Patterns of Gender Development Across Intersections of Age, Gender, and Ethnicity-Race.

Two components of gender identity are gender similarity, how one's self-concept relates to the major gender collectives (i.e., female, male), and felt pressure to conform to gender norms. The development of these components across ages and contexts has been understudied. The focus of this study was to examine variations in gender similarity and felt pressure across multiple intersecting contexts: developmental stage, gender, and ethnic-racial group. Six data sets were harmonized and means were compared across 2628 participants (51% girls, 49% boys) from four different developmental cohorts (childhood n = 678, early adolescence n = 1322, adolescence n = 415, and young adulthood n = 213) from diverse ethnic-racial backgrounds (45% White, 23% Latinx/Hispanic, 11% Black/African-American, 7% Asian-American, 5% American Indian, and 5% Multiracial). Results revealed nuanced patterns: Gender intensification was supported in early adolescence, primarily for boys. Young adult men reported lower levels of pressure and gender typicality than younger boys, but young adult women's levels were generally not different than younger girls. Surprisingly, young adult women's levels of own-gender similarity and pressure from parents were higher than adolescent girls. Expectations of gender differences in gender typicality and felt pressure were supported for all ages except young adults, with higher levels for boys. Finally, there were more similarities than differences across ethnic-racial groups, though when there were differences, minoritized participants reported heightened gender typicality and pressure (largely accounted for by higher scores for Black and Latinx participants and lower scores for White and Multiracial participants). These results add to what is understood about contextually dependent gender development.

Sociocultural influences on body image concerns in men of color - a structural equation modeling study.

OBJECTIVE: There is a noticeable underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) men in the existing empirical literature examining the sociocultural influences on body image concerns. To fill the gap, this study aimed to gain a better understanding of how sociocultural factors correlated with body dissatisfaction among BIPOC men living within the U.S. DESIGN: Structural equation modeling was used to address this gap by examining how multiple sociocultural factors - interpersonal appearance pressure, media appearance pressure, ethnic-racial identity attitudes (including ethnic-racial salience, stereotype endorsement, and nationalistic assimilation) and ethnic self-hatred towards one's ethnic group - were linked to dissatisfaction with muscularity, body fat and height in a sample of 181 BIPOC men participants. RESULTS: The proposed cross-sectional path model achieved satisfactory model fit and explained 31.9% in muscularity dissatisfaction, 36.2% in body fat dissatisfaction, and 26.4% in height dissatisfaction. Among direct relationships, interpersonal appearance pressure emerged most prominently associated with height dissatisfaction, whereas media appearance pressure and ethnic self-hatred were more related to muscularity and body fat dissatisfaction. Regarding the mediation effects, media appearance pressure was found to partially mediate the relationship between interpersonal appearance pressure and body dissatisfaction, as well as the relationship between ethnic self-hatred and body dissatisfaction. Furthermore, ethnic self-hatred was found to be predicted by ethnic-racial identity attitudes. CONCLUSION: This research profoundly expands our understanding of the ethnic and racial complexities surrounding body dissatisfaction among BIPOC men and encourages health practitioners to acknowledge the unique sociocultural and systemic dynamics (ethnic-racial identities and associated stressors) when working with BIPOC men who present with body image concerns.

Main and interactive effects of discrimination, parent racial/ethnic socialization, and internalizing symptomology on BIPOC teens' ethnic-racial identity.

Research suggests that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) adolescents have the best developmental outcomes when strong, positive ethnic-racial identity (ERI) is acknowledged and embraced. This study investigated whether discrimination, internalizing symptomology, parent socialization, and/or interactions of these variables were associated with adolescent ERI, specifically in exploration, resolution, and affirmation, to illuminate nuanced ways BIPOC youth can achieve positive ERI. Recruited from third-party research panels, surveyed participants were adolescents (Mage = 15.28; 51.6% male) of diverse ethnic/racial groups and socioeconomic backgrounds from all regions of the United States. Overall, results showed that there were four significant main effects on ERI: a negative relation between internalizing symptomology and exploration, a positive relation between parent socialization and exploration, a positive relation between parent socialization and resolution, and a negative relation between internalizing symptomology and affirmation. There were also two significant interactive effects such that (1) discrimination had a stronger negative relation with affirmation under condition of high internalizing, and (2) parent socialization had a stronger positive relation with affirmation under condition of high internalizing. Results show development of ERI in adolescence is subject to multiple, interactive influences. Main and interactive effects highlight the contextual role that mental health implicates for youth of color. Implications for parents and practitioners are discussed.

