Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

LIVE: Thursday 2nd May 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)

Quality sleep is essential for health. But what happens to our brains when sleep patterns are disturbed? Join our experts to explore the interplay between sleep disruption and neurological diseases, and the questions that you need to be asking your patients to help you prevent the harmful effects of sleep deprivation.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
International Journal for Equity in Health
Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health 1/2008

Open Access 01-12-2008 | Research

Development and validation of the Measure of Indigenous Racism Experiences (MIRE)

Authors: Yin C Paradies, Joan Cunningham

Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health | Issue 1/2008

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

In recent decades there has been increasing evidence of a relationship between self-reported racism and health. Although a plethora of instruments to measure racism have been developed, very few have been described conceptually or psychometrically Furthermore, this research field has been limited by a dearth of instruments that examine reactions/responses to racism and by a restricted focus on African American populations.

Methods

In response to these limitations, the 31-item Measure of Indigenous Racism Experiences (MIRE) was developed to assess self-reported racism for Indigenous Australians. This paper describes the development of the MIRE together with an opportunistic examination of its content, construct and convergent validity in a population health study involving 312 Indigenous Australians.

Results

Focus group research supported the content validity of the MIRE, and inter-item/scale correlations suggested good construct validity. A good fit with a priori conceptual dimensions was demonstrated in factor analysis, and convergence with a separate item on discrimination was satisfactory.

