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

ABSTRACT

Attachment theory posits that parenting plays akey role in children’s attachment and subsequent development. Given the normativity of racial discrimination on everyday life experiences of African American families, there is a need to integrate historical and socio-environmental processes in studies to understand how minoritized parents raise secure and stable children. Results from the current study revealed direct associations between mothers’ reports of discrimination and heightened depression and anxiety. Maternal discriminatory experiences were indirectly associated with more negative parenting and compromised parent-child relationship quality, through mothers’ psychological functioning. Elevated emotional and behavioral management problems among youth were directly associated with exposure to racial discrimination. Exposure to discrimination during middle childhood facilitated adapted or learned strategies to manage similar situations as youth transitioned into adolescence, with reduced patterns of depressive symptomology. No significant gender effects emerged. Implications for theoretical advancement and future research are provided.

KEYWORDS:

• Attachment theory
• longitudinal design
• african american parent-child relationship quality
• youth
• social competence
• mental health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. https://www.vumc.org/health-policy/person/velma-mcbride-murry-phd.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by funds from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Core Center of Excellence grant [P30 DA027827]; the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) [MH48165, MH62669]; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) [029136-02]; NIMH [MH62666] and NIDA [DA021898, DA18871]; and NIMH [MH062668]. In addition, Velma McBride Murry’s involvement is supported by funding from the Lois Autrey Betts Chair Endowment, Vanderbilt University.