Explore the vast range of titles available.

Based on ecological systems theory, adolescents’ school climates can influence family interactions. In this study, it was tested whether associations between adolescents’ and parents’ perceptions of school climate in 7th grade (Wave 1) and adolescents’ later psychological functioning in 11th grade (Wave 4) were partially mediated by parental self-efficacy and parenting practices when the adolescents were in 8th grade (Wave 3). Path analyses were conducted in MPlus v. 7.4. Among 660 Black American families from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study, adolescents’ positive perceptions of school climate were directly related to fewer internalizing and externalizing symptoms, higher resourcefulness, and higher self-esteem. Adolescents’ perceptions of school climate were also indirectly related to their externalizing symptoms through parent–adolescent communication and conflict. Adolescents who reported more positive school climates reported higher parent–adolescent communication and lower parent–adolescent conflict. Adolescents’ reports of school climate were also indirectly associated with self-esteem. Parents’ perceptions of school climate were not directly related to adolescents’ psychological functioning but were directly related to parental self-efficacy and parent–adolescent communication. They were also indirectly related to adolescents’ externalizing symptoms through parental self-efficacy. Parental self-efficacy was positively related to parent–adolescent communication and parents’ home-based school involvement. Overall, the findings highlight the role of school context in adolescents’ psychological functioning and family processes.

Objective The goal was to examine direct and indirect associations between racial discrimination and parenting among African American mothers and fathers. Background Experiences of racial discrimination are common among African Americans, with well‐documented effects on individual functioning. Greater attention to associations between racial discrimination and family functioning, including parenting, is needed, as are tests of whether these associations might arise indirectly through depressive symptoms. Method Data from 346 African American families were used to examine correlations between racial discrimination and nurturant involved parenting, consistent discipline, and educational involvement among mothers and fathers, and to examine indirect effect models testing linkages through depressive symptoms. Results There was minimal evidence of significant direct (bivariate) associations between racial discrimination and parenting. There were, however, significant negative indirect effects from racial discrimination to nurturant involved parenting and to consistent discipline through depressive symptoms for mothers and fathers. Conclusion Higher levels of racial discrimination were associated with lower levels of nurturant involved parenting and consistent discipline through higher depressive symptoms. Implications Conceptual models describing the effects of racial discrimination on families should integrate indirect effects through individual functioning. Interventions focused on supporting African American parents should address the harmful effects of racial discrimination on individual and family well‐being.

Positive relationships with parents and nonparental adults have the potential to bolster Black adolescents’ socio-emotional well-being. Though each type of intergenerational relationship has been linked to more positive youth outcomes, few studies have examined the interactive influences of parenting and natural mentoring relationships on the socio-emotional development of Black youth. In the current study, we examined associations between involved-vigilant parenting and the psychological well-being and social skills of Black early adolescents ( n  = 259; 58 % female; mean age = 13.56, SD = .96) across types of natural mentoring relationships. Using K-means cluster analysis, we identified two types of mentoring relationships (less connected and more connected) based on relationship length, involvement, closeness, and frequency of contact. Youth with more connected mentoring relationships ( n  = 123) had higher psychological well-being and social skills than youth with no mentor ( n  = 64) or less connected mentors ( n  = 72). Youth without a natural mentor and youth with less connected mentors did not differ in their levels of social skills or psychological well-being. Structural equation modeling was conducted to determine if associations between involved-vigilant parenting and youths’ psychological well-being and social skills varied among youth with a more connected mentoring relationship in comparison to youth without a mentor or with a less connected mentor, controlling for participants’ gender, age, school, and parental education. The positive associations between involved-vigilant parenting and adolescents’ psychological well-being and social skills were weaker among adolescents with a more connected mentoring relationship in comparison to their peers without or with a less connected mentoring relationship. These results suggest that youth may be more strongly influenced by involved-vigilant parenting in the absence of a strongly connected natural mentoring relationship.

African American mother-child dyads (N = 99) were observed interacting on a collaborative puzzle exercise. Raters blind to the purpose of the study rated the dyads on several mother and child behaviors. Mothers of daughters were rated as more empathetic, encouraging, warm, and accepting and less negative than mothers of sons. Male children were more challenging and less happy, relaxed, and engaged. Mediation analyses found that the differences in mother-child relationships explained the gender differences in child behavior. These patterns were consistent across different child age groups and after controlling for family socioeconomic status. It was concluded that many of the gender disparities may be reduced with empirically informed and culturally sensitive parent training interventions that teach parents the necessity of being warm and loving as well as encouraging both male and female children to excel.

High-effort coping (feeling like one must work harder than others to succeed due to anticipated discrimination) is an understudied concept in adolescence. The current study examined among Black American adolescents surveyed in eighth and 11th grade (N = 630, 49% female) how high-effort coping moderated the relations between teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and psychological distress across time, and whether the buffering role of high-effort coping varied by adolescent gender and socioeconomic status. Experiencing racial discrimination from teachers in eighth grade was positively related with depressive symptoms, anger, and suicidal ideation in 11th grade. High-effort coping buffered against teacher discrimination for suicidal ideation among low socioeconomic status youth, as well as for anger among high socioeconomic status youth. Findings underscore the harmful influence of racial discrimination on Black American adolescents’ mental health, as well as suggest that among certain subpopulations, high-effort coping may be one psychologically protective resource through which Black American youth retain positive feelings that are undermined by racial discrimination, and thus promote mental well-being.

Objective The purpose of the current study was to use the integrative model for the Study of Stress in Black American Families to test whether a set of maternal race‐related stressors were related to adolescents' academic and behavioral outcomes through maternal depressive symptoms and involved‐vigilant parenting. Gender differences in these relations were tested also. Background Research on race‐related stressors has predominantly focused on the role of personal racial discrimination experiences on individual outcomes. Yet parents' vicarious and anticipated racial discrimination also may be related to parents' psychological functioning, family processes, and adolescent development. Method Path analyses were conducted in Mplus 8.2 using online survey data from a national sample of 317 African American mothers of adolescents to examine direct and indirect relations between maternal personal, vicarious, and anticipated racial discrimination, and adolescents' problem behaviors, grades, and academic persistence. Results Maternal personal racial discrimination experiences were positively related to adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors directly and indirectly through maternal depressive symptoms and involved‐vigilant parenting. Anticipated racial discrimination and vicarious racial discrimination were indirectly related to better adolescent outcomes through positive relations with maternal involved‐vigilant parenting. Conclusion Maternal personal, vicarious, and anticipated racial discrimination act differently in relation to adolescent competencies in African American families.

Discrimination concerns and parental expectations were examined as mediators of the relations between gender and parenting practices among 796 African American mothers of 11- to 14-year-olds from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study. Mothers of sons had more concerns about racial discrimination impacting their adolescents' future, whereas mothers of daughters had more gender discrimination concerns. Racial discrimination concerns, but not gender discrimination concerns, were related to lower maternal academic and behavioral expectations. Maternal expectations were related to mothers' responsiveness, rule enforcement, monitoring, and parent—adolescent conflict. The relations between gender and parenting practices were partially explained through mothers' racial discrimination concerns and expectations. These findings demonstrate the importance of contextual factors on African American family processes.

Objective This study examined whether Black American fathers' perceptions of their adolescents' experiences of racial discrimination were related to fathers' depressive symptoms and if this association was moderated by fathers' racial identity beliefs and adolescent gender. Background Racial discrimination is not only an individual‐level but also a family‐level stressor for Black families. Racial discrimination experienced by parents can spillover to influence their children; however, fewer studies have examined how adolescents' discrimination experiences relate to parents' psychological outcomes, especially among Black fathers. Method Data were collected via online survey from 240 Black fathers (Mage = 45.93 years, SD = 8.72) of adolescents (Mage = 14.44 years, SD = 2.11) residing in the United States. Participants completed questions about their racial identity beliefs and depressive symptoms, as well as their adolescents' experiences with racial discrimination. Results Regression analyses revealed that adolescent‐experienced racial discrimination was directly associated with fathers' depressive symptoms. Fathers whose race was more central to them (racial centrality) had higher depressive symptoms when their adolescents had high racial discrimination experiences. Also, fathers' beliefs about how Black people are viewed by society (public regard) moderated the relation between adolescent‐experienced racial discrimination and fathers' depressive symptoms differently based on adolescent gender. Adolescent gender also moderated the relation between fathers' personal feelings about being Black (private regard) and their depressive symptoms. Conclusions Overall, fathers' beliefs about their race, as well as the gender of their adolescents, play a role in their psychological health when their adolescents experience discrimination.

African American adolescents are faced with the challenge to be successful academically, even though they may experience racial discrimination within school settings. Unfortunately, relatively little scholarship explores how African American adolescents draw on personal and cultural assets to persist and thrive in the face of discriminatory experiences. Additionally, little research has explored the buffering role of assets (e.g., racial pride, self-efficacy, and self-acceptance) on the relationship between school-based racial discriminatory experiences and the academic persistence of African American adolescents. Participants in the current study included 220 (58 % girls) socioeconomically diverse African American adolescents. Latent class analysis was utilized to identify clusters based on participants’ racial pride, self-efficacy, and self-acceptance. Three cluster groups were identified. The majority of the students belonged to the average group in which adolescents reported average levels of the three study assets. Adolescents in the higher group reported higher assets relative to their peers in the study and those in the lower group reported lower strength-based assets relative to their peers. Results indicated that school-based racial discrimination was associated with lower levels of academic persistence. Additionally, adolescents in the higher assets group reported higher academic persistence in comparison to the average and low group. Our model reflected a promotive but not protective influence of adolescents’ assets on their academic persistence.

This study examined the effects of marital status and family income on the self-esteem of 292 African American mothers. Counter to previous studies with European American mothers, family income moderated the effects of marital status. Those mothers with higher family income had higher self-esteem, regardless of their marital status. For those with less family income, married mothers had much higher self-esteem than unmarried mothers. Low-income married mothers had the same levels of self-esteem as high income mothers. It was concluded that financial resources can buffer the effects of being single, and being married can buffer the effects of being low income. Policy initiatives that focus on reducing the financial hardship on single mothers and increasing the marriage rate among lower income parents were also discussed