Teens experience online discrimination

CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Jan. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. teens are experiencing both individual and vicarious discrimination online, which triggers stress, depression and anxiety, researchers said.

Brendesha Tynes of the University of Illinois said teenagers are increasingly tethered to the Internet -- 93 percent of U.S. teens have online access -- and regardless of a victim's racial background, increased exposure to online racial discrimination was significantly related to increased depression.

"There's been a lot of publicity about cyber-bullying and teenagers protecting themselves from online predators, and justifiably so," Tynes said in a statement. "But people don't know much about online racial discrimination and its effects on adolescent emotional well-being."

Tynes and co-authors Michael T. Giang, David R. Williams and Geneene N. Thompson created a measure for race-related online victimization. The researchers discovered 71 percent of African-American adolescents, along with 71 percent of white and 67 percent of multiracial/other adolescents, experienced vicarious racial discrimination online at least once.

The study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, also found 29 percent of African-American adolescents and 20 percent of white and 42 percent of multiracial/other adolescents reported experiencing individual discrimination directed at them while online.