Racial Socialization as a Mechanism for Positive Development Among African American Youth

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/93564/1/cdep226.pd

The Relationships of School-Based Discrimination and Ethnic-Racial Socialization to African American Adolescents’ Achievement Outcomes

Schools provide a place of learning for adolescents and can be considered safe havens. However, in some cases, African American adolescents are subjected to discrimination by peers and teachers, which can impact their own academic engagement and abilities. Applying a risk and resilience framework, the present study examined the relationship between adolescents’ perceptions of school-based discrimination and academic outcomes in a sample of African American middle school students. Adolescents’ reports of perceived school-based discrimination and racial socialization were identified as predictors of academic outcomes (i.e., academic persistence, academic self-efficacy, and academic self-concept). The study also investigated whether racial socialization moderated the relationship between school-based discrimination and achievement outcomes. The study sample comprised 74 African American adolescents (49% female) and one of their parents. Hierarchical regressions showed that racial discrimination by peers was negatively related to academic outcomes. Furthermore, we found that dimensions of racial socialization buffered the effects of school-based discrimination on academic outcomes. Implications for the importance of investigating race-related factors in the academic outcomes of African American youth will be discussed

Academic Identity Formation and Motivation among Ethnic Minority Adolescents: The Role of the Self Between Internal and External Perceptions of Identity

Identity is often studied as a motivational construct within research on adolescent development and education. However, differential dimensions of identity, as a set of internal values versus external perceptions of social belonging, may relate to motivation in distinct ways. Utilizing a sample of 600 African American and Latino adolescents (43% female; mean age = 13.9), the present study examines whether self-regulated learning (SRL) mediates two distinct dimensions of academic identity (i.e., value and belonging) and mastery orientation. This study also examines whether self-efficacy moderates the mediating role of SRL between identity and mastery. Results show evidence for moderated mediation between SRL and academic self-efficacy. Self-regulated learning played its strongest mediating role between belonging and mastery and for low-efficacy students specifically. Child Developmen

The Relationships of School-Based Discrimination and Ethnic-Racial Socialization to African American Adolescents’ Achievement Outcomes

Schools provide a place of learning for adolescents and can be considered safe havens. However, in some cases, African American adolescents are subjected to discrimination by peers and teachers, which can impact their own academic engagement and abilities. Applying a risk and resilience framework, the present study examined the relationship between adolescents’ perceptions of school-based discrimination and academic outcomes in a sample of African American middle school students. Adolescents’ reports of perceived school-based discrimination and racial socialization were identified as predictors of academic outcomes (i.e., academic persistence, academic self-efficacy, and academic self-concept). The study also investigated whether racial socialization moderated the relationship between school-based discrimination and achievement outcomes. The study sample comprised 74 African American adolescents (49% female) and one of their parents. Hierarchical regressions showed that racial discrimination by peers was negatively related to academic outcomes. Furthermore, we found that dimensions of racial socialization buffered the effects of school-based discrimination on academic outcomes. Implications for the importance of investigating race-related factors in the academic outcomes of African American youth will be discussed

Racial/ethnic socialization and identity development in black families: The role of parent and youth reports

Racial/ethnic (R/E) socialization is widely practiced in R/E minority families. However, only recently have models been developed to understand how parents’ R/E socialization messages influence adolescent development. The primary goal of the present study was to clarify and extend existing work on R/E socialization in African American (Black) families by distinguishing between parent and youth reports of parents’ R/E socialization messages and examining the extent to which adolescents and their parents agree about these socialization messages. In addition, we tested a theoretical model in which parent-reported R/E socialization messages have an indirect effect on the development of youth R/E identity through youth reports of their parents’ R/E socialization messages. Using a combination of open- and close-ended data from a longitudinal study of self-identified Black adolescents and their parents, we found statistically significant parent–youth agreement about whether parents send both general R/E socialization messages and, for daughters, specific R/E socialization messages. R/E socialization messages focused on promoting cultural pride and history were associated positively with R/E identity development, whereas messages focused on preparing youth for discrimination tended to be unrelated to R/E identity development. The results largely supported the hypothesis that parent reports of parents’ R/E socialization messages are related indirectly to the development of adolescent R/E identity via youth reports of parents’ R/E socialization messages