African-American parents' racial and ethnic socialization and adolescent academic grades: teasing out the role of gender.
This study examined the relationship of racial and ethnic socialization and academic achievement in a sample of 218 African American adolescents (grades 9-12; 52% girls) attending a public high school in the northeastern United States. Researchers were particularly interested in whether adolescent gender moderated the relationship between racial and ethnic socialization and academic grades. Results indicated that aspects of ethnic socialization, African American cultural values and African American heritage were linked to adolescent grades. Additionally, adolescent gender was found to moderate the association between these socialization variables and grades. The findings also suggest that socialization provided by paternal caregivers around African American cultural values and African American heritage may have differential effects for academic grades than the socialization messages provided by maternal caregivers. Information generated from this study broadens the understanding of socialization factors that can facilitate positive academic outcomes in African American youth and has practical implications for parents and educators.
Brown
Tiffany L
TL
Department of Family and Child Studies, College of Education and Human Services, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA. brownti@mail.montclair.edu
Linver
Miriam R
MR
Evans
Melanie
M
DeGennaro
Donna
D
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009511:New England; D016487:Parenting / Q000208:ethnology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012933:Social Identification; D012951:Socialization; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult