Table 4 - available via license: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Content may be subject to copyright.
Logistic regression analyses of the most important type of support provided to extended family members among African American and Black Caribbean adolescents.
Source publication
This study examines black adolescents’ reports of the most helpful types of social support that they receive from and provide to family members, and whether family support exchanges vary by ethnicity (African American vs. Black Caribbean) and gender. Data for this study are from the National Survey of American Life Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A), a...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... boys indicated that they helped with "chores/work/errands" and provided "finances, money and obtained needed things" more frequently than adolescent girls. Table 4 reports odds ratios from logistic regression models on the most frequently reported most helpful type of support provided to family members. When we take into account age and income, we observe that adolescent girls are still substantially (2.5 times) more likely to report assistance with "child care, elder care" as the most helpful type of support that they provide, relative to adolescent boys. ...
Citations
... One of the studies done by Cross, Taylor & Chatters on ethnic and gender differences in family social support among black adolescents reported that there is minimal knowledge about how important family members are to deaf adolescents and how the deaf trainees are to the family members regardless of gender (Cross, Taylor, & Chatters, 2018 Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the deaf recommends that family members, especially parents need to help deaf trainees acquire language and speech so that they can communicate with others at any given point (Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped, 2018). They need to give their teen children moral support to develop their full potential. ...
Family relationships are important for a child's social wellbeing. However, little is known about family relationships among the deaf, especially those in inclusive vocational settings. Deaf trainees need to be shown love and support as they move into their teenage years, just as they were younger. The purpose of the study was to identify different ways in which families support Deaf trainees in their social interactions. The study focused on St. Angela Mumias Vocational School for the Deaf and was anchored on the Theory of Mind by David Premack (1978). A case study design was adopted. The target population was 103, including 95 deaf trainees, one principal, and 7 trainers. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select 3 trainers and the principal, while simple random sampling was used to select 39 deaf trainees. This study adopted a mixed-methods data collection approach. Questionnaires and semi-structured interview schedules were used to collect data. Quantitative data was coded and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 21). Descriptive data were presented in form of mean, median, mode, frequency distribution tables, graphs, pie charts, and percentages. Qualitative data were coded systematically by hand, analyzed thematically and presented in narrative form. The findings established that 61% of the trainees receive emotional, physical and moral support from their family members. Also, 58% agreed to freely communicate with their family members though this is mostly affected by communication barriers and stigmatisation. Based on the findings, the study recommends that existing school policies need to promote a sense of community and participatory culture where more emphasis is put on the family environment and their roles in improving the social interaction of deaf trainees.
... For instance, female friends of the same race may have similar backgrounds or experiences particularly relating to racial or identity-related stress (Davis & High, 2019) and thus may be perceived as more capable of relating to stressors and providing credible support (Burleson, 2009). Additionally, the continued expectation of social support within a relationship may lead to stable expectations of emotional and informational support (Cross et al., 2018). The intersection of differences in the social hierarchy and homophily may exacerbate existing inequities in social capital (i.e., perceived and received social support) and reflect differences in social standing, education, and economic status (Lin, 2000;Schafer & Vargas, 2016). ...
... Additionally, the intersection of racial and gender identity rarely has been examined in conjunction with received or perceived social support. For example, when Black women receive support, it may come with increased expectations for the support to be returned in the future (i.e., social exchange theory; Emerson, 1976), potentially leading to fewer requests for support or distress associated with seeking or receiving support (Cross et al., 2018;Dressler & Badger, 1985;Kawachi & Berkman, 2001). Social expectations for women to provide rather than receive emotional support are further consistent with being lower in the social hierarchy (Greenglass, 2002). ...
... Contrary to Hypothesis 1, Black participants reported significantly greater received instrumental support from their mother figures in comparison to White participants. Previous studies have found instrumental support to be the most helpful type of support from parental figures for Black individuals (Cross et al., 2018). Significant differences between reports from Black and White individuals may be a result of saliency of reception of desired social support type from this source. ...
