Racial-ethnic socialization among Asian American families with preadolescent children.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic and resurgence of overt anti-Asian racism have prompted many Asian American parents to grapple with ways to discuss race and ethnicity with their children. Racial-ethnic socialization (RES) has been shown to have promotive and protective influences on Asian American adolescents' adjustment but remains understudied among Asian American families with younger children. This study examined parent (i.e., racial-ethnic identity [REI], experiences of discrimination) predictors of RES among Asian American families with preadolescent-aged children and moderation by parental generational status. METHOD: We surveyed a sample of 404 Asian American parents (Mage = 38.4, SD = 7.0; 66% female) with 6- to 12-year-olds (Mage = 8.9, SD = 2.0; 56% boys). RESULTS: Findings revealed that parents with higher levels of REI centrality were more likely to report engaging in cultural maintenance practices and those with higher levels of REI private regard were less likely to minimize race. Parents' experiences of racial discrimination were also associated with more frequent cultural maintenance practices and discussions of anti-Asian discrimination. Tests for moderation by parental generational status indicated that the positive association between experiences of racial discrimination and discussions of anti-Asian discrimination was stronger among first-generation than second+ generation parents. CONCLUSION: Findings highlight that among Asian American parents of preadolescent-aged children, RES approaches and practices are nuanced and differentially responsive to parents' views of their own REI, their experiences of racial discrimination, and by generational status. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Fostering anti-racism in white children and youth: Development within contexts.

This article presents a developmental model of anti-racism among White children and youth. Informed by a structural-psychological framework (Syed & McLean, 2021), the model proposes that anti-racist development is inseparable from the structures and systems that uphold racial inequality in the United States. In articulating the processes by which children and early adolescents move toward becoming anti-racist, the model emphasizes foundational abilities (e.g., socio-cognitive skills and moral development), a developing sense of self and society (e.g., recognition of racism and understanding of White privilege), and the importance of anti-racism action and promotive contexts (especially within schools and families). This paper concludes with advancing a research agenda for developmental scientists studying the development of anti-racism among White children and youth and implications for parents, practitioners, and educators. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Distributive justice in society and among peers: 8- to 14-year-olds' views on economic stratification inform their decisions about access to opportunities.

This study examined how children's and adolescents' beliefs about the distribution of wealth in society and the fairness of economic systems informed their behavior, judgments, and reasoning about access to opportunities among peers. The sample included 136 8- to 14-year-olds (47% girls, 60% White, majority middle- to higher-socioeconomic status [SES]) in the United States. Relative to older children, early adolescents viewed economic systems as less fair and wealth as less equally distributed, but still underestimated the true magnitude of existing economic disparities. Importantly, the stronger their system justification beliefs the fewer opportunities participants directed to poor peers over rich peers in an allocation scenario, but the more equally participants believed that wealth should be distributed in society the more opportunities they directed to poor peers. Moreover, participants were more supportive of allocating opportunities to poor peers when they had direct evidence that poor peers had been excluded in the past, and 40% reasoned explicitly about the implications of economic inequality when making their decision. Finally, exploratory associations of family SES and beliefs about distributive justice suggested that experiencing greater economic security may have enabled some participants to more readily critique societal inequality. Together, these findings provide correlational, experimental, and cross-sectional developmental evidence that older children's and early adolescents' beliefs about distributive justice in society inform their decisions about how to address disparities within their sphere of influence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Life Course Transitions and Educational Trajectories: Examining Adolescents who Fall off Track Academically.

Educational interventions typically center on youth displaying early academic risk, potentially overlooking those falling off track academically later in their educational careers. The current study investigated the extent to which life course transitions experienced during adolescence were linked to falling off-track academically in high school. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 4284; 53% female; Mage = 14.88) documented that 1516 students displayed no educational risk in early high school, yet 14% did not pursue 4-year college by age 24. Analyses revealed the unique life course transitions predictive of falling off-track academically (i.e., sexual intercourse, alcohol use, family transitions, residential mobility). The study's findings highlight important intervention avenues to promote adolescents' continued educational persistence.

It's All in the Family: Parents' Economic Worries and Youth's Perceptions of Financial Stress and Educational Outcomes.

Perceived economic stress and lower subjective social status (SSS) have adverse effects on parents' and adolescents' emotional well-being, but less is known about associations with academic adjustment among preadolescent youth. This study examined associations between SSS, perceived economic stress about needs and wants, and academic adjustment among preadolescents and early adolescents (n = 136, ages 8 to 14 years, 44% girls, 61% White) and their parents (n = 164, majority middle- to higher SES). Overall, youth who worried more about their family's economic needs had lower academic achievement and youth who reported lower SSS had lower academic motivation. No significant differences were observed in the strength of associations between parent and youth perceptions and academic outcomes for early adolescents versus preadolescents.

Child Development During the COVID-19 Pandemic Through a Life Course Theory Lens.

