NEW RESEARCH DELVES INTO PERCEPTION OF LIFE EXPECTANCY AMONG ADOLESCENTS
Raymond Swisher
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A new study of young people by Dr. Raymond Swisher, sociology, and Dr. Tara Warner, a recent BGSU graduate and assistant professor of sociology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, finds that African–American and Hispanic youth (particularly those born in Mexico) are considerably less optimistic about their chances of surviving to age 35 than are white youth.
Titled "Adolescent Survival Expectations: Variations by Race, Ethnicity, and Nativity," the study, which is the first to document patterns of survival expectations across racial, ethnic, and immigrant groups, appears in the December issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. It relies on data from the first three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and considers the responses of 17,100 people who range in age from 12 to 25.
"Whites are not subject to the racism and discrimination, at institutional and individual levels, experienced by immigrants and U.S.-born racial and ethnic minorities that undermine health, well–being, and real and/or perceived life chances," said Warner, the lead author of the study. "Such experiences, including fear of victimization and/or deportation, can be a source of chronic stress for racial and ethnic minorities, as well as immigrants, that further undermines well–being, even among youth."
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