Ethnic-Racial Socialization, Teacher Discrimination, and Black Youth's School Engagement and Achievement.

Ethnic-racial socialization is one strategy Black parents use to support their children's school engagement and academic achievement given the occurrence and toxic effects of discrimination. Egalitarianism and preparation for bias socialization messages have yielded mixed evidence of promotive and protective effects for Black youth's school outcomes, and effects may vary according to ethnicity. Thus, this research examined associations between ethnic-racial socialization messages and school engagement and achievement, and whether these messages protected against teacher discrimination effects on academic achievement transmitted through school engagement, among a nationally representative sample of Black adolescents who participated in the National Survey of American Life Adolescent supplement study. Ethnic-racial socialization message content and the frequency of communication about race demonstrated different associations with engagement (i.e., school bonding, aspiration-expectation discrepancy, and disciplinary actions) and achievement (i.e., grades) for African American and Caribbean Black youth. However, the benefits were not sufficient to combat the adverse effects of teacher discrimination on school engagement and, in turn, achievement. These findings highlight the utility of integrating ethnic-racial socialization into prevention programs to support Black youth's school experiences; demonstrate the importance of attention to heterogeneity within Black youth; and underscore the critical need for prevention programs to address teacher discrimination.

'There's no waiting list, just press play': listeners' experiences of mental-health-related podcasts.

INTRODUCTION: The activity of podcasting has increased exponentially but little is known about the qualitative listener experiences of podcasts related to mental health. The aim of this study was to understand what listeners of mental health podcasts obtain from this medium. Participants were asked questions relating to mental health literacy, stigma and help-seeking behaviour. METHODS: The study gathered data, via an online survey (n=722). This article reports on the responses to open-ended questions: 'What do you take away from listening to mental health-related podcasts? What do you learn about yourself (or a loved one)? What do you find most useful about listening to mental health-related podcasts?' Inductive thematic analysis was utilised. RESULTS: Thematic analysis produced five core themes: accessibility, mental health literacy, potential pitfalls, reassurance and lived experiences. Accessibility of material and discussions featuring professionals and people with lived experience were reported key highlights. CONCLUSION: Results indicate that podcasts influence the development of mental health literacy, reduce stigma and increase help-seeking. Given the challenges with service access in underserved populations, there is a potential role for the use of podcasts in rural regions.

The Internalization of Stigma and the Shaping of the Grief Experience for Peers Bereaved by a Drug-Related Death.

People who use drugs form a significant part of the community who are impacted by drug-related deaths, but their stigmatized positioning in society yields implications for their access to support and the social recognition of their grief. This project explores how the internalization of drug-related stigmas shapes the grief experience for peers bereaved by a DRD. Six individuals who experienced the drug death of a peer during their own time in active addiction participated in semi-structured interviews, analyzed by interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three superordinate themes are reported in this paper: (i) Forged Connections; (ii) The Condemnation Script; and (iii) Nowhere Left to Turn. Participants reported grief responses such as survivor's guilt, shame, and increased drug use against the wider social invalidation of their close peer bonds. This paper appeals for a more health-based approach to supporting people in active addiction that recognizes and validates their grief experiences.

Strategic Directions in Preventive Intervention Research to Advance Health Equity.

As commissioned by the Society for Prevention Research, this paper describes and illustrates strategic approaches for reducing health inequities and advancing health equity when adopting an equity-focused approach for applying prevention science evidence-based theory, methodologies, and practices. We introduce an ecosystemic framework as a guide for analyzing, designing, and planning innovative equity-focused evidence-based preventive interventions designed to attain intended health equity outcomes. To advance this process, we introduce a health equity statement for conducting integrative analyses of ecosystemic framework pathways, by describing the role of social determinants, mechanisms, and interventions as factors directly linked to specific health equity outcomes. As background, we present health equity constructs, theories, and research evidence which can inform the design and development of equity-focused intervention approaches. We also describe multi-level interventions that when coordinated can produce synergistic intervention effects across macro, meso, and micro ecological levels. Under this approach, we encourage prevention and implementation scientists to apply and extend these strategic directions in future research to increase our evidence-based knowledge and theory building. A general goal is to apply prevention science knowledge to design, widely disseminate, and implement culturally grounded interventions that incrementally attain specific HE outcomes and an intended HE goal. We conclude with recommendations for conducting equity-focused prevention science research, interventions, and training.

