Virtual Environments, Online Racial Discrimination, and Adjustment among a Diverse, School-Based Sample of Adolescents

Introduction

Racial discrimination is a common stressor and a growing threat to adolescent health and well-being. More specifically, within their lifetime, up to 94% of African American, Latino, and Asian youth have experienced traditional or face-to-face discrimination that was associated with their racial and ethnic background (Benner & Kim, 2009; Dotterer, McHale, & Crouter, 2009; Flanagan, Syvertsen, Gill, Gallay, & Cumsille, 2009; Harris-Britt, Valrie, Kurtz-Costes, & Rowley, 2007; Huynh & Fuligni, 2010; Martin et al., 2011; Medvedeva, 2010; Neblett et al., 2008; Pachter, Szalacha, Bernstein, & Coll, 2010). Much of the research in the area of traditional racial discrimination focuses on the perceived frequency of these experiences within the classroom, including unfair treatment due to race (Chavous, Rivas-Drake, Smalls, Griffin, & Cogburn, 2008), where respondents may be treated with less respect or harassed because of their race or ethnicity (Rivas-Drake, Hughes, & Way, 2009; Shin, D’Antonio, Son, Kim, & Park, 2011). To extend this body of research, some scholars have explored disparities and experiences of tracking, unfair discipline, perceptions of lower levels of intelligence, or receiving less academic praise and reinforcement than their white counterparts (Benner & Kim, 2009; Dotterer et al., 2009; Cogburn, Chavous, & Griffin, 2011).