Parenting and Perceived Maternal Warmth in European American and African American Adolescents

Traditional conceptualizations of parenting style assume certain associations between parenting practices/philosophies and parental warmth. This study examines whether those links are similar for European American and African American adolescents. Two hundred and ninety‐eight early adolescents and their mothers reported on discipline and control practices, decision‐making practices, and parenting philosophy, which were used to predict adolescents’ reports of maternal warmth. The moderating role of ethnicity was examined after controlling for gender, age, and socioeconomic status. Although some practices predicted warmth similarly across groups, several practices predicted warmth in ways consistent with parenting style theory only or more strongly among European American adolescents. The findings suggest differences in the interpretation of or context surrounding discipline‐ and autonomy‐related practices in these groups.     

African American Family and Parenting Strategies in Impoverished Neighborhoods

This article considers how qualitative insights can inform quantitatively-derived neighborhood effects theories. Neighborhood effects theories argue that inner-city areas lack social and economic resources that promote the social mobility prospects of African American children. Consequently, children who grow up in impoverished neighborhoods are at risk for dropping out of school, bearing children prematurely, and engaging in delinquent activities. Qualitative studies, however, identify family and parenting strategies that buffer children from the risks associated with inner-city residence. When these practices are used, children are more likely to complete high school, forego premature childbearing, and participate in prosocial activities. Insights from qualitative studies expand on neighborhood effects theories by identifying variations in child social mobility prospects and the processes by which conventional outcomes are achieved. More specifically, qualitative studies focus attention on important factors that permit children to succeed, despite social and economic obstacles.     

Treating Suicidality in African American Adolescents with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Methods for preventing adolescent suicide are surveyed, and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is explored as a method for serving suicidal African American adolescents. Strengths, limitations, and compatibility of CBT with social work values are examined. Although CBT shows much promise in helping suicidal African American adolescents, research on the efficacy and effectiveness of CBT with this population is lacking. Suicide risk and protective factors and social inequities are evaluated as they relate to African American adolescents generally. In addition to relieving suicidal symptoms, CBT potentially could facilitate social liberation for this population.     

Culture: A Possible Predictor of Morality for African American Adolescents

This study examined the ways in which cultural orientation (communalism and material well‐being) and empathy influence the moral reasoning of African American middle to late adolescents. Specifically, this study utilized path analysis to investigate Ward's (1995) hypothesis that a communal orientation would promote morality among African American adolescents, while a material well‐being orientation would mitigate against it. In addition, it was hypothesized that empathy would mediate the relationship between cultural orientation and moral reasoning. Thirty‐seven high school students and 35 college students participated in the study. Results revealed that communalism was a significant predictor of empathy. Despite prediction, communalism and material well‐being were not predictors of moral reasoning. The findings did not yield support for empathy functioning as a mediator between communalism and moral reasoning. These findings are discussed in terms of previous findings, methodological limitations, and implications for future research.     

Gender Role Identity and Stress in African American Women

Abstract

Womanism is a feminist perspective that has recently been appropriated for social work practice with African American women (Littlefleld, in press). It emphasizes the centrality of gender role in African American women's psychosocial adaptation, and asserts that the archetypal gender role for this group incorporates both nurturing and economic providing functions. This gender role fluidity has been characterized both as a source of strength (Billingsley, 1992; Hill, 1999) and strain (Lewis, 1989; McAdoo, 1985). The present study empirically investigated the relationship between gender role identity and stress in African American women to clarify its adaptive value. The Bem Sex Role Inventory was used to classify subjects into groups based on the degree to which they identified themselves with stereotypically masculine and feminine traits. Women who endorsed high levels of both masculine and feminine traits experienced lower levels of stress than did other women. The findings indicate that gender role identity is a factor in African American women's psychosocial well-being, and that mainstream gender role norms may not be adequate for analyzing the experiences of this group.     

Single Parenting in the African American Community: Implications for Public Policy and Practice

The percentage of female-headed African American families has increased significantly since the 1960s. It is now estimated that over half of all African American children will grow up in a female-headed household. This article examines factors related to the formation of these households as well as the challenges associated with these households. Policies and programs that have been implemented to treat these families are examined.     