Posttraumatic growth following a drug-related death: A family perspective.

This paper explores the experience of posttraumatic growth in families who have lost a family member to a drug-related death. Seven family units (17 participants) were interviewed, and interviews were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Analyses revealed themes that reflected positive adaptation and growth, including (a) reframing the loss, (b) open dialogue and social support, and (c) reclamation of purpose. Themes are presented in this paper for their pertinence in understanding how best to negotiate adaptation through complicated grief. The paper concludes that posttraumatic growth can occur once families begin a process of acceptance and receive support through the journey.

Perceived Neighborhood Safety and Depressive Symptoms: The Role of Perceived Neighborhood Cohesion and Perceived Control.

Few have examined mechanisms explaining the link between perceived neighborhood unsafety, neighborhood social processes, and depressive symptoms for Black adolescents. The goal of this study was to examine the role of perceived control as a mechanism linking perceptions of neighborhood unsafety and depressive symptoms, and neighborhood cohesion as a protective factor. Participants were 412 Black adolescents living in a major Mid-Atlantic urban center in the United States (49% female, Mage = 15.80, SD = 0.36). Participants reported perceptions of neighborhood unsafety at grade 10, neighborhood cohesion at grade 10, perceived control at grades 10 and 11 and depressive symptoms in grades 10 and 12. High neighborhood unsafety was associated with low perceived control and in turn high depressive symptoms only when neighborhood cohesion was high. The results highlight the role of neighborhood unsafety and perceived control in the development of depressive symptom and the possible downsides of neighborhood social factors.

Peer Discrimination, Deviant Peer Affiliation, and Latino/a Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms: A Prospective Study.

OBJECTIVE: U.S. Latino/a adolescents experience high levels of ethnic discrimination, particularly in new immigrant destinations. Due to the salience of peers during adolescence, this study examined how peer discrimination related directly and indirectly, through deviant peer affiliation, to changes in Latino/a adolescents' internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Culture-specific moderators hypothesized to buffer discrimination impacts on adolescent symptomology included Spanish language enculturation and adolescents' social ties to relatives in the family's country-of-origin. METHOD: The sample of 547 Latino/a adolescent participants from the Caminos al Bienestar study (55.4% female; age M = 12.8, range = 11-16) was selected at random from middle schools in a large, suburban school district in Atlanta, Georgia. Three time points of survey data spaced roughly 6 months apart were collected during 2018 and 2019. RESULTS: Results from longitudinal structural equation models revealed that peer discrimination was associated indirectly with increased externalizing symptoms, through increases in affiliation with deviant peers (ß = 0.05; SE = 0.02; B = 0.02; 95% CI = 0.01, 0.09). We did not observe direct or indirect effects of peer discrimination on changes in internalizing symptoms, and we found no significant protective effects of either Spanish language enculturation or social ties with the country-of-origin. CONCLUSIONS: Ethnic discrimination by peers may lead to deviant peer affiliation and, in turn, increased externalizing behaviors. Future research identifying protective factors that buffer discrimination impacts on deviant peer affiliation is needed to inform the development of interventions that can prevent Latino/a adolescents' externalizing symptoms.

Ethnic-racial socialization as a moderator of associations between discrimination and psychosocial well-being among African American and Caribbean Black adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Discrimination can have debilitating effects on Black adolescents' psychosocial well-being. Ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) is crucial in helping youth manage racial discrimination and its adverse effects. However, little is known about how ERS can be beneficial against discrimination for subgroups of Black youth, despite evidence that culture and nationality may influence how adults prepare youth for discrimination. The present study examined if associations between discrimination and psychosocial well-being outcomes, and the moderating effects of ERS, varied by ethnicity for African American (AA) and Caribbean Black (CB) adolescents. METHOD: Participants were 1,170 Black adolescents, 810 (AA); 360 (CB), who participated in the National Survey of American Life Adolescent supplement study. Multigroup analysis was applied to examine the moderating effects of ERS for AA and CB adolescents. RESULTS: For CB adolescents who reported high preparation for bias, discrimination was associated with fewer mastery beliefs, and the positive association between discrimination and perceived stress was stronger at higher levels of preparation for bias. Additionally, the negative association between discrimination and John Henryism active coping was stronger for youth who reported high egalitarian messages. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that preparation for bias messages differentially influences the effects of discrimination on stress and mastery for AA and CB adolescents. The results highlight the importance of exploring ethnic heterogeneity of ERS. Implications for psychosocial well-being are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

'Special death': Living with bereavement by drug-related death in Ireland.

