Understanding the Links between Racial Discrimination and Perceived Stress and Coping Among African American and Caribbean Black Adolescents: Examining Racial Socialization As a Protective Factor.

The pernicious effects of racial discrimination (RD) can have debilitating effects on Black adolescents’ coping (Scott & House, 2005) and mental health (Pachter et al, 2018). In some cases, RD is associated with a loss of control or hopelessness (Nyborg & Curry, 2003); in other cases, RD is associated with the overexertion of active strategies to manage the stress (Bennett et al., 2004). Parental racial socialization (RS) is crucial in helping youth manage RD and its adverse effects, but little is known about the benefit of different forms of RS for Black youth of different ethnic backgrounds despite evidence that culture and nationality may influence how parents talk to youth about race and coping (Seaton et al., 2008). An enhanced understanding of ethnic differences in the protective strategies used by Black parents will improve the relevance of parenting interventions designed to prevent problems associated with race-related stressors. Therefore, the current study examines how RS messages (i.e., preparation for bias, egalitarianism, promotion of mistrust) moderate associations between RD and stress and coping, and if these associations differ for African American and Caribbean Black adolescents.

Methods: Participants were 1048 Black adolescents (716 African American; 332 Caribbean Black) who participated in the longitudinal National Survey of American Life Adolescent supplement study. Adolescents reported about RD experiences, parental RS, stress, mastery, and coping. Hierarchical linear regression was used to examine the moderating effects of RS and ethnicity. Given the complex, multistage sample design involving clustering and stratification, all analyses are based on weighted data. Adolescent gender was controlled in the analyses.

Results: The moderating effects of RS varied for African American and Caribbean Black adolescents. RD was associated with less coping behaviors for African American adolescents who reported high egalitarian messages. RD was associated with less mastery beliefs for Caribbean Black youth who reported high preparation for bias messages. Additionally, RD was associated with more stress for Caribbean Black youth who reported high levels of preparation for bias.

Conclusions: Findings indicate that egalitarian and preparation for bias messages differentially influence the effect of RD on adolescents’ stress, mastery, and coping and highlight the importance of exploring ethnic heterogeneity within Black families. Implications for culturally relevant preventative interventions for Black families will be discussed along with future directions for research.