure to discrimination leads to increased risk of disease. Gaps in the literature include limitations linked to measurement of discrimination, research designs, and inattention to the way in which the association between discrimination and health unfolds over the life course.

Research on stress points to important directions for the future assessment of discrimination and the testing of the underlying processes and mechanisms by which discrimination can lead to changes in health.