Impact of Parenting Behaviors on Recent Alcohol Use Among African American Students

Parenting is a critical factor in substance abuse prevention. Positive parenting behaviors are identified as a protective factor for substance abuse among youth. Limited research exists that investigates the role of parenting practices on minority youth substance use. The present study seeks to examine correlates between parenting and recent alcohol use among African American youth. Specifically, to what extent do African American students report experiencing specific parenting behaviors that are measured by the National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health?, do specific parenting behaviors increase the risk of recent alcohol use among African American youth?, does the impact of parenting behaviors on recent alcohol use among African American youth differ based on sex (males and females) and age category (12–13, 14–15, and 16–17 years old) were examined in this study? Logistic regression analysis of the National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health was conducted to examine the research questions. Findings indicated that parenting behaviors was associated with recent alcohol among youth. Significant differences were found for males, females, 12–13, 14–15, and 16–17 years olds. Study findings demonstrate the importance of positive parenting behaviors in youth alcohol prevention. Program specialists may target parenting as a means of preventing and reducing youth alcohol use among African American youth.     

African American Adolescent Girls in Impoverished Communities: Parenting Style and Adolescent Outcomes

The relationship between parenting style and adolescent functioning was examined in a sample of 302 African American adolescent girls and their mothers who lived in impoverished neighborhoods. Although previous research has found that authoritative parenting, as compared with authoritarian, permissive, and disengaged parenting, is associated with positive adolescent outcomes in both European American, middle‐class and large multiethnic school‐based samples, these parenting categories have not been fully explored in African American families living at or near poverty level. Data were collected from adolescent girls and their self‐identified mothers or mother figures using in‐home interviews and self‐administered questionnaires. Parenting style was found to be significantly related to adolescent outcome in multiple domains including externalizing and internalizing behaviors, academic achievement, work orientation, sexual experience, and pregnancy history. Specifically, teens whose mothers were disengaged (low on both parental warmth and supervision/monitoring) were found to have the most negative outcomes.     

Stages of Mentoring: An Analysis of an Intervention for Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents

A qualitative analysis of 51 matches between volunteer mentors and pregnant adolescents is discussed in terms of problems that occurred and reasons relating to early termination of the match. In each of three stages of the relationship, different issues related to the behavior and interpersonal process between members of the match created problems. In stage one, the mentors had difficulty establishing the match when there was avoidance, distrust, and testing behavior on the part of the mentee. Fear of intimacy and rejection seemed to underlie these relationship difficulties. In stage two, which encompassed the birth of the adolescent’s child, conflict occurred when mentees’ demands overwhelmed the mentors. In the third stage, difficulties discussing termination or continuation of the relationship led to disengagement and less frequent contact. Recommendations are provided to help mentors and mentees navigate the problems in each of these stages.     

Gender Dynamics Predict Changes in Marital Love Among African American Couples

This study examined the implications of gender attitudes and spouses' divisions of household labor, time with children, and parental knowledge for their trajectories of love in a sample of 146 African American couples. Multilevel modeling in the context of an accelerated longitudinal design accommodated 3 annual waves of data. The results revealed that traditionality in husbands' gender attitudes was linked to lower levels of love. Furthermore, divisions of household labor and parental knowledge moderated changes in love such that couples with more egalitarian divisions exhibited higher and more stable patterns of love, whereas more traditional couples exhibited significant declines in love over time. Finally, greater similarity between spouses' time with their children was linked to higher levels of marital love. The authors highlight the implications of gender dynamics for marital harmony among African American couples and discuss ways that this work may be applied and extended in practice and future research.     

Linking Perceived Discrimination to Longitudinal Changes in African American Mothers’ Parenting Practices

This longitudinal study was designed to test hypotheses, derived from a stress proliferation framework, regarding the association between perceived racial discrimination and changes in parenting among African American mothers in the rural South. A sample of 139 mothers and their children were interviewed 3 times at 1‐year intervals. Mothers reported on perceived discrimination and two proliferated stressors: stress‐related health problems and depressive symptoms. Both mothers and children reported on mothers’ competence‐promoting parenting. Structural equation modeling revealed a chain‐like sequence: Perceived discrimination forecast increases in mothers’ stress‐related health problems, which in turn were positively associated with depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms constituted the proximal variable associated with decreases in mothers’ competence‐promoting parenting. These results emerged independent of socioeconomic characteristics.     

