Discrimination Distress During Adolescence

Amidst changing patterns of accommodation and conflict among American ethnic groups, there remains a paucity of research on the nature and impact of racial and ethnic discrimination on development in multiethnic samples of youth. The Adolescent Discrimination Distress Index along with measures of caregiver racial bias preparation and self-esteem was administered to 177 adolescents drawn from 9th–12th graders self-identified as African American, Hispanic, East Asian, South Asian, and non-Hispanic white. Youth from all ethnic backgrounds reported distress associated with instances of perceived racial prejudice encountered in educational contexts. Instances of institutional discrimination in stores and by police were higher for older youth and particularly for African American and Hispanic teenagers. Encounters with peer discrimination were reported most frequently by Asian youth. Reports of racial bias preparation were associated with distress in response to institutional and educational discrimination and self-esteem scores were negatively correlated with distress caused by educational and peer discrimination. The importance of research on discrimination distress to understanding adolescent development in multiethnic ecologies is discussed here.     

School and Neighborhood Contexts,Perceptions of Racial Discrimination,and Psychological Well-being Among African American Adolescents

The present study examined contextual influences on the relationship between racial discrimination (individual, cultural, and collective/institutional) and psychological well-being. Two hundred and fifty two African American adolescents (46% male and 54% female, average age = 16) completed measures of racial discrimination, self-esteem, depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. Archival information regarding the racial/ethnic composition of the participants’ neighborhoods and schools was used and increased school diversity was linked to increased perceptions of cultural discrimination. Regardless of school and neighborhood diversity, high perceptions of collective/institutional discrimination were linked to lower self-esteem for students in high diversity settings. Further, high levels of collective/institutional discrimination were associated with lower life satisfaction for African American youth in low diversity settings.

Perceived Discrimination and Peer Victimization Among African American and Latino Youth

Perceptions of racial discrimination constitute significant risks to the psychological adjustment of minority youth. The present study examined the relationship between perceived racial discrimination and peer nominations of victimization among 173 (55 % female) African American, European American and Latino youth. All respondents completed peer nominations of victimization status whereas the African American and Latino youth completed subjective measures of racial discrimination. The results indicated that African American and Latino’s subjective perceptions of racial discrimination were linked to nominations of overt and relational victimization when rated by their European American peers. The results suggest that there is consistency between African American and Latino youth’s perceptions of racial discrimination and nominations of peer victimization by their European American peers.     

Ethnic Identity and Mental Health in American Indian Youth: Examining Mediation Pathways Through Self-esteem,and Future Optimism

Mental health functioning in American Indian youth is an understudied topic. Given the increased rates of depression and anxiety in this population, further research is needed. Using multiple group structural equation modeling, the current study illuminates the effect of ethnic identity on anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and externalizing behavior in a group of Lumbee adolescents and a group of Caucasian, African American, and Latino/Hispanic adolescents. This study examined two possible pathways (i.e., future optimism and self-esteem) through which ethnic identity is associated with adolescent mental health. The sample (N = 4,714) is 28.53 % American Indian (Lumbee) and 51.38 % female. The study findings indicate that self-esteem significantly mediated the relationships between ethnic identity and anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and externalizing behavior for all racial/ethnic groups (i.e., the total sample). Future optimism significantly mediated the relationship between ethnic identity and externalizing behavior for all racial/ethnic groups and was a significant mediator between ethnic identity and depressive symptoms for American Indian youth only. Fostering ethnic identity in all youth serves to enhance mental health functioning, but is especially important for American Indian youth due to the collective nature of their culture.     

Context Matters: Links Between Neighborhood Discrimination, Neighborhood Cohesion and African American Adolescents’ Adjustment

Racial discrimination has serious negative consequences for the adjustment of African American adolescents. Taking an ecological approach, this study examined the linkages between perceived racial discrimination within and outside of the neighborhood and urban adolescents’ externalizing and internalizing behaviors, and tested whether neighborhood cohesion operated as a protective factor. Data came from 461 African American adolescents (mean age = 15.24 years, SD = 1.56; 50 % female) participating in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Multilevel models revealed that perceived discrimination within youth’s neighborhoods was positively related to externalizing, and discrimination both within and outside of youth’s neighborhoods predicted greater internalizing problems. Neighborhood cohesion moderated the association between within-neighborhood discrimination and externalizing. Specifically, high neighborhood cohesion attenuated the association between within-neighborhood discrimination and externalizing. The discussion centers on the implications of proximal stressors and neighborhood cohesion for African American adolescents’ adjustment.     