The current study examined the interaction between race (i.e., Black and White) and gender and the perception and reception of social support from mother figures, father figures, and friends during emerging adulthood. Social support from family and friends has been associated with positive physical and psychological health outcomes. Recent studies have shown that during emerging adulthood, individuals turn to their parents for continued support as they transition to college. However, very little research has examined the influence of gender, race, and the interaction on the reports of perceived and received support from mother figures, father figures, and friends during emerging adulthood. Emerging adults were surveyed at a large university in the Southern United States about their perceived and received social support from friends and parental figures. Results indicated significant differences across three types of support (i.e., instrumental, informational, and emotional support) by race, gender, the intersection of race and gender, and the source of the support. Results demonstrate the importance of perceptions of received and potential perceived support during emerging adulthood and the role of intersectionality, which contributes to individual perception/reception of support based on type and source of support.
... Parental and familial factors are known to be important determinants of various health-related behaviors in adolescents, and previous studies have regularly confirmed the direct influence of family cohesion, parent-child relationships, and parental involvement in children's daily activities on PALs [74,75]. These dimensions of parental influence may be a reflection of an authoritative parenting style, which generally includes reaction, in the form of providing emotional support and involvement, but also demanding in terms of providing an appropriate level of parental control [75]. ...
Parental/familial factors are important determinants of the physical activity level (PAL) in children and adolescents, but studies rarely prospectively evaluate their relationships. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in physical activity levels among adolescents from Bosnia and Herzegovina over a two-year period and to determine parental/familial predictors of PAL in early adolescence. A total of 651 participants (50.3% females) were tested at baseline (beginning of high school education; 14 years old on average) and at follow-up (approximately 20 months later). The predictors included sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender) and parental/familial factors (socioeconomic status of the family, maternal and paternal education, conflict with parents, parental absence from home, parental questioning, and parental monitoring). Physical activity levels were evidenced by the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A; criterion). Boys were more active than girls, both at baseline (t-test = 3.09, p < 0.001) and at follow-up (t-test = 3.4, p < 0.001). Physical activity level decreased over the observed two-year period (t-test = 16.89, p < 0.001), especially in boys, which is probably a consequence of drop-out from the sport in this period. Logistic regression evidenced parental education as a positive predictor of physical activity level at baseline (OR [95% CI]; 1.38 [1.15-170], 1.35 [1.10-1.65]), and at follow-up (1.35 [1.11-1.69], 1.29 [1.09-1.59], for maternal and paternal education, respectively). Parents with a higher level of education are probably more informed about the importance of physical activity on health status, and thus transfer this information to their children as well. The age from 14 to 16 years is likely a critical period for maintaining physical activity levels in boys, while further studies of a younger age are necessary to evaluate the dynamics of changes in physical activity levels for girls. For maintaining physical activity levels in adolescence, special attention should be paid to children whose parents are less educated, and to inform them of the benefits of an appropriate physical activity level and its necessity for maintaining proper health and growth.
... The NSAL-A data set is a supplemental study of adolescents who were attached to adult households from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) study. The NSAL represents a multistage probability sample of African Americans (n = 3,570), Black Caribbeans, and non-Hispanic Whites that was collected for research on Black Americans at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (Cross et al., 2018;Jackson et al., 2016). Data were collected through face-to-face interviews. ...
Drawing on research about the positive benefits of school bonding on youth mental health, academic and overall well-being, and the inequities African American youth face in education, this study examined the associations among teacher discrimination, parents’ and peer emotional support, and African American youth school bonding. Using data from the National Survey of American Life Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A), findings suggest that teacher discrimination negatively affects African American youth’s school bonding. In addition, while parents’ and peer emotional supports are positively associated with youth’s school bonding, and offset some of the negative effects of teacher discrimination on African American youth’s school bonding, these supports may not be enough to help youth realize the maximum benefits of school bonding, especially in the context of teacher discrimination. Implications for social work practice with African American youth and families are discussed.
... The importance of family social support for Caribbean people has been evidenced in other studies (Cross, Taylor, & Chatters, 2018b), and young Caribbean women may be more likely to engage family support networks than men (Taylor, Forsyth-Brown, & Chatters, 2017). Although there may not be gender differences in support received, young Caribbean women may be more likely to give support (Cross, Taylor, & Chatters, 2018a). Given evidence that women benefit more than men from family social support generally (Perrewé & Carlson, 2002) and in terms of specific mental health outcomes such as depression (Kendler, Myers, & Prescott, 2005), we suggest that the greater availability of family and other social supports for women attending university in close geographic proximity to existing support networks warrant further research to investigate possible mental health benefits. ...
