Cost of Bias: Social Class Discrimination, Academic Achievement, and Substance Use among Asian American Adolescents
Abraham T. Moua, Jo Nisa Cabilogan, Dania Smith, Bing Tan, Jesssica Ly, Jayline Jimenez, Chan Nguyen, Jesse Wilson, Vanesa Ramirez, Martin Diego Garcia, Jeremiah Sadile Sabale
Department of Psychology
Faculty Supervisor: Zena Mello
We investigated associations between social class discrimination, academic achievement, and substance use among Asian American adolescents in the California. Social class discrimination is differential treatment individuals experience due to their social class. Our reserach questions were: How is social class discrimination associated with academic achievement? How is social class discrimination related to substance use, including alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and illicit drugs? How are associations between social class discrimination, academic achievement, and substance use moderated by age, gender, and social class?
The sample were 583 Asian American adolescents (Mage = 16.07; SDage = 1.23). Participants identified as cisgender girls (42.49%), cisgender boys (54.5%), transgender girls (0.69%), transgender boys (1.55%), and non-binary/enby individuals (0.86%). Data came from two separate datasets and harmonized following field recommendations.
Social class discrimination was measured utilizing an adapted version of the Adolescent Discrimination Distress Index. Higher scores indicated more social class discrimination experiences. Academic achievement was measured through letter grades. Substance use was measured by using yes/no responses on national substance items.
Hierarchical analyses revealed social class discrimination was negatively associated with academic achievement. Age moderated this association: younger adolescents displayed stronger associations than older adolescents. No associations were found between social class discrimination and substance use.