Page Last Updated: May 14, 2026

Experiences of Unfair Treatmentđź”—

Table Namesed_bm_phx__discr
ConstructExperiences of Unfair Treatment
Study VisitsV01, V05, V07
Administration Child-specific: No
Respondent: Parent
Method: Self-administered remotely (3 min estimated duration)
Quality Control Data dashboard monitored for variable missingness, possible coding errors, and data consistency.
Please review the Known Issues & Pending Updates page for updates that may affect data use.

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.

HBCD Modification Details â–¸

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.

Referencesđź”—

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