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Article
Associations of Racial Discrimination and Parental Discrimination Coping Messages with African American Adolescent Racial Identity
Abstract
Research links racial identity to important developmental outcomes among African American adolescents, but less is known about the contextual experiences that shape youths' racial identity. In a sample of 491 African American adolescents (48 % female), associations of youth-reported experiences of racial discrimination and parental messages about preparation for racial bias with adolescents' later racial identity were examined. Cluster analysis resulted in four profiles of adolescents varying in reported frequency of racial discrimination from teachers and peers at school and frequency of parental racial discrimination coping messages during adolescents' 8th grade year. Boys were disproportionately over-represented in the cluster of youth experiencing more frequent discrimination but receiving fewer parental discrimination coping messages, relative to the overall sample. Also examined were clusters of adolescents' 11th grade racial identity attitudes about the importance of race (centrality), personal group affect (private regard), and perceptions of societal beliefs about African Americans (public regard). Girls and boys did not differ in their representation in racial identity clusters, but 8th grade discrimination/parent messages clusters were associated with 11th grade racial identity cluster membership, and these associations varied across gender groups. Boys experiencing more frequent discrimination but fewer parental coping messages were over-represented in the racial identity cluster characterized by low centrality, low private regard, and average public regard. The findings suggest that adolescents who experience racial discrimination but receive fewer parental supports for negotiating and coping with discrimination may be at heightened risk for internalizing stigmatizing experiences. Also, the findings suggest the need to consider the context of gender in adolescents' racial discrimination and parental racial socialization.
... Racial socialization messages, particularly cultural messages, are consistently linked to positive racial identity (e.g., French, Coleman, & DiLorenzo, 2013;Neblett, Banks, Cooper, & Smalls-Glover, 2013;Neblett, Smalls, Ford, Nguyen, & Sellers, 2009;S. C. Peck, Brodish, Malanchuk, Banerjee, & Eccles, 2014;Richardson et al., 2015;Rivas-Drake, Hughes, & Way, 2009;Stevenson & Arrington, 2009). Racial identity is defined as the value and importance a person ascribes to being African American (Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley, & Chavous, 1998). ...
... They find significant gender differences between racial discrimination experiences and racial socialization messages during the 8th grade that impacted racial identity at the 11th grade. Males were overrepresented in racial discrimination experiences and fewer racial socialization coping messages resulting in lower centrality and regard in the 11th grade (Richardson et al., 2015). Given the significant associations between racial socialization and racial identity, it is assumed gender will function similarly between them. ...
... Hypothesis 6 predicts gender will condition the effects of discrimination and racial identity on offending. Given the inconsistent findings related to gender, discrimination, and racial identity (e.g., Hughes et al., 2006;Neblett et al., 2009;Richardson et al., 2015), I first examined if gender differences exist on such factors in the current sample. Males report more overall discrimination, microaggressions, and criminal justice injustices than females 17 in the current sample. ...
Inspired by the recent theory of African American offending and the lack of race-centered concepts in criminological literature, I aim to answer four general research questions: (a) Do criminal justice injustices impact African Americans differently than other forms of racism? (b) Do different emotional states increase African Americans’ likelihood of offending? (c) Does having a positive racial identity buffer against the negative effects of racial discrimination? and (d) Do the effects of racial discrimination and racial identity vary between African American males and females? Using a subsample of African American youth and young adults from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods data, I find microaggressions and criminal justice injustices independently predict serious and violent offending. Anger and depression likewise serve as independent predictors, though anger suppresses the effects of depression when considered simultaneously. Racial identity also moderately buffers the negative effects of overall discrimination. The present analysis, however, finds no significant gender differences in the above processes. This study provides a firm empirical foundation for the theory of African American offending and other race-based approaches to understanding crime. Implications for future investigations are discussed.
... Wong et al. (2003) proposed that experiences with racial discrimination within the school (e.g., being punished unfairly by a teacher) are more likely to impact schoolrelated outcomes than experiences with racial discrimination that occur outside of the school (e.g., being overlooked or not given service at a restaurant). Previous studies have uncovered a link between in-school racial discrimination, and adolescents' academic outcomes (e.g., academic and school engagement) (Benner and Graham 2013;Chavous et al. 2008;Richardson et al. 2014). Specifically, researchers found associations between in-school racial discrimination and grades (Chavous et al. 2008;Richardson et al. 2014); school importance (Chavous et al. 2008;Cogburn et al. 2011); academic self-concept (Richardson et al. 2014); achievement motivation and academic self-competency beliefs (Wong et al. 2003). ...
... Previous studies have uncovered a link between in-school racial discrimination, and adolescents' academic outcomes (e.g., academic and school engagement) (Benner and Graham 2013;Chavous et al. 2008;Richardson et al. 2014). Specifically, researchers found associations between in-school racial discrimination and grades (Chavous et al. 2008;Richardson et al. 2014); school importance (Chavous et al. 2008;Cogburn et al. 2011); academic self-concept (Richardson et al. 2014); achievement motivation and academic self-competency beliefs (Wong et al. 2003). Wong et al. (2003) examined in-school racial discrimination from teachers and peers using the 7-item scale developed by MADICS researchers. ...
... Previous studies have uncovered a link between in-school racial discrimination, and adolescents' academic outcomes (e.g., academic and school engagement) (Benner and Graham 2013;Chavous et al. 2008;Richardson et al. 2014). Specifically, researchers found associations between in-school racial discrimination and grades (Chavous et al. 2008;Richardson et al. 2014); school importance (Chavous et al. 2008;Cogburn et al. 2011); academic self-concept (Richardson et al. 2014); achievement motivation and academic self-competency beliefs (Wong et al. 2003). Wong et al. (2003) examined in-school racial discrimination from teachers and peers using the 7-item scale developed by MADICS researchers. ...
The present study explored the role of context and gender on the association between racial discrimination and adolescents’ outcomes among Black ninth graders (N = 557) (male = 249; female = 308). In particular, we investigated whether there were differences in the link between racial discrimination within school, and racial discrimination outside of school, and adolescents' academic and non-academic outcomes. Findings on the role of context and gender were mixed. While in-school racial discrimination was more strongly related to academic persistence than general racial discrimination, our results did not reveal differences in the associations between racial discrimination and grades or psychological well-being. Gender results indicated that girls who reported decreases in in-school and general racial discrimination were more likely to report a more positive perceptions of school climate. Implications for research on the association between racial discrimination and adolescent outcomes are discussed.
... Nevertheless, there was a substantial portion of adolescents who did perceive discrimination during the 21 days. Although not a focal part of the study, it was surprising that there were no overall gender differences in daily racial discrimination reports given that in prior research with traditional discrimination measures African American boys report more experiences with discrimination compared to girls (Fischer, & Shaw, 1999;Richardson et al., 2015;Swanson, Cunningham, & Spencer, 2003). ...
... It is reasonable to expect that the ways in which racial socialization and racial identity function as promotive and resilience factors may differ for boys and girls because previous research suggests that boys and girls experience differences in their treatments, social roles, discriminatory experiences, stereotypes, and socialization (Dubois, Burk-Braxton, Swenson, Tevendale, & Hardesty, 2002;Hill, 2002). In fact, some previous research has shown that the ways in which racial and ethnic identity functions as protective and risk factors on adolescents' academic outcomes varies by gender (Chavous et al., 2008;Mroczkowski & Sánchez, 2015;Richardson et al., 2015;. It has been suggested that aspects of racial identity that emphasize connectedness and positivity towards one's racial group would have important academic implications for boys (Oyserman, Harrison, & Bybee, 2001). ...
... When adolescents are told that they are valued, special, and important simply because of who they are as an individual, there are some positive effects on during the same day. Thus, socialization messages from parents that affirm positive racial identities and support youth when they experience racial discrimination can prevent them from internalizing such experiences in ways that lead to negative adjustment (Richardson et al., 2015). ...
African American adolescents are likely to encounter the risk factor of racial discrimination in their daily contexts. They also possess cultural resources such as parental racial socialization messages that help adolescents develop positive and affirmed self-concepts and prepare for racial discrimination they may encounter (Hughes et al., 2006). Additionally, adolescents??? racial identity beliefs may promote positive adjustment and buffer negative impacts of discrimination (Spencer et al., 1997). Although scholars conceptualize racial discrimination and racial socialization as normative experiences in adolescents??? daily contexts, little research examines these experiences at the daily level. The current dissertation aims to fill this void in the literature by using a daily diary methodology to examine adolescents??? daily racial discrimination and racial socialization, along with their racial identity beliefs, as predictors of daily classroom engagement and psychological adjustment (positive and negative affect).
The dissertation???s sample included 164 self-identified African American adolescents (56% girls; Mage=15 years old, SD =1.60) from the Midwestern United States, a random subsample of participants in a larger, multi-method longitudinal study. The sample completed a large annual survey and short daily surveys over 21 days. Due to the repeated measures data, Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to examine direct relationships of daily discrimination and socialization with daily academic and psychological outcomes and to test whether parental racial socialization and racial identity moderated relationships between discrimination and outcomes. Finally, the study examined whether daily racial socialization and adolescents??? racial identity beliefs functioned interactively to influence academic and psychological outcomes. Key findings highlight the promotive nature of parental racial socialization messages that emphasize adolescents??? worth as individuals and racial pride. For instance, when adolescents reported receiving self-worth messages from parents they reported more engagement, more positive affect, and less negative affect on the same day. Furthermore, the daily impact of racial discrimination varied when youth received racial socialization messages. For instance, among youth reporting a racial discrimination experience, those who received a racial pride message reported more school engagement than those with no pride message. Implications for adolescents, their parents, and researchers are discussed.
... The majority of work done on ERS processes has been centered on Black/African American families (Butler-Barnes et al. 2018;Hughes and Chen 1997;Lesane-Brown 2006;Richardson et al. 2015;Saleem and Lambert 2016). However, studies on other U.S. minority populations such as Biracial (Csizmadia et al. 2014;Stone and Dolbin-MacNab 2017), Latinx (Hughes 2003;Knight et al. 1993;Umaña-Taylor et al. 2009), Asian-American (Seol et al. 2016;Tran and Lee 2010), and White American families (Loyd and Gaither 2018;Vittrup 2018;Zucker and Patterson 2018) are emerging. ...
... Therefore, majority of the studies (n = 13) selected for this review centered ERS processes in Black/African American families. Research has demonstrated that Black parents utilize ERS throughout a child's development-spanning from early childhood (e.g., as early as 12 months; Blanchard et al. 2019;Doucet et al. 2018) to late adolescence (e.g., as late as 17 years of age; Caughy et al. 2002;Hughes 2003;McHale et al. 2006;Neblett et al. 2009;Richardson et al. 2015;Saleem and Lambert 2016). A common approach that race researchers have used to test the intentions of Black/African American parental ERS involves quantitative, survey-based data that allows for parent and/or When White mothers of older transracially adopted Asian children felt more connected to Asian Americans, they were more likely to teach cultural socialization and preparation for bias ...
... However, preparation for bias socialization has also been known to emphasize the negative societal status of Black individuals to adolescents, which in turn, has predicted low public regard (Stevenson and Arrington 2009), low academic efficacy, and less academic engagement ). However, Black/African American parents recognize that part of their role as parents is to make their children aware of the negative social status of Black/African Americans and to protect them from racism and discrimination (Anderson et al. 2018;Butler-Barnes et al. 2018;Hughes and Chen 1997;Lesane-Brown 2006;Richardson et al. 2015;Saleem and Lambert 2016). Throughout several research domains such as developmental psychology and education, racism and discrimination has been shown to have a negative effects on the well-being of Black/African Americans such as depressive symptoms (English et al. 2014;Saleem and Lambert 2016;Seaton et al. 2008), anxiety (Banks et al. 2006), weaken racial/ethnic identity (Butler-Barnes et al. 2018), less academic motivation (Chavous et al. 2008), poorer academic achievement (Powell and Arriola 2003), and aggressive/problem behaviors Simons et al. 2006). ...
Over the past 35 years, ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) has been a widely studied topic in psychological and cultural research. Most popular among the populations that ERS research centers are Black/African American families and youth. However, a small, but emerging body of research on the ERS processes of other racial/ethnic groups suggest that ERS is not limited to Black/African American families. Recently, scholars have begun to ask more critical questions regarding the differential effects of ethnic-racial socialization on non-Black youth’s psychological development. Therefore, the current review of research draws together studies on Black/African American, Biracial, Latinx, Asian American, and White American families to demonstrate the role of racial/ethnic group identification in soliciting the exchange of ERS messages from parents to children. The methodology used to execute this review follows a modified framework which includes four key phases of searching and selecting appropriate studies. From three multidisciplinary and psychological databases, 24 studies were selected based on the inclusion criteria set by the researcher. The studies discussed in this scoping review all revealed how racial/ethnic group identification solicits the exchange of ERS messages from parents to children in some way.