Teachers' Implementation of the Identity Project Is Associated With Increases in U.S. High School Students' Ethnic-Racial Identity Exploration.

Ethnic-racial identity formation has significant consequences for positive youth development. Existing findings support the efficacy of the Identity Project, a school-based ethnic-racial identity intervention, when delivered by researchers; however, effectiveness of the program when delivered by teachers is unknown. This study examined changes in adolescents' (N = 180; 42.2% male, 50.6% female, 6.7% another gender identity; Mage = 14.11, SD = 0.33; 38.3% Latinx, 33.9% White, 15.0% Black, 9.4% Asian American, 3.3% another ethnoracial background) ethnic-racial identity exploration as a function of their teachers' implementation of the Identity Project. Findings indicated that ethnic-racial identity exploration significantly increased from pretest to posttest, and this did not vary based on familial ethnic-racial socialization, student-teacher ethnoracial match/mismatch, gender, immigrant status, or ethnoracial background. This study provides preliminary evidence that U.S. educators can be trained to efficaciously implement the Identity Project with high school students and, furthermore, that this approach to program dissemination may not only facilitate scale-up but also result in greater gains for adolescents relative to research-led implementations.

Friendship Network and School Socialization Correlates of Adolescent Ethnic-Racial Identity Development.

Ethnic-racial identity (ERI) development is consequential for youth adjustment and includes exploration, resolution, and affect about the meaning of one's ethnic-racial group membership. Little is known about how identity-relevant experiences, such as ethnic-racial socialization and discrimination in peer relationships and school contexts, catalyze adolescent ERI development. The present study examines how identity-relevant experiences in friend and school contexts (i.e., proportion of same-ethnoracial friends, cultural socialization among friends, friends' ERI dimensions, friends' experiences of ethnoracial discrimination, and school promotion of cultural competence and critical consciousness) are associated with ERI development. A multivariate path model with a sample from four southwestern U.S. schools (N = 717; 50.5% girls; Mage = 13.76; 32% Latinx, 31.5% Multiethnic, 25.7% White, 11% other) was used to test these associations. Findings showed that friend and school predictors of ERI did not differ between early and middle adolescents, but significant differences and similarities emerged in some of these associations between ethnoracially minoritized and White youth. Specifically, friend cultural socialization was positively associated with ERI exploration for ethnoracially minoritized youth only, whereas school critical consciousness socialization was positively linked with ERI exploration only for White youth. Friend cultural socialization and friend network's levels of ERI resolution were positively associated with ERI resolution across both ethnoracial groups. These friend and school socialization associations were documented above and beyond significant contributions of personal ethnoracial discrimination to ERI exploration and negative affect for both ethnoracially minoritized and White youth. These findings expand our understanding of how friend and school socialization mechanisms are associated with adolescent ERI development, which is vital to advancing developmental theory and fostering developmental competences for youth to navigate their multicultural yet socially stratified and inequitable world.

Psychological and Academic Adaptation Through Universal Ethnic Studies Classes: Results of a Natural Experiment.

