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.

"At the end of the day, someone done lost their child": A mixed methods analysis of Black families' experiences of the sociopolitical climate.

How Black Americans in the United States (U.S.) make sense of a sociopolitical climate marked by racist imagery, tensions, and police violence is important to understand given the numerously documented detrimental effects of racism-related stress on the well-being of Black parents and children. Informed by Racism-Related Stress Theory, the current study employed a convergent parallel mixed methods design to better understand the ways racism-related stressors in the sociopolitical climate impacted the daily lives and mental health of a sample of Black families with low income. Seventy-eight Black American preadolescents (Mage = 11.0; 43.6% girls) and their parents (79% mothers; 76% living below the U.S. federal poverty level [FPL]) from the southwestern U.S. reported their symptoms of depression and how they had been affected by racial stressors in the sociopolitical climate between Fall 2018 and Summer 2019. A nested sample of 10 parents (80% mothers; 80% living below the FPL) from the quantitative sample also participated in a semi-structured interview. Meta-inferences across methods were drawn pertaining to the influence of child gender on parents' interpretation of effects for children, the toll racism-related stress in the sociopolitical climate takes on Black families, and the transferal of effects on parents to children through parenting and parental depressive symptoms. Findings spotlight the need for policies and family-centered programming that address the racism-related stress faced by many Black youth and their families. Providing families with opportunities and tools that can potentially mitigate harmful effects and foster empowerment could promote positive and lasting change.

Patterns of Observed Dyadic Ethnic-Racial Socialization among Black and Latinx Families in Response to a Hypothetical Experience of Discrimination at School.

Ethnic-racial socialization has primarily been examined as a unidirectional, caregiver-directed process. Instead, applying the Theory of Racial Socialization in Action (Smith-Bynum, 2023), the current study observed caregiver-youth conversations about a hypothetical discriminatory experience at school for patterns of dyadic ethnic-racial socialization. Participants were 353 Black (39.7%), Latinx (47.3%), and multiracial/ethnic (13%) pre-adolescents (Mage = 11.19, SD = 0.43; 45.3% female) and their caregivers (94% mothers) with low income from Dallas, Texas. Five subgroups of dyads were identified (High Dyadic Engagement, Parent-Led, Justice Salient Advocates, Child-Dominant and Low Dyadic Engagement) that differed by demographic characteristics of the dyads (e.g., race/ethnicity, caregiver education). Observing ethnic-racial socialization in action with dyads could improve the delivery of interventions to better meet the needs of families.

Responding to racism at school: Ethnic-racial socialization and the academic engagement of Black and Latinx youth.

Guided by the Theory of Racial Socialization in Action (TRSA; Smith-Bynum in press), this study examined observed caregiver-provided ethnic-racial socialization in response to a school-based discriminatory dilemma. Forty-five Black and 36 Latinx caregivers (88% mothers) with low-income and their children (Mage  = 11.09, SD = 0.29; 46.3% female) participated in Dallas, Texas from 2018 to 2019. Dyads responded to a hypothetical scenario in which a school counselor makes a discriminatory comment to the child. Results of a factor mixture analysis suggested that caregivers engaged in the dialogue using one of four approaches: Low-engaged, Legacy, Racial Literacy, or High-engaged. Profiles were found to differ significantly by the race/ethnicity and language of caregivers and were associated with youth's concurrent behavioral engagement (R2  = .04).

Preparing Black and Latinx children for police encounters: Caregiver response profiles and child self-regulation.

We hypothesized that the goodness-of-fit between profiles of observed, caregiver-provided ethnic-racial socialization (ERS), and child self-regulation (i.e., inhibitory control) would differentially associate with child behavioral outcomes. Conversations between 80 caregivers (45% Latinx; 55% Black) and their children (M age  = 11.09; 46% female) were rated for ERS. Measures included an inhibitory control composite (ages 2.5-3.5) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; age 12). Three profiles were determined: Comprehensive (n  = 34), Reactive (n  = 8), and Pragmatic (n  = 38). Only youth with low inhibitory control in preschool appeared to benefit from Pragmatic ERS, whereas youth with normative or high inhibitory control in early childhood displayed lower internalizing and externalizing behaviors when they had Comprehensive or Reactive rather than Pragmatic caregivers.

Racism and preparation for bias within African American families.

Objectives: Exposure to racism experienced by caregivers poses a threat to child developmental outcomes. The current study examines the effects of caregiver-experienced racism on the development of internalizing behaviors for African American children during a sensitive period in their development of racial awareness. Two aspects of caregiver-provided ethnic racial socialization (ERS), cultural socialization and preparation for bias, were assessed as moderators. Supported by prior research, cultural socialization was hypothesized to be protective. Given that research on preparation for bias in early childhood is sparse or inconclusive, no directional hypothesis was formulated for the moderation effect of preparation for bias. Method: A community-recruited, low-income sample of 130 African American caregivers and their children (T3 Mage = 6.20, T4 Mage = 7.17) reported on past-year experiences with racism, ERS practices, and child internalizing behaviors. Path analyses were utilized to assess the influence of caregivers' racist experiences and ERS practices on children's first grade internalizing behaviors after controlling for kindergarten levels. Results: Cultural socialization was not a significant protective factor as hypothesized. However, caregivers' past-year experiences with racism predicted more anxious and sad behaviors in children when caregivers reported using more preparation for bias. Conclusions: The effects of caregivers' racism experiences on their 6-year-old children's internalizing behaviors were contingent on their use of preparation for bias socialization. This study adds to the literature on racism and further elucidates the role preparation for discrimination plays in developmental outcomes for young African American children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).