... This study contributed to extant literature by examining a broader range of racial socialization messages as mediators. Finally, we explored gender differences in the associations among racial discrimination, socialization, and identity, given theory and research emphasizing variation between boys and girls in their discrimination and socialization experiences (e.g., Cogburn, Chavous, & Griffin, 2011;Richardson et al., 2015;Swanson, Cunningham, & Spencer, 2003). ...
... Indeed, studies have demonstrated that African American boys are more likely to report experiencing racial discrimination than girls (e.g., Chavous et al., 2008;Fischer & Shaw, 1999;Riina & McHale, 2010;Seaton, Caldwell, Sellers, & Jackson, 2008;Stevenson, Cameron, Herrero-Taylor, & Davis, 2002a). Some recent findings highlight that boys and girls report some differences in their frequencies of school-based racial discrimination from teachers and peers and differences in frequencies of parental racial socialization messages in response to discrimination (Richardson et al., 2015). Furthermore, the authors found that boys' and girls' profiles of frequencies of discrimination and parental messages about coping with discrimination related to adolescents' racial identity beliefs 3 years later (Richardson et al., 2015). ...
... Some recent findings highlight that boys and girls report some differences in their frequencies of school-based racial discrimination from teachers and peers and differences in frequencies of parental racial socialization messages in response to discrimination (Richardson et al., 2015). Furthermore, the authors found that boys' and girls' profiles of frequencies of discrimination and parental messages about coping with discrimination related to adolescents' racial identity beliefs 3 years later (Richardson et al., 2015). Thus, although girls may not experience these types of racial discrimination as frequently as boys, it is still important to understand the ways it is impactful in girls' racial identity development. ...
This study examined various parental racial socialization messages as mediators between school-based racial discrimination and racial identity formation over 4 years for African American boys (N = 639) and African American girls (N = 711). Findings indicated that school-based racial discrimination was associated with racial identity beliefs. For African American boys, behavioral racial socialization messages mediated the relation between school-based racial discrimination and racial centrality over time. Mediation also resulted for African American girls, but for a different set of race-related messages (negative messages and racial barriers) and racial identity beliefs. The developmental significance of the findings and implications for future research are discussed.
... Racial identity classes are useful because they reflect the multifaceted nature of racial identity (e.g., Sellers, Rowley, Chavous, Shelton, & Smith, 1997). A number of studies have begun to examine latent profiles of racial identity, in which racial identity subgroups are composed based on groupings of multiple indexes of racial identity variables (e.g., Banks & Kohn-Wood, 2007;Richardson et al., 2014;Seaton, 2009). Latent class analysis also provides more accurate descriptions of racial identity in that different ideologies tend to occur in tandem, rather than in isolation (Banks & Kohn-Wood, 2007;Richardson et al., 2014;Seaton, 2009). ...
... A number of studies have begun to examine latent profiles of racial identity, in which racial identity subgroups are composed based on groupings of multiple indexes of racial identity variables (e.g., Banks & Kohn-Wood, 2007;Richardson et al., 2014;Seaton, 2009). Latent class analysis also provides more accurate descriptions of racial identity in that different ideologies tend to occur in tandem, rather than in isolation (Banks & Kohn-Wood, 2007;Richardson et al., 2014;Seaton, 2009). ...
... and nationalist ideology (nine items; e.g., "Black people must organize themselves into a separate Black political force"; α = .79). The measure is well established and has been used across a number of Black samples (e.g., Banks & Kohn-Wood, 2007;Richardson et al., 2014;Seaton, 2009;Sellers et al., 1997). ...
The current study examined whether Black people’s racial ideology, experiences of racism, and their interaction predict their acceptance of Black-White Multiracial people. Black racial ideologies represent an aspect of Black people’s racial identity that addresses their perspectives on how people within the Black community should behave. Participants (N = 325) were administered a series of measures. Latent class analysis revealed three classes of Black racial identity: undifferentiated (average ideologies), integrationist (high assimilationist, humanist, and oppressed minority), and nationalist (high nationalist). The nationalist group was most likely to endorse rejecting Multiracial people as members of the Black community and also to endorse forcing a Black identity onto Multiracial people, whereas the integrationist group was least likely to make such endorsements. For participants in the nationalist (but not integrationist or undifferentiated) cluster, personal experiences of racism were related to endorsement of forcing a Black identity onto a Multiracial person. Findings suggest that Multiracial people might achieve the most identity affirmation and sense of community among Black people holding integrationist views.
... A large body of evidence in the U.S. has linked experiences of racial discrimination among adolescents to psychological distress, depressive symptoms, substance use, and other behaviours that might expose them to health risks [3,5,15]. Gender has been shown to moderate the relationship between racial discrimination and health behaviours among adolescents [8,42] Not only do experiences of racial discrimination have immediate adverse health outcomes, they have been shown to predict psychological and emotional well-being later in life particularly among men and boys [3]. Studies have documented differential experiences of racial discrimination and associated health outcomes for boy and girls [3,5,8,20,44]. ...
... This finding is consistent with other studies that have found poor health seeking behaviour among individuals with emotional problems, particularly racial and ethnic minorities [13,61]. Although racial socialization and parental support improve coping and emotional well-being, evidence indicate that many adolescents who experience racial discrimination may not receive the emotional support from their families to deal with the negative mental health issues associated with racial discrimination [31,42]. ...
Background:
We assessed the prevalence and trends in racial discrimination among African Canadian adolescents in British Columbia. The association between racial discrimination and self-rated health, access to mental health services, substance use, suicidal thoughts and attempts, experience of extreme stress, among others were examined within the 2018 dataset.
Methods:
Secondary analysis used the data collected from African Canadian adolescents (n = 2448) as part of the British Columbia Adolescent Health Surveys (2003-2018). We examined whether racial discrimination increased, decreased, or remained stable over time. We evaluated experiences of racial discrimination for all adolescents, and then disaggregated analyses for boys, girls, immigrant, and Canadian-born African adolescents. We used Rao-Scott's adjusted chi-square to test differences in racial discrimination and adjusted logistic regressions to test trends across survey years, widening or narrowing gaps in racial discrimination, as well as the link to health outcomes.
Results:
Racial discrimination was significantly different across the survey years (Adjusted F = 4.60, p < .01), with the highest percentage of adolescents reporting past year racial discrimination in 2018 (29.9%) and the lowest percentage in 2013 (21.3%). Girls and immigrant African Canadian adolescents were more likely to have experienced racial discrimination. However, girls and Canadian-born adolescents had the highest odds of reporting racial discrimination in 2018 compared to 2003, AOR = 1.85, and 1.58, respectively. The findings reveal significant differences in the experiences of racial discrimination for boys and girls, as well as for immigrant and Canadian-born African adolescents. Significant differences were noted in the link between racial discrimination and self-rated health and engaging in behaviours that might expose them to health risks. The worst negative health outcomes were found for boys and immigrant African Canadian adolescents.
Conclusion:
The study suggests that more than 1 in 4 African Canadian adolescents in British Columbia report racial discrimination, which is an increasing trend in recent years. Those who reported racial discrimination also had the worst adverse health outcomes. There is a need for more public health action to reduce racism, create awareness about the negative health impacts, and provide better support for African Canadian adolescents.
... The third largest subgroup (n = 25; mean age = 29.46) had lower than average scores on public regard and higher scores on nationalism, resembling the racefocused subgroup found by Banks and Kohn-Wood (2007) and the defensive/ buffering profile reported by others (Richardson et al., 2015;Seaton, 2009). Particularly in the context of higher than average centrality and private regard, this subgroup appeared to have pro-Black attitudes and was named Afrocentric. ...
... The fourth largest subgroup (n = 19; mean age = 34.88) had the highest oppressed minority and public regard scores, resembling the multiculturalist subgroup reported by Banks and Kohn-Wood (2007) and the idealized subgroup noted by Chavous et al. (2003) and Richardson et al. (2015). In the context of higher private regard and centrality, it appeared that this subgroup had a focus on both Black individuals and other groups, and thus was named Multiculturalist. ...
Despite increasing rates of suicidality among African American women, relatively little is known about culturally-specific factors relevant to their suicidality. Thus, our objectives were to: (1) determine whether previously-identified racial identity profiles replicated in a clinical sample of African American women and (2) examine whether profiles differed on suicidal ideation, hopelessness, and depressive symptoms. In a sample of 198 low-income, African American women ( M age = 36), latent profile analysis supported a 5-class solution: Undifferentiated (average on all subscales), Detached (lower than the average on most subscales), Afrocentric (low public regard, high nationalism), Multiculturalist (high public regard, private regard, centrality), and Alienated (markedly lower than average on all subscales). Subgroups with higher racial group identification and more positive feelings about being African American endorsed less suicidal ideation and hopelessness than other subgroups. This study characterizes patterns of racial identity among a clinical sample and offers insights into how subgroups of individuals with different combinations of racial identity may be more likely to experience suicidality.
... African American adolescents' exposure to negative stereotypes and racially discriminatory encounters have been linked to a variety of negative outcomes, including lower self-esteem, reduced psychological well-being, suicidality, and decreases in academic achievement and persistence (Arshanapally, Werner, Sartor, & Bucholz, 2018;Neblett, Philips, Cogburn, & Sellars, 2006;Richardson et al., 2015;Seaton, Caldwell, Sellers, & Jackson, 2010;Tynes, Willis, Stewart, & Hamilton, 2019). Although discrimination has been associated with a number of negative outcomes, scholars have highlighted the important protective and promotive role of parents and family members (Evans et al., 2012;. ...
... Given this awareness, parents may engage in a number of strategies to promote a strong sense of self, encourage achievement, and reduce risk likelihood (Dow, 2016;Elliott, Brenton, & Powell, 2017;Elliott & Reid, 2019). Studies have found that parents' vigilant practices, which both reflect concerns and assessments of adolescents' risks and opportunities, may intensify during the adolescent years (Berkel et al., 2009;Richardson et al., 2015;Smalls, 2010). ...
Introduction
The current study highlights the voices and perspectives of African American fathers, with specific emphasis on their race-related concerns for their adolescents as well as how these concerns guide their parenting strategies.
Method
Twenty-four African American fathers participated in 1.5–3 h long focus group interviews. All fathers (M = 42.24 years, SD = 6.93) resided in a mid-sized city in the Southeastern United States. All participants were either biological fathers (n = 20) or non-biological (n = 4) fathers. Fathers were residential (76%) and non-residential (24%), with at least one adolescent child (M = 14.32 years, SD = 5.80; Range: 10–16 years). Fifty-eight percent of fathers (n = 14) had both male and female children, 29% had only female children (n = 7) and 13% had only male children (n = 3). After codebook development and refinement, key themes were explored using a theoretical thematic analysis.
Results
In response to race-related and other social risks for African American adolescents, fathers articulated a number of parenting motivations and intentions: 1) fathers' own racial experiences; 2) negative media images of Black youth and families (e.g. media influences, negative stereotypes, and portrayals of Black fathers); 3) preserving families through community support; 4) developing awareness of discrimination and coping strategies; 5) cultivating positive personal and cultural identities; and 6) achievement as necessity. Also, gender emerged as a critical lens for African American fathers’ concerns and parenting strategies.
Conclusion
Overall, our investigation highlights African American fathers’ own meaning-making around concerns for their adolescents as well as how they shape parenting processes.
... Third, and consistent with our hypothesis and theoretical suppositions, racial socialization competency significantly moderated the association between parental worry and adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems in the overall model, similar to previous research examining content scales of racial socialization (Hughes et al., 2006;Neblett et al., 2009;Richardson et al., 2015). Our findings extend this work, moreover, given that racial socialization has not been examined through moderated mediation with parental discrimination, parental worry, and adolescent outcomes (e.g., Neblett et al., 2009;Richardson et al., 2015). ...
... Third, and consistent with our hypothesis and theoretical suppositions, racial socialization competency significantly moderated the association between parental worry and adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems in the overall model, similar to previous research examining content scales of racial socialization (Hughes et al., 2006;Neblett et al., 2009;Richardson et al., 2015). Our findings extend this work, moreover, given that racial socialization has not been examined through moderated mediation with parental discrimination, parental worry, and adolescent outcomes (e.g., Neblett et al., 2009;Richardson et al., 2015). More specifically, when parents reported more racial socialization confidence and skills, the negative impact of parental worry on adolescents' psychosocial outcomes was weakened. ...