Gender-Typed Personality Qualities and African American Youth’s School Functioning

Numerous studies document sex differences in African American girls’ and boys’ academic achievement and motivation, but little is known about how the enactment of gender, such as in the forms of gendered behaviors, attitudes, or personal-social qualities, is related to school functioning. To advance understanding of African American adolescents’ academic experiences, this study examined the longitudinal linkages between stereotypically feminine (i.e., expressive) and stereotypically masculine (i.e., instrumental) personality characteristics and school adjustment. The moderating effects of youth’s ethnic identity and school racial composition also were tested. Participants were 352 African American youth (50.1% girls; mean age at Time 1?=?12.04 years; SD=?2.03) who participated in annual home interviews. Net of biological sex, expressive traits (kind, sensitive) were positively related to school self-esteem and school bonding for both girls and boys, but youth with higher levels of instrumentality (independent, competitive) exhibited sharper declines in academic achievement across adolescence. School racial composition moderated the effects of instrumentality at the between-person level, such that instrumentality was positively related to school self-esteem only for youth who attended schools with fewer African American students. These results highlight the importance of incorporating gendered personality traits, rather than biological sex alone, into theoretical accounts of African American youth’s school functioning.

     

Perceptions of Racism and Depressive Symptoms in African American Adolescents: The Role of Perceived Academic and Social Control

Experiences with racism are a common occurrence for African American youth and may result in negative self perceptions relevant for the experience of depressive symptoms. This study examined the longitudinal association between perceptions of racism and depressive symptoms, and whether perceived academic or social control mediated this association, in a community epidemiologically-defined sample of urban African American adolescents (N = 500; 46.4% female). Structural equation modeling revealed that experiences with racism were associated with low perceived academic control, which in turn was associated with increased depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that experiences with racism can have long lasting effects for African American youth’s depressive symptoms, and highlight the detrimental effects of experiences with racism for perceptions of control in the academic domain. Implications for intervention are discussed.

It Takes a Village: Protecting Rural African American Youth in the Context of Racism

Prior research demonstrates negative consequences of racism, however, little is known about community, parenting, and intrapersonal mechanisms that protect youth. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study illuminated linkages between positive and negative contextual influences on rural African American adolescent outcomes. Quantitative results provide support for Structural Ecosystems Theory, in that the influence of discrimination and collective socialization on adolescent outcomes was mediated by racial socialization and positive parenting. Parenting and community influences contributed to adolescent racial identity and self image, which protected against common negative responses to racism; including academic underachievement, succumbing to peer pressure, and aggressive tendencies. Qualitative results indicate that current measures of discrimination may underestimate adolescents’ experiences. Adolescents reported racist experiences in the domains of school, peers, and with the police (males only). Moreover, qualitative findings echoed and expanded quantitative results with respect to the importance of the protective nature of parents and communities.

Competence, Self-esteem, and Coping Efficacy as Mediators of Ecological Risk and Depressive Symptoms in Urban African American and European American Youth

Structural equation modeling was used to test [Sandler, American Journal of Community Psychology 29: 19–61.] a theoretical model of risk and resilience in an urban sample of African American and European American adolescents. The aims of the present study were to examine whether self-system processes (i.e., competence, self-esteem, and coping efficacy) mediated the relations between ecological risk and depressive symptoms and to determine if pathways varied across ethnic/racial groups. Results implicate self-esteem as a putative mediator of the impact of ecological risk on depressive symptoms for both African American and European American youth. In addition, coping efficacy was a mediator of the link between ecological risk and depressive symptoms for African American youth, but not for European American youth. The evidence supporting competence as a significant mediator of the relation between ecological risk and depressive symptoms was less compelling. Findings suggest substantial similarities in the pathways between ecological risk and depressive symptoms across African American and European American youth.

