Neighborhood-level predictors of African American and Latinx parents' ethnic-racial socialization

Parenting in African American families: Profiles of general and culturally specific dimensions of parent-adolescent relationships during late adolescence

Developmental and parenting frameworks suggest that factors at the individual-level and multiple levels of adolescents' contexts are important determinants of how African American parents prepare their children to live in a racially stratified society. Using a person-centered approach, this study explored heterogeneity in profiles of African American parent-adolescent relationships (PARs) using indicators of parent-reported ethnic-racial socialization (cultural socialization, preparation for bias), general parenting practices (autonomy support, monitoring, behavioral control), and relationship quality (warmth, communication, conflict). We also examined how adolescents' characteristics, parents' personal and psychological resources, and contextual sources of stress and support contributed to profile membership. Data were from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study (1991-2000) and consisted of 589 African American caregiver-adolescent dyads (caregivers: 89% female; 57.2% married; adolescents: 50.7% female; Mage = 17, SD = 0.64, range = 15-19 years old). Latent profile analysis revealed four profiles: (a) No-Nonsense High Socializers, (b) Indulgent Average Socializers, (c) Unengaged Silent Socializers, and (d) Authoritative Cultural Socializers. Adolescent characteristics (gender, depression, and problem behavior), parents' personal and psychological resources (parenting self-efficacy, centrality, private regard, and depression), and contextual sources of stress and support (stress: economic hardship, family stress, neighborhood disadvantage and support: marital status, family cohesion, family organization) were correlated with profile membership. Findings suggest that variability in African American PARs is shaped by an extensive set of individual and contextual factors related to adolescents and the family and neighborhood context. These findings have important implications for future research and how to target multiple potential levers for change in African American parenting practice.

Cascading effects of Chinese American parents' COVID-19 racial discrimination and racial socialization on adolescents' adjustment

Using a three-wave longitudinal sample of 108 Chinese American parent-adolescent dyads (Mparent-ageW1 = 45.44 years, 17% fathers; Madolescent-ageW1 = 13.34 years, 50% boys), this study examined the effects of parents' COVID-19-related racial discrimination experiences on adolescents' ethnic identity exploration and anxiety as mediated by parents' awareness of discrimination (AOD) socialization and moderated by parents' anxiety and racial socialization competency (RSC). Parents' racial discrimination experiences in 2020 predicted adolescents' greater ethnic identity exploration or greater anxiety in 2022 via parents' greater use of AOD in 2021, depending on the levels of parents' anxiety and RSC. These findings highlighted individual and contextual factors impacting racial socialization processes in Chinese American families.

Making sense of conflicting messages of multiracial identity: a systematic review

Background

Ethnic-racial identity (ERI) development refers to how individuals' experiences, beliefs, and attitudes influence understanding of ethnic-racial group membership. Messages about race, from multiple ecosystems, influence identity development and how individuals come to form their ERI. There has been a shift in ERI research to focus on Multiracial populations, however, most of the research focus is on Black/white biracial and general, non-specified Multiracial populations. The ERI development process and experience for persons of other Multiracial backgrounds (e.g., AfroLatinx or AsianBlack) is not as extensively studied. This systematic literature review aims to elucidate the existing conceptualization of Multiracial ERI development for non-Black/white biracial and general Multiracial populations in the United States.

Methods

A comprehensive search strategy was employed across multiple academic databases to identify relevant studies based on explicit inclusion criteria. The initial search resulted in 1,846 articles, but when only Black/white biracial and non-specified general Multiracial studies were eliminated from this review, only 18 articles met the criteria for inclusion.

Results

Common themes emerged from the reviewed literature, including the importance of spaces, conflicting social messages directed at Multiracial individuals, and coping responses used by Multiracial individuals when faced with challenges by family members and peers regarding their multiracial identity.

Discussion

The findings underscore the need for a more nuanced exploration of ERI development among diverse Multiracial populations. Understanding the unique strengths, experiences, and challenges of different Multiracial populations beyond the Black-white biracial paradigm is essential for understanding ERI development across and between different Multiracial populations in today's world.

Racial ideology, system justification, and just world belief in African Americans

Just world belief and system justification have previously been proposed to explain actions and beliefs of disadvantaged groups, but rarely together and never simultaneously in participants of color. A necessary expansion of work in this area is among African-American participants with differing views of race and how those views influence justice perceptions. Racial ideologies, used in African-American racial identity research, were studied as possible predictors of belief in a just world and system justification scores. The four racial ideologies examined in this study are assimilationist, humanist, nationalist, and oppressed minority. The current study examines belief in a just world and system justification as predicted by racial ideology. Participants (n = 261) responded to an online survey containing racial ideology items from the Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity (MMRI), the General and Personal Just World Scales, and the General System Justification Survey. Hierarchical linear regression was conducted, finding that nationalist ideology significantly predicted system justification and general just world belief.

Multidimensional Discrimination Distress, Controlling Parenting, and Parent-Adolescent Attachment Relationships: Racial/Ethnic Differences

Parents have multifaceted identities, across dimensions like race/ethnicity, gender, and class, which shape their experience of discrimination. However, little is known about how distress from such multidimensional discrimination influences parenting behavior and parent-adolescent relationships. We tested associations between mothers' multidimensional discrimination distress and parental control (overcontrol and conditional regard) and daughters' attachment, among 82 African American (AA), Hispanic/Latina (HL), and non-Hispanic White (NHW) mother-adolescent daughter dyads in the United States. Additionally, we examined whether these associations vary by race/ethnicity. Mothers reported their distress due to multidimensional discrimination and adolescents reported mothers' overcontrol, mothers' conditional regard, and adolescents' attachment to mothers. Across racial/ethnic groups, more multidimensional discrimination distress was associated with more maternal overcontrol. Additionally, racial/ethnic groups differed in associations between discrimination, maternal conditional regard, and adolescent attachment, such that AA mothers were buffered from the deleterious effects of discrimination on conditional regard and adolescent attachment. HL mothers were buffered from effects on adolescent attachment and conditional regard for anger expression, but not fear expression. Findings suggest that stigmatized racial/ethnic groups may rely on adaptive cultural practices to parent effectively in the face of multidimensional discrimination distress, but these resources may not be available to NHW mothers.