Racial discrimination can lead to psychosocial problems for Black adolescents, including internalization (e.g., depression) and externalization (e.g., conduct problems). Black parents (N = 186; Mage = 42.9) of adolescents (ages 10–18) were assessed to investigate how parental worries and racial socialization competency (i.e., confidence, skills, and stress) contribute to the association between parental discrimination experiences and their adolescents’ psychosocial problems. Mediation analyses indicated that the total direct models with discrimination, worries, and problems had good fit, and that the addition of worry mediated the discrimination‐problems association. Furthermore, racial socialization competency moderated the association between worry and problems, wherein greater competency was associated with less impact of worry on problems. Findings illuminate potential intervention targets for buffering discrimination’s influence on adolescents’ psychosocial functioning.
... Racial identity beliefs, which could reflect both individual resources and one's social context as they are shaped through interactions in the social world, have been identified as a key factor in parents' communication of race-related messages. Further, this relationship may be particularly salient during adolescence, when many African American youth report increased exposure to race-related transgressions and discriminatory encounters (Richardson et al. 2015). With this in mind, the current study explores demographic factors and racial identity beliefs as social determinants of African American fathers' race-related discussions and activities with their adolescent children. ...
Objectives
Studies have highlighted that, for African American men, race-related and sociodemographic contexts are inextricably bound and have profound effects across the life course. These context and related experiences, individually and collectively, are critical social determinants of their parenting practices. The current study examined African American fathers’ racial identity beliefs in relation to their ethnic-racial socialization practices. Further, this investigation examines this association within the context of sociodemographic factors (i.e., age; education level; residential status).
Methods
Data were collected from 174 African American fathers (M = 32.2; SD = 8.24; Range = 23–62 years of age) of adolescents (M = 12.6; SD = 2.20; Range = 8–18 years of age) residing in a mid-sized, urban city in the Southeastern region of the United States. Participants completed survey questionnaires regarding their parenting ideologies, sociocontextual experiences and parenting practices.
Results
Regression analyses revealed that racial identity dimensions (centrality; public regard; private regard) and sociodemographic factors were directly associated with multiple ethnic-racial socialization domains. Also, the relationship between fathers’ perceptions of others’ views about African Americans (public regard) and ethnic-racial socialization was moderated by residential status.
Conclusions
Findings suggest that, African American fathers’ public regard beliefs, in combination with sociodemographic factors, shape race-related discussions with their children. Overall, results suggest that the public lens of fatherhood is further heightened by African American fathers’ sociodemographic landscape.
... And within specific studies, authors have addressed contextual factors, such as family, school, or neighborhood influences on specific aspects of identity development (e.g., McLean, 2015;Rivas-Drake & Witherspoon, 2013). Others have addressed social and contextual issues, such as discrimination or inequity (e.g., Jones & Galliher, 2015;Richardson et al., 2015). In sum, identity processes have been quite fruitfully studied, both generally and within certain identity content domains. ...
Historically, identity researchers have placed greater emphasis on processes of identity development (how people develop their identities) and less on the content of identity (what the identity is). The relative neglect of identity content may reflect the lack of a comprehensive framework to guide research. In this article, we provide such a comprehensive framework for the study of the content of identity, including four levels of analysis. At the broadest level, we situate individual identity within historical, cultural, and political contexts, elaborating on identity development within the context of shifting cultural norms, values, and attitudes. Histories of prejudice and discrimination are relevant in shaping intersections among historically marginalized identities. Second, we examine social roles as unique and central contexts for identity development, such that relationship labels become integrated into a larger identity constellation. Third, domains of individual or personal identity content intersect to yield a sense of self in which various aspects are subjectively experienced as an integrated whole. We explore the negotiation of culturally marginalized and dominant identity labels, as well as idiosyncratic aspects of identities based on unique characteristics or group memberships. Finally, we argue that the content of identity is enacted at the level of everyday interactions, the “micro-level” of identity. The concepts of identity conflict, coherence, and compartmentalization are presented as strategies used to navigate identity content across these four levels. This framework serves as an organizing tool for the current literature, as well as for designing future studies on the identity development.
... A healthy racial/ethnic identity is promoted by positive exposure to individuals in one's racial/ethnic group, knowledge of religious and cultural practices, pride in one's cultural heritage and ethnic identity, respect and identification with a role model of one's racial or cultural background, understanding of the role of racism, and preparation by families for coping with racism (Richardson et al., 2015). ...
Indian residential schools (IRSs) in Canada subjected thousands of students to horrific experiences and contributed to serious problems for Aboriginal peoples and Canadian society. A model is proposed that uses existing psychological theory and empirical research to explore the possible impacts of IRS experiences. The model identifies four aspects of student experiences that were a direct result of Canadian law or policy and so affected all IRS students: parental loss, institutional care, forced acculturation and acculturation stress, and discrimination/racism. The model also identifies three aspects of student experiences related to inadequate or abusive IRS operations: maltreatment, trauma, and bullying. An exploration of relevant empirical findings is organized within the framework of this model. This model suggests important and not generally understood IRS psychological impacts, including the vulnerability of former students not only to (a) persistent mental disorders but also to (b) complex traumatic reactions arising from impaired relational attachment and developmental maturation, (c) negative cascades of events, and (d) social marginalization resulting from both Canadian societal racism and lack of opportunities to develop or retain Aboriginal languages and cultures. Such psychological difficulties may underlie and contribute to the poor welfare of many Aboriginal children, jeopardized Aboriginal languages and cultures, health problems among Aboriginal peoples, lagging Aboriginal educational and economic success, and the overrepresentation of Aboriginal peoples in the criminal justice system. The present model offers a framework for psychologists to participate in the truth and reconciliation process through research, education, clinical treatment, and advocacy.
... For instance, several studies note the deleterious impact of racial stigma experiences on the psychosocial adjustment outcomes among African American males (e.g., Bennett et al. 2004;Bridges 2010;Burt et al. 2012;Franklin and Boyd-Franklin 2000;Kogan et al. 2015;Neblett et al. 2009, Nyborg andCurry 2003;Spencer et al. 2003;Stevenson 1997;Wakefield and Hudley 2005) in comparison with African American females (Guthrie et al. 2002;Masko 2005;Sales et al. 2015). For instance, Black boys and men have been racially targeted at higher rates (e.g., Chavous et al. 2008, Cunningham 1999Richardson et al. 2015;Smith-Bynum et al. 2014) and racially profiled (e.g., Kwate and Goodman 2015). But to date, little research has focused on African American girls' experiences with racial discrimination and the impact on their developmental competencies. ...
This study examined how having a relationship with God served as a protective factor between racial stigma beliefs and psychological well-being. A church sample of African American adolescent girls (N = 117, Mage= 15) completed measures on racial stigma, psychological well-being, and reports on having a relationship with God. After controlling for adolescent age, family income, and church attendance, positive racial beliefs and having a relationship with God were associated with a healthier psychological well-being. Findings also revealed that having a relationship with God and internalizing healthier racial beliefs were associated with a healthier psychological well-being, whereas reporting higher levels of having a relationship with God served as a protective factor for African American girls when internalizing moderate levels of racial stigma. Overall, results suggest that having a relationship with God can serve as a coping mechanism and promote a healthier psychological well-being for African American adolescent girls.
... Withingroup inquiry can provide further data about these factors, including influences and processes in daily living. Racial socialization, for example, refers to social experiences or beliefs through which children develop their sense of ethnic or racial identity, esteem, and self-worth (Elmore and Gaylord-Harden 2013;Richardson et al. 2015). Racial socialization can include parental practices of assisting children to understand and appreciate their heritage and ethnic sources of strength, and how to cope with negative experiences such as racial discrimination. ...
Research suggests that higher levels of authoritarian parenting exist in African American (AA) families than in European American (EA) families, and that authoritarian attitudes may be associated with more positive outcomes in AA families than EA families. However, less is known about authoritarian attitudes and children's development within AA families. This within-group study of 50 African American mothers and their 3-year-old children examined associations between maternal authoritarian attitudes, observed maternal limit-setting strategies, and children's self-regulation during a limit-setting interaction. The findings indicate that while AA families may hold more authoritarian attitudes than EA families, the direction of effect of authoritarian attitudes on children's outcomes appears to be the same in both ethnic groups. In this sample, when examining AA authoritarian attitudes relative to those of other AA mothers, less or lower authoritarian attitudes were associated with authoritative limit-setting behavior (firm limits within the context of overall warmth and responsiveness) and better children's self-regulation.
... And within specific studies, authors have addressed contextual factors, such as family, school, or neighborhood influences on specific aspects of identity development (e.g., McLean, 2015;Rivas-Drake & Witherspoon, 2013). Others have addressed social and contextual issues, such as discrimination or inequity (e.g., Jones & Galliher, 2015;Richardson et al., 2015). In sum, identity processes have been quite fruitfully studied, both generally and within certain identity content domains. ...
Historically, identity researchers have placed greater emphasis on processes of identity development (how people develop their identities) and less on the content of identity (what the identity is). The relative neglect of identity content may reflect the lack of a comprehensive framework to guide research. In this article, we provide such a comprehensive framework for the study of the content of identity, including 4 levels of analysis. At the broadest level, we situate individual identity within historical, cultural, and political contexts, elaborating on identity development within the context of shifting cultural norms, values, and attitudes. Histories of prejudice and discrimination are relevant in shaping intersections among historically marginalized identities. Second, we examine social roles as unique and central contexts for identity development, such that relationship labels become integrated into a larger identity constellation. Third, domains of individual or personal identity content intersect to yield a sense of self in which various aspects are subjectively experienced as an integrated whole. We explore the negotiation of culturally marginalized and dominant identity labels, as well as idiosyncratic aspects of identities based on unique characteristics or group memberships. Finally, we argue that the content of identity is enacted at the level of everyday interactions, the “micro-level” of identity. The concepts of identity conflict, coherence, and compartmentalization are presented as strategies used to navigate identity content across these 4 levels. This framework serves as an organizing tool for the current literature, as well as for designing future studies on the identity development.
... And within specific studies, authors have addressed contextual factors, such as family, school, or neighborhood influences on specific aspects of identity development (e.g., McLean, 2015;Rivas-Drake & Witherspoon, 2013). Others have addressed social and contextual issues, such as discrimination or inequity (e.g., Jones & Galliher, 2015;Richardson et al., 2015). In sum, identity processes have been quite fruitfully studied, both generally and within certain identity content domains. ...
This introductory summary provides an overview of the content of the special issue entitled “Identity Development Process and Content: Toward an Integrated and Contextualized Science of Identity.” The 16 theoretical and empirical articles that comprise this special issue were selected to highlight innovative methodologies, theoretical integration, and multicultural perspectives on the process and content of identity formation. The articles examine identity in developmental stages ranging from early childhood to young adulthood, and represent samples from 5 different countries. Within the geographic regions represented, authors explore diverse domains of identity development, addressing relevant and timely aspects of identity formation. Together, the contributions of the special issue are poised to move the field of identity research forward, both theoretically and empirically.
... Parental messages highlighting the positive features of a child's racial/ethnic and cultural identity likely relate to higher self-esteem and self-efficacy through multiple routes. One prospective pathway through which cultural socialization may be connected to conceptions of the self is by enhancing feelings of cultural entitlement or intrinsic social status (i.e., the belief that one is a worthwhile and valuable member of the society), particularly in the context of discrimination and negative racial stereotypes (ten Kate, de Koster, & van der Waal, ETHNIC-RACIAL SOCIALIZATION AND PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT 24 2017; Richardson et al., 2015). By increasing positive feelings toward one's racial/ethnic group, cultural socialization may also enhance children's bonding social capital, thereby promoting positive connections with relatives and peers (Almedom, 2005, Wang et al., 2017. ...
Despite increasing empirical research documenting the association between parental ethnic-racial socialization and youth of color’s psychosocial well-being, evidence on the extent to which ethnic-racial socialization practices are linked to youth outcomes and potential variation in these relations remains equivocal. In the current study, a meta-analysis of 102 studies with 803 effect sizes and 27,221 participants reveals that overall ethnic-racial socialization was positively, albeit modestly, associated with self-perceptions, interpersonal relationship quality, and internalizing behavior. Ethnic-racial socialization’s overall association with externalizing behavior was non-significant. Moreover, ethnic-racial socialization’s connection to psychosocial outcomes varied by the subtype that parents used, the developmental stage and race/ethnicity of the target child, and the reporter of ethnic-racial socialization. In particular, cultural socialization was positively associated with self-perceptions and interpersonal relationship quality, and negatively associated with externalizing behaviors. In addition, ethnic-racial socialization’s positive association with self-perceptions was strongest in early adolescence and among African American youth. These findings underscore the complexity of parental ethnic-racial socialization practices and the need for a nuanced perspective on it. Implications for parenting practices and future research are discussed.