African American Adolescents’ Academic Persistence: A Strengths-Based Approach

African American adolescents are faced with the challenge to be successful academically, even though they may experience racial discrimination within school settings. Unfortunately, relatively little scholarship explores how African American adolescents draw on personal and cultural assets to persist and thrive in the face of discriminatory experiences. Additionally, little research has explored the buffering role of assets (e.g., racial pride, self-efficacy, and self-acceptance) on the relationship between school-based racial discriminatory experiences and the academic persistence of African American adolescents. Participants in the current study included 220 (58 % girls) socioeconomically diverse African American adolescents. Latent class analysis was utilized to identify clusters based on participants’ racial pride, self-efficacy, and self-acceptance. Three cluster groups were identified. The majority of the students belonged to the average group in which adolescents reported average levels of the three study assets. Adolescents in the higher group reported higher assets relative to their peers in the study and those in the lower group reported lower strength-based assets relative to their peers. Results indicated that school-based racial discrimination was associated with lower levels of academic persistence. Additionally, adolescents in the higher assets group reported higher academic persistence in comparison to the average and low group. Our model reflected a promotive but not protective influence of adolescents’ assets on their academic persistence.     

Experiences of Racism,Racial/Ethnic Attitudes,Motivated Fairness and Mental Health Outcomes Among Primary and Secondary School Students

While studies investigating the health effects of racial discrimination for children and youth have examined a range of effect modifiers, to date, relationships between experiences of racial discrimination, student attitudes, and health outcomes remain unexplored. This study uniquely demonstrates the moderating effects of vicarious racism and motivated fairness on the association between direct experiences of racism and mental health outcomes, specifically depressive symptoms and loneliness, among primary and secondary school students. Across seven schools, 263 students (54.4 % female), ranging from 8 to 17 years old (M = 11.2, SD = 2.2) reported attitudes about other racial/ethnic groups and experiences of racism. Students from minority ethnic groups (determined by country of birth) reported higher levels of loneliness and more racist experiences relative to the majority group students. Students from the majority racial/ethnic group reported higher levels of loneliness and depressive symptoms if they had more friends from different racial/ethnic groups, whereas the number of friends from different groups had no effect on minority students’ loneliness or depressive symptoms. Direct experiences of racism were robustly related to higher loneliness and depressive symptoms in multivariate regression models. However, the association with depressive symptoms was reduced to marginal significance when students reported low motivated fairness. Elaborating on the negative health effects of racism in primary and secondary school students provides an impetus for future research and the development of appropriate interventions.     

A Longitudinal Study of Self-Esteem: Implications for Adolescent Development

This study used a cluster analytic approach to identify self-esteem trajectories among adolescents over a four-year period from sixth to tenth grades (N = 1,160). Four self-esteem trajectories were identified that replicated previous research: (1) consistently high, (2) moderate and rising, (3) steadily decreasing, and (4) consistently low. Female adolescents were more likely to be in the steadily decreasing self-esteem group while male adolescents were more likely to be in the moderate and rising group. African American and white youth were equally distributed across groups. Using repeated measures analysis, we found that youth with consistently high and moderate and rising self-esteem reported developmentally healthier outcomes in Grade 10 than youth in the other two clusters. Outcomes included susceptibility to peer pressure, school grades, and alcohol use. Implications of these results for studying self-esteem and developmental change more generally are discussed.     

Racial/Ethnic Socialization and Parental Involvement in Education as Predictors of Cognitive Ability and Achievement in African American Children

Racial/ethnic socialization has not been studied in the context of other parenting behaviors such as parental involvement in education and its relationship to children??s cognitive outcomes. The present study tested the impact of racial/ethnic socialization and parental involvement in education on cognitive ability and achievement in a sample of African American youth. Two dimensions of racial/ethnic socialization, cultural exposure (i.e., exposure to diverse cultures) and cultural socialization (i.e., in-group pride), were examined in a sample of 92 African American mother?Cchild dyads, of which 50% were female. Maternal reports of involvement during their child??s 5th grade year were examined as a moderator in the relationship between racial/ethnic socialization and cognitive ability and achievement. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that mothers?? reports of cultural exposure messages measured in 4th grade predicted children??s scores on 5th grade assessments of passage comprehension. There was also a significant interaction indicating that greater cultural exposure and more parental involvement in education predicted better reading passage comprehension scores over time. The implications for assessing dimensions relevant to cognitive ability and achievement in African American children are discussed.     