The COVID-19 global pandemic and the resulting economic, health, and educational disruptions have upset all aspects of young people's lives. The pandemic's reach will likely continue in the near term and as psychological and academic trajectories unfold over time. In this article, we draw on the central tenets of life course theory-intertwined developmental trajectories, linked lives, and stratification systems (Elder, 1998)-to inform understanding of potential adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's and adolescents' adjustment and well-being, as well as mechanisms and processes that may buffer or exacerbate the pandemic's negative impact. We review empirical evidence on the impact of previous macro-level crises (e.g., the Great Recession) to illustrate how life course theory can aid developmental scientists in examining the effects of COVID-19 on children's development. We conclude with recommendations for research.

Correction to: Charting How Wealth Shapes Educational Pathways from Childhood to Early Adulthood: A Developmental Process Model.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Charting How Wealth Shapes Educational Pathways from Childhood to Early Adulthood: A Developmental Process Model.

Wealth plays a pervasive role in sustaining inequality and is more inequitably distributed than household income. Research has identified that wealth contributes to children's educational outcomes. However, the specific mechanisms accounting for these outcomes are unknown. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and its supplements, SEM was used to test a hypothesized longitudinal chain of mediating processes. Framed by the parent investment model, this study tracks children and their parents over twenty-seven years, from pre-birth to early adulthood. The analytic sample was comprised of 1247 young people who were between 6-12 years of age (M= 5.66, SD= 2.12) in 1997, the first wave of the PSID's Child Development Supplement. This analytic sample was roughly equivalent by gender (N= 774; 53% identified as female and N= 693; 47% identified as male). The racial/ethnic background of participants was nearly an equal split between individuals who identified as White (N= 666; 45%) or Black (N= 634; 43%), with an additional 7% (N= 97) who identified as "Hispanic," 2% (N= 40) as "Other," 1% (N= 20) as Asian or Pacific Islander, and less than 1% (N= 6) who identified as American Indian or Alaskan Native. The results indicated that wealth (a) engenders parental and child processes-primarily expectations and achievement-that promote educational success, (b) plays a different role across the life course, and (c) that pre-birth wealth has a significant mediated relationship to educational attainment seventeen years later. These findings advance understanding of specific mediating mechanisms by which wealth may foster children's educational success across the life course, as well as how wealth may differentially shape educational outcomes in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.

Children's and adolescents' understanding and experiences of economic inequality: An introduction to the special section.

The unprecedented state of economic inequality faced by many countries around the world is one of the most pressing social issues of the day, with far-reaching consequences for child and adolescent development. Despite the intensity of the public and scientific discourse on this topic, less scientific attention has been paid to young people's understanding and experiences of economic inequality, including their perceptions and beliefs about their own and others' social status and of the economic and sociopolitical contexts in which they are growing up. The collection of articles in this special section of Developmental Psychology seek to advance the theoretical and empirical knowledge base on children and adolescents' perceptions, experiences, and reasoning about economic inequality, with attention to the processes by which inequality affects developmental outcomes. Three invited commentaries provide a synthesis of the articles, offer thoughtful and insightful theoretical and methodological critiques, situate the findings in a more global context, and advance future directions for scholarship on this topic. In this introduction, the authors provide an overview of the special section and offer directions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Urban ethnically diverse adolescents' perceptions of social class at the intersection of race, gender, and sexual orientation.

Urban middle school students (N = 1,057; Mage = 12.06) viewed Facebook-like profiles of peers who varied by race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation and indicated the social class (SC) of those peers along two dimensions-family income and social class position. As hypothesized, most profiles were perceived as middle class and above-average family income. Generally, as expected, differences emerged as a function of the peers' sociodemographics. Profiles of Whites and girls were rated as higher in SC, African American and Latino profiles as lower, and East Asian profiles as in-between those groups. Depending on the dimension of SC, the race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation of peers intersected differentially to shape perception. Results demonstrate the value of an intersectional approach and offer directions for research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Moving from the Margins to the Mainstream: Equity and Justice as Key Considerations for Developmental Science.

Worldwide, most children face marginalization and societal inequities to varying degrees. For developmental science to have both scientific and societal value, scientists must account for the impact of societal inequities, regardless of the focus of their research. In this article, we illustrate how equity and justice are relevant for all children. We also argue that equity and justice are essential components for all developmental science and should be the basis for how we evaluate scientific rigor. Ignoring equity and justice issues perpetuates biases within the field and limits our understanding of developmental processes. We offer graduated recommendations for all developmental scientists to consider, starting with minimal standards for inclusion and descriptions of participants, and continuing with guidance for articulating what mechanisms lead to observed differences. We also urge researchers to examine why and how social inequities and contexts shape their focal domain of developmental science.

Subjective Social Status and Self-Reported Health Among US-born and Immigrant Latinos.

Subjective social status is associated with a range of health outcomes. Few studies have tested the relevance of subjective social status among Latinos in the U.S.; those that have yielded mixed results. Data come from the Latino subsample of the 2003 National Latino and Asian American Study (N = 2554). Regression models adjusted for socioeconomic and demographic factors. Stratified analyses tested whether nativity status modifies the effect of subjective social status on health. Subjective social status was associated with better health. Income and education mattered more for health than subjective social status among U.S.-born Latinos. However, the picture was mixed among immigrant Latinos, with subjective social status more strongly predictive than income but less so than education. Subjective social status may tap into stressful immigrant experiences that affect one's perceived self-worth and capture psychosocial consequences and social disadvantage left out by conventional socioeconomic measures.