Environmental Correlates of Depressive Symptoms Among African American Adolescents Living in Public Housing

Abstract

Using a sample of 238 African American adolescents living in public housing, this study assesses the prevalence of depressive symptoms and examines the relationship between depressive symptoms and neighborhood characteristics. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 34. Males (M = 20) reported significantly higher depressive symptoms than females (M = 16). Results show a significant relationship between ambient risk and depressive symptoms. The relationship between ambient risk and depressive symptoms was exacerbated by exposure to delinquent peers. Parental factors and attitude towards deviance buffered the relationship between ambient risk and depressive symptoms. These findings may have important implications for social policy and suggest that interventions to prevent depression among African American adolescents, living in public housing developments, must not only focus on reducing neighborhood risk factors but also on enhancing the protective factors available to the youth.     

Testing Family Stress and Family Investment Explanations for Conduct Problems Among African American Adolescents

The recent U.S. recession has resulted in higher rates of unemployment, underemployment, and child poverty, with African Americans disproportionately represented among the financially disadvantaged. Although past research has established the relationship between family financial hardship and various child adjustment problems, African Americans remain an understudied group. In the current study the authors used longitudinal data from the Family and Community Health Study (n = 422), an all African American sample, to investigate the impact of economic distress on adolescent conduct problems. They examined the extent to which this relationship can be explained by 2 frequently employed models: (a) the family stress model and (b) the family investment model. The authors extend past research by assessing the relative contributions of each model while controlling for the paths proposed by the other model. The results suggest that the family processes identified by the family stress model provide a more accurate explanation for why economic hardship is associated with increased conduct problems among African American adolescents.     

Middle‐Class African American Parents’ Conceptions of Parenting in Early Adolescence

Conceptions of parenting were examined in 87 middle‐class African American parents (87 mothers and 51 fathers) of early adolescents (M= 13.11 years of age). Using semistructured interviews, parents were queried about two developmentally salient issues of early adolescence: parental limit‐setting and adolescent independence. Parents primarily defined firm limits in terms of nonnegotiation, strongly endorsed setting firm limits regarding a range of issues, and justified the importance of limits by focusing on adolescents’ socialization and psychological development. Mothers rated limiting adolescents’ behavior as more important than permitting or encouraging adolescents’ independence. Limits were seen as more important by mothers of younger rather than older early adolescent females, but mothers encouraged independence more for younger rather than older early adolescent males. Mothers permitted independent decisions regarding a limited range of issues such as clothes and appearance, based on psychological concerns with adolescents’ developing autonomy and competence; they encouraged independence primarily by encouraging greater responsibility. The results demonstrate that there is considerable heterogeneity in African American parents’ beliefs and goals about parenting in early adolescence.     

Impact of Familial Factors and Psychopathology on Suicidality Among African American Adolescents

Abstract

Racial differences in familial factors, psychopathology, perceptions of social support, and socioeconomic status were examined in a matched sample of African American and White suicidal adolescents (N = 90) during a psychiatric hospitalization. Exploratory analyses suggest that significant differences were found in family support and its association with psychopathology, but most noteworthy were the many similarities between the two adolescent groups. The results presented in     

Family Processes and Problem Behaviors in Middle‐Class African American Adolescents

This study examined the joint association between mothers’ and adolescents’ ratings of parental behavioral control and adolescents’ and observers’ ratings of mother – adolescent communication with adolescent problem behaviors in a sample of 86 middle‐class African American early adolescent boys and girls (age: M= 13.08 years, SD= 1.32) and their mothers. Consistent with hypotheses, greater adolescent‐rated parental behavioral control and better observer‐rated mother – adolescent communication were associated with lower levels of adolescent problem behavior, as examined using structural equation modeling. Furthermore, interrelationships between age and adolescent problem behavior were partially mediated by adolescents’ reports of parental behavioral control and observers’ ratings of positive mother – adolescent communication, which both decreased with adolescents’ age. Although the sample was primarily middle class, higher socioeconomic status was associated with more positive mother – adolescent communication, as rated by observers. Problem behavior was greater among boys than girls, but the hypothesized indirect effect of gender on problem behavior through associations with parenting was not observed. The findings demonstrate the utility of conceptually distinguishing between parenting and parent – adolescent relationships, and suggest that both have unique influences on middle‐class African American adolescents’ problem behavior.     

The Prison Cage as Home for African American Men

Through critical discourse analysis I describe the impact of incarceration as seen in narratives that underlie the overrepresentation of Blacks in American prisons. Much of my research illustrates how narratives can show the moral agency required for rehabilitation. This article shows the context into which that moral agency fits and calls for a critical literacy for communities to understand incarceration and its effects on family and society.