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.

The Importance of Racial Socialization: School‐Based Racial Discrimination and Racial Identity Among African American Adolescent Boys and Girls

“…It is understandable that parents may respond and provide support for youth after experiencing discrimination by exposing them to Black culture and knowledge and promoting an active involvement in the Black community. These experiences, in turn, help to promote the significance of race and positive attachment to one's racial group (Neblett et al., ; Richardson et al., ). In addition to behavioral messages, racial barrier messages also mediated the positive association between discrimination and centrality for girls.…”

“…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).…”

A Within-Group Analysis of African American Mothers’ Authoritarian Attitudes, Limit-Setting and Children’s Self-Regulation

“…Within-group 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.…”

Supportive Family Environments Ameliorate the Link Between Racial Discrimination and Epigenetic Aging

“…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.…”