... Though prior research has demonstrated mixed findings regarding the relation between early and late pubertal timing with depressive symptoms (Carter et al., 2009(Carter et al., , 2011Keenan et al., 2014), no hypothesis is offered regarding this relation. Consistent with prior research, it was anticipated that high racial centrality levels, low public regard levels and high private regard levels would moderate the relation between pubertal timing and depressive symptoms based on previous research (Richardson et al., 2015;Seaton, 2009;Sellers, Copeland-Linder, Martin, & Lewis, 2006). Last, it was assessed if the relations between pubertal timing, depressive symptoms, and the racial identity dimensions were influenced by neighborhood and school racial composition and no hypotheses are offered. ...
Objectives:
This study bridges the empirical research on pubertal timing effects, racial identity, and school and neighborhood context to understand the pubertal development and depression link among Black adolescent females. We examined whether racial identity content dimensions moderated the relation between pubertal timing and depressive symptoms among Black adolescent females and the moderating capacity of school and neighborhood racial composition.
Method:
We administered measures of pubertal development, racial identity, and depressive symptoms to a sample of 217 Black adolescent females, aged 14 to 18. We assessed racial centrality, private regard, and public regard and used archival data to obtain the racial composition of participants' neighborhoods and schools.
Results:
The results indicated that high racial centrality levels were linked to depressive symptoms for adolescent girls with late pubertal timing relative to their early counterparts, which was stronger for girls attending not majority Black schools. The results also indicated that low public regard levels were linked to depressive symptoms among adolescent girls with early pubertal timing relative to their late counterparts, which was stronger for girls attending not majority Black schools.
Conclusions:
The current study provides evidence that racial identity and school racial context moderate the effects of pubertal timing differentially for early and late maturing Black girls. The results support the notion that the psychological effects of pubertal timing on internalizing symptoms are context dependent. (PsycINFO Database Record
... Results underscore the importance of ethnicity in the developmental trajectories of minority youths. While having their own unique culture and experiences of poverty, Yi children suffer from the same problem of identity issues and educational inequality that ethnic minority youths in the United States experienced (Harrell, 2001;Postiglione, 2017;Richardson et al., 2015). Although this study is not the first to identify the potential of cultural resources in enhancing psychosocial outcomes of ethnic minority youths (Brittian et al., 2015;Gaylord-Harden et al., 2007), it is one of the first to suggest the promotion of classmate support as a strategy to mobilize ethnic resources for positive academic development. ...
To enhance the academic achievements of Yi ethnic minority youths in rural school settings, the authors examined the effect of classmate support and the meditating role of ethnic identity in promoting their academic motivation. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from Yi youths sponsored by a philanthropic organization to attend local schools in Liangshan, rural China (n = 657; 7–12 years old; 52% boys). Results of structural equation modelling showed that classmate support positively affected ethnic identity-commitment and ethnic identity-exploration, which then had positive impacts on three academic motivation outcomes: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation-external and identified regulation, and extrinsic motivation-introjected regulation. The mediating effects of ethnic identity-exploration and ethnic identity-commitment were statistically significant, except for the pathway from classmate support to extrinsic motivation-introjected regulation via ethnic identity-commitment. The authors found that ethnic identity can be facilitated through building supportive classroom environment for positive academic motivations in Yi youths. Cross-cultural significance of this study is also discussed.
... A total of 13 studies examined profiles of family ethnic-racial socialization (i.e., Ajayi & Syed, 2014;Caughy et al., 2011;Cooper, Smalls-Glover, Metzger, & Griffin, 2015;Dunbar et al., 2015;Granberg, Edmond, Simons, Gibbons, & Lei, 2012;Kiang et al., 2018;Kim, Chen, Hou, Zeiders, & Calzada, 2019;McGill, Hughes, Alicea, & Way, 2012;Richardson et al., 2015;Smalls, 2010;Smalls & Cooper, 2012;Varner et al., 2018;White-Johnson, Ford, & Sellers, 2010). Collectively, findings from these studies suggest that the most meaningful conclusions and insights regarding the implications of family ethnic-racial socialization for youth adjustment will not come from understanding how any single ethnic-racial socialization approach in isolation is linked with adjustment but, rather, in understanding how different strategies in combination have consequences for youth adjustment. ...
In the current decade, the U.S. population reached historically high levels of ethnic–racial diversity and reelected the nation's first Black–White biracial President. Simultaneously, scholars also documented significant ethnic–racial inequities in education, increased xenophobia, and a racial climate that revealed deep‐seated ethnic–racial tensions. Given this backdrop and acknowledging the significant role that families play in youths' abilities to navigate their social contexts, the current review focused on the literature on families' ethnic–racial socialization efforts with youth from the 2010 decade. Our review of 259 empirical articles revealed that there has been an exponential increase in research on family ethnic–racial socialization in this decade. Furthermore, although it is clear that family ethnic–racial socialization is a robust predictor of youths' adjustment, the associations between socialization and adjustment must be considered with attention to specific socialization strategies, the confluence of strategies used, and the unique contexts within which families' lives are embedded.
... It is not clear whether families provide more preparation-for-bias socialization to boys or girls, with some studies finding no differences (see review in Hughes et al., 2006), more for boys (e.g., Hughes et al., 2009;Thomas & Speight, 1999), and more for girls (e.g., Brown, Linver, & Evans, 2010;Richardson et al., 2015). Gender differences in content of messages are largely unexplored. ...
Black families and youth likely consider specific racial discriminatory situations in preparation‐for‐bias messages and racial coping responses. Our study investigated coping responses embedded in youth‐reported Black families’ preparation‐for‐bias messages and youths’ proactive coping responses to specific racially discriminatory situations—teachers’ negative expectations, store employees’ hyper‐monitoring and police harassment. Gender and racial discrimination experience differences were considered along with relations between messages and coping. Our investigation was guided by the integrated‐developmental, transactional/ecological, intersectionality, and Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory theoretical frameworks. We conducted cluster analyses using data from 117 Black youth aged 13–14 to identify situation‐specific family messages and youth coping responses. Families’ messages and youths’ responses varied in content and frequency based on the specific discriminatory situation, which suggests consideration of context.
... Preparation for experiences with racism and prejudice, can for instance strengthen youth in coping with discrimination (Richardson et al., 2015;Schmitt et al., 2003), but may also instal thoughts in the youth's minds concerning societal ethnic stereotypes, and undermine a process of positive ethnic identity development (Hughes et al., 2009;Huguley et al., 2019). ...
To gain insight into ethnic socialization by ethnic majority foster parents who take care of ethnic minority foster youth, we conducted a comparative dyadic analysis, based on 16 foster parent‐foster youth dyads. Outcomes show that foster parents' first concern was providing a safe environment for their foster youth, and not ethnic minority socialization. Foster parents seem to strive to belong together as one family with their foster youth. As part of those efforts, they would incorporate ethnicity differences, and/or struggles with how to address them. This occurred in a reciprocal socialization process with their foster youth. Next, although foster youth could experience discrimination, there seems to exist a relative silence about this issue in foster families. Results furthermore show that birth parents may play a role as connectors with the ethnic backgrounds of the foster youth. Foster parents may need guidance by foster care agencies in learning how to address ethnicity issues openly, teaching their foster youth how to survive in a society where ethnic minority discrimination occurs, and involving birth parents in the ethnic socialization of the youth.
... For example, a number of quotes in this paper give a sense of children as astute observers, learning in part from observing actions, overhearing conversations, and even paying attention to adult posture. There also are riches in the autobiographies about the ways girls received different racial socialization from boys (which echoes findings in research by Richardson, et al. 2015), the child questions parents avoided answering, and how childhood racial socialization may, in adulthood, acquire new meaning and significance. Scattered among the autobiographies were also racial socialization phenomena that only one or a few autobiographers mentioned but that might turn out to be of importance in understanding racial socialization and would be worth following up in future research using autobiographies or other research tools. ...
The literature on racial socialization of African Americans has focused on data drawn from young children, teens, and college students. The question of what mature adults recall as having been significant messages in their childhood about dealing with racism has been ignored, and so has the question of what the adult impact might be of childhood racial socialization. To explore these issues, we examined the autobiographies of 41 African Americans that included material on the parenting they received to deal with racism. Many of the lessons the autobiographers wrote about learning can be classified in three broad themes—be aware of and alert to white racism, get a good education, and have a strong racial identity. As evidence of the usefulness in adulthood of childhood racial socialization, some autobiographers wrote about how important certain socialization experiences were to them in adulthood. This paper adds to the literature on African American racial socialization by showing the durability of some memories of childhood racial socialization and also showing that there can be an impact in adulthood of childhood racial socialization.
... Contrary to our hypothesis, racial barrier messages did not moderate the effects of racial discrimination on SBW endorsement. This null finding diverges from previous research that has found racial barrier messages to moderate associations between discrimination and Black youth's psychosocial outcomes (Burt & Simons, 2015;Neblett, Rivas-Drake, & Umaña-Taylor, 2012;Richardson et al., 2015). Furthermore, given prior theoretical and qualitative research that suggests that Black girls are socialized to be strong and that Black mothers identify SBW-related attributes (i.e., independence, assertiveness, strong-willed) as critical to navigating race-and gender-based discrimination (Belgrave, 2009;Oshin & Milan, 2019;Sharp & Ispa, 2009), we would have expected that racial barrier messages would have strengthened the effects of racial discrimination on SBW endorsement. ...
This study examines the precedents and consequences of Black girls' Strong Black Woman schema (SBW) endorsement. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that, among Black girls (N= 308), racial discrimination experiences and racial barrier socialization messages were positively associated with SBW endorsement. However, there was no significant interaction between racial discrimination and racial barrier messages in predicting SBW endorsement. Our analyses also revealed that SBW was not directly associated with internalizing symptoms (e.g., anxiety and depression symptoms). Furthermore, there was no significant interaction between racial discrimination and SBW endorsement in predicting internalizing symptoms. Findings provide evidence of and clarity on how sociocultural experiences shape SBW development and highlight a need to better understand how SBW endorsement functions in the mental health of Black girls.
... These results replicated earlier studies in which racial socialization served a protective role in moderating the association between discrimination and youth well-being (e.g., Neblett et al. 2006Neblett et al. , 2016. Furthermore, there is evidence that adolescents who experience discrimination in the absence of parental preparation for bias messages in mid-adolescence are at risk for internalizing stigmatizing experiences, as demonstrated by racial identity characterized by low centrality, low private regard, and average public regard (Richardson et al. 2015). ...
Historically, suicide rates for African American adolescents have been low,relative to rates for youth of other racial-ethnic backgrounds. Since 2001, however, suicide rates among African American adolescents have escalated: Suicide is now the third leading cause of death for African American adolescents. This disturbing trend warrants focused research on suicide etiology and manifestation in African American adolescents, along with culturally sensitive and effective prevention efforts. First, we revisit leading suicide theories and their relevance for African American adolescents. Next, we discuss health promotive and protective factors within the context of African American youth development. We also critique the current status of suicide risk assessment and prevention for African American adolescents. Then, we present a heuristic model of suicide risk and resilience for African American adolescents that considers their development within a hegemonic society. Finally, we recommend future directions for African American adolescent suicidology.
Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, Volume 18 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
... However, the developmental demands of adolescence may be especially complex for Black youth given that in addition to the typical stressors that youth face during adolescence, Black youth are also negotiating the meanings and consequences of their identity as ethnoracial minority group members. Black youth may be particularly aware of the implications that minority group membership has for their opportunities, experiences, and relationships, especially in the context of structural, environmental, and interpersonal discrimination (Richardson et al., 2015;Spencer, 2006;Spencer, Dupree, & Hartmann, 1997). Navigating these realities places ethnic minority youth at increased risk for deleterious effects on physical and mental health (Hope, Hoggard, & Thomas, 2015). ...
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth ages 12-17 years. Within a 10-year span from 2004-2014, 2,225 Black youth ages 10-19 died by suicide. Over a 35-year period suicide rates increased 126% in Black youth ages 15-19, and 233% in Black youth ages 10-14. Further, in 2015, a national survey reported that 14.5% of Black youth had serious thoughts of suicide in the past 12 months, 13.7% had made suicide plans, and 8.9% had attempted suicide. Related to this, national studies revealed high rates of suicide risk factors among young people including: depression or depressive symptoms (29.9% of youth); suicidal ideation (17.7% of youth); suicide attempts (8.6% of youth); psychiatric disorders such as anxiety (24.9% of youth); disruptive behavior disorders (16.3% of youth); and substance use disorders (8.3% of youth). Despite increased rates of suicide among Black youth, there is limited research on suicide risk and protective factors among Black youth. Importantly, religious involvement is a possible protective factor for Black youth, as it has been linked to more positive mental health outcomes among Black adults. This dissertation, comprised of two empirical studies, evaluates evidence regarding the promotive and protective effects of religious involvement against suicide risk among Black adolescents in the context of the relational risk factors of everyday discrimination (routine encounters with subtle, unfair treatment) and interpersonal problems (low social connectedness, bully victimization, and/or perpetration). Study 1 uses cross-sectional data from a nationally representative sample of African American and Caribbean Black youth to pursue three aims: 1) to examine the relation between discrimination and suicide risk factors (suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, disruptive behavior disorders, and substance use disorders); 2) to examine the relation between religious involvement, specifically, private religious practices, religious (church-based) support, and organizational religiousness, and discrimination and suicide risk factors; and 3) to explore whether the relation between discrimination and suicide risk factors differs by gender or ethnicity. Study 2 uses data from a longitudinal study of a more selected sample of Black youth with interpersonal problems to pursue two aims: 1) to examine the prospective relation between religious involvement and depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation; and 2) to examine whether this relation differs over time and by gender. Exploring the protective role of religious involvement among Black youth who experience relational risk has important implications for reducing suicide risk among Black adolescents.
... A review of recent cross-sectional and longitudinal studies involving adolescents shows a considerable amount of heterogeneity in exposure to interpersonal discrimination (Brody, Lei, Chae, Yu, Kogan, & Beach, 2014;Richardson, Macon, Mustafaa, Bogan, Cole-Lewis, & Chavous, 2015;Smith, Reynolds, Fincham, & Beach, 2015;Smith-Bynum, Lambert, English, & Ialongo, 2014). These studies show that African American adolescents' encounters with interpersonal discrimination are best characterized by qualitatively different subgroups, with many youth encountering low and increasing exposures to racial discrimination and others encountering more frequent experiences with racial discrimination. ...
This study tested the hypothesis that supportive family environments during adolescence buffer exposure to racial discrimination, reducing its impact on biological weathering and its manifestation in cellular aging. Perceived racial discrimination, support in the family environment, and confounder variables were assessed for 3 consecutive years across adolescence in two independent cohorts of African American youth from rural Georgia. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected during young adulthood. Patterns of methylation were used to index the epigenetic ages of these cells and the extent to which they differed from participants' chronological ages. Among youth in supportive family environments, exposure to higher levels of racial discrimination did not forecast greater epigenetic aging. Among youth in less supportive family environments, exposure to higher levels of racial discrimination did forecast greater epigenetic aging. The associations emerged independently of confounder variables, and the results were replicated across the two cohorts.
... First, meta-analyses find that African Americans report higher self-esteem than Whites, who report higher self-esteem than other American groups (Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans). Second, among African Americans, high self-esteem is associated with high sense of in-group connection with other African Americans and low self-esteem is associated with holding fellow African Americans in low regard (Hughes, Kiecolt, Keith, & Demo, 2015;Richardson et al., 2015). Moreover, the relationship between self-esteem and academic attainment is neither strong nor linear (Hope et al., 2013). ...
... Withingroup inquiry can provide further data about these factors, including influences and processes in daily living. Racial socialization, for example, refers to social experiences or beliefs through which children develop their sense of ethnic or racial identity, esteem, and self-worth ( Elmore and Gaylord-Harden 2013;Richardson et al. 2015). Racial socialization can include parental practices of assisting children to understand and appreciate their heritage and ethnic sources of strength, and how to cope with negative experiences such as racial discrimination. ...
Research suggests that higher levels of authoritarian parenting exist in African American (AA) families than in European American (EA) families, and that authoritarian attitudes may be associated with more positive outcomes in AA families than EA families. However, less is known about authoritarian attitudes and children’s development within AA families. This within-group study of 50 African American mothers and their three-year-old children examined associations between maternal authoritarian attitudes, observed maternal limit-setting strategies, and children’s self-regulation during a limit-setting interaction. The findings indicate that while AA families may hold more authoritarian attitudes than EA families, the direction of effect of authoritarian attitudes on children’s outcomes appears to be the same in both ethnic groups. In this sample, when examining AA authoritarian attitudes relative to those of other AA mothers, less or lower authoritarian attitudes were associated with authoritative limit-setting behavior (firm limits within the context of overall warmth and responsiveness) and better children’s self-regulation. Doi:10.1007/s10826-016-0609-0; Online first 14 November 2016; This publication is available through PubMed at
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5386503
... Given evidence of gender differences in risk for racial discrimination, depression symptomatology, and drug use among African American youth, it is important to also note evidence of gender differences in the protective effect of parenting practices based on the adolescent's gender. Specifically, studies have documented greater levels of support (Richardson et al., 2015;Tamis-LeMonda, Briggs, McClowry, & Snow, 2009) and a stronger buffering effect of parental support on health outcomes ( Gaylord-Harden, Elmore, & Montes de Oca, 2013) for African American females than males. However, some researchers have also acknowledged that this effect varies based on whether support is provided by mothers compared with fathers (Cooper, Brown, Metzger, Clinton, & Guthrie, 2013;Pernice-Duca, 2010). ...
African American youth who experience racial discrimination are at heightened risk to use drugs as a coping response to distress. Based on the buffer-stress hypothesis, we proposed that parental support would attenuate this effect. Participants were 1,521 African American youth between 4th and 12th grade. As hypothesized, a mediation pathway was observed among racial discrimination, depression symptoms, and drug use. This effect was observed for both genders, although the pathway was partially mediated for males. In addition, as hypothesized, parental support buffered the negative effect of depression symptomatology on drug use as a consequence of discrimination. Our findings highlight the impact racial discrimination has on health outcomes for African American youth and the importance of managing youths’ emotional responses to discrimination. Moreover, findings illuminate the protective role of supportive parenting within the risk model and should thus be considered as an important component within prevention programming for this population of youth.
... Racial socialization, the process by which parents transmit both implicit and explicit messages about the meaning of one's race in a broader societal context, (Coard & Sellers, 2005) has been assessed by the Scale for Racial Socialization for Adolescents. For African American adolescents, parents' racial socialization practices are significant predictors of multiple aspects of adolescent's racial identity in families with high communication (Tang, McLoyd, & Hallman, 2016), and adolescents who experience racial discrimination but receive few socialization messages about how to negotiate and cope with discrimination may be at heightened risk for internalizing experiences (Richardson et al., 2015). Another example of culture-specific constructs for assessment included in table 9.1 is the Simpatía Scale. ...
Social work practitioners are challenged to demonstrate an understanding of how factors like race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, and different physical and mental abilities affect our practice and assessment strategies with clients. This chapter focuses on the influence of race and ethnicity or ethnocultural factors on a client’s assessment and covers the limitations of standardized assessment methods. It includes a guide for identifying examples of specific measures by race/ethnicity that are recommended for use with specific clients. A case study illustrates a culturally-grounded assessment approach.
... Students were asked to report on their experiences of racial discrimination at school, with subscales assessing discrimination by peers and discrimination by teachers. This scale was developed by the research team from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context study (Wong et al., 2003) and has been used in previous studies (Chavous et al., 2008;Cogburn et al., 2011;Richardson et al., 2014). ...
African American, Latino, and Native Americans aspire to do well in school but often fall short of this goal. We use identity-based motivation theory (Oyserman, 2007, 2015) as an organizing framework to understand how macro-level social stratification factors including racial-ethnic group membership and socioeconomic position (e.g. parental education, income) and the stigma they carry, matter. Macro-level social stratification differentially exposes students to contexts in which choice and control are limited and stigma is evoked, shaping identity-based motivation in three ways. Stratification influences which behaviors likely feel congruent with important identities, undermines belief that one’s actions and effort matter, and skews chronic interpretation of one’s experienced difficulties with schoolwork from interpreting experienced difficulty as implying importance (e.g., “it’s for me”) toward implying “impossibility.” Because minority students have high aspirations, policies should invest in de-stigmatizing, scalable, universal, identity-based motivation-bolstering institutions and interventions.
Racism constitutes a significant risk to the healthy development of African American youth. Fortunately, however, not all youth who experience racism evidence negative developmental outcomes. In this chapter, we examine person-centered analysis (PCA)—a quantitative technique that investigates how variables combine across individuals—as a useful tool for elucidating racial and ethnic protective processes that mitigate the negative impact of racism. We review recent studies employing PCA in examinations of racial identity, racial socialization, and other race-related experiences, as well as how these constructs correlate with and impact African American youth development. We also consider challenges and limitations of PCA and conclude with a discussion of future research and how PCA might be used to promote equity and justice for African American and other racial and ethnic minority youth who experience racism.
Research on racism-related stress and racial-ethnic protective factors represents an important enterprise for optimizing the mental health of African American and other racial and ethnic minority youth. However, there has been a relative dearth of work on these factors in the clinical psychology research literature, and more work is needed in outlets such as these. To this end, the current article adopts a developmental psychopathology framework and uses recent empirical findings to outline our current understanding of racism-related stress and racial-ethnic protective factors (i.e., racial identity, racial socialization, Africentric worldview) for African American youth. We then provide nine recommendations—across basic, applied, and broader/cross-cutting research lines—that we prioritize as essential to advancing the future scientific investigation of this crucial research agenda. Within and across these recommendations, we issue a charge to researchers and clinicians alike, with the ultimate goal of alleviating the negative mental health impact that racism-related stress can have on the well-being and mental health of African American and other racial and ethnic minority youth.
Children rely heavily on their parents for guidance and support throughout development. When parental support is hindered by racial discrimination, poverty, trauma, and acculturative family distancing, barriers to a child's success are cultivated. It is imperative that providers of children and families address racial and cultural concerns in a humble, curious manner. Cultural adaptations to family-based care can lead to stronger outcomes with families.
Objectives: This study assessed the association between racial discrimination and suicidality (ideation, plan, or attempt) in African American adolescents and young adults (n = 806, mean age = 17.9 years).
Methods: Structured psychiatric phone interviews were conducted in offspring and their mothers in a high-risk alcoholism family study.
Results: Logistic regression analyses using offspring own racial discrimination as a predictor revealed elevated odds of suicidality, even after adjusting for correlated psychiatric conditions (OR = 1.76) but was reduced to non-significance after adjusting for maternal experiences of racial discrimination (OR = 3.19in males), depression, and problem drinking.
Conclusion: Findings support a link between racial discrimination and suicidality in African American youth that, for males, is partially explained by maternal racial discrimination.
We test the theory of African American offending’s (TAAO) proposed mediation pathways of anger and depression between everyday racial discrimination and criminal justice injustices from the police and serious offending. Additionally, we test TAAO’s hypothesized moderated mediation association of racial identity on the association between discriminatory experiences and offending via negative emotions. The proposed pathways are assessed utilizing bootstrapped mediation and moderated mediation analytical techniques on a sample of African American youth from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Anger is revealed to partially mediate the association between criminal justice injustices and offending. Racial identity modestly moderates this mediation, meaning as racial identity strengthens the association between criminal justice injustices and offending via anger significantly weakens. In other words, a strong positive racial identity provides a modest buffer against the negative consequences of discriminatory encounters with police. No other significant mediation or moderated mediation pathways were found. Results lend reasonable support to TAAO as well as further highlight the need for additional research into how African Americans’ lived experiences in our racially stratified society uniquely impact their pathways to and resilience against criminal behavior.
Over 200 years of slavery and trauma, as well as present-day racism and oppression, have had negative psychological effects on generations of African Americans. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex trauma help to shed light on specific ways in which centuries of trauma may psychologically impact African Americans. However, in the face of slavery, racism, and oppression, African Americans have utilized adaptive coping strategies to survive and thrive. This chapter (1) discusses PTSD and complex trauma; (2) revisits traumas that have occurred during and after slavery; (3) uses a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) framework to discuss the impact of slavery on the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of African Americans; (4) highlights adaptive coping mechanisms; and (5) provides an example of a promising and culturally adapted psychological treatment.
In negotiating the anti‐Black oppression, Black mothers communicate lessons of resistance in their racial socialization messages to their Black adolescent boys. We investigate whether distinct strategies of resistance for survival, characterized by individual‐focused immediate strategies of resistance, and resistance for liberation, strategies of resistance that disrupt systems of anti‐Black oppression rooted in furthering collective Black empowerment, are employed in Black mothers' messages to their sons. In this manuscript, we use longitudinal data of Black mothers’ of adolescent boys interviews (N = 31) across three time points (6th–11th grade). Our findings indicate the presence of various strategies of resistance for survival and resistance for liberation within Black mothers’ preparation for bias socialization.