Conclusion

The MIRE has considerable utility as an instrument that can assess multiple facets of racism together with responses/reactions to racism among indigenous populations and, potentially, among other ethnic/racial groups.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Krieger N, Smith K, Naishadham D, Hartman C, Barbeau EM: Experiences of discrimination: validity and reliability of a self-report measure for population health research on racism and health. Social Science and Medicine. 2005, 61: 1576-96. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.03.006.CrossRefPubMed
2.
Paradies Y: A systematic review of empirical research on self-reported racism and health. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2006, 35: 888-901. 10.1093/ije/dyl056.CrossRefPubMed
3.
Montoya MJ: The Genetics of Inequality: Biological Capital and the Making of Race in Diabetes Science. PhD dissertation. 2003, Stanford, CA: Stanford University
4.
Brondolo E, Kelly KP, Coakley V, Gordon T, Thompson S, Levy E, Cassells A, Tobin JN, Sweeney M, Contrada RJ: The perceived ethnic discrimination questionnaire: development and preliminary validation of a community version. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 2005, 35: 335-65. 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2005.tb02124.x.CrossRef
5.
Clark R, Coleman AP, Novak JD: Brief report: initial psychometric properties of the everyday discrimination scale in black adolescents. Journal of Adolescence. 2004, 27: 363-8. 10.1016/j.adolescence.2003.09.004.CrossRefPubMed
6.
Green NL: Development of the perceptions of racism scale. Image: The Journal of Nursing Scholarship. 1995, 27: 141-6. 10.1111/j.1547-5069.1995.tb00838.x.
7.
Harrell SP: Development and initial validation of scales to measure racism-related stress. 1997, Columbia, South Carolina: 6th Biennial Conference on Community Research and Action, Society for Community Research and Action
8.
Landrine H, Klonoff EA, Corral I, Fernandez S, Roesch S: Conceptualizing and measuring ethnic discrimination in health research. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 2006, 10: 1-16.
9.
McNeilly MD, Anderson NB, Robinson EL, McManus CH, Armstead CA, Clark R: Convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity of the Perceived Racism scale: a multidimensional assessment of the experience of racism among African Americans. Handbook of tests and measurements for Black populations. Edited by: Jones RL. 1996, Hampton, VA: Cobb and Henry, 359-73.
10.
Vines AI, McNeilly MD, Stevens J, Hertz-Picciotto I, Baird M, Baird DD: Development and reliability of a telephone-administered perceived racism scale (TPRS): a tool for epidemiological use. Ethnicity and Disease. 2001, 11: 251-62.PubMedPubMedCentral
11.
Utsey SO, Ponterotto JG: Development and validation of the Index of Race-Related Stress (IRRS). Journal of Counseling Psychology. 1996, 43: 490-501. 10.1037/0022-0167.43.4.490.CrossRef
12.
Whitbeck LB, Hoyt DR, McMorris BJ, Chen XJ, Stubben JD: Perceived discrimination and early substance abuse among American Indian children. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 2001, 42 (4): 405-24. 10.2307/3090187.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Paradies Y: Race, Racism, Stress and Indigenous Health. PhD dissertation. 2006, Melbourne, Australia: Centre for Health and Society, University of Melbourne
14.
Zubrick SR, Silburn SR, Lawrence DM, Mitrou FG, Dalby RB, Blair EM, Griffin J, Milroy H, De Maio JA, Cox A, Li J: Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey: The Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Aboriginal Children and Young People. 2005, Perth: Curtin University of Technology and Telethon Institute for Child Health Research
15.
Larson A, Gilles M, Howard PJ, Coffin J: 'It's enough to make you sick': the impact of racism on the health of Aboriginal Australians. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2007, 31 (4): 322-9. 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2007.00079.x.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Harris R, Tobias M, Jeffreys M, Waldergrave K, Karlsen S, Nazroo J: Racism and health: The relationship between experience of racial discrimination and health in New Zealand. Soc Sci Med. 2006, 63 (6): 1428-41. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.04.009.CrossRefPubMed
17.
Harris R, Tobias M, Jeffreys M, Waldergrave K, Karlsen S, Nazroo J: Effects of self-reported racial discrimination and deprivation on Maori health and inequalities in New Zealand: cross-sectional study. Lancet. 2006, 367: 2005-9. 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68890-9.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Santana V, Almeida-Filho N, Roberts R, Cooper SP: Skin Colour, Perception of Racism and Depression among Adolescents in Urban Brazil. Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 2008, 12 (3): 125-31. 10.1111/j.1475-3588.2007.00447.x.CrossRef
19.
Krieger N, Rowley D, Hermann AA, Avery B, Phillips MT: Racism, sexism and social class: implications for studies of health, disease, and well-being. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 1993, 9: 82-122.PubMed
20.
Krieger N: Embodying inequality: a review of concepts, measures, and methods for studying health consequences of discrimination. International Journal of Health Services. 1999, 29: 295-352. 10.2190/M11W-VWXE-KQM9-G97Q.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Paradies Y: Defining, conceptualizing and characterizing racism in health research. Critical Public Health. 2006, 16: 143-57. 10.1080/09581590600828881.CrossRef
22.
Postmes T, Branscombe NR, Spears R, Young H: Comparative processes in personal and group judgments: resolving the discrepancy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1999, 76: 320-38. 10.1037/0022-3514.76.2.320.CrossRef
23.
Williams DR, Neighbors HW, Jackson JS: Racial/ethnic discrimination and health: findings from community studies. American Journal of Public Health. 2003, 93: 200-8.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
24.
