Cultural specificity of support sources, correlates and contexts: three studies of African-American and caucasian youth.
Levels and correlates of parental support, peer support, partner support, and/or spiritual support among African American and Caucasian youth were examined in three contexts: adolescent pregnancy (Study 1), first year of college (Study 2), and adolescence and young adulthood (age 15-29; Study 3). Partially consistent with a cultural specificity perspective, in different contexts different support sources were higher in level and/or more strongly related to adjustment for one ethnic group than the other. Among pregnant adolescents, levels of spiritual support were higher for African Americans than Caucasians; additionally, peer support was positively related to well-being only for African Americans whereas partner support was positively related to well-being only for Caucasians. Among college freshmen, family support was more strongly related to institutional and goal commitment for African Americans than Caucasians; conversely, peer support was more strongly related to institutional and goal commitment among Caucasians. Among 15 to 29-year-olds, levels of parental support and spiritual support were higher among African Americans than Caucasians; additionally, spiritual support was positively related to self-esteem for African Americans but not for Caucasians. Implications and limitations of the research are discussed.
Maton
K I
KI
University of Maryland Baltimore County 21228, USA.
Teti
D M
DM
Corns
K M
KM
Vieira-Baker
C C
CC
Lavine
J R
JR
Gouze
K R
KR
Keating
D P
DP
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012067:Religion; D012649:Self Concept; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States; D044465:White People