Parental Monitoring, Parental Warmth, and Minority Youths’ Academic Outcomes: Exploring the Integrative Model of Parenting

Guided by the integrative model of parenting, the present study investigated the relationship between parental monitoring and racial/ethnic minority adolescents’ school engagement and academic motivation as a function of parental warmth, and explored whether these associations varied for boys and girls. Participants (60 % female) were 208 sixth through eighth grade students (63 % African American, 19 % Latino, 18 % Multiracial) from an urban middle school in the Midwestern United States. Youth completed an in-school survey with items on parenting (parental monitoring, mothers’/fathers’ warmth), cognitive engagement (school self-esteem), behavioral engagement (school trouble), and academic motivation (intrinsic motivation). As hypothesized, mothers’ warmth enhanced the association between parental monitoring and youths’ engagement and motivation. No gender differences in these associations emerged. Fathers’ warmth strengthened the negative association between parental monitoring and school trouble, and this association was stronger for boys. Implications regarding the importance of sustaining a high level of monitoring within the context of warm parent–adolescent relationships to best support academic outcomes among minority youth are discussed.     

A Longitudinal Investigation of Cognitive Self-schemas across Adolescent Development

Research in developmental psychology highlights youth’s self-schemas as one possible pathway to improve adolescents’ functioning and promote positive developmental outcomes. Despite this, the trajectory of positive and negative self-schemas is relatively understudied. This study addresses this limitation by empirically examining the trajectory of self-schemas in a community sample of 623 youth (M?=?13.04 years; 54% female; 49% African American, 4% Biracial, 47% European American) who were followed over a seven-year period. Caregivers completed measures of parenting practices, maternal rumination and negative inferential style, and adolescents completed a computerized behavioral task assessing self-schemas (i.e., mental frameworks that guide attention, interpretation, and memory of one’s experiences). Multilevel growth curve modeling results demonstrated a quadratic slope for negative self-schemas and no mean-level change for positive self-schemas. These trajectories did not vary by gender or racial group. However, parenting factors differentially influenced the trajectories. Specifically, higher levels of parental involvement at baseline, or an active interest and engagement in a child’s experiences and activities, related to lower levels of negative self-schemas during adolescence. Additionally, higher levels of parental rumination and parental negative control at baseline related to lower levels of youth positive self-schemas at baseline. These findings contribute to models of youth cognitive development.

     

The Impact of Racial Discrimination and Coping Strategies on Internalizing Symptoms in African American Youth

The current study examined the impact of racial discrimination stress on internalizing symptoms and coping strategies in a sample of 268 African American early adolescents (mean age = 12.90; 56% female) from low-income communities. Information about discrimination stress, coping, and internalizing symptoms was obtained via adolescents’ self-report. It was predicted that discrimination stress would be positively associated with depression and anxiety, as well as culturally-specific coping. Finally, culturally-relevant coping and mainstream coping were examined as moderators of the association between discrimination stress and internalizing symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that discrimination stress was positively associated with depression and anxiety and predicted culturally-relevant coping while controlling for mainstream coping. Communalistic coping moderated the association between discrimination and anxiety, but demonstrated a vulnerability function by increasing anxiety at high levels of discrimination. The results highlight the salience of racial discrimination for African American adolescents and the importance of considering culturally-specific coping behaviors.

Racial Identity and Academic Achievement in the Neighborhood Context: A Multilevel Analysis

Increasingly, researchers have found relationships between a strong, positive sense of racial identity and academic achievement among African American youth. Less attention, however, has been given to the roles and functions of racial identity among youth experiencing different social and economic contexts. Using hierarchical linear modeling, the authors examined the relationship of racial identity to academic outcomes, taking into account neighborhood-level factors. The sample consisted of 564 African American eighth-graders (56% male). The authors found that neighborhood characteristics and racial identity related positively to academic outcomes, but that some relationships were different across neighborhood types. For instance, in neighborhoods low in economic opportunity, high pride was associated with a higher GPA, but in more advantaged neighborhoods, high pride was associated with a lower GPA. The authors discuss the need to take youth’s contexts into account in order to understand how racial identity is active in the lives of African American youth.