The overrepresentation of Black males in the criminal justice system is well-established in the literature, linking individual factors to criminal engagement of Black men. Compared to literature seeking to understand why Black males offend, there remain gaps in the literature exploring resilience in Black males from criminality. Religion is a major influence in Black communities, providing moral and ethnic socialization, and serving as a protective factor against criminal involvement. For Black Muslims, ethno-religious teachings play a significant role in one’s self-accountability, Black identity, and moral decision-making, including decisions to resist or desist from crime. The Nation of Islam, a Black ethnic, political and religious movement, is characterized as a racist and revolutionary organization, despite work done in the community to improve the social and economic conditions for Black Americans. The focus on self-reliance and self-accountability is the nexus of the prevailing worldview shared by members; and how to navigate racial discrimination, especially in the criminal justice system. This study presents the results of a focus group with Black males in the Nation of Islam. The men discussed the influence of ethno-religious teachings on non-offending, their worldview, and racial pride. Implications for future studies are provided.
This review focuses on students’ perceptions of their rights in elementary and secondary schools. The conceptual framework of rights consciousness was applied to understand how students’ knowledge, experiences, and emotions shape their rights perceptions. The analysis is based on 38 empirical studies conducted in different countries. The findings characterize students’ rights perceptions as intuitive, i.e., perceptions that are not grounded in legal rules but in students’ personal insights. The findings also identify key factors affecting students’ perceptions: school context, national context, and students’ individual characteristics. The conclusions underscore that school rights-based practices, student body and school staff diversity, and school relationships influence students’ rights consciousness. However, questions remain concerning how students’ perceptions are affected by cultural repertoires, religion, socioeconomic status, gender, and age. The implications are that future study should apply a context-based agenda to inform the design and implementation of human rights education programs and rights-based organizational practices.
Scholarly discourse and empirical analyses of social class impacts in higher education tend to conflate race and social class, suggesting that Black students’ outcomes can be largely explained by their higher proportions of economic and social disadvantage. This result of studies that do not consider the variation within class groups by race is the framing of Black students - explicitly or implicitly – as a monolithic group with common identities, preferences, experiences, and adjustment to higher education contexts. Drawing from social identity frameworks (i.e,, Social Identity Theory, Tajfel & Turner, 1986; and the Multidimensional Framework of Social Class Identity, Webb, 2014), the current dissertation explores how social class identity processes help explain individual variation in Black college students’ psychological adjustment to predominantly White institutions. Using data from the College Academic and Social Identities Study (CASIS) I examined a sample of Black college students (n=375) over their first year of college and 1) identified latent profiles based on patterns of Black college students’ social class centrality and social class affect (pride, shame, and guilt) upon matriculating into college (Time 1). I also investigated if individuals’ social class self-identification was associated with membership in particular social class centrality and affect (pride, shame, guilt) profile groups in PWI contexts; 2) I examined how Black college students’ social class centrality and affect profiles were related to their Time 1 and Time 2 psychological adjustment outcomes; and 3) analyzed whether Black college students’ social class centrality and affect profiles moderated the associations between social class self-identification and psychological adjustment outcomes. Key findings show that Black college students vary in the extent to which they make meaning of the importance and emotions attached to their social class identity. There were significant differences by profile group in psychological adjustment outcomes. Profiles that included students who reported high levels of negative affect (shame and guilt) reported lower levels of adaptive psychological adjustment. Social class centrality and affect profile that included students who reported high levels of social class pride reported more adaptive psychological adjustment to the PWI context. However, the relation between social class self-identification and psychological adjustment did not vary as a function of social class centrality and affect profile group.
This study examined how discrimination experiences, beliefs, and coping in middle adolescence contributed to heterogeneity in African American parent–adolescent relationship (PAR) profiles three years later. Data were from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study in which 589 African American caregivers (92% female; Mage = 39.15, SD = 6.72; range = 27–74 years old) were interviewed when youth were in 8th and 11th grades. We used previously identified profiles of ethnic-racial socialization, general parenting practices, and relationship quality: No-nonsense High Socializers, Indulgent Average Socializers, Unengaged Silent Socializers, and Authoritative Cultural Socializers. Results indicated that parents’ discrimination experiences, racial coping self-efficacy, and racial coping socialization when youth were in the 8th grade predicted membership in PAR profiles three years later controlling for youth gender, parent marital status, and family socioeconomic status.
In the field of adolescent development, the language, theoretical frameworks, methods for collecting and analyzing data, and ways of interpretation that researchers use may advance notions of white supremacy and perpetuate racist ideas. Understanding how researchers study Black girls and women, in particular, is a critical step in working toward the production of science and knowledge that promotes an anti-racist and anti-sexist agenda and centers the voices of historically marginalized adolescents. Accordingly, we engaged in a systematic review (k = 48) with the goal of taking a critical look at how researchers study Black girls and women. Our synthesis of empirical articles from four prominent adolescent research journals published between 2010 and 2020 revealed themes related to (a) a dearth of critical theoretical frameworks, (b) a lack of acknowledgment of the intersectional experiences of Black girls and women, (c) differences in how researchers incorporate ethnic/racial information, (d) the use of a deficit perspective, and (e) the dominance of quantitative designs. We discuss these themes and conclude with recommendations for incorporating critical frameworks and more varied methodologies, issuing a call for adolescent development scholars to take a deeper, asset-based, and more critical approach to studying Black girls and their development.
Parental ethnic-racial socialization practices help shape the development of a strong ethnic-racial identity in children of color, which in turn contributes positively to mental health, social, and academic outcomes. Although there is a wide body of literature on the relationship between these meta-constructs, this research has not been systematically examined to either (a) determine the degree to which associations between parental ethnic-racial socialization approaches and ethnic-racial identity dimensions hold actual practical significance for parents of color or (b) estimate how these associations vary as a function of theorized mitigating factors. In response, this meta-analytic study investigated the strength of the association between parental ethnic-racial socialization practices and the construction of ethnic-racial identity, as well as factors that moderated the strength and direction of this association. Findings revealed that across 68 studies, there was a significant and substantive relationship between the global constructs of ethnic-racial socialization practices and ethnic-racial identity. Most individual practices of ethnic-racial socialization were positively associated with global ethnic-racial identity, and the strongest relationship was with pride and heritage socialization. Parental ethnic-racial socialization was also positively associated with all ethnic-racial identity dimensions tested except for public regard, with which it was negatively associated. Developmental findings showed that while ethnic-racial socialization positively predicted identity at every level of schooling, the strongest relationship was at the high-school level. Finally, the association between ethnic-racial socialization and ethnic-racial identity was positive for African Americans, Latinxs, and Asian Americans alike, but the strongest relationship was among Latinxs. Implications for parenting practices and future research are discussed.
A framework that emphasizes and integrates individuals' intersubjective experiences with Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory (PVEST) is introduced and compared with self-organizational perspectives. Similarities, differences and advantages of each framework are described. In a demonstration of PVEST's utility, a subset of data from the 3rd year of a longitudinal study (14- to 16-year-old middle adolescent African-Americans) is used for examining an achievement variable: negative learning attitude. Explored separately by gender, a regression model that contained risk, stress, and a reactive coping variable for the prediction of negative learning attitudes was investigated. For boys, stress was an independent stressor across steps independent of the other variables entered; social support was particularly important for males. For girls, not only was stress not important but it was also only the social support variable, perceived unpopularity with peers, that was a significant predictor of girls' negative learning attitude. Particularly for boys, the findings suggest critically important roles for teachers and peers in the negative learning attitude of midadolescent economically disadvantaged African-American students.
The present study presents preliminary evidence regarding the reliability and validity of the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI). The MIBI consists of 7 subscales representing 3 stable dimensions of African American racial identity (Centrality, Ideology, and Regard). Responses to the MIBI were collected from 474 African American college students from a predominantly African American university ( n = 185) and a predominantly White university ( n = 289). As the result of factor analysis, a revised 5 I-item scale was developed. Evidence was found for 6 subscales. The Public Regard subscale was dropped because of poor internal consistency. Interscale correlations suggest that the MIBI is internally valid. Relationships among the MIBI subscales and race-related behavior suggest that the instrument has external validity. Descriptive statistics for the revised MIBI are provided for the entire sample as well as by school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Amidst changing patterns of accommodation and conflict among American ethnic groups, there remains a paucity of research on the nature and impact of racial and ethnic discrimination on development in multiethnic samples of youth. The Adolescent Discrimination Distress Index along with measures of caregiver racial bias preparation and self-esteem was administered to 177 adolescents drawn from 9th–12th graders self-identified as African American, Hispanic, East Asian, South Asian, and non-Hispanic white. Youth from all ethnic backgrounds reported distress associated with instances of perceived racial prejudice encountered in educational contexts. Instances of institutional discrimination in stores and by police were higher for older youth and particularly for African American and Hispanic teenagers. Encounters with peer discrimination were reported most frequently by Asian youth. Reports of racial bias preparation were associated with distress in response to institutional and educational discrimination and self-esteem scores were negatively correlated with distress caused by educational and peer discrimination. The importance of research on discrimination distress to understanding adolescent development in multiethnic ecologies is discussed here.
The construction of an ethnic or racial identity is considered an important developmental milestone for youth of color. This review summarizes research on links between ethnic and racial identity (ERI) with psychosocial, academic, and health risk outcomes among ethnic minority adolescents. With notable exceptions, aspects of ERI are generally associated with adaptive outcomes. ERI are generally beneficial for African American adolescents' adjustment across all three domains, whereas the evidence is somewhat mixed for Latino and American Indian youth. There is a dearth of research for academic and health risk outcomes among Asian American and Pacific Islander adolescents. The review concludes with suggestions for future research on ERI among minority youth.
Although ethnic and racial identity (ERI) are central to the normative development of youth of color, there have been few efforts to bring scholars together to discuss the theoretical complexities of these constructs and provide a synthesis of existing work. The Ethnic and Racial Identity in the 21st Century Study Group was assembled for this purpose. This article provides an overview of the interface of ERI with developmental and contextual issues across development, with an emphasis on adolescence and young adulthood. It proposes a metaconstruct to capture experiences that reflect both individuals’ ethnic background and their racialized experiences in a specific sociohistorical context. Finally, it presents milestones in the development of ERI across developmental periods.
Spencer's (1995) Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory is pre- sented as a theoretical framework to integrate issues of context, coping, and iden- tity in human development. The relation of coping supports (i.e., cultural socializa- tion and spirituality) to psychological well-being was investigated for a sample of low resource African American youth. Results suggest that employment of religion and spirituality and cultural pride as a form of coping is important in the develop- ment of a healthy sense of self and a healthy sense of self in relation to others, espe- cially among Black adolescent boys. The finding was not replicated among girls, suggesting the need to investigate other forms of support.
The relations between normative developmental transitions, contextual influences, and life-stage outcomes such as academic achievement for African American males are examined. The integration ofaffective and cognitive processes are reviewed for preschool- and elementary-aged boys, and an empirical examination ofvulnerable and resilient outcomes of219 urban adolescent males is used to illustrate how structural conditions provide opportunities for vulnerable and successful academic outcomes. The results indicate that negative stereotyping and tracking from early experiences in educational settings influence African American males' scholastic achievement. By adolescence, given normative developmental experiences ofsocial mobility and increased cognitive reasoning, experiences in their community as well as school contexts influences African American males' reactive or proactive coping strategies that influence vulnerability and resilience in school. Suggestions for future research and intervention efforts are offered.
When sparse data have to be fitted to a log-linear or latent class model, one cannot use the theoretical chi-square distribution to evaluate model fit, because with sparse data the observed cross-table has too many cells in relation to the number of observations to use a distribution that only holds asymptotically. The choice of a theoretical distribution is also difficult when model-expected frequencies are 0 or when model probabilities are estimated 0 or 1. The authors propose to solve these problems by estimating the distribution of a fit measure, using bootstrap methods. An algorithm is presented for estimating this distribution by drawing bootstrap samples from the model-expected proportions, the so-called nonnaive bootstrap method. For the first time the method is applied to empirical data of varying sparseness, from five different data sets. Results show that the asymptotic chi-square distribution is not at all valid for sparse data.
This study investigated the links between racial discrimination and school engagement and the roles of racial socialization and ethnic identity as protective factors in those linkages in a sample of 148, sixth through twelfth grade African American adolescents from working and middle-class two-parent families. In home interviews, youth described their ethnic identity, discrimination experiences at school, and school engagement (school bonding, school grades, school self-esteem), and parents rated their racial socialization practices. Analyses revealed that discrimination was negatively related to school self-esteem and school bonding. Racial socialization had additive effects on school self-esteem and school bonding, but did not moderate the discrimination—school engagement association. For boys, ethnic identity had additive effects on school bonding, but for girls, ethnic identity moderated the relation between discrimination and school bonding: when girls experienced more discrimination and had a lower ethnic identity, they reported lower school bonding. Discrimination, racial socialization, and ethnic identity were not related to school grades.