Schools in the United States are increasingly offering ethnic studies classes, which focus on exploring students' ethnic-racial identities (ERI) and critical analysis of systemic racism, to their diverse student bodies, yet scant research exists on their effectiveness for students of different ethnic-racial backgrounds in multiracial classrooms. A policy change to require all high school students in one school district to take an ethnic studies class facilitated a natural experiment for comparing the effects of quasi-random assignment to an ethnic studies class (treatment) relative to a traditional social studies class (control; e.g., U.S. Government, Human Geography). Student surveys and school administrative data were used to compare students' ERI development, well-being, and academic outcomes across ethnic studies and control classes. Participants (N = 535 9th graders; 66.1% ethnic studies) had diverse ethnic-racial (33.5% non-Latine White, 29.5% Black, 21.1% Latine, 10.7% biracial, 2.8% Asian, 2.2% Native American) and gender identities (44.7% female, 7.1% non-binary). Ethnic studies students reported marginally higher ERI exploration and resolution than controls, and sensitivity analyses showed a statistically significant effect on ERI among participants with complete midpoint surveys. Higher resolution was associated with better psychological well-being for all students and higher attendance for White students. Students with low middle school grades (GPA < 2.0) had better high school grades in core subjects when enrolled in ethnic studies than the control class. Overall, the results of this natural experiment provide preliminary support for ethnic studies classes as a method for promoting ERI development, well-being, attendance, and academic achievement for students from diverse ethnic-racial backgrounds.

Evaluating a School-Based Intervention on Adolescents' Ethnic-racial Identity in Sweden.

Finding developmentally appropriate ways to support youth in understanding their own ethnic-racial identity is needed, particularly in contexts like Sweden where such support is not the norm. This preregistered longitudinal study examined whether an 8-week school-based intervention, the Identity Project, impacted youth ethnic-racial identity exploration (participation and search), resolution, private regard, and centrality. Participants were 509 adolescents in the 10th grade (Mage = 16.28, SD = 0.80; 65% self-identified girls; 52% minoritized ethnic background), who were randomized into an intervention or wait-list control group and assessed at baseline and three times post-intervention. The findings indicated an initial and simultaneous effect of the intervention only for exploration participation and resolution but did not show the expected chain of effects with earlier exploration predicting later resolution. Growth models indicated a greater increase in exploration participation over time for the intervention group than the control group. The findings indicate a mixed picture about the effectiveness of the intervention, with effects primarily narrowly targeted to exploration participation, but nevertheless highlight the potential for supporting Swedish youth in engaging with their ethnic-racial identities.

Ethnic-Racial Identity and Attitude Change: Assessments of Outgroup and Diversity Attitudes among Adolescents in Sweden.

Outgroup and diversity attitudes are important components of intercultural understanding and well-being. Despite the potential of ethnic-racial identity development as a means to foster positive outgroup and diversity attitudes, little is known about its effectiveness in rapidly diversifying contexts such as Sweden. This pre-registered study filled this gap by examining if adolescents taking part in an intervention focused on ethnic-racial identity exploration, the Identity Project, also reported change in outgroup and diversity attitudes, and whether migration background, education type, and ethnic-racial identity development predicted such change. Twenty-three tenth-grade classes in Sweden (N = 509; Mage = 16.28; SDage = 0.80; 66% female; 51% migration background) participated in the intervention and were assessed in four waves over a period of 26 weeks. Whereas ethnic-racial identity exploration and resolution increased for the intervention group, the adolescents reported no change in outgroup and diversity attitudes when compared to a control group. Increases in ethnic-racial identity exploration and resolution co-varied with increases in attitudes, but only at Time 3. The results do not provide support for the link between ethnic-racial identity development and positive outgroup and diversity attitudes, and challenge the notion of attitude change as a cascading effect of the Identity Project intervention in non-US sociocultural contexts. All aspects of the study were pre-registered on the Open Science Framework platform ( https://osf.io/f5896 ).

Longitudinal Profiles of Cultural Identity Processes and Associations with Psychosocial Outcomes Among Adolescents Participating in the Identity Project in Italy.

Cultural identity formation is a complex developmental task that influences adolescents' adjustment. However, less is known about individual variations in trajectories of cultural identity processes and how they relate to youth psychosocial outcomes. Using a person-centered approach, this study investigated patterns of change over a year in cultural identity exploration and resolution, respectively, among ethnically diverse adolescents in Italy. The sample included 173 high school students (Mage = 15 yrs, SD = 0.62, range = 14-17; 58.4% female; 26% immigrant background) who had participated in the Identity Project, a school-based intervention targeting ethnic-racial identity development. Longitudinal latent profile analysis revealed only one profile of change for exploration, whereas four unique profiles for resolution emerged ("stable low," "stable average," "increase low-to-average," "increase high-to-higher"). Overall, youth in the resolution-increase profiles reported the best outcomes. The findings highlight the heterogeneity of adolescents' resolution trajectories and the benefits of an increased sense of clarity concerning one's cultural identity for positive psychosocial functioning.