This study sought to establish support for research and clinical use of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10) with university students in Barbados. The instrument was administered to undergraduate student volunteers (N = 415, 75% women, mean age = 25.2). Other instruments administered included the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996), the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS; Zung, 1965), the Ego Resiliency-89 (ER-89; Block, 1989), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory - Trait Version (STAI-T; Spielberger, 1983). Response rate (94.9%) and internal consistency (α = .72) were acceptable. We hypothesized that the factor structure of the PSS-10 would be consistent with the oblique, two-factor structure suggested by previous studies of other populations. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed acceptable fit on four of five fit indices. The model was modified to eliminate 3 items that fit poorly with their
respective factors and negatively influenced item-total correlations. The revised model showed acceptable fit on each fit index, and the revised 7-item PSS showed improved internal consistency. Concurrent validities were demonstrated by significant correlations in the theoretically expected directions. Work to establish the validity of the PSS-10 in Barbados has yielded strong empirical support for the use of a modified 7-item version in clinical and research settings. Given the
prevalence of clinical and research use of instruments developed in North American and other Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic contexts (WEIRD; Henrich, Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010), establishing Caribbean psychometric utility prevents misapplication of tools, reducing potential for both empirical and clinical errors.
Key words: Psychometrics, Stress, Barbados, University Students
... The importance of family social support for Caribbean people has been evidenced in other studies (Cross, Taylor, & Chatters, 2018b), and young Caribbean women may be more likely to engage family support networks than men (Taylor, Forsyth-Brown, & Chatters, 2017). Although there may not be gender differences in support received, young Caribbean women may be more likely to give support (Cross, Taylor, & Chatters, 2018a). Given evidence that women benefit more than men from family social support generally (Perrewé & Carlson, 2002) and in terms of specific mental health outcomes such as depression (Kendler, Myers, & Prescott, 2005), we suggest that the greater availability of family and other social supports for women attending university in close geographic proximity to existing support networks warrant further research to investigate possible mental health benefits. ...
This study sought to establish support for research and clinical
use of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10) with university
students in Barbados. The instrument was administered to
undergraduate student volunteers (N = 415, 75% women,
mean age = 25.2). Other instruments administered included
the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown,
1996), the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS; Zung,
1965), the Ego Resiliency-89 (ER-89; Block, 1989), and the
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory - Trait Version (STAI-T;
Spielberger, 1983). Response rate (94.9%) and internal
consistency (α = .72) were acceptable. We hypothesized that
the factor structure of the PSS-10 would be consistent with the
oblique, two-factor structure suggested by previous studies of
other populations. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)
revealed acceptable fit on four of five fit indices. The model
was modified to eliminate 3 items that fit poorly with their
respective factors and negatively influenced item-total
correlations. The revised model showed acceptable fit on each
fit index, and the revised 7-item PSS showed improved internal
consistency. Concurrent validities were demonstrated by
significant correlations in the theoretically expected directions.
Work to establish the validity of the PSS-10 in Barbados has
yielded strong empirical support for the use of a modified 7-
item version in clinical and research settings. Given the
prevalence of clinical and research use of instruments
Validation of the PSS-10 in Barbados
67
developed in North American and other Western, Educated,
Industrialised, Rich and Democratic contexts (WEIRD; Henrich,
Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010), establishing Caribbean
psychometric utility prevents misapplication of tools, reducing
potential for both empirical and clinical errors.
Key words: Psychometrics, Stress, Barbados, University Students
... In these studies, social support shows a stronger effect on the mental health of AAs than Whites. There are also many studies showing different relevance of social support to the health and wellbeing of men and women [70,[122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134]. ...
