Cascading Influences of Caregiver Experiences of Discrimination and Adolescent Antisocial Behavior

ABSTRACT

Objective

Although a growing body of work has found that parents’ experiences of racial and socioeconomic (SES) based discrimination are directly related to their children’s behavior problems , more work is needed to understand possible pathways by which these factors are related and to identify potential targets for prevention and/or intervention.

Method

Using a large (N = 572), longitudinal sample of low-income families from diverse racial backgrounds, the current study explored whether caregivers’ experiences of racial and SES discrimination during their children’s middle childhood (i.e. ages 7.5–9.5) predicted youth-reported antisocial behavior during adolescence and potential factors mediating these associations (e.g. caregiver depressive symptoms and positive parenting practices).

Results

We found that higher levels of caregiver experiences of discrimination at child ages 7.5–9.5 predicted higher levels of caregiver depressive symptoms at child age 10.5, which were related to lower levels of caregiver endorsement of positive parenting practices at child age 14.5, which in turn, predicted higher levels of youth-reported antisocial behavior at age 16.

Conclusion

The findings highlight the adverse effects of racism and discrimination in American society. Second, the findings underscore the need to develop interventions which mitigate racism and discrimination among perpetrators and alleviate depressive symptoms among caregivers.

Acknowledgments

Support for this research was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse to the fifth, sixth, and seventh authors (R01 DA023245, R01 DA022773). We also extend our appreciation to the staff and research participants of the Early Steps Multisite Study.

Disclosure Statement

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

Supplementary Data

Supplemental material for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2024.2301770

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse [R01 DA023245, R01 DA022773].