This study examined how discrimination experiences, beliefs, and coping in middle adolescence contributed to heterogeneity in African American parent–adolescent relationship (PAR) profiles three years later. Data were from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study in which 589 African American caregivers (92% female; Mage = 39.15, SD = 6.72; range = 27–74 years old) were interviewed when youth were in 8th and 11th grades. We used previously identified profiles of ethnic-racial socialization, general parenting practices, and relationship quality: No-nonsense High Socializers, Indulgent Average Socializers, Unengaged Silent Socializers, and Authoritative Cultural Socializers. Results indicated that parents’ discrimination experiences, racial coping self-efficacy, and racial coping socialization when youth were in the 8th grade predicted membership in PAR profiles three years later controlling for youth gender, parent marital status, and family socioeconomic status.

Naila Smith is a professor of Psychology at Dickinson College.

For more information on the published version, visit Wiley's Website. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jora.12712

Smith, Naila A., Ashley McDonald, Wei Wei, Shadane A. Johnson, Dzifa Adeji, and Dawn P. Witherspoon. Embracing Race, Resisting Oppression: African American Parents as Experienced Guides for Navigating Racial Oppression. Journal of Research on Adolescence 32, no. 1 (2022): 115-133. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jora.12712

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