“At the end of the day, someone done lost their child”: A mixed methods analysis of Black families' experiences of the sociopolitical climate

Abstract

How Black Americans in the United States (U.S.) make sense of a sociopolitical climate marked by racist imagery, tensions, and police violence is important to understand given the numerously documented detrimental effects of racism‐related stress on the well‐being of Black parents and children. Informed by Racism‐Related Stress Theory, the current study employed a convergent parallel mixed methods design to better understand the ways racism‐related stressors in the sociopolitical climate impacted the daily lives and mental health of a sample of Black families with low income. Seventy‐eight Black American preadolescents (Mage = 11.0; 43.6% girls) and their parents (79% mothers; 76% living below the U.S. federal poverty level [FPL]) from the southwestern U.S. reported their symptoms of depression and how they had been affected by racial stressors in the sociopolitical climate between Fall 2018 and Summer 2019. A nested sample of 10 parents (80% mothers; 80% living below the FPL) from the quantitative sample also participated in a semi‐structured interview. Meta‐inferences across methods were drawn pertaining to the influence of child gender on parents' interpretation of effects for children, the toll racism‐related stress in the sociopolitical climate takes on Black families, and the transferal of effects on parents to children through parenting and parental depressive symptoms. Findings spotlight the need for policies and family‐centered programming that address the racism‐related stress faced by many Black youth and their families. Providing families with opportunities and tools that can potentially mitigate harmful effects and foster empowerment could promote positive and lasting change.