Perceived Support and Internalizing Symptoms in African American Adolescents: Self-Esteem and Ethnic Identity as Mediators

Existing research leaves a gap in explaining why African American adolescents do not exhibit more anxiety and depression than other youth, at the same time that they experience more contextual risk factors. The current study examined the roles of social support as well as possible mediators self-esteem and ethnic identity (sense of belonging to one’s ethnic group) in reducing internalizing symptoms in 227 African American adolescents (mean age = 12.55). Structural equation models indicated that self-esteem and ethnic identity partially mediated the relation between social support and depression. For depression, ethnic identity accounted for more of the social support effect for males, whereas self-esteem had more impact for females. The mediation model for anxiety was supported in females, with self-esteem more important than ethnic identity. The results suggest that ethnic identity and self-esteem function as important links in how social support reduces internalizing symptoms in African American youth. Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology, Loyola University Chicago. Received Ph.D. in Psychology from The University of Memphis. Current interests include coping and resilience in African American youth and the role of family characteristics in children and adolescents’ stress and coping processes. Teaching Associate, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University. Received Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Rhode Island. Research interests include ethnic identity in African American youth and the effects of exposure to violence on well-being. Assistant Professor, Human Development and Social Policy, Northwestern University. Received Ph.D. in Psychology from University of California, Riverside. Primary research examines the nature and effects of socialization, father’s involvement, and how they interact with gender, race, and SES to impact youths’ academic and social development. Professor, Clinical and Developmental Psychology, Loyola University Chicago. Received Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Chicago. Current research interests include the developmental stage of adolescence with a focus on the daily experience of urban African American young adolescents and how this relates to their psycho- social well being. Dr. Richards served as a Predoctoral Adolescent Fellow (1979–1981) and Postdoctoral Adolescent Fellow (1984–1985) at the Clinical Research Training Program in Adolescence in Chicago, IL, which was co-directed by Dr. Daniel Offer., Loyola University Chicago, 6525 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL, 60626 USA Visiting Professor, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs; President, University of Minnesota and Global Philanthropy Alliance. Received Ph.D. in Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistical Analysis from the University of Chicago. Research interest is in adolescent development. Dr. Petersen served as Coordinator of the Clinical Research Training Program in Adolescence (1978–1982) and Associate Director (1976–80) and Director (1980–82) of the Laboratory for the Study of Adolescence at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center (Chicago, IL) where Dr. Daniel Offer served as Director of the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Petersen and Dr. Offer collaborated on numerous research papers while working together at Michael Reese Hospital., University of Minnesota and Global Philanthropy Alliance USA     

Racial Pride and Religiosity among African American Boys: Implications for Academic Motivation and Achievement

The persistent underachievement among African American boys has led to increased empirical inquiry, yet little research considers within-group variation in achievement nor positive youth characteristics that help explain positive achievement outcomes. This study conceptualized culturally-based factors (racial pride and religiosity) as adolescent assets that would promote African American boys’ achievement and also enhance positive effects of other youth assets (positive educational utility beliefs) on achievement. Our sample included 158 adolescent boys (M = 17.08) from a large, socioeconomically diverse suburban community context. Accounting for demographic background variables, educational utility beliefs were positively associated with academic grade performance. A significant educational utility beliefs and racial pride interaction indicated a stronger, positive association of educational utility beliefs with grade performance among boys with higher racial pride relative to those with lower racial pride. Also, there was a stronger positive association between educational utility beliefs and grades for boys reporting lower religious importance, but boys endorsing both lower educational utility beliefs and religious importance were at highest risk for low grade performance. Overall results suggest the importance of considering culturally-based factors in studying achievement motivation processes among ethnic minority adolescents.     

African–American Parents’ Racial and Ethnic Socialization and Adolescent Academic Grades: Teasing Out the Role of Gender

This study examined the relationship of racial and ethnic socialization and academic achievement in a sample of 218 African American adolescents (grades 9–12; 52% girls) attending a public high school in the northeastern United States. Researchers were particularly interested in whether adolescent gender moderated the relationship between racial and ethnic socialization and academic grades. Results indicated that aspects of ethnic socialization, African American cultural values and African American heritage were linked to adolescent grades. Additionally, adolescent gender was found to moderate the association between these socialization variables and grades. The findings also suggest that socialization provided by paternal caregivers around African American cultural values and African American heritage may have differential effects for academic grades than the socialization messages provided by maternal caregivers. Information generated from this study broadens the understanding of socialization factors that can facilitate positive academic outcomes in African American youth and has practical implications for parents and educators.