Through their eyes: Understanding the immediate and cumulative impact of vicarious discrimination on adolescents' socioemotional and cognitive-affective reactions.

To understand adolescents' daily experiences and reactions to vicarious discrimination as well as the role of parent and friend support in these dynamics, this study used a 14-day daily diary research design to examine the daily experiences of vicarious discrimination on adolescents' emotional (i.e., depressed, anxious, angry, positive moods) and cognitive-affective reactions (i.e., perceived safety stress, trouble fitting in with peers). Participants (N = 145) included 10th- and 11th-grade students in the southern United States from a larger longitudinal study (13% Asian American, 9% bi/multiracial, 10% other races/ethnicities, 9% Black, 31% Latino/a/x, and 28% White adolescents; 58% female). Results showed that repeated exposure to vicarious discrimination targeting parents, friends, and via media was associated with individual differences in increased negative mood and cognitive-affective reactions. Although parent and friend support were observed to buffer the adverse influences of vicarious discrimination on daily responses, an exacerbating effect of parent and friend support was also observed. Specifically, daily vicarious discrimination directed at parents was associated with increased same-day negative mood and social misfit, but only when adolescents perceived high levels of parent support. Similarly, vicarious discrimination targeting friends was linked to heightened same-day anxiety when friend support was perceived as high. These findings highlight the nuanced role of social support in coping with vicarious discrimination and the need to support adolescents in managing vicarious discrimination and inform theoretical understanding of how vicarious discrimination affects adolescents' daily lives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).