A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Studies Examining the Relationship Between Reported Racism and Health and Wellbeing for Children and Adolescents
ABSTRACTIntroductionThere is a growing body of research showing associations between experiences of racism and poor health and wellbeing outcomes for children and adolescents. The aim of this review protocol is to update the first systematic review conducted by Priest et al. 2013, including a meta-analysis of findings. Based on previous empirical data, it is anticipated that child and adolescent health will be negatively impacted by racism. This review will provide updated evidence of effect sizes across outcomes and identify moderators and mediators of relationships.Methods and analysisThis systematic review and meta-analysis will include studies that explore associations between experiences of racism and racial dissemination with health outcomes of children and adolescents aged 0- 24 years of age from any racial/ethnic/cultural group. Outcome measures include general health and wellbeing, physical health, mental health, healthcare utilisation and health behaviours. Exposure measures include self- reported and proxy reported personal experiences of racism and reported experiences of vicarious racism. The authors will conduct a comprehensive search of studies from the earliest time available to September 2020. All relevant studies will be screened with data extraction, quality appraisal and publication bias conducted independently by at least two authors.Ethics and DisseminationThis review will provide evidence for future research within the field and help to support policy and practice development. Results from this systematic review and meta-analysis will be widely disseminated to both academic and non-academic audiences.Ethics approval is not required as this is a review of existing empirical findings.Article Summary-This is an updated systematic review which aims to update the findings from the first international review conducted by Priest et al. 2013. However, it is the first meta-analysis to be conducted exploring the relationship between racism and health in child and adolescent from all ethnic/racial/cultural backgrounds.-This systematic review will show the health effects of racial discrimination on child and adolescent health, the key pathways by which racial discrimination influences these outcomes and identify potential moderators and mediators.-Findings from this systematic review and meta-analysis will be used to provide recommendations for future research and inform the development of effective evidence-based strategies for addressing racism and ameliorating its harmful effects.-This systematic review has a bias towards papers published in English as this review will only search studies published in English, meaning that studies not-published in English will not be included in this review. By doing so this review may not include all findings of all relevant studies.