Parental Ethnic Racial Socialization and Psychosocial Outcomes among Black Adolescents of Different Ethnic Subcategories

Ethnic-racial socialization is defined as the communication of parents' worldviews regarding race and ethnicity to their children (Hughes et al.,2003). Several research studies have focused on the ethnic-racial socialization of Black youth, under the assumption that the Black race is homogeneous. This view offers little insight into whether these socialization messages function differently for subgroups of Black respondents. Therefore, this study assessed the effect of ethnic-racial socialization messages on the psychosocial outcomes of Black adolescents from three ethnic subgroups: Black/African-American, Black/Other country of origin, and Black/Biracial. Hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed that frequent parental messages of cultural socialization were associated with stronger ethnic identity for all youth regardless of gender, parent education, or perceived school ethnic diversity. However, the analysis also revealed that Black/Biracial adolescents who received frequent messages of cultural socialization reported less favorable perceptions of teacher racial climate compared to Black/African-American adolescents