Parenting in African American families: Profiles of general and culturally specific dimensions of parent-adolescent relationships during late adolescence.

Developmental and parenting frameworks suggest that factors at the individual-level and multiple levels of adolescents' contexts are important determinants of how African American parents prepare their children to live in a racially stratified society. Using a person-centered approach, this study explored heterogeneity in profiles of African American parent-adolescent relationships (PARs) using indicators of parent-reported ethnic-racial socialization (cultural socialization, preparation for bias), general parenting practices (autonomy support, monitoring, behavioral control), and relationship quality (warmth, communication, conflict). We also examined how adolescents' characteristics, parents' personal and psychological resources, and contextual sources of stress and support contributed to profile membership. Data were from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study (1991-2000) and consisted of 589 African American caregiver-adolescent dyads (caregivers: 89% female; 57.2% married; adolescents: 50.7% female; Mage = 17, SD = 0.64, range = 15-19 years old). Latent profile analysis revealed four profiles: (a) No-Nonsense High Socializers, (b) Indulgent Average Socializers, (c) Unengaged Silent Socializers, and (d) Authoritative Cultural Socializers. Adolescent characteristics (gender, depression, and problem behavior), parents' personal and psychological resources (parenting self-efficacy, centrality, private regard, and depression), and contextual sources of stress and support (stress: economic hardship, family stress, neighborhood disadvantage and support: marital status, family cohesion, family organization) were correlated with profile membership. Findings suggest that variability in African American PARs is shaped by an extensive set of individual and contextual factors related to adolescents and the family and neighborhood context. These findings have important implications for future research and how to target multiple potential levers for change in African American parenting practice.

"Actually, I don't do different": Black parents' perceptions of gender socialization of sons versus daughters.

This study expanded on research examining families' roles in youth gender development that has investigated boys' versus girls' family experiences by using a within-family design to study the gender socialization of brothers versus sisters from the same families. We drew from archival data collected in 2001-2002 from an ethnic homogeneous sample of Black American mother-father families (N = 128) who were raising at least one son and one daughter; the majority of youth were adolescents (range 2-31 years). In separate home interviews, mothers and fathers described whether and how they socialized their sons versus daughters about education, their futures, and racism and discrimination. Across these three domains, most parents reported that they did not socialize their sons and daughters differently. Nonetheless, several themes emerged that illuminated race and race-gender intersectionality in parents' socialization, both resistance and accommodation to traditional gender norms, and the role of children's personal characteristics in parents' socialization, with similar themes evident among parents who did and who did not report socializing sons and daughters differently. This study advances understanding of parents' gender socialization and has implications for family-focused interventions aimed at promoting the well-being and achievement of Black American boys and girls. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

To social distance or to not social distance? COVID-19 social impact and safety profiles, social determinants, and mental health of Black adults.

The impact of COVID-19 on Black adults' social networks and their perceptions of the safety of social gatherings are intertwined. Yet, we know little about the role of this intersection and social determinants on Black adults' mental health. The goal of this study was to examine profiles of COVID-19 impact and safety for Black adults in the United States, their association with mental health, and the role of sociodemographic, health, and employment social determinants. We used latent class analysis and data from Black adults from the nationally representative survey of the Understanding Coronavirus in America Study (January-February 2021; N = 593) to construct profiles and test associations between profiles, social determinants, and mental health. Black adults in the low visitation safety profile had worse mental health than those in the high home safety profile. Older, retired, and insured Black adults were less likely to be impacted by COVID-19. Both the impact of COVID-19 on social networks and perceptions of safety of engaging with others are important for Black adults' mental health. Age, retirement, and health insurance play a role. Reducing distress and social isolation from COVID-19 impact and safety fears may bolster the mental health of Black adults. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

An Intersectional-Contextual Approach to Racial Trauma Exposure Risk and Coping Among Black Youth.

