Discrimination and its relationship with risk behaviors and perceived health in spanish university students: a cross-sectional study
e202111156
Keywords:
Social discrimination, Health risk Behaviors, Health, University students, Prevalence, Health survey, Social epidemiologyAbstract
Background: Discrimination during vital moments, such as the university period, can generate a high impact on people’s behavior and health. The aim of this study was to analyze the possible association of discrimination with perceived health and with different risk behaviors, as well as to describe gender differences in Spanish university students. Discrimination during vital moments, such as college, can have a high impact on people’s behavior and health.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with data from first-year university students from 11 Spanish universities (n=9,862). Discrimination, perceived health, alcohol consumption, smoking, consumption of illegal substances, leisure time connected to the Internet, risky sexual relations, family function, risk of mental health problems and risk of eating disorders were assessed. Prevalences with their 95% confidence intervals were obtained and for quantitative variables the mean and standard deviation were calculated. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated to determine the relationship between discrimination and the other variables.
Results: An association was found between discrimination and fair or poor perceived health (OR: 1.7; p=0.0001), consumption of illegal substances (OR: 1.3; p=0.002), problematic internet use (OR: 1.3; p=0.004), family dysfunction (OR: 1.8; p=0.0001), risk of mental health problems (OR: 1.9; p=0.0001) and eating disorders (OR: 1.5; p=0.0001). Regarding gender differences, higher prevalence of discrimination was observed in men with health status perceived as fair or worse (OR: 2.2; p=0.0001), family dysfunction (OR: 1.8; p=0.0001), risk of mental health problems (OR: 2.2; p=0.0001) and eating disorders (OR: 1.9; p=0.002). Women, apart from the previous variables, presented association of discrimination with consumption of illegal substances (OR: 1.3; p=0.005) and problematic internet use (OR: 1.4; p=0.002).
Conclusions: The study findings underline that there is an association between discrimination and risk behaviors among Spanish university students. In turn, discrimination was associated with poor or fair perceived health, this relationship being similar in both men and women.
Downloads
References
Naciones Unidas. Prejudice and discrimination: Barriers to social inclusion [Internet]. Nueva York: Naciones Unidas; 2018. Disponible en: https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/2018/02/prejudice-and-discrimination/
Giuliani C, Tagliabue S, Regalia C. Psychological Well-Being, Multiple Identities, and Discrimination Among First and Second Generation Immigrant Muslims. Eur J Psychol. 2018; 14(1): 66-87. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v14i1.1434
Gu J, Ming X. Perceived Social Discrimination, Socioeconomic Status, and Alcohol Consumption among Chinese Adults: A Nationally Representative Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17 (17): 6043. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176043
Bhugra D. Social discrimination and social justice. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2016; 28 (4): 336-341. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2016
Ministerio de ciencia, innovación y universidades. Datos y cifras del Sistema Universitario Español. Publicación 2018-2019. Madrid: 2019. Disponible en:
http://www.educacionyfp.gob.es/servicios-al-ciudadano/estadisticas/universitaria/datos-cifras.html
Sheehan BE, Derlega VJ, Maduro RS, Winstead BA. Prior Experiences With Racial Discrimination Predict Psychological Reactions to a Recent Incident of Race-Based Rejection Among African American University Students. J Loss Trauma. 2019; 24(2): 115-128. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2018.1560639
Kaufman MR, Williams AM, Grilo G, Marea CX, Fentaye FW, Gebretsadik LA, Yedenekal SA. “We Are Responsible for the Violence, and Prevention Is Up to Us”: A Qualitative Study of Perceived Risk Factors for Gender-Based Violence Among Ethiopian University Students. BMC Womens Health. 2019; 19(1): 131. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-019-0824-0
Tiotsia Tsapi A, Djeunang Dongho GB, Efeutmecheh Sangong R, Zogning Makemjio E, Jagni Semengue EN, Bell Pallawo I et al. Knowledge on STIs / HIV / AIDS, Stigma-Discrimination and sexual behaviors AMONG students of the University of Dschang, in Cameroon. Ig Sanita Pubbl. 2018; 74(5): 419–432
García-Díaz V, Fernández-Feito A, Bringas-Molleda C, Rodríguez-Díaz FJ, Lana A. Tolerance of Intimate Partner Violence and Sexist Attitudes Among Health Sciences Students From Three Spanish Universities. Gac Sanit. 2020; 34(2): 179-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2019.01.003
Martínez-Riera JR, Gallardo Pino C, Aguiló Pons A, Granados Mendoza MC, López-Gómez J, Arroyo Acevedo HV. La universidad como comunidad: universidades promotoras de salud. Informe SESPAS 2018. Gac Sanit. 2018; 32 (1): 86–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2018.08.002
Cabral Dorado R, Delgado Cepeda FJ. El programa de aval ciudadano: una aproximación universitaria hacia la formación ciudadana y comunitaria. Revista Educación, Política y Sociedad. 2017; 2(1): 92-105.