This paper explores the impact of complicated grief on the family system following the drug-related death of a family member. Drug-related deaths are rife with moral stigmas, and those left behind often carry an emotional burden laden with shame and guilt. 17 bereaved family members were interviewed using semi-structured interviews and transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three core themes were generated: Renegotiation of Relationships; Experiencing Complex Emotions; and Adjusting to a New Reality. The findings demonstrate that this population experience great difficulty in processing their grief as they struggle with family breakdown, navigating supports and stigma.

COVID-19 Stressors and Latinx Adolescents' Mental Health Symptomology and School Performance: A Prospective Study.

This study addressed the need for research examining impacts of the Coronavirus-19 (COVID) pandemic on Latinx adolescents' adjustment. Survey data for a probability sample of 547 Latinx adolescents (Mage = 13.71, SD = 0.86; 55.2% female) were collected from 2018 to 2021, including two times both prior to, and during, COVID. Independent variables assessed COVID-related household hospitalization, job/income loss, and adolescents' increased childcare responsibility. Structural Equation Model results indicated that COVID-related increases in adolescent childcare responsibility were associated with increased internalizing and externalizing symptoms and declines in school performance. COVID hospitalization and job/income loss were associated indirectly, through childcare responsibilities, to worse adolescent outcomes. Family adversities may harm adolescents' adjustment by burdening adolescents with responsibilities such caring for children.

A longitudinal test of acculturative family distancing theory explaining latino/a/x adolescents' adjustment.

According to acculturative family distancing theory, adolescents' perceptions of cultural incongruencies with parents can diminish the quality of parent-adolescent relationships and, as a result, harm adolescent adjustment. Using four time points of data for a sample of 547 diverse Latino/a/x adolescents, this study examined how parent-adolescent relationship quality and acculturative family distancing were associated with changes in adolescent school performance and internalizing symptoms. At baseline, the school-based sample ranged from 11- to 14-years-old (M = 12.78) and included slightly more females (55%) than males (45%). Cross-lagged structural equation model results indicated that adolescent reports of greater acculturative family distancing were associated with adolescent perceived increases in parent-adolescent conflict and decreases in parental support. Conflict mediated associations between acculturative family distancing and decreased school performance. Associations between parent-child relationship qualities and Latino/a/x adolescent adjustment were bidirectional.

Residential mobility, neighborhood cohesion, and depressive symptoms among urban-dwelling African American adolescents.

Mechanisms linking residential mobility and depressive symptoms among urban-dwelling African American adolescents have received little attention. This study examined neighborhood cohesion as a possible mechanism. Participants were 358 urban-dwelling African American adolescents (Mage = 14.78; SD = 0.34) who reported their neighborhood cohesion in Grade 10 and depressive symptoms in Grades 9 and 11, and for whom residential address information was available. There was a significant indirect effect of past moves in middle school on depressive symptoms 1 year later through reduced neighborhood cohesion. However, the indirect effect was not significant in a propensity score-matched sample. Results from the full sample of adolescents suggest that neighborhood cohesion may play a role in the experience of depressive symptoms following past moves in middle school. Different findings for the propensity score-matched sample highlight the need for future studies of residential mobility to employ strategies to correct for possible selection bias.

Ethnic-racial Socialization, Perceived Neighborhood Quality, and Psychosocial Adjustment among African American and Caribbean Black Adolescents.

Ethnic-racial socialization is employed by ethnic minority parents to support their children's psychosocial adjustment. These socialization messages may be associated differently with psychosocial adjustment for Black youth according to ethnicity and qualities of the neighborhood context. This research examined whether associations between ethnic-racial socialization messages and psychosocial adjustment vary by ethnicity and perceived neighborhood quality in a nationally representative sample of Black adolescents who participated in the National Survey of American Life Adolescent supplement study. The effects of promotion of mistrust messages varied by ethnicity, and the effects of egalitarianism messages varied depending on perceived neighborhood quality. These findings help clarify prior research which has yielded equivocal results for the effects of these messages for Black youth's psychosocial adjustment.