Armstrong BK, White E, Saracci R: Principles of Exposure Measurement in Epidemiology. 1992, Oxford: Oxford University Press
25.
Blank R, Dabady M, Citro C: Measuring Racial Discrimination. 2004, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press
26.
Williams DR, Yu Y, Jackson JS, Anderson NB: Racial differences in physical and mental health: socioeconomic status, stress, and discrimination. Journal of Health Psychology. 1997, 2: 335-51. 10.1177/135910539700200305.CrossRefPubMed
27.
Cunningham J, O'Dea K, Dunbar T, Weeramanthri T, Zimmet P, Shaw J: Study Protocol – Diabetes and related conditions in urban Indigenous people in the Darwin, Australia region: aims, methods and participation in the DRUID Study. BMC Public Health. 2006, 6-
28.
Raykov T: Bias of coefficient α for fixed congeneric measures with correlated errors. Applied Psychological Measurement. 2001, 25: 69-76. 10.1177/01466216010251005.CrossRef
29.
Russell DW: In search of underlying dimensions: the use (and abuse) of factor analysis in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2002, 28: 1629-46. 10.1177/014616702237645.CrossRef
30.
Zubrick S, Lawrence D, de Maio J, Biddle N: Testing the reliability of a measure of Aboriginal children's mental health: an analysis based on the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey, report no.1351.0.55.011. 2006, Canberra, Australia: Australian Bureau of Statistics
31.
Grimm LG, Yarnold PR: Reading and Understanding Multivariate Statistics. 2001, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association
32.
Fan X: Item response theory and classical test theory: an empirical comparison of their item/person statistics. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 1998, 58: 357-81. 10.1177/0013164498058003001.CrossRef
33.
MacDonald P, Paunonen SV: A Monte Carlo Comparison of Item and Person Statistics Based on Item Response Theory versus Classical Test Theory. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 2002, 62: 921-43. 10.1177/0013164402238082.CrossRef
34.
Mellor D: Contemporary racism in Australia: the experiences of Aborigines. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2003, 29: 474-86. 10.1177/0146167202250914.CrossRefPubMed
35.
Mellor D: Responses to racism: a taxonomy of coping styles used by Aboriginal Australians. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 2004, 74: 56-71. 10.1037/0002-9432.74.1.56.CrossRefPubMed
36.
Pedersen A, Bevan J, Walker I, Griffiths B: Attitudes toward Indigenous-Australians: the role of empathy and guilt. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology. 2004, 14: 233-49. 10.1002/casp.771.CrossRef
37.
Brown TN: Measuring self-perceived racial and ethnic discrimination in social surveys. Sociological Spectrum. 2001, 21: 377-92. 10.1080/027321701300202046.CrossRef
38.
Gomez JP, Trierweiler SJ: Does discrimination terminology create response bias in questionnaire studies of discrimination?. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2001, 27: 630-8. 10.1177/0146167201275011.CrossRef
39.
Paradies Y, Williams DR: Racism and Health. Encyclopedia of Public Health. Edited by: Heggenhougen K. Elsevier,
40.
Paradies Y, Cunningham J: Experiences of racism among urban Indigenous Australians Findings from the DRUID study. Ethnic and Racial Studies.
41.
Krieger N: Racial and gender discrimination: risk factors for high blood pressure?. Social Science and Medicine. 1990, 30: 1273-81. 10.1016/0277-9536(90)90307-E.CrossRefPubMed
42.
Landrine H, Klonoff EA: The Schedule of Racist Events: a measure of discrimination and a study of its negative physical and mental health consequences. Journal of Black Psychology. 1996, 22: 144-168. 10.1177/00957984960222002.CrossRef
43.
Harrell SP: The racism and life experiences scales (RaLES-Revised). Unpublished manuscript. 1997
44.
Victorian Aboriginal Health Service: Study of young people's health and wellbeing. Unpublished manuscript. 1999
45.
Holmes W, Stewart P, Garrow A, Anderson I, Thorpe L: Researching Aboriginal health: experience from a study of urban young people's health and well-being. Social Science and Medicine. 2002, 54: 1267-79. 10.1016/S0277-9536(01)00095-8.CrossRefPubMed
46.
McNeilly MD, Anderson NB, Armstead CA, Clark R, Corbett M, Robinson EL, Pieper CF, Lepisto EM: The perceived racism scale: a multidimensional assessment of the experience of white racism among African Americans. Ethnicity and Disease. 1996, 6: 154-66.PubMed
47.
Pedersen A, Griffiths B: Prejudice Survey. Unpublished manuscript. 2002
48.
Helms JE, Parham TA: The Racial Identity Attitude Scale. Handbook of tests and measurements for black populations. Edited by: Jones RL. 1996, Hampton, VA: Cobb & Henry, 167-74.
49.
Jones CP: Maori-Pakeha Health Disparities: Can Treaty Settlements Reverse the Impacts of Racism?. 1999, Wellington, N.Z.: Ian Axford Fellowships Office
50.
Metadata
Title
Development and validation of the Measure of Indigenous Racism Experiences (MIRE)
Authors
Yin C Paradies
Joan Cunningham
Publication date
01-12-2008
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
International Journal for Equity in Health / Issue 1/2008
Electronic ISSN: 1475-9276
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-9276-7-9

Other articles of this Issue 1/2008

International Journal for Equity in Health 1/2008 Go to the issue

Research

Social inequalities and correlates of psychotropic drug use among young adults: a population-based questionnaire study

Research

Development and preliminary validation of the 'Caring for Country' questionnaire: measurement of an Indigenous Australian health determinant

Research

Priority setting in health care: Lessons from the experiences of eight countries

Research

Practice characteristics and prescribing of cardiovascular drugs in areas with higher risk of CHD in Scotland: cross-sectional study

Research

Is it possible to identify patient's sex when reading blinded illness narratives? An experimental study about gender bias

Research

Poverty, user fees and ability to pay for health care for children with suspected dengue in rural Cambodia