Racial socialization messages were examined within a particular ecological niche: two-parent, African American families with a child in early adolescence. The linkage between mothers’provision of racial socialization messages and family process components (e.g., communication, warmth, negativity, child monitoring, and involvement) of the mother/child relationship was examined. Sixty-six African American mothers and their early adolescent sons and daughters participated in videotaped mother/child interactions and completed questionnaires regarding family demographics and parenting. Based on the frequency of their provision of proactive responses to discrimination items, mothers were categorized into three groups (high, moderate, and low). Results indicated that mothers in the moderate socialization group exhibited the most positivity, were the most involved, and monitored their child’s activities the most. Mothers in that group also displayed the lowest levels of dyadic negativity. Mothers in the moderate socialization group had children who exhibited the most positivity and displayed the lowest levels of negativity.
In this paper we draw from black and multiracial feminist theories to argue that interpersonal racial discrimination should be understood as a potentially gendered phenomenon. While there are some discriminatory practices that are directed at both black men and black women, some forms of racial discrimination affect men more than women, and some affect women more than men. Still other forms may be gender-specific. Our review of existing literature shows that most survey research has utilized measures and models of racial discrimination that fail to account for these gender differences. Drawing on the 2001-2003 National Survey of American Life (NSAL) we demonstrate the importance of gender for understanding and analysing interpersonal racial discrimination. We offer concrete ways for social researchers to centralize gender in their analyses. By doing so, we hope to advance the development of an intersectional approach to racial discrimination.
The present study presents preliminary evidence regarding the reliability and validity of the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI). The MIBI consists of 7 subscales representing 3 stable dimensions of African American racial identity (Centrality, Ideology, and Regard). Responses to the MIBI were collected from 474 African American college students from a predominantly African American university (
n = 185) and a predominantly White university (
n = 289). As the result of factor analysis, a revised 5 I-item scale was developed. Evidence was found for 6 subscales. The Public Regard subscale was dropped because of poor internal consistency. Interscale correlations suggest that the MIBI is internally valid. Relationships among the MIBI subscales and race-related behavior suggest that the instrument has external validity. Descriptive statistics for the revised MIBI are provided for the entire sample as well as by school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Grounded in a cultural-ecological perspective, the goals of this study were to examine the implications of young adolescents' experiences of racial discrimination for the quality of relationships with mothers and fathers and to test whether sociocultural processes, such as youth ethnic identity and parents' racial socialization strategies, moderated these linkages. Participants were older and younger adolescents in 176 two-parent African American families who completed questionnaires about their discrimination experiences, ethnic identities, and warmth and conflict in their relationships with parents. Mothers and fathers reported on cultural socialization and preparation for bias practices. Consistent with an emotional spillover hypothesis, discrimination was linked to poorer relationship quality with both mothers and fathers. Youth ethnic identity and mothers' racial socialization moderated discrimination-relationship linkages. Findings were consistent with prior research on discrimination and highlight the protective nature of some sociocultural processes for family relationships.
The present study examined school-based racial and gender discrimination experiences among African American adolescents in Grade 8 (n = 204 girls; n = 209 boys). A primary goal was exploring gender variation in frequency of both types of discrimination and associations of discrimination with academic and psychological functioning among girls and boys. Girls and boys did not vary in reported racial discrimination frequency, but boys reported more gender discrimination experiences. Multiple regression analyses within gender groups indicated that among girls and boys, racial discrimination and gender discrimination predicted higher depressive symptoms and school importance and racial discrimination predicted self-esteem. Racial and gender discrimination were also negatively associated with grade point average among boys but were not significantly associated in girls' analyses. Significant gender discrimination X racial discrimination interactions resulted in the girls' models predicting psychological outcomes and in boys' models predicting academic achievement. Taken together, findings suggest the importance of considering gender- and race-related experiences in understanding academic and psychological adjustment among African American adolescents.
In this study, the relationships between racial identity and academic outcomes for African American adolescents were explored. In examining race beliefs, the study differentiated among (a) importance of race (centrality), (b) group affect (private regard), and (c) perceptions of societal beliefs (public regard) among 606 African American 17-year-old adolescents. Using cluster analysis, profiles of racial identity variables were created, and these profile groups were related to educational beliefs, performance, and later attainment (high school completion and college attendance). Results indicated cluster differences across study outcomes. Also, the relationships between academic attitudes and academic attainment differed across groups. Finally, the paper includes a discussion on the need to consider variation in how minority youth think about group membership in better understanding their academic development.
We present a rationale for the inclusion of culture-based parenting practices (i.e., racial socialization) in the design and implementation of empirically based parenting programs with African American families. We begin with a discussion of the limitations of the current parent training literature related to cultural considerations. Second, we examine the cultural and racial contexts of parenting for African Americans, review the literature on racial socialization, and discuss empirical support for considering its inclusion in parent training programs. Third, we examine the extent to which racial socialization operates in low-income African American families by presenting the findings from a qualitative pilot. We conclude by discussing how findings from the qualitative pilot might inform intervention efforts.
Characteristics of the familial and societal context were examined as predictors of Latino adolescents' (N = 323; 49.5% female) ethnic identity. Consistent with previous work, familial ethnic socialization significantly predicted future levels of ethnic identity exploration, resolution, and affirmation for both male adolescents and female adolescents, although the association was significantly stronger for female adolescents than male adolescents for exploration and resolution. Furthermore, for male adolescents, higher levels of familial ethnic socialization were significantly associated with a faster rate of growth for ethnic identity resolution. In addition, paternal warmth-support emerged as a significant longitudinal predictor of male adolescents', but not female adolescents', ethnic identity exploration. Finally, perceived discrimination was significantly associated with male adolescents', but not female adolescents', ethnic identity exploration and affirmation. Significant gender differences in the relations of interest highlight the need to consider variability in the process of ethnic identity formation by gender.
This study uses two waves of data to examine the relationships among patterns of racial socialization experiences and racial identity in a sample of 358 African American adolescents (60% female and 40% male). Using latent class analyses, we identified three patterns of adolescent-reported racial socialization experiences: High Positive, Moderate Positive, and Low Frequency. Adolescent-reported racial socialization experiences at Wave 1 were associated with Wave 2 adolescent racial identity approximately one year later. Specifically, High Positive and Low Frequency racial socialization were associated with racial centrality, assimilationist ideology, and nationalist ideology. These findings suggest that various patterns of racial socialization practices play an important role in the developing significance and meaning that African American adolescents ascribe to race.
Ethnic identity is central to the psychological functioning of members of ethnic and racial minority groups, but research on the topic is fragmentary and inconclusive. This article is a review of 70 studies of ethnic identity published in refereed journals since 1972. The author discusses the ways in which ethnic identity has been defined and conceptualized, the components that have been measured, and empirical findings. The task of understanding ethnic identity is complicated because the uniqueness that distinguishes each group makes it difficult to draw general conclusions. A focus on the common elements that apply across groups could lead to a better understanding of ethnic identity.
A framework that emphasizes and integrates individuals' intersubjective experiences with Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory (PVEST) is introduced and compared with self-organizational perspectives. Similarities, differences and advantages of each framework are described. In a demonstration of PVEST's utility, a subset of data from the 3rd year of a longitudinal study (14- to 16-year-old middle adolescent African-Americans) is used for examining an achievement variable: negative learning attitude. Explored separately by gender, a regression model that contained risk, stress, and a reactive coping variable for the prediction of negative learning attitudes was investigated. For boys, stress was an independent stressor across steps independent of the other variables entered; social support variable, perceived unpopularity with peers, that was a significant predictor of girls' negative learning attitude. Particularly for boys, the findings suggest critically important roles for teachers and peers in the negative learning attitude of midadolescent economically disadvantaged African-American students.
Gender differences observed in interpersonal and self-critical vulnerabilities, reactivity to stressful life events, quality of relationships, and self-concepts inform a multivariate theoretical model of the moderating effects of gender on internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescence. To test this model, data were collected in a 1-year prospective study from an ethnically diverse sample of 460 middle school students. Increases in girls' internalizing symptoms, compared with boys', were partly explained by greater stability in girls' interpersonal vulnerabilities and greater magnitude in coefficients linking girls' relationships with parents and peers and internalizing problems. Boys' risks for externalizing problems, compared with girls', were partly explained by the greater stability in boys' vulnerability to self-criticism. Coefficients for most pathways in the model are similar for boys and girls.
Recently, social scientists have become increasingly interested in the nature of communications from parents to children regarding ethnicity and race. Termed racial socialization, race‐related messages to children may have important consequences for children's identity development and well‐being. This study examined the frequency and correlates of two dimensions of racial socialization—messages about ethnic pride, history, and heritage (Cultural Socialization) and messages about discrimination and racial bias (Preparation for Bias)—among 273 urban African American, Puerto Rican, and Dominican parents. Parents reported more frequent Cultural Socialization than Preparation for Bias. There were no significant ethnic group differences in the frequency of Cultural Socialization. However, African American parents reported more frequent Preparation for Bias than did Dominican parents who, in turn, reported more frequent messages of this sort than did Puerto Rican parents. Ethnic identity was a stronger predictor of Cultural Socialization among Puerto Rican and Dominican parents than among their African American counterparts. In contrast, perceived discrimination experiences was a stronger predictor of Preparation for Bias among African American and Dominican parents than among Puerto Rican parents. Finally, race‐related phenomenon accounted for more variance in both Cultural Socialization and Preparation for Bias among parents reporting on their behaviors with children 10–17 years old as compared to parents reporting on their behaviors with children 6–9 years old.
An analytic and computer strategy is introduced and demonstrated for multistage Euclidean grouping (MEG). The procedure sequentially produces first-stage clusters for independent data blocks ; second-stage, higher order clusters based on a full similarity matrix for first-stage clusters; and third-stage clusters that allow case migration to relocate prior misassignments and to optimize within-cluster homogeneity. The process is facilitated by special SAS computer codes and, in addition to conventional SAS cluster output, produces special fusion statistics, plots of all fusion statistics, and indices of homogeneity within clusters and within profile variables. The program also reports replication rates for final clusters.
Interest in the problem of method biases has a long history in the behavioral sciences. Despite this, a comprehensive summary of the potential sources of method biases and how to control for them does not exist. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which method biases influence behavioral research results, identify potential sources of method biases, discuss the cognitive processes through which method biases influence responses to measures, evaluate the many different procedural and statistical techniques that can be used to control method biases, and provide recommendations for how to select appropriate procedural and statistical remedies for different types of research settings.
As the U.S. Latino population continues to diversify, it is necessary to understand their experiences of minority status and its implications for well-being. The present cross-sectional study investigates early adolescents' perceptions of public regard for their ethnic group and perceptions of the extent to which opportunity is differentiated by their socioeconomic background (perceived socioeconomic stratification). A comparative approach is taken to examine the extent to which the experiences of Dominican American youth (n = 103) mirrored those of their Black American peers (n = 129). For all youth, more positive public ethnic regard is associated with fewer somatic symptoms, whereas more perceived socioeconomic stratification is associated with more somatic symptoms. For Black youth, in contrast to Dominican youth, lower public regard is associated with higher self-esteem among those who perceives more socioeconomic stratification. Implications for Dominican and Black American youths' experiences of minority status are discussed.
This article takes stock of research methods employed in the study of racial and ethnic identity with ethnic minority populations. The article is presented in three parts. The first section reviews theories, conceptualizations, and measurement of ethnic and racial identity (ERI) development. The second section reviews theories, conceptualizations, and measurement of ERI content. The final section reviews key methodological and analytic principles that are important to consider for both ERI development and content. The article concludes with suggestions for future research addressing key methodological limitations when studying ERI.
This study focuses on the relationship between socialization to race and the level of racial identification among African Americans. In a survey of 225 African Americans (140 females and 85 males, 18 years of age or older) participants were asked to report on the extent and content of discussions related to race in their family and the impact of these discussions on their beliefs and attitudes related to race. Racial identification was assessed using a 30-item questionnaire that assessed racial identity on four parameters: cultural, physical, sociopolitical, and psychological. The relationship offamily socialization to race and racial identification was examined. The results indicated that 79% of African American adults reported having discussed race and race relations with their parents and 85% had discussed the issue with anotherfamily member There was an association between racial socialization and racial identification on each of the four parameters. Discussions of race with family members other than parents, as well as the impact of racial socialization, were strongly associated with the level of racial identification.
This study examines the interrelationships among racial discrimination experiences, parent race socialization practices, and academic achievement outcomes in a sample of 548 African American adolescents. Adolescents’ racial discrimination experiences were associated with a decrease in academic curiosity, persistence, and student self-reported grades. Racial pride, self-worth, egalitarian, and negative messages and racial socialization behaviors emerged as unique predictors of various academic outcomes, but did not appear to modulate the impact of racial discrimination experiences on academic outcomes. The present findings provide preliminary evidence that parents’ messages to their children about race may compensate for or counteract racial discrimination, as opposed to moderating its influence on academic achievement outcomes. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of motivation and other key developmental factors that may influence academic achievement outcomes in African American adolescents.