The Role of Depressive Symptoms in Substance Use Among African American Boys Exposed to Community Violence.

Adolescents exposed to community violence (CV) are at increased risk for alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco use. The disproportionate exposure to CV among African American boys heightens their susceptibility to substance use and related problems. Depressive symptoms are linked to both CV exposure and adolescent substance use; however, their role in the link between CV exposure and substance use in African American male adolescents has received little attention. The current study examined whether depressive symptoms mediate or moderate the associations between CV exposure and substance use among African American male adolescents. Participants were 225 African American adolescent boys in Baltimore, Maryland who completed measures of CV exposure and depressive symptoms in 10th grade and measures of substance use in 10th and 11th grades. Hierarchal linear regression analyses indicated that depressive symptoms moderated associations between violent victimization and alcohol and tobacco use, R2 = .21-.30, ps < .001. There was a positive association between CV victimization and alcohol and tobacco use among those who reported high levels of depressive symptoms but not low levels. Depressive symptoms also moderated the link between witnessing CV and alcohol use such that witnessing CV was negatively related to alcohol use among those who reported high levels of depressive symptoms only. The findings suggest that depressive symptoms may play an important role in differentiating alcohol and tobacco use outcomes in CV-exposed African American boys. Prevention efforts should assess for depressive symptoms to identify adolescent boys with the highest risk of substance use.

The role of negative emotional reactivity and neighborhood factors in predicting marijuana use during early adolescence.

INTRODUCTION: Negative emotional reactivity and the neighborhood environment have been individually associated with marijuana use outcomes; however, less is known about whether neighborhood factors differentiate the association between negative emotional reactivity and marijuana use. The present study examined whether neighborhood risk (i.e., neighborhood problems) and protective factors (i.e., neighborhood social cohesion) moderated the relation between negative emotional reactivity and marijuana use during early adolescence. METHODS: Participants were 775 adolescents (M = 10.95 ± 0.88 years; 69% male; 76% Caucasian), who reported on their past month frequency of marijuana use at Time 1 (when adolescents were 10-12 years old) and Time 2 (when adolescents were 12-14 years old). Mothers reported on neighborhood problems and neighborhood social cohesion at Time 1. Youth reported on their negative emotional reactivity at Time 2. RESULTS: Negative binomial regression analyses indicated that neighborhood problems moderated the relationship between negative emotional reactivity and marijuana use. In particular, in the context of low neighborhood problems, individuals with lower negative emotional reactivity were at attenuated risk for marijuana use compared to individuals higher in negative emotional reactivity. In the context of high neighborhood problems, individuals were at heightened risk for marijuana consumption regardless of their negative emotional reactivity levels. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that individual-level factors alone do not sufficiently account for early marijuana use and that neighborhood problems play a role in risk for or abstention from using marijuana during early adolescence. Implications for prevention and intervention for marijuana use during adolescence are discussed.

School Discrimination and Changes in Latinx Adolescents' Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms.

U.S. Latinx youth are growing up in an environment characterized by increased anti-immigrant policy and rhetoric, including experiences of discrimination. Given the salience of the school setting for youth's development, it is important to understand how experiences of discrimination by teachers and other adults at school, or school discrimination, relate to the emotional and behavioral adjustment of today's Latinx adolescents. Study participants include 547 Latinx adolescents selected at random from a large, suburban school district in Atlanta, Georgia (55.4% female; age M = 12.8, range = 11-16). Youth provided two time points of survey data spaced roughly 6 months apart during 2018 and 2019. Structural equation models (SEM) were used to test the main and interaction effects of school discrimination and parental support on later internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Multiple group SEM was used to investigate gender differences in pathways to adolescent adjustment. More school discrimination was related to more internalizing and externalizing symptoms at a later time point. Greater parental support was associated with fewer internalizing symptoms, but did not moderate associations between school discrimination and adolescent outcomes. Pathways to adolescent outcomes were similar for males and females. Study results suggest that discrimination by teachers and other adults at school is an important source of adversity potentially jeopardizing Latinx youth's emotional and behavioral adjustment. Future research is needed to identify factors that mitigate potentially harmful consequences of discrimination for Latinx adolescents.

