Racism and preparation for bias within African American families.

Abstract

Objectives: Exposure to racism experienced by caregivers poses a threat to child developmental outcomes. The current study examines the effects of caregiver-experienced racism on the development of internalizing behaviors for African American children during a sensitive period in their development of racial awareness. Two aspects of caregiver-provided ethnic racial socialization (ERS), cultural socialization and preparation for bias, were assessed as moderators. Supported by prior research, cultural socialization was hypothesized to be protective. Given that research on preparation for bias in early childhood is sparse or inconclusive, no directional hypothesis was formulated for the moderation effect of preparation for bias. Method: A community-recruited, low-income sample of 130 African American caregivers and their children (T3 Mage = 6.20, T4 Mage = 7.17) reported on past-year experiences with racism, ERS practices, and child internalizing behaviors. Path analyses were utilized to assess the influence of caregivers’ racist experiences and ERS practices on children’s first grade internalizing behaviors after controlling for kindergarten levels. Results: Cultural socialization was not a significant protective factor as hypothesized. However, caregivers’ past-year experiences with racism predicted more anxious and sad behaviors in children when caregivers reported using more preparation for bias. Conclusions: The effects of caregivers’ racism experiences on their 6-year-old children’s internalizing behaviors were contingent on their use of preparation for bias socialization. This study adds to the literature on racism and further elucidates the role preparation for discrimination plays in developmental outcomes for young African American children.

One talk at a time: Developing an ethnic‐racial socialization intervention for Black, Latinx, and Asian American families

“…The differential outcomes in the preparation for bias literature may potentially be a result of the fact that these messages can be more complex and require more parental skills (e.g., emotion regulation and empathy). Preparation for bias messages are also contingent upon parents’ own experiences with racism (Osborne et al, 2020). Parents struggle with how to provide balanced messages that attend to developmental readiness, build skills to cope with discrimination, and do not overinflate distrust for other groups (Hughes et al., 2006).…”

Life Course Racism and Depressive Symptoms among Young Black Women

“…The transition of childhood-adolescence to young adulthood is challenging for many individuals, especially Black youth, because they may no longer have the family protections that might have shielded them from racism. Surprisingly, young BIPOC adults whose families prepared them for bias and discrimination have been found to have more depressive symptoms than young adults whose parents did not openly discuss race or racism, perhaps a protective parental act [52][53][54]. In a study of Black women in Detroit, MI, the authors reported an association between a change in the frequency of discrimination over time and the change in depressive symptoms over time [23].…”

Let’s talk: The impact of gendered racial socialization on Black adolescent girls’ mental health.

“…In Brown et al’s (2016) development of a measure of gendered racial-ethnic socialization, multiple forms of gendered racial socialization were identified. Extending previous work on racial socialization investigating the intersection of message types (e.g., Osborne et al, 2021), in this study, we explore the interplay between two forms of gendered racial socialization (internalized gendered racial oppression [IGRO] and gendered racial pride and empowerment [GRPE]; Brown et al, 2016), and how their interplay affects the mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress) of Black adolescent girls.…”