Experiences of Unfair Treatmentđź”—

Name

Experiences of Unfair Treatment

Table Namesed_bm_phx__discr
Construct

Experiences of Unfair Treatment

Study Visits

V01, V05, V07

TypeRemote Questionnaire (Parent on Self; 3 min)
Quality Control

Data dashboard monitored for variable missingness, possible coding errors, and data consistency.

Instrument Detailsđź”—

This PhenX+ Toolkit Discrimination measure is a questionnaire to assess perceived experiences of being treated unfairly. This is an important factor in an individual’s health because it affects access to employment, housing, and education opportunities and can affect self-esteem and cause stress. It includes the Major Experiences and Everyday Discrimination Scales.

Modifications to Everyday Discrimination Scale

Instruction text was modified to: "In the following questions, we are interested in your perceptions about the way other people have treated you. Can you tell me if any of the following has ever happened to you?". Response options ("main reason for these experiences") were modified as follows:

  • Standardized capitalization (e.g., "Your ancestry or national origin" → "Your Ancestry or National Origin").
  • Replaced “A physical disability” with “A Disability.”
  • Added options: Substance Use / Addiction, Don't Know, and Decline to Answer as well as the following based on participant feedback (01/2024): Mental Health or Neurodivergence, Physical Health, A Reason Not Listed
  • Removed: “Your shade of skin color,” “Your tribe,” and “Other (SPECIFY).”

Scoring Changes

The follow-up question "What do you think is the main reason for these experiences?" was asked once after completion of each scale to capture the main reasons for any items marked “a few times a year” (Everyday Discrimination Scale) or “yes” (Major Experiences of Discrimination). The original logic asked this question a single time at the end of each individual scale.

PhenX Toolkit. (2024 November 01). Discrimination, PhenX Toolkit. https://www.phenxtoolkit.org/protocols/view/210302

Sternthal, M. J., Slopen, N., & Williams, D. R. (2011). Racial disparities in health. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 8(1), 95–113. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1742058x11000087

Williams, D. R. (2015). Measuring discrimination resource. http://scholar.harvard.edu/davidrwilliams/node/32777