Promoting Adolescents' Heritage Cultural Identity Development: Exploring the Role of Autonomy and Relatedness Satisfaction in School-Based Interventions.

Given the significance of heritage cultural identity for optimal adolescent development, it is imperative to investigate factors influencing the efficacy of interventions aimed at promoting heritage cultural identity. Using latent profile cluster analysis and multinomial logistic regressions, this longitudinal study examined how autonomy and relatedness need satisfaction at school (1) related to heritage cultural identity development trajectories, and (2) moderated effects of a school-based intervention. The study included N = 198 adolescents (Mage = 12.86 years, SDage = 0.75, 52% female, 41% immigrant descent, 49% intervention group) in Germany. Teacher-student relationships played an important role in facilitating intervention effects on identity development trajectories, emphasizing the importance of the relational context when implementing school-based interventions to promote heritage cultural identity development.

Examining Ethnic-Racial Identity Negative Affect, Centrality, and Intergroup Contact Attitudes Among White Adolescents.

Given persisting systemic inequities, rising white nationalism, and an increasingly diverse ethnic-racial population, there is a need for empirical research on how White youth develop anti-racist competencies during adolescence. Indicators of adolescents' ethnic-racial identity (ERI), such as ERI negative affect and centrality may play an important role in this process and are important to examine specifically for White youth because they involve feelings and beliefs about membership in a group socially perceived to be dominant. In fact, ERI negative affect and centrality may operate as unique mechanisms through which White youth develop attitudes about interacting with different ethnic-racial groups. Accordingly, the current study used a prospective longitudinal design to test whether White youth's (N = 1243; Mage = 16.09, SD = 1.20; 47% female, 53% male) ERI negative affect and centrality predicted their ethnic-racial intergroup contact attitudes across a school year. Multivariate path analysis indicated that higher centrality at the beginning of the school year predicted greater avoidance attitudes later in the school year, adjusting for earlier avoidance attitudes. The interaction between ERI negative affect and centrality was marginally significant in predicting later avoidance and approach attitudes. The findings suggest that ERI may function as a mechanism through which White youth develop intergroup contact attitudes.

Assessing Invariance of Universal Ethnic-Racial Identity Measures Among Black Adolescents in the United States.

Black immigrants and their children represent a significant and growing share of the U.S. Black population; however, their experiences of their multifaceted identities are often collapsed into the experiences of multigenerational Black youth. The current study investigates whether generalized ethnic-racial identity measures are equivalent for Black youth with an immigrant parent and Black youth with only U.S.-born parents. Participants were 767 Black adolescents (16.6% immigrant-origin; Mage = 16.28, SD = 1.12) attending diverse high schools in two regions of the U.S. Participants completed the affirmation, exploration, and resolution subscales of the Ethnic Identity Scale-Brief (EIS-B), along with the centrality and public regard subscales of the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity-Teen (MIBI-T). The results indicated that, whereas the EIS-B demonstrated scalar invariance, the MIBI-T demonstrated partial scalar invariance. Accounting for measurement error, immigrant-origin youth reported lower affirmation than multigenerational U.S.-origin youth. Across groups, ethnic-racial identity exploration and resolution scores were positively associated with family ethnic socialization; ethnic-racial identity affirmation was positively associated with self-esteem; and ethnic-racial identity public regard was negatively associated with ethnic-racial discrimination, supporting convergent validity. Conversely, centrality was positively associated with discrimination among multigenerational U.S.-origin Black youth, but the relation was not significant among immigrant-origin Black youth. These results fill a methodological gap in the literature, providing researchers with empirical support for considering whether to pool immigrant-origin and multigenerational U.S.-origin Black youth in analyses regarding ethnic-racial identity.