Daily multidimensional racial discrimination among Black U.S. American adolescents.

This study examined frequencies and psychological effects of daily racial discrimination experienced individually, vicariously, online, offline, and through teasing. Participants were 101 Black U.S. American adolescents for this ecological momentary assessment study that measured daily racial discrimination and 14-day depressive symptoms slopes. Confirmatory factor analyses specified subscales, t-test analyses compared subscale means, and hierarchical linear analyses tested associations between subscales and depressive symptoms slopes. Results showed that six subscales fit the data well: individual general, vicarious general, individual online, vicarious online, individual teasing, and vicarious teasing. Participants reported 5606 experiences of racial discrimination during the study and averaged 5.21 experiences per day across the six subscales. The two online subscales were more frequent than the offline subscales. Aside from online vicarious experiences, all subscales were positively associated with depressive symptoms slopes. Findings underscore the multidimensional, quotidian, and impactful nature of racial discrimination in the lives of Black adolescents in the U.S.

Grief, Tragic Death, and Multiple Loss in the Lives of Irish Traveller Community Health Workers.

Recent data on the inequities in mortality, health, and access to health services experienced by the Traveller community in Ireland show higher rates of death by suicide and other sudden causes among members of this marginalized minority group than in the general population. Psychological literature on bereavement suggests that traumatic deaths and multiple deaths within a close network may be more likely to lead to complicated grief reactions. The aim of this study is to add to our understanding of the effects of the differential mortality rate by exploring how grief is experienced within the Traveller community in the context of bereavement from multiple deaths or sudden deaths (including suicide). Data from three semistructured focus group interviews with a total of 10 Traveller Community Health Worker participants (nine female and one male) were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Two master themes organized the salient phenomenological aspects of the grief experience: Living with Tragic Loss and Communicating Tragic Loss. A picture emerged of individual and community-level loss that is extensive, profound, and enduring. The sequelae of deaths by suicide include difficulties in coping, a search for meaning, and a pervasive sense of fear. Silence, the embodied act of giving voice to tragic loss, and strategies for managing disclosure of tragic deaths with children were all strong themes which emerged from the analysis. This study uses interpretative phenomenological analysis to generate a vivid picture of the lived psychological experience of grief as it is experienced by members of a minority group with above average rates of sudden and early deaths. This contributes to understanding the burden of health inequality in an underresearched population. Findings in relation to challenges in communicating with children about tragic deaths can be integrated into bereavement support resources.

Patterns of Social Connectedness and Psychosocial Wellbeing among African American and Caribbean Black Adolescents.

Adolescents are connected to multiple and interrelated settings (e.g., family, school), which interact to influence their development. Using the National Survey of American Life-Adolescent (NSAL-A), a nationally representative cross-sectional survey, this study examined patterns of social connection and Black adolescents' wellbeing and whether social connection-wellbeing links differed by ethnicity and gender. The sample included 1170 Black adolescents ages 13-17 (69% African American, 31% Caribbean Black, 52% female, mean age 15). Latent profile analysis was used to identify profiles of adolescent connections across family, peer, school, religion, and neighborhood settings. Four profiles of social connection emerged: unconnected, minimal connection, high family connection, and well-connected. The profiles differed in life satisfaction, self-esteem, mastery, coping, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms. The well-connected profile, characterized by connection to all five settings, had significantly higher life satisfaction, self-esteem, mastery, and coping, and lower perceived stress compared to the unconnected and minimal connection profiles and lower depressive symptoms than the unconnected profile. The well-connected profile also had better self-esteem and coping compared to the high family connection profile. The youth in the unconnected profile had significantly lower self-esteem and mastery and significantly higher depressive symptoms than the minimally connected youth. Moderation analyses showed no differences by ethnicity. However, differences by gender were observed for the association between connectedness and life satisfaction. The results support the critical need to examine connectedness across multiple settings and within group heterogeneity among Black youth to develop strategies to promote their psychosocial wellbeing.