Assessing the Everyday Discrimination Scale among American Indians and Alaska Natives

The Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) has been used widely as a measure of subjective experiences of discrimination. The usefulness of this measure for assessments of perceived experiences of discrimination by American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) peoples has not been explored. Data derived from the Special Diabetes Program for Indians--Healthy Heart Demonstration Project (SDPI-HH), a large-scale initiative to reduce cardiovascular risk among AI/ANs with Type 2 diabetes. Participants (N = 3,039) completed a self-report survey that included the EDS and measures of convergent and divergent validity. Missing data were estimated by multiple imputation techniques. Reliability estimates for the EDS were calculated, yielding a single factor with high internal consistency (α = .92). Younger, more educated respondents reported greater perceived discrimination; retired or widowed respondents reported less. Convergent validity was evidenced by levels of distress, anger, and hostility, which increased as the level of perceived discrimination increased (all p < .001). Divergent validity was evidenced by the absence of an association between EDS and resilient coping. Resilient coping and insulin-specific diabetes knowledge were not significantly associated with perceived discrimination (p = .61 and 0.16, respectively). However, general diabetes-related health knowledge was significantly associated with perceived discrimination (p = .02). The EDS is a promising measure for assessing perceived experiences of discrimination among those AI/ANs who participated in the SDPI-HH.