Family influences on racial identity among African American youth

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of parental efficacy, fam-ily coping, and adaptive family functioning on the development of racial identity among African American youth. Fifty-two African American parent-child dyads were participants. Results of a hierarchical regression revealed family adapt-ability and family cognitive reframing to be significant predictors of racial iden-tity. Findings suggest that intervention programs targeting the racial identity of African American youth should include a parenting/family component that facil-itates adaptive family functioning and that helps parents model culturally specific coping strategies for their children