There is consistent evidence of the health-harming effects of discrimination. However, it remains unclear whether discrimination contributes to persistent racial and ethnic health disparities. One hindrance to documenting the association between discrimination and health disparities is ongoing methodological issues, particularly the role of question wording in assessing self-reports of discrimination. Using two nationally representative surveys, we investigate whether the prevalence, distribution, and mental and physical health consequences of differential treatment vary by question wording—”discrimination” versus “unfair treatment.” We find that “unfair treatment” yields greater reports of everyday forms of differential treatment relative to reports of “discrimination,” while the latter yields greater reports of major forms of differential treatment. In addition, the negative effect of “unfair treatment” on mental health is stronger than that of “discrimination,” while the latter has a stronger negative effect on physical health. However, the effect of question wording on reports of differential treatment and its association with health is largely unique to non-Hispanic whites. We conclude that unfair treatment and discrimination reflect distinct concepts that should not be used interchangeably.

中文翻译：

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“歧视”与“不公平待遇”：衡量差别待遇及其与健康的关联

有一致的证据表明歧视对健康有害。然而，尚不清楚歧视是否会导致持续存在的种族和民族健康差异。记录歧视与健康差异之间关联的一个障碍是持续存在的方法论问题，尤其是问题措辞在评估自我歧视报告中的作用。我们使用两项具有全国代表性的调查，调查差别待遇的流行率、分布以及心理和身体健康后果是否因问题措辞而异——“歧视”与“不公平待遇”。我们发现，相对于“歧视、”而后者产生了更多关于主要差别待遇形式的报告。此外，“不公平待遇”对心理健康的负面影响要强于“歧视”，而后者对身体健康的负面影响更大。然而，问题措辞对差别待遇报告的影响及其与健康的关联在很大程度上是非西班牙裔白人所独有的。我们得出结论，不公平待遇和歧视反映了不应互换使用的不同概念。问题措辞对差别待遇报告的影响及其与健康的关联在很大程度上是非西班牙裔白人独有的。我们得出结论，不公平待遇和歧视反映了不应互换使用的不同概念。问题措辞对差别待遇报告的影响及其与健康的关联在很大程度上是非西班牙裔白人独有的。我们得出结论，不公平待遇和歧视反映了不应互换使用的不同概念。