Taking Stock and Moving Forward: Research on Asian American Child Development.

With this Special Section, the Asian Caucus of the Society for Research in Child Development seeks to promote a more inclusive, expanded, and holistic developmental science that can account for the diversity of developmental trajectories among Asian Americans. The articles elucidate, in turn, historical, conceptual, and methodological issues in studying Asian American child development. Although the articles foreground Asian Americans, the ideas should help advance theoretical and empirical work for other racial and ethnic groups, thereby contributing to a more valid understanding of child development.

Response to Commentaries on Taking Stock and Moving Forward: Research on Asian American Child Development.

We briefly respond here to the commentaries to the Special Section focused on Asian American child development by Cheah, Lee, Beaupre, and Zhou, and McLoyd. We consider three questions raised in their comments. What does it mean to focus on Asian Americans? How should we examine development across the life course? How can we generate more policy- and practice-relevant research?.

A Mixed Methods Approach to Equity and Justice Research: Insights from Research on Children's Reasoning About Economic Inequality.

Mixed methods research approaches are gaining traction across various social science disciplines, including among developmental scientists. In this chapter, we discuss the utility of a mixed methods research approach in examining issues related to equity and justice. We incorporate a brief overview of quantitative and qualitative monomethod research approaches in our larger discussion of the advantages, procedures, and considerations of employing a mixed methods design to advance developmental science from an equity and justice perspective. To better illustrate the theoretical and practical significance of a mixed methods research approach, we include examples of research conducted on children and adolescents' conceptions of economic inequality as one example of developmental science research with an equity and justice frame.

Elementary School Children's Reasoning About Social Class: A Mixed-Methods Study.

The current study examined children's identification and reasoning about their subjective social status (SSS), their beliefs about social class groups (i.e., the poor, middle class, and rich), and the associations between the two. Study participants were 117 10- to 12-year-old children of diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds attending a laboratory elementary school in Southern California. Results indicated that children's SSS ratings correlated with indicators of family socioeconomic status and were informed by material possessions, lifestyle characteristics, and social and societal comparisons. Children rated the poor as having fewer positive attributes and more negative attributes than the middle class, and fewer positive attributes than the rich. Lower SSS children held less positive attitudes toward the poor than children with middle SSS ratings.

Geographic variations in cost of living: associations with family and child well-being.

The effects of geographic variations in cost of living and family income on children's academic achievement and social competence in first grade (mean age = 86.9 months) were examined, mediated through material hardship, parental investments, family stress, and school resources. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (N = 17,565), higher cost of living was associated with lower academic achievement. For poor children only, higher cost of living was also detrimental to parental investments and school resources. Parental investments and school resources were more strongly associated with achievement for lower income than higher income children. Results suggest that cost of living intersects with income in meaningful ways for family and child well-being and should be accounted for in the poverty measure.

Increasing the complexity of young adolescents' beliefs about poverty and inequality: results of an 8th grade social studies curriculum intervention.

Poverty and economic hardship remain a reality for many of America's children. Although the causes of poverty are varied, Americans strongly endorse individual responsibility as a primary cause. Because beliefs about poverty originate in childhood and adolescence, intervention efforts targeting young people may be particularly effective in shifting attitudes about the poor and policies designed to help the disadvantaged. To test this proposition, the current study evaluated the efficacy of a 1-week 8th grade social studies curriculum focusing on poverty and inequality. Study participants were upper middle-class youth enrolled in multiple sections of a Social Studies course taught by a single teacher. Participants had little direct contact with marginalized groups such as poor and homeless individuals in their communities. Students (N=66) completed a survey assessing their attitudes and beliefs about poverty and poor people prior to, and 1 week and 6 months post-instruction. Results indicated that the curriculum was partially effective in increasing the complexity of students' beliefs about poverty. Students were more likely to emphasize fatalistic causes and less likely to list individualistic causes for poverty following instruction than before, but rarely emphasized structural causes for poverty and rated individual effort as the most influential factor in determining one's success. Implications of the study findings for curriculum efforts targeting young adolescents' reasoning about economic inequality and inequity and directions for future studies are discussed.

A longitudinal study of the simultaneous influence of mothers' and teachers' educational expectations on low-income youth's academic achievement.

This short-term longitudinal study investigated the simultaneous influences of adults' (mothers and teachers) educational expectations and youth's achievement (standardized test scores and teachers' ratings of academic performance) across a 3-year time span on youth's performance in school (GPA). Participants were an ethnically diverse sample of 426 low-income urban youth, ages 6 through 16 at T1. Results from cross-lagged and autoregressive path analyses indicated stability in adults' expectations and youth's standardized test scores; cross-lagged influences of teachers', but not mothers', expectations across time; and effects of youth's achievement outcomes on adults' expectations at T2, but not vice versa. Overall, the pattern of findings demonstrate that adults' educational expectations are dynamic and responsive to how youth are faring in school and to changes in academic performance across time.