UC Irvine

In this chapter, we summarize the existing literature on self-reported experiences of racial/ethnic discrimination and health status among Latina/o persons in the USA, explore the implications for Latina/o/x health, and identify future directions of research in this critical area.We reviewed 25 peer-reviewed articles that quantitatively examined the association between self-reported discrimination and mental or physical health, published between 2000 and 2016. The reviewed studies were primarily cross-sectional and few compared Latina/o subgroups.We encourage researchers to examine the health impacts of racial/ethnic discrimination on Latina/o health through intersectionality theory to assess discrimination across multiple intersecting social statuses.We also recommend that researchers examine the longitudinal health consequences of structural forms of racism such as carceral policies, educational policies, environmental quality, immigration enforcement, residential segregation, and health care access and quality across spatial contexts.