Background. Although chronic medical conditions (CMCs), depression, and self-rated health (SRH) are associated, their associations may depend on race, ethnicity, gender, and their intersections. In predominantly White samples, SRH is shown to better reflect the risk of mortality and multimorbidity for men than it is for women, which suggests that poor SRH among women may be caused not only by CMCs, but also by conditions like depression and social relations—a phenomenon known as “the sponge hypothesis.” However, little is known about gender differences in the links between multimorbidity, depression, and SRH among African Americans (AAs). Objective. To study whether depression differently mediates the association between multimorbidity and SRH for economically disadvantaged AA men and women. Methods. This survey was conducted in South Los Angeles between 2015 to 2018. A total number of 740 AA older adults (age ≥ 55 years) were enrolled in this study, of which 266 were AA men and 474 were AA women. The independent variable was the number of CMCs. The dependent variable was SRH. Age and socioeconomic status (educational attainment and marital status) were covariates. Depression was the mediator. Gender was the moderator. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. Results. In the pooled sample that included both genders, depression partially mediated the effect of multimorbidity on SRH. In gender specific models, depression fully mediated the effects of multimorbidity on SRH for AA men but not AA women. For AA women but not AA men, social isolation was associated with depression. Conclusion. Gender differences exist in the role of depression as an underlying mechanism behind the effect of multimorbidity on the SRH of economically disadvantaged AA older adults. For AA men, depression may be the reason people with multimorbidity report worse SRH. For AA women, depression is only one of the many reasons individuals with multiple CMCs report poor SRH. Prevention of depression may differently influence the SRH of low-income AA men and women with multimorbidity.
... Relatedly, due to the predominance of race categorization in the U.S., previous research often overlooks ethnic differences in family organization. However, group differences in social origins, histories, and cultures among black ethnic groups may lead to distinct patterns of family organization and outcomes for youth (Cross, Taylor, and Chatters, 2018a;Lincoln and Chae, 2012;Lincoln, Taylor, and Chatters, 2013;Thomas, 2012;Waters, 1997). Thus, in this study, I conduct all analyses separately for the two largest black ethnic groups in the U.S., African Americans and Black Caribbeans. ...
Over the last several decades, the U.S. has undergone a major shift in its racial/ethnic landscape. Historically, American society has been majority white. However, higher fertility rates, increased immigration, and younger average ages among people of color have led to racial/ethnic minorities’ growth in the relative share of the population, and they are projected to constitute more than half the population by 2050. Accompanying this shift has been a growing recognition of the need for family-related research that reflects the racial and ethnic diversity of American society. Any such investigation would be incomplete, of course, without acknowledging the inextricable link between race and class in America and how it shapes family life. Unfortunately, however, research on family structure and child wellbeing frequently generalizes the experiences of white families to the broader population, without reference to how differences in social location, particularly race/ethnicity and social class may lead to distinct outcomes for youth. To address this limitation, this dissertation investigates racial/ethnic and class differences in family structure and their relationship to children’s educational performance. The first study examines the prevalence and predictors of an understudied but relatively common family structure, especially among minority and/or low-income populations—the extended family. The second study explores an important and unexplained finding: although children raised by both biological parents fare better academically than children raised in any other family structure, living apart from a biological parent is less negatively consequential for racial/ethnic minority children than white children. I test two hypotheses that have been posited to account for racial/ethnic differences in the association between family structure and children’s educational attainment: the socioeconomic stress and extended family embeddedness hypotheses. The third study explores intragroup diversity in family life. Specifically, I examine intraracial differences in family structure and family integration among Black Americans and their association with youths’ grades, grade repetition, and number of suspensions. Results from the first study indicate that contrary to popular and academic perceptions, extended family households are fairly common: 35% of youth experience this family structure during childhood. Black and Hispanic children are approximately 3 and 1.5 times more likely to live in an extended family than white children, respectively, and children whose parents have less education are substantially more likely to live in this arrangement. Additionally, the transition into an extended family is largely a response to social and economic needs. Findings from the second study show that that both socioeconomic stress and extended family embeddedness attenuate the effect of family structure on minority youths’ educational attainment, though the former to a much greater extent. These findings lend support for the socioeconomic stress hypothesis, which posits that the negative effect of familial disruption may be less independently impactful for groups facing many socioeconomic disadvantages to begin with. The third study demonstrates that there is significant within-group variation in family structure and integration among black families and that these factors have a more limited and inconsistent relationship with adolescents’ educational outcomes than implied by previous scholarship. Collectively, these findings advance a more diverse portrait of American families, which has been lacking in extant research. They also show that the consequences of family structure differ by race/ethnicity and social class. Thus, efforts aimed at promoting child wellbeing should consider this diversity in family arrangements and outcomes, and their implications for policy and practice.