The Development and Validation of the Familial Support of Multiracial Experiences Scale

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of familial support of Multiracial individuals’ unique racial experiences to advance the field’s understanding of how familial processes influence Multiracial development. A sample of 422 Multiracial college students (77.7% female, Mage = 20.05) from three different regions of the United States completed the survey. Exploratory factor analysis results suggested a two-factor measure. Multiracial Conscious Support, a 15-item subscale, represented support strategies unique to Multiracial individuals’ experiences of discrimination and identity exploration. The second 7-item subscale, Multiple Heritage Validation, represented validation of membership in multiple racial groups. The factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis findings with a separate sample. Support was found for the reliability and validity of each subscale. This study provides evidence validating the first measure of familial support of Multiracial experiences, highlighting two themes of support addressing unique experiences of being Multiracial, and validating multiple racial group memberships.

Validation of the Multiracial Youth Socialization (MY-Soc) Scale among racially diverse multiracial emerging adults.

“…Examining longitudinal changes over time using the MY-Soc subscales will be important for understanding Multiracial development. In addition, future studies may investigate how the eight socialization subscales relate to variables such as mental health; family related variables such as perceptions of familial support (Atkin & Jackson, 2020; Atkin et al, in press); individual level variables such as Multiracial pride, challenges with racial identity, (Salahuddin & O’Brien, 2011); shifting expressions, creating third space (Yoo et al, 2016); Multiracial discrimination (Salahuddin & O’Brien, 2011; Yoo et al, 2016); and identity invalidation (Franco & O’Brien, 2018); and racial ideology variables such as critical consciousness (Diemer et al, 2017) and colorblindness (Neville et al, 2000).…”

The Racialization of Multiracials in the United States: A Systematic Review of Empirical Measures

“…The Familial Support of Multiracial Experiences Scale is a 22-item measure of the degree to which caregivers support their multiracial children as they navigate monoracism and other multiracial-specific racialization experiences (Atkin et al, 2021a). In a sample of multiracial college students, exploratory factor analysis with robust maximum likelihood estimation and promax rotation indicated two factors.…”

“…Moreover, several subscales measured socialization messages rooted in colorblind racial attitudes, including General Color-Evasive Socialization (Stokes, 2021), Internalized Color-Evasive Socialization (Stokes, 2021), Colorblind Socialization (Atkin et al, 2021b), and Silent Socialization (Atkin et al, 2021b). In terms of identity-related socialization messages, seven subscales assessed whether caregivers supported or validated their multiracial children's racial identity choices (Multiracial Conscious Support and Multiple Heritage Validation in Atkin et al, 2021a;Parental Support in Torkelson, 2016;Positive Caregiver Cultural Humility in Franco & McElroy-Heltzel, 2019;and Racial Humility in Stokes, 2021); and whether caregivers encouraged their multiracial children to be proud about one or more of their racial backgrounds (Multiracial Pride Reinforcement and Monoracial Black Pride Reinforcement in Stokes, 2021).…”

“…In the past two decades alone, there has been incredible progress in the development and validation of multiracial-specific measures in the social sciences. These psychometrically-supported instruments cover a wide range of multiracial racialization-related processes, including but not limited to racial identity (Cheng & Lee, 2009;Choi-Misailidis, 2004;Salahuddin & O'Brien, 2011;Yoo et al, 2016), parental racial socialization (Atkin et al, 2021a;Atkin et al, 2021b), and racial discrimination (Franco & O'Brien, 2018;Salahuddin & O'Brien, 2011;Yoo et al, 2016). Despite the proliferation of these studies, there is a dearth of literature evaluating the quality and scope of these measures.…”

A PROACTIVE Coping Scale for U.S. College Students: Initial Evidence and Implications

“…Also, correlational analyses were used to calculate the concurrent validity of the newly developed scale. Hierarchical multiple regression and correlational analyses are common used practices (e.g., Atkin et al, 2022;Kase & Mohr, 2022;Perez-Rojas et al, 2019) to calculate incremental validity and concurrent validity. We examined whether PROACTIVE coping factors could increase predictive ability beyond that provided by PSI in individuals' life satisfaction.…”