Ferreira FMPB, Brito IDS, Santos MR. Health promotion programs in higher education: integrative review of the literature. Rev Bras Enferm. 2018; 71(4): 1714–1723. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2016-0693
Suárez Álvarez Ó, Ruiz-Cantero MT, Cassetti V, Cofiño R, Álvarez-Dardet C. Salutogenic interventions and health effects: a scoping review of the literature. Gac Sanit. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2019.12.002
Fernández Villa T, Alguacil Ojeda J, Ayán Pérez C, Bueno Cavanillas A, Cancela Carral JM, Capelo Álvarez R, et al. Proyecto UNIHCOS: cohorte dinámica de estudiantes universitarios para el estudio del consumo de drogas y otras adicciones. Rev Esp Salud Publica. 2013; 87(6): 575–585. https://doi.org/10.4321/S1135-57272013000600003
Bellón J, Delgado A, Del Castillo J, Lardelli P. Validez y fiabilidad del cuestionario de función familiar Apgar-familiar. Atención Primaria. 1996; 18(6): 289-296.
Rocha K, Pérez K, Rodríguez M, Borrell C, Obiols J. (2011). Propiedades psicométricas y valores normativos del General Health Questionnaire (GQH-12) en la población general española. Int J Clin Health Psychol 2011; 11, 125-139.
Garcia-Campayo J, Sanz-Carrillo C, Ibañez JA, Lou S, Solano V, Alda M. Validation of the Spanish version of the SCOFF questionnaire for the screening of eating disorders in primary care. J Psychosom Res. 2005; 59(2): 51-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2004.06.005
Saunders JB, Aasland OG, Babor TF, de la Fuente JR. Grant M. Development of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): WHO collaborative project on early detection of persons with harmful alcohol consumption. Addiction. 1993; 88: 791-804.
Fernández-Villa T, Molina AJ, García-Martín M, Llorca J, Delgado-Rodríguez M, Martín V. Validation and Psychometric Analysis of the Internet Addiction Test in Spanish Among College Students. BMC Public Health. 2015; 15: 953. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-2281-5
Ley Orgánica 3/2018, de 5 de diciembre, de Protección de Datos Personales y garantía de los derechos digitales. Boletín Oficial del Estado, núm. 294, de 6 de diciembre de 2018, pp. 119788 a 119857. Disponible en: https://www.boe.es/eli/es/lo/2018/12/05/3
Martin-Storey A, Benner A. Externalizing Behaviors Exacerbate the Link between Discrimination and Adolescent Health Risk Behaviors. J Youth Adolesc. 2019; 48(9): 1724-1735. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01020-3
Williams DR, Lawrence JA, Davis BA, Vu C. Understanding how discrimination can affect health. Health Serv Res. 2019; 54(2):1374–1388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1663-9
Chen AC, Szalacha LA, Menon U. Perceived Discrimination and Its Associations With Mental Health and Substance Use Among Asian American and Pacific Islander Undergraduate and Graduate Students. J Am Coll Health. 2014; 62:6, 390-398. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2014.917648
Li M, Mustillo S, Wang W. Perceived Discrimination, Screen Use, and BMI Among Rural-to-Urban Migrant Children in China: Evidence from a Nutrition Transition Context. J Immigr Minor Health. 2019; 21(4): 723-730. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0822-6
Pastor Gosalbez I, Acosta Sarmiento A. La institucionalización de las políticas de igualdad de género en la Universidad española. Avances y retos. Investigaciones Feministas. 2016; 7(2): 247-271 https://doi.org/10.5209/INFE.52966
Spinelli H. Volver a pensar en salud: programas y territorios. Salud Colectiva. 2016; 12(2): 149-171. https://doi.org/10.18294/sc.2016.976
Martínez-Hernáez A, Correa-Urquiza M. Un saber menos dado: nuevos posicionamientos en el campo de la salud mental colectiva. Salud Colectiva. 2017; 13(2): 267-278. https://doi.org/10.18294/sc.2017.1168
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Héctor Sánchez-Herrero, Carmen Amezcua-Prieto, María Morales-Suárez-Varela, Carlos Ayán-Pérez, Ramona Mateos-Campos, Antonio José Molina, Rocío Ortiz-Moncada, Ana Almaraz-Gómez, Juan Alguacil, Miguel Delgado-Rodríguez, Gemma Blázquez Abellán, Jessica Alonso-Molero, Virginia Martínez-Ruiz, Isabel Peraita-Costa, José María Cancela-Carral, Luis Félix Valero-Juan, Sandra Martín-Peláez, Tania Fernández-Villa
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Usted es libre de:
Compartir — copiar y redistribuir el material en cualquier medio o formato.
La licenciante no puede revocar estas libertades en tanto usted siga los términos de la licencia.
Bajo los siguientes términos:
Atribución — Usted debe dar crédito de manera adecuada , brindar un enlace a la licencia, e indicar si se han realizado cambios. Puede hacerlo en cualquier forma razonable, pero no de forma tal que sugiera que usted o su uso tienen el apoyo de la licenciante.
NoComercial — Usted no puede hacer uso del material con propósitos comerciales.
SinDerivadas — Si remezcla, transforma o crea a partir del material, no podrá distribuir el material modificado.
No hay restricciones adicionales — No puede aplicar términos legales ni medidas tecnológicas que restrinjan legalmente a otras a hacer cualquier uso permitido por la licencia.
Avisos:
No tiene que cumplir con la licencia para elementos del material en el dominio público o cuando su uso esté permitido por una excepción o limitación aplicable.
No se dan garantías. La licencia podría no darle todos los permisos que necesita para el uso que tenga previsto. Por ejemplo, otros derechos como publicidad, privacidad, o derechos morales pueden limitar la forma en que utilice el material.