Ethnic identity is believed by some to function as a protective factor for ethnic minority youth, in particular African American youth. Although ethnic identity development is primarily the result of racial socialization practices, it may also be influenced by other contextual factors. Neighborhood factors, parent characteristics, parenting style, and bicultural competence may play pivotal roles in the ethnic identity development of African American youth. Exploratory factor analysis and path analysis were used to explore the influence of certain contextual factors on the ethnic identity content of study participants. The findings suggest that urban hassles negatively affect the content of ethnic identity but that this effect may be mediated by racial socialization. This research represents a continuing effort to explore the influence of contextual factors on the ethnic identity content of African American youth. By broadening the focus to include features of parents as well as of neighborhoods, a more complete understanding is provided.
Ethnic identity is an important component of the self-concept and, like other aspects of identity, can be particularly salient during adolescence. Most research on ethnic identity has focused on the unique elements that distinguish particular ethnic groups. However, it is important as well to study and compare ethnic identity and its correlates across groups. This article presents a questionnaire measure of ethnic identity based on the elements of ethnic identity that are common across groups, so that it can be used with all ethnic groups. The questionnaire was administered to 417 high school students and 136 college students from ethnically diverse schools. Reliability, assessed by Cronbach 's alpha, was .81 for the high school sample and .9Ofor the college sample. The relationship of ethnic identity to various demographic variables and to self-esteem was examined. The measure can be used to examine similarities and differences in ethnlic identity and its correlates among youths from different ethnic groups.
An adolescent's perspective of family race-related socialization is a novel way to understand racial identity and socialization experiences. This article reports on the development of the Teenager Experience of Racial Socialization (TERS), which asks students how often they receive socialization about managing racism, cultural pride, and spirituality. A factor analysis was conducted with 260 African American youth. The results revealed five meaningful and reliable factors, including Cultural Coping With Antagonism, Cultural Pride Reinforcement, Cultural Legacy Appreciation, Cultural Alertness to Discrimination (CAD), and Cultural Endorsement of the Mainstream (CEM), and one composite factor (combines the first four TERS factors) called Cultural Socialization Experience (CULTRS). Findings reveal that boys experience more CAD communications than do girls, a moderate degree of family conversations about race is associated with greater frequency of racial socialization, family member experiences with racism are associated with higher frequency of CULTRS, and personal experience with racism is associated with lower CEM in girls but not boys. The presence of a small correlation between racial socialization experiences and racial socialization beliefs supports the discriminant validity of the scale. Implications for adolescent and family research are discussed.
An analytic and computer strategy is introduced and demonstrated for multistage Euclidean grouping (MEG). The procedure sequentially produces first-stage clusters for independent data blocks; second-stage, higher order clusters based on a full similarity matrix for fist-stage clusters; and third-stage clusters that allow case migration to relocate prior misassignments and to optimize within-cluster homogeneity. The process is facilitated by special SAS computer codes and, in addition to conventional SAS cluster output, produces special fusion statistics, plots of all fusion statistics, and indices of homogeneity within clusters and within profile variables. The program also reports replication rates for final clusters.
In this chapter, the authors focus on parental communications to children about race, a process researchers commonly refer to as "racial socialization." In doing so, the authors hope to stimulate interest in racial socialization, to provide a framework to evaluating what is already known about it, and to suggest steps necessary for increasing researchers' understanding of the phenomenon.
The authors begin by discussing the concept of racial socialization, describing its most salient features and outlining the various types of messages parents may transmit to children. They then review the existing empirical studies on the frequency of different types of race-related messages that parents may transmit and describe the small literature on the influences of parental socialization on children's development. In the second section of the chapter, the authors describe findings from their empirical research on racial socialization among ethnic minority parents. The final section considers the implications of current theoretical and empirical research on racial socialization for future research on the topic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The impact of change in context on identity maintenance, the implications of maintenance efforts for group identification, and the effects of perceived threats to identity on self-esteem associated with group membership are examined in a longitudinal study of Hispanic students during their 1st year at predominately Anglo universities. Whereas ethnic identity is initially linked to the strength of the students' cultural background, maintenance of ethnic identity is accomplished by weakening that link and remooring the identity to the current college context. Results suggest 2 distinct paths by which students negotiate their ethnic identity in a new context. Students with initially strong ethnic identity become involved in cultural activities, increasing the strength of their identification. In contrast, students with initially weaker identification perceive more threat in the environment, show decreases in self-esteem associated with group membership, lowering identification with their ethnic group. The findings both support social identity theory and illustrate the need for more contextual analyses of identity processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The author elaborates on the advantages of focusing on individual profiles that retain a holistic view of the person in developmental research. As with taxonomies of species, no one variable defines a species. The more useful strategy includes a pattern of characteristics. The author insists that individuals, not variables, are or are not stable over time. He uses data from the Individual Development and Adjustment (IDA) longitudinal program to illustrate how a person-oriented analysis can be employed to track the emergence of criminality and alcohol abuse in adulthood. The cluster of childhood characteristics captures information that is otherwise obscured in the focus on single variables or their linear combination. This chapter concludes with a comment by Marian Radke-Yarrow. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study uses two waves of data to examine the relations among racial discrimination experiences, patterns of racial socialization practices, and psychological adjustment in a sample of 361 African American adolescents. Using latent class analyses, we identified four patterns of child-reported racial socialization experiences: Moderate Positive, High Positive, Low Frequency, and Moderate Negative. Experiencing racial discrimination was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, more perceived stress, and lower levels of well-being. On average, adolescents who experienced High Positive patterns of racial socialization reported the most positive psychological adjustment outcomes, while adolescents in the Low Frequency and Moderate Negative clusters reported the least favorable outcomes. Results suggest that High Positive racial socialization buffers the negative effects of racial discrimination on adolescents' perceived stress and problem behaviors. Together, the findings suggest that various patterns of racial socialization practices serve as risk, compensatory, and protective factors in African American adolescent psychological adjustment.
The theoretical framework addresses the life course human development of diverse groups. It acknowledges that all humans are vulnerable, and that patterned and unique outcome variations emerge given perception-linked and context-based interactions between culture and ethnicity. The perspective emphasizes not only the “what” or outcomes of development but also the “how.” The theory explores the many paths for obtaining both resiliency (i.e., positive outcomes independent of significant challenge) and unproductive outcomes given structured inequalities. In providing an identity-focused cultural ecological (ICE) perspective as applied to diverse humans, the framework examines the broad patterns of coping processes and identity formation that result.
Keywords:
coping processes;
cultural diversity;
ecological contexts;
human vulnerability and resiliency;
identity formation;
social cognition and perception
This qualitative study examines the ways in which African American women use religion/spirituality to cope and to construct meaning in times of adversity. Content analysis of the narratives of a sample of African American women respondents (n= 23) revealed a set of eight nonoverlapping themes that explicate religiosity/spirituality’s role in meaning–making and coping. Findings suggest that religion/spirituality help women to (1) interrogate and accept reality, (2) gain the insight and courage needed to engage in spiritual surrender, (3) confront and transcend limitations, (4) identify and grapple with existential questions and life lessons, (5) recognize purpose and destiny, (6) define character and act within subjectively meaningful moral principles, (7) achieve growth, and (8) trust in the viability of transcendent sources of knowledge and communication. Narrative examples are used to elucidate each theme. Findings point to the importance of relationships and intimacy in the meaning–making enterprise. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
This study examines the interrelationships among racial discrimination, racial identity, and psychological functioning in a sample of 314 African American adolescents. Racial discrimination was associated with lower levels of psychological functioning as measured by perceived stress, depressive symptomatology, and psychological well-being. Although individuals who believe that other groups hold more negative attitudes toward African Americans (low public regard) were at greater risk for experiencing racial discrimination, low public regard beliefs also buffered the impact of racial discrimination on psychological functioning. More positive attitudes about African Americans were also associated with more positive psychological functioning. The results further illustrate the utility of a multidimensional framework for understanding the role of racial identity in the relationship between racial discrimination and psychological outcomes among African American adolescents.
In this article, based on in-depth interviews with a nonrandom sample of 35 African American parents (25 mothers and 10 fathers), I explore the gender socialization of children in their families. Using the conceptual framework advanced by multiracial feminism, I explore how both race and class shape the gender ideologies and behaviors of parents. The findings reveal significant support for teaching children gender role equality; however, that support is mediated by social class status (defined by education) and patterns of social mobility. In this study, 21 respondents were classified as middle-class and 14 as lower-income parents. Social class status predicts religiosity, homophobia, and structural factors that may militate against full support for gender equality or foster contradictions between ideology and behavior. The results show the role of Black parents as active agents in the lives of their children and expand our knowledge about child socialization processes in Black families. The study also contributes to multiracial feminist theory and the emerging literature on the growing social class diversity among African Americans.
The current study examined relationships between adolescents' and mothers' reports of ethnic-racial socialization and adolescents' ethnic-racial identity. The sample included 170 sixth graders (49% boys, 51% girls) and their mothers, all of whom identified as Black, Puerto Rican, Dominican, or Chinese. Two dimensions of ethnic-racial socialization (cultural socialization and preparation for bias) were evaluated alongside three dimensions of ethnic-racial identity (exploration, affirmation and belonging, and behavioral engagement). Mothers' reports of their cultural socialization predicted adolescents' reports, but only adolescents' reports predicted adolescents' ethnic-racial identity processes. Mothers' reports of preparation for bias predicted boys' but not girls' reports of preparation for bias. Again, only adolescents' reports of preparation for bias predicted their ethnic-racial identity. Thus, several gender differences in relationships emerged, with mothers' and adolescents' perceptions of cultural socialization, in particular, playing a more important role in girls' than in boys' identity processes. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research.
The present study examined the relation between multiple types of racial discrimination and psychological well-being across racial identity profiles. A sample of 322 African American adolescents completed measures of racial identity, racial discrimination, self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Cluster analyses were conducted to create previously identified racial identity profiles and 3 were evident: Buffering/Defensive, Alienated, and Idealized. The racial identity profiles moderated the relation between perceptions of racial discrimination and psychological well-being such that perceptions of racial discrimination were linked to higher levels of depressive symptoms for Alienated youth but not for Buffering/Defensive or Idealized youth. The implications for the racial discrimination literature among African American adolescents are discussed.
Racism and racial/ethnic socialization are proposed as interactive risk and resilience factors that promote the development of multiple dimensions of racial identity among African American youth are the focus of this study. One-hundred and eight African American students responded to questions about their racial identity and socialization. Controlling for demographic characteristics of ecological support (from family, friends, and neighbors), neighborhood racial composition, and gender, findings revealed that racism exposure significantly explained the variance of several racial identity components and ideologies but that racial/ethnic socialization mediated that influence. We discuss the implications for future study of racism experience on the racial identity development of African American youth.
This research investigated an integrative model of race- and gender-related influences on adjustment during early adolescence using a sample of 350 Black and White youth. In the proposed model, prejudice/discrimination events, as well as race and gender daily hassles, contribute to a general stress context. The stress context, in turn, influences levels of emotional and behavioral problems in adjustment, with these associations mediated (in part) by intervening effects on self-esteem. Racial and gender identity similarly have positive effects on adjustment via their intermediary linkages with self-esteem. Structural equation modeling analyses provided support for all of these aspects of the model. Findings also revealed theoretically predicted differences in model parameters across race by gender subgroups. These include a direct effect of prejudice/discrimination events on emotional problems specific to Black youth and an effect of gender identity on self-esteem specific to girls. Black girls appeared to be most vulnerable to exhibiting significant adjustment difficulties as a result of the processes under investigation.
Recently, social scientists have become increasingly interested in the nature of communications from parents to children regarding ethnicity and race. Termed racial socialization, race-related messages to children may have important consequences for children's identity development and well-being. This study examined the frequency and correlates of two dimensions of racial socialization-messages about ethnic pride, history, and heritage (Cultural Socialization) and messages about discrimination and racial bias (Preparation for Bias)--among 273 urban African American, Puerto Rican, and Dominican parents. Parents reported more frequent Cultural Socialization than Preparation for Bias. There were no significant ethnic group differences in the frequency of Cultural Socialization. However, African American parents reported more frequent Preparation for Bias than did Dominican parents who, in turn, reported more frequent messages of this sort than did Puerto Rican parents Ethnic identity was a stronger predictor of Cultural Socialization among Puerto Rican and Dominican parents than among their African American counterparts. In contrast, perceived discrimination experiences was a stronger predictor of Preparation for Bias among African American and Dominican parents than among Puerto Rican parents. Finally, race-related phenomenon accounted for more variance in both Cultural Socialization and Preparation for Bias among parents reporting on their behaviors with children 10-17 years old as compared to parents reporting on their behaviors with children 6-9 years old.