EMBRace: Developing a Racial Socialization Intervention to Reduce Racial Stress and Enhance Racial Coping among Black Parents and Adolescents

Abstract

Researchers have illustrated the deleterious psychological effects that racial discrimination has exerted on Black Americans. The resulting racial stress and trauma (RST) from experiences with discrimination has been linked to negative wellness outcomes and trajectories for Black youth and families. Racial socialization (RS)—defined as the verbal and nonverbal messages that families use to communicate race to their children—can be a cultural strength and has been associated with positive outcomes in Black youth. Furthermore, the Racial Encounter Coping Appraisal and Socialization Theory (RECAST) encourages the frequent and competent use of RS between family members to cope with the negative impact of RST. Guided by RECAST, the purpose of this article is to describe the development of the Engaging, Managing, and Bonding through Race (EMBRace) intervention targeting the RS practices between Black adolescents and families. The authors explore current research on RST, discuss why traditional coping models for stress are inadequate for racially specific stressors, highlight RECAST as a burgeoning racial coping and socialization model, and describe how RS can be used as a tool to intervene within Black families. This is followed by a detailed description of the development and use of the EMBRace intervention which seeks to reduce RST through RS psychoeducation and practice, stress management, and the promotion of bonding in Black families. This article aims to serve as an example of a culturally relevant RS intervention for Black families who may benefit from clinical treatment for psychological distress from racially discriminatory encounters.

Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Black American Youth and Families: A Case Study from the EMBRace Intervention

“…Community members and former study participants also provided input regarding session content and flow and general recruitment strategies through focus groups. Additional information regarding the intervention can be found in a feasibility and acceptability study [ 17 ] and a forthcoming development paper [ 18 ].…”

COVID‐19 Interconnectedness: Health Inequity, the Climate Crisis, and Collective Trauma

“…This pandemic has shown that communities of color suffer disproportionately from the disease in the United States, which is not surprising given the additive, adverse effects of racism and other harmful sociopolitical conditions (Anderson, McKenny, & Stevenson, 2019; Waite et al, 2020; Watson, 2019a,b). For example, social risk factors (i.e., racism) contribute to African American mothers having significantly higher rates of premature births and infant and maternal deaths regardless of class and educational status (Anderson et al, 2019).…”

“I Don't See Color”: Characterizing Players’ Racial Attitudes and Experiences via an Anti-Bias Simulation Videogame

“…), game system (i.e., environment, mechanics, visual design, animations, etc. ), and computational model embedded within Passage Home [7] were developed through a multi-year interdisciplinary designbased research effort conducted in collaboration with clinicians and researchers from an RES clinical intervention called the Engaging, Managing, and Bonding through Race (EMBRace) program [8]. The Racial Encounter Coping Appraisal and Socialization Theory (RECAST) [3] provides a model for understanding the effects of racial socialization on racial coping and self-efficacy for addressing racialized stress.…”