Racism and preparation for bias within African American families

Acculturation Stress Magnifies Child Depression Effect of Stressful Life Events for Latinx Youth 3 Years Later

Introduction

Experiences of stressful life events (SLEs) during childhood are associated with greater risk for youth psychopathology. Although SLEs are reported in greater frequency by Latinx families, Latinx populations remain largely absent in the SLE literature. Furthermore, Latinx populations face added stressors related to socio-political climate, acculturation, and racism and discrimination. The purpose of this study was to explore the intersection between parent-reported SLEs and acculturation (i.e., socio-political climate-related) stressors for Latinx youth. Greater frequency of caregiver reported SLEs were hypothesized to predict higher depressive symptoms in their children three years later, and acculturation stress was hypothesized to amplify these effects.

Method

The community-recruited, low-income sample for this study consisted of 198 Latinx caregivers (98.5% mothers, 77.3% foreign-born) and their children (M age = 7.4, 47.5% female). Study hypotheses were tested using MPlus.

Results

Consistent with prior literature, more SLEs reported at age 7 by parents were associated with more child-reported depressive symptoms at age 10 but only among boys. However, for both boys and girls, there was a significant interaction between acculturation stress and family SLEs. Specifically, as the amount of acculturation stress reported at age 7 increased, the negative impact of family SLEs on child-reported depressive symptoms at age 10 was magnified, regardless of gender.

Conclusion

Adding to the literature on SLEs within Latinx families, these results indicate that acculturation and socio-political climate stressors need be considered in discussions of the effects of life stress on Latinx youth and their families.

A qualitative analysis of black mother preparation for bias messages following incidents of racism-related violence

Preparation for bias messages (PFB), represent a specific form of racial socialization, used to inform youth about racism and how to cope with racism-related adversity. Although research commonly examines how frequently PFB are delivered to children, few studies have qualitatively explored the heterogeneity in the content of such messages, making it difficult to ascertain how caregivers prepare and coach their children to negotiate incidents of racism-related violence. To address this gap in the literature, the present study qualitatively examined the content of PFB given to Black children from their mothers following high-profile incidents of anti-Black violence. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 mothers (Mage = 41.91) of Black children to explore how parental concerns regarding their children's safety inform the content of their PFB. Using thematic analysis, two primary themes emerged. The first theme related to psychosocial factors among caregivers that precipitated PFB (i.e., awareness of anti-Black violence, worry about the child being a victim). The second theme pertained to the different types of PFB that caregivers provided to their children (i.e., awareness of racial biases, strategies to navigate discriminatory encounters). Overall findings support and extend extant racial socialization research and have important implications for how Black youth come to understand the significance of race and racism in the aftermath of racism-related violence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Children's ethnic-racial identity and mothers' cultural socialization as protective in relations between sociocultural risk factors and children's internalizing behaviors

OBJECTIVES

The present study examined whether sociocultural risk factors (i.e., mothers' risky behaviors, mothers' and grandmothers' ethnic discrimination, and family economic hardship) predicted children's internalizing behaviors. We also tested whether sociocultural protective factors, including children's positive ethnic-racial identity (ERI) attitudes and mothers' cultural socialization, moderated relations.

METHOD

Participants were 182 5-year-old Mexican-origin children, their mothers, and grandmothers.

RESULTS

Findings indicated that children's positive ERI attitudes were protective, such that grandmothers' discrimination predicted children's greater internalizing at low levels of children's positive ERI attitudes, but this relation was not significant at high levels of children's positive ERI attitudes. Mothers' cultural socialization was also protective, such that mothers' risky behaviors predicted children's greater internalizing at low levels of mothers' cultural socialization, but this relation was not significant at high levels of mothers' cultural socialization. Economic hardship predicted children's greater internalizing and no variables moderated this relation.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight that mothers' engagement in risky behaviors, grandmothers' ethnic discrimination experiences, and family economic hardship contribute to children's greater internalizing behaviors. However, in some of these relations, children's positive ERI attitudes and mothers' cultural socialization are protective. In future research and programming, a consideration of the role of individual, family, and cultural factors will be important for addressing and reducing children's internalizing behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

U.S. mothers' appraisals of the race-related events of 2020: Implications for the course of maternal posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms

For parents of color, publicized racial violence can heighten concerns about their children's safety. The goal of this study was to test whether this form of race-related stress exacerbates maternal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms over a 4-month period in families of color. Participants included 262 U.S. mothers with a lifetime mental health diagnosis (67.6% non-Hispanic White, 15.6% African-American/Black, 16.8% other family of color). Mothers completed online surveys and open-ended questions, including appraisals of the meaning of the 2020 race-related events (i.e., George Floyd's death, subsequent protests) in relation to their children's future. Open-ended responses were quantified using LIWC15 text analysis for emotion word frequency and thematic coding for perceived implications. In ANCOVA, there were significant racial group differences in appraisals, ds = 0.09-0.57. The responses from mothers of Black children included fewer positive and more negative emotion words than mothers of White children; they also included more perceived negative implications than all other mothers but did not vary on perceived positive implications. In regression analyses, there were significant moderating effects of race/ethnicity in the association between appraisals and PTSD symptom course such that negative appraisals predicted a subsequent increase in PTSD symptoms only for mothers of Black children, βs = .26-.37. Variations in event appraisals were unrelated to PTSD symptom course for other mothers. These findings provide longitudinal support for the link between vicarious racism exposure and PTSD symptoms and highlight one potential form of racism-related stress for parents of Black children.

Pathways to emotion regulation in young Black children: An attachment perspective

Attachment theory proposes that a central function of caregivers is to provide protection and co-regulation of children's distress in the context of threat, and that children's secure attachment (confidence in a secure base/safe haven when needed) precipitates positive developmental cascades in part by supporting children's emotion regulation. Yet the field of attachment has rarely considered the unique experiences of African American families, including the context of systemic racism in which caregivers must provide physical and emotional protection for their children, and in which children must learn to regulate emotion across different sociocultural contexts (emotional flexibility and "code-switching"; Dunbar et al., 2022a; Lozada et al., 2022; Stern et al., 2022b). This chapter brings attachment theory into conversation with the field of positive Black youth development to explore pathways to emotion regulation in African American children during early childhood. In doing so, we (a) highlight the strengths of African American caregivers in providing unique and specific forms of protection via racial and emotional socialization; (b) review research on predictors and consequences of secure caregiver-child relationships in Black families, with a focus on the outcome of child emotion regulation; (c) present a theoretical framework for understanding cascades of positive Black youth development via healthy relationships and emotion regulation; and (d) outline promising new directions for more inclusive and just attachment research.

Life Course Racism and Depressive Symptoms among Young Black Women

The objective of this study is to evaluate the life course effects of racism on depressive symptoms in young Black women and to identify particularly sensitive periods. Guided by life-course theory and using logistic regression, we analyzed baseline data on racism frequency and stress from racism at two time periods (before age 20 and during the 20s) and follow-up data (at approximate 20-month intervals) on depressive symptoms (using a modified 11-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, CES-D) among 1612 Black women participants aged 23-34 years living in Detroit, MI. Of the 1612 women, 65% reported experiencing some racism at baseline, and 36.5% had high depressive symptoms at follow-up. Those who experienced high frequency of racism before age 20 had an increased risk for high depressive symptoms (RR = 1.26, 95% CI:  1.07, 1.46) compared to participants in the low racism frequency group. We observed similar associations for high vs. low stress from racism (RR = 1.30, 95% CI : 1.06, 1.54) and high vs. low combination of racism frequency and stress (RR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.13, 1.64). These findings did not hold or were weaker when assessing racism during the 20s. Among women who experienced high racism across the two time periods, the risk of high depressive symptoms was higher than those who experienced low racism during both periods (RR = 1.49, 95% CI:  1.14, 1.86). The slightly stronger associations between racism and depressive symptoms in childhood and adolescence than in young adulthood suggest that early life might be a sensitive period for experiencing racism.

Impact of Racial Discrimination on the Mental Health of Minoritized Youth

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The impacts of racism and discrimination on developing minoritized youth are increasingly shown as having the potential to create long-lasting adverse outcomes on children's developmental trajectories.

RECENT FINDINGS

From the quality of the schools they attend, to the level and amount of toxicants in the air they breathe, to equitable access to health care, and within interpersonal relationships and experiences with their peers, multiple forms of racism, systemic/structural, interpersonal/personally mediated, and internalized shape the health status of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPoC) youth. Accordingly, it is exceedingly important to use a developmental lens to distinguish the various outcomes these multiple forms of racism have on the health of minoritized youth. Critically, the time is now for rapid identification of these harms in all of the mediums and spaces in which they present followed by prevention and intervention strategies that are effective in equitably ensuring the healthy development for all of America's children.