Longitudinal study of the cascading effects of racial discrimination on parenting and adjustment among African American youth

Murry, Velma McBride; Gonzalez, Catherine M.; Hanebutt, Rachel; Bulgin, Dominique; Coates, Erica E.; Inniss-Thompson, Misha N.; Debreaux, Marlena; Wilson, Walter E.; Abel, Dalton; Cortez, McKenna B.

doi:10.1080/14616734.2021.1976926

Cited by 35 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Chinese American parents reported high rates of COVID-19-related racial discrimination experiences, which were found to be associated with higher rates of depressive symptoms and poorer psychological well-being (Cheah et al, 2020). Our findings highlighted the need to incorporate examinations of the contextual stressor of racial discrimination in parenting determinant models for racial–ethnic minority families even when non-racial-/ethnic-specific parenting practices are of focus (Murry et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Risk and protective processes in the link between racial discrimination and Chinese American mothers’ psychologically controlling parenting.

Xue¹,

Cheah²,

Hart³

2024

Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology

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Objectives: Racial-ethnic minority parents' experiences with racial discrimination may function as a contextual stressor that negatively impacts psychological functioning to shape less effective parenting practices, including the use of more psychological control. Moreover, various factors can enhance or diminish psychological functioning in the face of racial discrimination. Accordingly, we examined the associations between Chinese American mothers' experiences of racial discrimination and three subdimensions of psychologically controlling parenting by considering the mediating roles of negative (depressive symptoms) and positive (psychological well-being) psychological functioning and the moderating role of maternal acculturation toward the mainstream culture (AMC) as a protective factor. Method: Participants comprised 226 Chinese American mothers of preschoolers (M age = 37.65; SD age = 4.39). Two separate moderated-mediation models with depressive symptoms or psychological well-being as mediators were tested using maximum-likelihood estimation. Results: Findings revealed significant direct positive associations between racial discrimination and all three subdimensions of psychological control (love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming practices), as well as indirect associations through depressive symptoms but not psychological well-being. Importantly, the indirect associations were further moderated by maternal AMC. Conclusions: Results illustrate the importance of incorporating the contextual stressor of perceived racial discrimination in parenting determinant models and examining specific and nuanced processes in understanding the role of psychological adjustment. Support for Chinese American mothers' engagement in and access to various resources in the mainstream cultural context may help alleviate the adverse impact of racial discrimination on mothers' psychological health and ultimately on their negative parenting behaviors. Public Significance StatementChinese American mothers' racial discrimination experiences contributed to their greater engagement in psychologically controlling parenting through their impact on mothers' depressive symptoms. However, Chinese American mothers' high engagement in the mainstream American culture negated the association between discrimination and parenting through their depressive symptoms. These findings demonstrate that racial discrimination impacted mothers' parenting but mothers' behavioral engagement in the mainstream culture can have protective functions for their mental health and subsequent parenting.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Risk and protective processes in the link between racial discrimination and Chinese American mothers’ psychologically controlling parenting.

Xue¹,

Cheah²,

Hart³

2024

Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology

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“…These findings have important implications for intervention programs promoting positive development among Chinese American families and policies aimed at decreasing anti-Asian racism, especially given our focus on mothers of preschool-aged children. This is a developmental period that is often neglected in studies of racial discrimination but is a particularly vulnerable time frame when the negative impact of racism can set up an aversive parenting trajectory (Brody et al, 2008; Murry et al, 2022). Parenting in this period can have enduring effects on children’s socioemotional and cognitive development that extends into adulthood (Hentges et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although no study to date has specifically examined the association between racial discrimination and authoritarian parenting in Chinese American families, the limited research on racial discrimination and parenting has consistently found that parents’ experiences of racial discrimination are associated with more negative, controlling, and coercive parenting practices (e.g., harsh discipline, overreactive parenting, rigid control) in other ethnic minority families such as Latino/a/x (Ayón & García, 2019) and African Americans (Anderson et al, 2015; Brody et al, 2008; Murry et al, 2022). Among Chinese immigrant families in Canada and the United States, experiences of racial discrimination and race-related stress have also been found to be associated with less parental warmth and reasoning, greater rigid psychological control (Miao et al, 2018), and higher levels of parent–child hostility over time (Hou et al, 2017).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal pathways linking racial discrimination and Chinese American mothers’ parenting.

Zong,

Cheah,

Ren

et al. 2023

Developmental Psychology

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Racial discrimination is a salient and chronic stressor for ethnic minority parents that can negatively impact their parenting. The present study used a short-term longitudinal design to examine the link between Chinese American mothers’ stressful experiences of racial discrimination and their authoritarian parenting practices, the mediating role of mothers’ depressive symptoms, and the moderating role of their behavioral acculturation toward American and Chinese cultures in these associations (i.e., behavioral participation in the American culture and behavioral maintenance of Chinese culture). Participants were 143 first-generation Chinese American mothers (Mage = 38.0 years) with preschool-age children (Mage = 4.6 years; 50% girls). Mothers reported their racial discrimination stress, depressive symptoms, American and Chinese behavioral acculturation, and authoritarian parenting across two time points over a 6-month interval. A moderated mediation model was conducted using structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized associations. Chinese American mothers’ depressive symptoms mediated the association between racial discrimination stress and authoritarian parenting. The path between racial discrimination stress and depressive symptoms and the indirect effect of racial discrimination stress on authoritarian parenting were buffered by mothers’ behavioral acculturation toward American culture and exacerbated by their behavioral acculturation toward Chinese culture. This study provides the first longitudinal evidence linking Chinese American mothers’ experiences of racial discrimination and their negative parenting over time as well as mediating and moderating factors underlying this process. Our findings highlight the need for systemic efforts addressing racial inequalities and fostering positive development in Asian Americans and other marginalized families.

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“…Several scholars have called for Black youth development work—which focuses heavily on core constructs such as racial discrimination, racial‐ethnic identity, coping, and racial socialization—to integrate relevant constructs from other areas of developmental science. Simultaneously, areas of developmental science whose theoretical and empirical work primarily rely on White populations must draw from the rich scholarship on Black youth development to better represent the lived experiences of Black youth more accurately (Coard, 2021 ; Dunbar et al., 2016 ; Murry et al., 2021 ; Stern, Barbarin, & Cassidy, 2021 ).…”

Section: Suggestions For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Black Lives and Black Research Matter: How our Collective Emotions Continue to Drive a Movement

Dunbar

2022

J of Research on Adolesc

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The author discusses (1) how the collective emotional experience of the Black community has propelled two parallel movements, Black Lives Matter and Black Research Matters, (2) the state of developmental science as it pertains to Black youth, and (3) suggestions for future research to integrate across fields and to evolve beyond Black pain to incorporate Black joy. The author suggests that the palpable anger collectively felt and expressed as a community has propelled a host of social‐political actions to dismantle anti‐Black systems of oppression, including within academia. She highlights that the scholarship on Black youth development has driven innovations in theory and methodology that have influenced the field of developmental science broadly and recommends future research areas for consideration.

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Longitudinal study of the cascading effects of racial discrimination on parenting and adjustment among African American youth

Cited by 35 publications

References 46 publications

Risk and protective processes in the link between racial discrimination and Chinese American mothers’ psychologically controlling parenting.

Risk and protective processes in the link between racial discrimination and Chinese American mothers’ psychologically controlling parenting.

Longitudinal pathways linking racial discrimination and Chinese American mothers’ parenting.

Black Lives and Black Research Matter: How our Collective Emotions Continue to Drive a Movement

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