The objective of this study was to examine the agreement between African American and Latinx parents and their school-age children regarding the amount of ethnic–racial socialization (ERS) parents provided and relations to youth ethnic–racial identity development. Method: The sample included 353 parents and their 10–11 year-old children (57% Latinx; 55% boys), who both completed surveys 1 year apart. Latent difference scores were used to quantify agreement between parents and youth and to examine the relation between agreement and family and child characteristics including youth ethnic–racial identity development. Results: Parents reported higher levels of ERS than children, and differences were greater for preparation for bias than cultural socialization. Higher levels of cultural socialization and greater discrepancies between parent and youth reports were associated with greater ethnic–racial identity development 1 year later. Greater discrepancies in report of bias preparation were associated with less ethnic–racial identity development, but this effect was not significant once the impact of parent-reported bias preparation was accounted for. Conclusion: Incorporating both parent and youth reports of ERS provides a more complete picture of these practices and associated outcomes. Implications for the study of ERS and clinical intervention are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Impact Statement
Minoritized parents routinely strive to increase their child’s understanding of their group’s cultural history and how to cope with discrimination. Less is known regarding how well school-age children incorporate these messages from parents. Findings indicate that differences in school-age children’s perceptions of ethnic–racial socialization are associated with differences in ethnic–racial identity development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Leslie A. Anderson
Dr. Leslie A. Anderson is an Assistant Professor of Family & Consumer Sciences and a licensed marriage and family therapist with over 10 years of clinical experience, primarily serving Black youths and families. As a faculty affiliate of The National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED), she conducts research on the social and emotional learning and psychological well-being of both children and adults. Dr. Anderson earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science, with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy, from the University of Georgia.
As a scholar-practitioner, Dr. Anderson's program of research focuses on the intersection of Black familial processes, race and racism, and psychological well-being. Specifically, she investigates how racial socialization and a positive racial identity act as protective factors against racial harm and injury.
Her research has been published in the Journal of Family Theory and Review, the Journal of Black
Psychology, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, the Journal of Research on Adolescence, the Journal of Social Issuesand others. Dr. Anderson also serves on the editorial boards ofthe Journal of Family Theory and Review and Family Process, and she reviews for numerous other academic journals.
A cornerstone of Dr. Anderson’s scholarship is her commitment to amplifying the voices of underserved and historically excluded communities while centering their lived experiences. She is currently part of a multi-institutional research team conducting a longitudinal project funded by the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) that aims to identify risk and protective factors for suicidality among young Black children in early and middle childhood.
