Parental Ethnic–Racial Socializations Messages Direct and Indirect Associations With Shift-and-Persist Coping Among Minoritized American Adolescents

Christophe, N. Keita
Stein, Gabriela L.
Salcido, Valerie V.

Department of Psychology, McGill University
Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin
Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

N. Keita Christophe played a lead role in conceptualization, formal analysis, writing–original draft, and writing–review and editing. Gabriela L. Stein played a supporting role in writing–original draft and writing–review and editing. Valerie V. Salcido played a supporting role in writing–original draft and writing–review and editing.

N. Keita Christophe, Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College Avenue, Montreal, QC H3A 1G1, Canada [email protected]

Received April 22, 2022

revised October 15, 2023

Accepted October 23, 2023

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology Publish Ahead of Print, February 1, 2024. | DOI: 10.1037/cdp0000637

Objectives: The current cross-sectional study examined whether parental cultural socialization, preparation for bias messages, and adolescents’ ethnic–racial identity (ERI) were associated with shift-and-persist coping strategy characterized by reappraising and accepting uncontrollable stressors (e.g., discrimination, poverty) while maintaining purpose and a positive future orientation. Method: Participants were 367 diverse ethnically/racially minoritized (42.2% Black, 25.9% Latinx, 16.1% Asian/Asian American, 12.5% multiracial, 3.3% from other groups) adolescents (M_age = 15.85, SD = 1.17, 68.9% girls). Structural equation models examined the direct effects of parental cultural socialization and preparation for bias messages on youth’s ERI and shift-and-persist, as well as the indirect effects of socialization messages on shift-and-persist. Results: Preparation for bias and cultural socialization were directly related to a stronger ERI for adolescents, but only cultural socialization was directly associated with greater shift-and-persist. Stronger ERI was associated with greater shift-and-persist, and both cultural socialization and preparation for bias were indirectly associated with greater shift-and-persist. Conclusions: Frequent parental preparation for bias may be indirectly associated with minoritized adolescent’s shift-and-persist coping, whereas cultural socialization impacts youth’s shift-and-persisting both directly and indirectly.