Black youth experience racial discrimination at higher rates than other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. To identify how racism can simultaneously serve as a risk factor for adverse childhood experience (ACE) exposure, a discrete type of ACE, and a post-ACE mental health risk factor among Black youth, Bernard and colleagues (2021) proposed the culturally informed ACEs (C-ACE) model. While an important addition to the literature, the C-ACE model is framed around a single axis of race-based oppression. This paper extends the model by incorporating an intersectional and ecodevelopmental lens that elucidates how gendered racism framed by historical trauma, as well as gender-based socialization experiences, may have implications for negative mental health outcomes among Black youth. Clinical and research implications are discussed.

Centering the Heterogeneity of Black Adolescents' Experiences: Guidance for Within-Group Designs among African Diasporic Communities.

Despite notable improvements in theory and methods that center the lived experiences of Black adolescents, White supremacy endures in developmental science. In this article, we focus on one methodological manifestation of White supremacy-sampling decisions that assume Black adolescents are a homogeneous group. We examine overlooked concerns about within-group designs with Black adolescents, such as the erasure of some African diasporic communities in the United States. We first describe the homogeneity assumption and join other scholars in advocating for within-group designs. We next describe challenges with current approaches to within-group designs. We then provide recommendations for antiracist research that makes informed within-group design sampling decisions. We conclude by describing the implications of these strategies for researchers and developmental science.

Embracing Race, Resisting Oppression: African American Parents as Experienced Guides for Navigating Racial Oppression: Dismantling Systems of Racism and Oppression during Adolescence.

This study examined how discrimination experiences, beliefs, and coping in middle adolescence contributed to heterogeneity in African American parent-adolescent relationship (PAR) profiles three years later. Data were from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study in which 589 African American caregivers (92% female; Mage = 39.15, SD = 6.72; range = 27-74 years old) were interviewed when youth were in 8th and 11th grades. We used previously identified profiles of ethnic-racial socialization, general parenting practices, and relationship quality: No-nonsense High Socializers, Indulgent Average Socializers, Unengaged Silent Socializers, and Authoritative Cultural Socializers. Results indicated that parents' discrimination experiences, racial coping self-efficacy, and racial coping socialization when youth were in the 8th grade predicted membership in PAR profiles three years later controlling for youth gender, parent marital status, and family socioeconomic status.

Parents, friends and immigrant youths' academic engagement: A mediation analysis.

Parents and friends can help facilitate the academic engagement of newcomer immigrant youth during the early post-migration years. Using an accelerated longitudinal design and the integrative risk and resilience framework, we examined how parent home involvement and friendships were directly and indirectly associated with the development of newcomer immigrant youths' academic engagement. We used data from three waves (Years 3-5) of the Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation study where a culturally diverse group of immigrant youth (N = 354, ages 10-17, MtimeinUS  = 3.98 years, SD = 1.39) in the United States reported on their perceptions of parent home involvement (educational values and communication) and friendship (educational values and academic support) in Year 3 and on their academic engagement (behavioural and emotional) across 3 years. Findings showed high-stable behavioural and emotional engagement and direct positive associations between perceptions of parent home involvement and initial levels of behavioural and emotional engagement and between perceptions of friend educational values and initial levels of emotional engagement. Additionally, perceptions of parents' educational values indirectly contributed to initial levels of emotional engagement through positive associations with perceptions of friends' educational values. These findings can inform family-school partnerships and school-interventions targeting newcomer immigrant youths' engagement.

Trajectories of Online Racial Discrimination and Psychological Functioning Among African American and Latino Adolescents.

This study investigated trajectories of individual and vicarious online racial discrimination (ORD) and their associations with psychological outcomes for African American and Latinx adolescents in 6th-12th grade (N = 522; Mgrade  = 9th) across three waves. Data were analyzed using growth mixture modeling to estimate trajectories for ORD and to determine the effects of each trajectory on Wave 3 depressive symptoms, anxiety, and self-esteem. Results showed four individual and three vicarious ORD trajectories, with the majority of participants starting out with low experiences and increasing over time. Older African American adolescents and people who spend more time online are at greatest risk for poor psychological functioning.