The Role of Ethnic-Racial Identity and Self-Esteem in Intergroup Contact Attitudes.

Adolescents' ethnic-racial identity (ERI) exploration, resolution, and affirmation inform their approach and avoidance attitudes toward intergroup contact, but the potential mechanisms through which this occurs have been underexplored. Given the evidence that adolescents with higher ERI exploration, resolution, and affirmation also report higher self-esteem, and self-esteem is theorized to facilitate openness to intergroup contact, the current study explored the role of self-esteem as a mediator of the relation between adolescents' ERI and their intergroup contact attitudes. Participants were 4606 adolescents (Mage = 16.35, SD = 1.16; 37.5% White, 27.1% Black, 20.7% Latinx, 11.7% Asian American, 3% Native American) from the U.S. Southwest and Midwest. The three waves of data were collected between March 2017 and March 2018. Results from longitudinal multigroup path models indicated that across all ethnic-racial groups there were positive direct relations between Wave 1 (W1) ERI resolution and W2 self-esteem (7 months later). In turn, W2 self-esteem was positively related to W3 approach attitudes (12 months later) and negatively related to W3 avoidance attitudes. The relations between ERI resolution and both approach and avoidance attitudes were fully mediated by self-esteem across all ethnic-racial groups. Notably the baseline values (W1) of all mediation and outcome variables (W2, W3) were included, suggesting that ERI resolution at baseline predicted increases in self-esteem, which predicted subsequent increases in approach attitudes and decreases in avoidance attitudes. ERI exploration and affirmation were not significant predictors of later self-esteem or contact attitudes. These findings suggest that of the three dimensions of ERI examined, resolution is the primary driver of the increases in self-esteem that inform adolescents' attitudes towards interaction with ethnic-racial outgroup members.

Ethnic-Racial Identity Developmental Trajectories Across the Transition to College.

There is limited longitudinal research examining multiple ethnic-racial identity (ERI) components from adolescence into young adulthood. The current study modeled Latino adolescents' ERI trajectories across the college transition (N = 206; Mage = 18.10 years, SD = 0.41; 65.0% female). Longitudinal data from a survey administered on five occasions across 3 years were analyzed using multilevel growth modeling. Prior to college, Latino heritage culture orientation was positively associated with ERI exploration and resolution. ERI exploration increased over time. ERI resolution was high with no average change; Latino heritage culture orientation predicted variability in resolution over time. Before college, male-identifying youth reported higher ERI public regard from teachers/professors compared to female-identifying youth. Public regard increased to a greater extent for female compared to male adolescents. The findings join evidence for lifespan and intersectional models of ERI development.

Cultural Identity Configurations: A Latent Profile Analysis of Ethnic/Racial and U.S. Identity Process and Content.

Cultural identity, which represents the degree to which individuals define themselves with the cultural groups to which they belong, is a particularly salient developmental task for ethnic/racial minoritized youth. Two important identity domains of cultural identity, ethnic-racial and U.S. identity, have been consistently associated with psychological and academic adjustment. That said, the majority of this research has been variable centered, limiting the capacity to understand the specific developmental configurations of ethnic/racial and U.S. identity. Addressing this gap, the current study utilized latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify unique profiles of ethnic/racial identity and U.S. identity across process and content dimensions among a sample of 376 Hispanic/Latinx college students (Mage = 20.58, SD = 2.69) and examine the separate and joint links between ethnic/racial and U.S. identity profile membership and adjustment. The LPA identified three similar profiles for ethnic/racial identity (i.e., Diffused/Negative, Diffused/Neutral, and Developed/Positive), U.S. identity (Diffused/Negative, Diffused/Positive, and Developed/Positive), and ethnic/racial and U.S. identity (i.e., Diffused/Negative, Diffused/Neutral, and Bicultural), highlighting that ethnic/racial and U.S. identity not only share parallel dimensionality but manifest themselves remarkably similar in their configuration across process and content dimensions. Separately, individuals classified in a Developed/Positive profile reported the highest levels of adjustment. Jointly, individuals classified as Bicultural (60.49%) exhibited the highest levels of adjustment. The findings highlight the benefit of a positive bicultural identity that embraces both domains of cultural identity.

