Race-Related Socialization Questionnaire--Adapted Version

Engagement in Racial Socialization Among Transracial Adoptive Families With White Parents

“…Although questions about the competency of White parents to successfully raise well-adjusted racial minority children have been raised for decades (Barn, 2013;Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, 2008), recent research offers some insight into factors that facilitate positive outcomes for transracially adopted youth. Like their counterparts raised in same-race families, minority youth raised by White parents seem to be better adjusted when their parents engage in racial socialization (Johnston, Swim, Saltsman, Deater-Deckard, & Petrill, 2007). Broadly defined, racial socialization is the transmission of information about race and ethnicity from parents to children, and these parental practices foster children's racial-ethnic identity development, enhance their self-esteem, and promote their ability to cope with discrimination (Hughes et al, 2006;Leslie, Smith, Hrapczynski, & Riley, 2012;Miller, 1999).…”

“…Given the extensive literature emphasizing the benefits of racial socialization on racial minority child well-being (Johnston et al, 2007), this study was designed to examine some factors that may predict the extent of transracial adoptive parents' engagement in these parenting behaviors with their racial minority adolescents. All participating adoptive parents reported at least some engagement in racial socialization.…”

“…Both the cultural socialization and the preparation for bias subscales demonstrated adequate internal reliability for White parents raising racial minority children in previous research (Johnston et al, 2007). A mean score on all 17 items was calculated as a total racial socialization score.…”

“…Although most of this research examines racial socialization in totality, other work examines the link between types of racial socialization and child or adolescent outcomes. Some studies indicate that adolescents whose parents teach them about discrimination and how to deal with it do well academically and in coping with discrimination (e.g., Neblett, Rivas-Drake, & Umaña-Taylor, 2012), whereas other studies suggest that high levels of preparation for bias may be associated with higher externalizing behavior in older children (Johnston et al, 2007) and poorer school performance (Marshall, 1995). However, when distinguishing types of racial socialization the findings suggest that cultural socialization is consistently associated with positive outcomes with regard to self-esteem, anger management, and academic performance, whereas the impact of preparation for bias is less clear.…”

Making Sense of Loss and Belongingness: Korean Transracial Adoptees' Journey from Europe to Korea

“…Although there is a small body of research that focuses on the development of ethnic identity among transracial adoptees and how adoptive parents culturally socialize their children (Johnston, Swim, Saltsman, Deater-Deckard, & Petrill, 2007;Lee & Quintana, 2005;Mohanty, Keokse, & Sales, 2008), these studies provide limited insight about the life-long process of adaptation within changing family dynamics. More research is needed to explain how transracial adoptees define themselves and their life experiences.…”