Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Racial–Ethnic Discrimination and Young People’s Mental Health in Intensive Longitudinal Studies

Objective This systematic review examined intensive longitudinal studies on racial–ethnic discrimination and mental health among adolescents and young adults. For studies that provided effect sizes, the meta-analysis synthesized within-person and between-person associations separately.MethodA literature search was conducted in November 2024 across PsycINFO and PsycArticles, Web of Science, and PubMed. All included studies were coded by sample, context, design, measurement, and results. Study quality was also assessed. Within-person and between-person correlations were synthesized separately in a meta-regression framework using robust variance estimations.ResultsThe systematic review identified 37 studies from 24 independent data sources (ie, projects), 4,323 participants, and 126,864 possible data points. Although discrimination was consistently related to poorer mental health at the same moment in ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies, these associations were more mixed when examined in the next moments or in daily diary studies on the same day or next days. The meta-analysis synthesized 100 effect sizes from 22 studies (15 independent projects), 2,932 participants, and 103,160 possible data points. Discrimination was associated with poorer mental health in a small effect size at the within-person level (r = −0.08) and in a small-to-moderate effect size at the between-person level (r = −0.22). The associations exhibited a similar pattern for negative mental health but were not significant for positive mental health.ConclusionFindings highlighted a small but meaningful within-person association between daily racial–ethnic discrimination and compromised mental health among young people. Prevention and intervention can address daily exposure to discrimination to prevent stress accumulation over time.Plain language summaryThis meta-analysis synthesizes 100 effect sizes based on 2,932 participants and 103,160 possible data points in 22 intensive longitudinal studies. The study finds that racial-ethnic discrimination has a small but significant effect on poorer mental health at the daily level for racial-ethnically minoritized young people. This effect can accumulate and lead to a small-to-large effect at the individual level. Findings suggest that prevention and intervention can address daily exposure to discrimination to prevent the accumulation of stress over time.