Natural mentoring among college students of color: Considerations for their ethnic-racial identity and psychological well-being.

This study examined: (a) the roles of ethnic-racial similarity between mentors and mentees and mentors' support for ethnic-racial identity (ERI) in mentees' ERI private regard, (b) the roles of ethnic-racial similarity and ERI support in mentees' psychological well-being, and (c) the indirect effects of ethnic-racial similarity and ERI support on psychological well-being via private regard. Participants were 231 college students of color who completed a survey and reported having a natural mentor. Path analyses were conducted to test the hypothesized model. More support for ERI was significantly associated with higher private regard and higher self-esteem. Higher ethnic-racial similarity was significantly related to higher psychological distress and higher self-esteem. An indirect effect was found between ERI support and ethnic-racial similarity and psychological well-being via private regard. The findings fill a gap in the literature on ethnic-racial processes in mentoring critical to the development of college students of color.

Showing Up: A Theoretical Model of Anti-Racist Identity and Action for Latinx Youth.

Historical and contemporary political events underscore that Latinx people do not necessarily view race and racism in the United States through a shared lens with other Latinx people and other communities of color. Thus, it is critical to understand how Latinx youth develop attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that challenge white supremacy-or anti-racist identities and behaviors-that actively disrupt racial oppression communities of color face as well as their own communities. In this paper, we review theoretical mechanisms by which Latinx youth may develop anti-racist identities and actions on behalf of their own ethnic/racial communities and other communities oppressed by white supremacy. We conclude by offering suggestions for how institutions may support Latinx youth's anti-racist identities and actions.

Critical Action and Ethnic-Racial Identity: Tools of Racial Resistance at the College Transition.

This study examines the reciprocal relationship between critical action and ethnic-racial identity (ERI) exploration in Black college students using a longitudinal cross-lagged model. Participants were Black students (N = 237; Mage = 18.2; 74% female) from a longitudinal study of college transition. Analyses examined the temporal ordering and directionality of associations between critical action and ERI exploration over four time points from college entry through four years of college. Critical action positively predicted ERI exploration over each year of college, and ERI exploration positively predicted critical action in a reciprocal fashion over the same years. These findings underscore theoretical assertions that critical action and ERI are intertwined in Black youths' development and provide insight into how critical action and ERI overlap beyond adolescence.

Studying Ethnic-Racial Identity among White Youth: White Supremacy as a Developmental Context.

As developmental scholars increasingly study ethnic and racial identity among white youth, careful reflection is needed regarding its framing, implementation, and interpretation. In this three-part conceptual paper, we offer a foundation for such reflection. First, we discuss the sociocultural context of white supremacy that shapes U.S. society, psychology, and adolescent development, and situate the study of ethnic and racial identity among white youth within this context. Second, we consider Janet Helms's White Racial Identity Development model, reviewing theory and research building on her argument that race-and whiteness, specifically-must be centered to achieve racial justice-oriented scholarship on white identity. We conclude by offering four guiding insights for conducting critical research on racial identity development among white youth.

Black Lives Matter! Adolescent Research Incrementally Dismantles Racism and Systems of Oppression.

This Black Lives Matter! Special Issue uses diverse methods to examine how multiple systems of oppression at different levels (individual, institutional, and structural) affect Black youth. Through an intersectionality lens, scholars examine how gender, sexual orientation, skin tone, and socioeconomic status create unique experiences for Black youth. Collectively, the 17 papers address the sweeping impact of racism and other systems of oppression on Black youth by examining structural factors (e.g., policing), interpersonal experiences (e.g., teacher-student), and developmental processes (e.g., socialization). Commentaries provide a historical view and future perspective to contextualize how far we have come and how much farther we need to go in our quest to combat racism and other systems of oppression and improve the lives of Black adolescents.