Adolescent Voices on Global Racisms: Lived Experiences, Health Impacts and Demands Across Six Countries
- 1Federal University of Bahia
Abstract
IntroductionAlthough the mechanisms of racism may be globally consistent, both these mechanisms and their context-specific expressions require further investigation. Comparing perceptions and experiences of minoritised adolescents across countries helps reveal how racism manifests in different contexts. This multi-country study investigates how adolescents understand, experience, and demand action against the racisms that shape their health and lives.
MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews with 93 adolescents from minoritised groups across Brazil, Peru, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and the UK, using culturally adapted vignettes. Using inductive thematic analysis, country-based and external coders applied a co-developed cross-country codebook, achieving high inter-rater reliability, and identified seven key themes.
ResultsParticipants narratives showed how appearance, language, and socioeconomic status functioned as social markers through which racism reproduced inequities in education, healthcare, and economic opportunity. Across contexts, racism imposed psychological strain, through social exclusion combined with pressure to succeed. This affected adolescent health, contributing to emotional distress, low self-esteem, and uncertainty, while shaping help-seeking, institutional trust, and exposure to material conditions that worsened physical health. Experiences varied: ethnic diversity in the UK offered perceived protection from interpersonal discrimination; economic security in South Korea helped render a minoritised identity an asset; while spatial segregation in Brazil, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Uganda reduced external threat but intensified structural disadvantage. Adolescents called for stronger support networks, anti-racist education, accountability, improved opportunities, and broader justice in workplaces and online spaces.
ConclusionOur findings underscore that addressing racisms impacts on adolescent health requires a health justice approach. This must recognise racism as a public health crisis, confront racialised structural inequities, promote resource access, and engage adolescents in policy development.
Related
- Editorial: Adolescent smoking, alcohol consumption and psychoactive substance misuse in low-middle income countries
- Direct and indirect costs as barriers to maternal healthcare utilization among adolescent mothers in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review
- National, regional, and global trends in adolescent physical activity from 2010 to 2025: a pooled analysis of 389 surveys with 3·2 million participants from 140 countries
- When inequality looms large: the cumulative impacts of discrimination on sexual minorities’ late life experiences
- Exploring the Social and Financial Impacts of Cervical Cancer on Caregivers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review.
BibTeX
@misc{sato2026adolescent,
title = {{Adolescent Voices on Global Racisms: Lived Experiences, Health Impacts and Demands Across Six Countries}},
author = {P. d. M. Sato and S. English and J. Mannell and S. Ni Chobhthaigh and H. Choi and M. Calderon and H. P. Nagginda and P. H. Mulindwa and A. Weerasekara and S.-S. Kim and K. Wettasinghe and A. Galappatti and R. Li and M. Huq and Z. Binboga and C. Parker and D. Devakumar},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.02.26361744},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.26361744v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Adolescent Voices on Global Racisms: Lived Experiences, Health Impacts and Demands Across Six Countries
AU - P. d. M. Sato
AU - S. English
AU - J. Mannell
AU - S. Ni Chobhthaigh
AU - H. Choi
AU - M. Calderon
AU - H. P. Nagginda
AU - P. H. Mulindwa
AU - A. Weerasekara
AU - S.-S. Kim
AU - K. Wettasinghe
AU - A. Galappatti
AU - R. Li
AU - M. Huq
AU - Z. Binboga
AU - C. Parker
AU - D. Devakumar
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/02
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.02.26361744
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.26361744v1
AB - IntroductionAlthough the mechanisms of racism may be globally consistent, both these mechanisms and their context-specific expressions require further investigation. Comparing perceptions and experiences of minoritised adolescents across countries helps reveal how racism manifests in different contexts. This multi-country study investigates how adolescents understand, experience, and demand action against the racisms that shape their health and lives. MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews with 93 adolescents from minoritised groups across Brazil, Peru, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and the UK, using culturally adapted vignettes. Using inductive thematic analysis, country-based and external coders applied a co-developed cross-country codebook, achieving high inter-rater reliability, and identified seven key themes. ResultsParticipants narratives showed how appearance, language, and socioeconomic status functioned as social markers through which racism reproduced inequities in education, healthcare, and economic opportunity. Across contexts, racism imposed psychological strain, through social exclusion combined with pressure to succeed. This affected adolescent health, contributing to emotional distress, low self-esteem, and uncertainty, while shaping help-seeking, institutional trust, and exposure to material conditions that worsened physical health. Experiences varied: ethnic diversity in the UK offered perceived protection from interpersonal discrimination; economic security in South Korea helped render a minoritised identity an asset; while spatial segregation in Brazil, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Uganda reduced external threat but intensified structural disadvantage. Adolescents called for stronger support networks, anti-racist education, accountability, improved opportunities, and broader justice in workplaces and online spaces. ConclusionOur findings underscore that addressing racisms impacts on adolescent health requires a health justice approach. This must recognise racism as a public health crisis, confront racialised structural inequities, promote resource access, and engage adolescents in policy development.
ER -