ARTICLE 10.1177/0021934702250035 JOURNAL Scott / COPING OF BLACK AND DISCRIMINATION STUDIES / MARCH 2003 THE RELATION OF RACIAL IDENTITY AND RACIAL SOCIALIZATION TO COPING WITH DISCRIMINATION AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS LIONEL D. SCOTT, JR. Washington University in St. Louis This study purposed to explore whether the strategies used by African American adolescents to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences were related to their racial identity and racial socialization. Results indicated that the degree to which race was central to participant’s self-conceptions and identities was unrelated to both approach and avoidance coping strategies. In contrast, the frequency to which participants received socialization messages concerning racism from their parents and/or guardians was related to the use of approach coping strategies but unrelated to avoidance coping strategies. The importance of a more systematic focus on African American adolescent stress and coping is discussed. Keywords: racial identity; racial socialization; discrimination; coping; African American adolescents At present, studies exploring the relationships of racial identity and racial socialization to the strategies used by African American adolescents to cope with discrimination are not evident in the literature. Yet, racial identity and racial socialization are suggested to AUTHOR’S NOTE: This study is based on a doctoral dissertation completed by Lionel D. Scott, Jr., under the direction of Virginia Richardson. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lionel D. Scott, Jr., postdoctoral fellow, Washington University, George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Center for Mental Health Services Research, Campus Box 1093, 1 Brookings Dr., St. Louis, MO 63146; e-mail: lscott@gwbmail.wustl.edu. JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES, Vol. 33 No. 4, March 2003 520-538 DOI: 10.1177/0021934702250035 © 2003 Sage Publications 520 Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 521 foster the adjustment of African American adolescents in the face of race-related adversity (Miller, 1999; Ward, 1999). Recent studies indicated that discrimination is a stressor that has deleterious effects on the mental health of African Americans (e.g., Brown et al., 2000; Simons et al., 2002). Furthermore, Comer (1995) asserted that the additional stressor of racism complicates the adolescent period for African Americans. The manner in which adolescents cope with the myriad life stressors confronting them has a bearing on their psychosocial functioning and emotional wellbeing (Moos, 2002). Hence, exploration of how coping with perceived discriminatory experiences is related to racial identity and racial socialization becomes an important undertaking. RACIAL IDENTITY Racial identity is perhaps the most explored dimension of African American life and functioning (Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley, & Chavous, 1998). Hence, multiple conceptual models and indicators of racial identity exist (Phinney, 1998). The model explicated by Cross and Fhagen-Smith (2001) presented a life span perspective of the relationship between ego identity and Black identity development. In their life span perspective, Cross and Fhagen-Smith (2001) suggested that African Americans pass through the following six sectors across their life spans: (a) infancy and childhood, (b) preadolescence, (c) adolescence, (d) early adulthood, (e) adult nigrescence, and (f) identity refinement. During infancy and childhood, the evolving centrality and saliency of race to African American children will be greatly influenced by varying household and environmental factors (e.g., family traditions, social class, neighborhood culture). As African American children enter preadolescence, Cross and Fhagen-Smith suggested that variable social identities begin to emerge, namely, low race salience, high race salience, and internalized racism. Among those with low racial salience, race and Black culture are irrelevant facets of their identity. Rather, significance is placed on other dimensions of their 522 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 emerging identity such as religious orientation, social status, or unique talents and abilities. As implied, race emerges as a central feature of the self-concepts among African American preadolescents with high racial salience. Last, Cross and Fhagen-Smith suggested that some African American preadolescents may begin to internalize the negative stereotypes, messages, and images of Black people and Black culture. Hence, their emerging identities may be “riddled with confusion, alienation, negativity, and lack of coherence” (Cross & Fhagen-Smith, 2001, p. 254). Having entered adolescence with emergent identities that grant variable salience to race and Black culture, African American adolescents go through a process of identity exploration. According to Cross and Fhagen-Smith (2001), this process involves a testing and sorting of ideas and issues concerning race and Black culture. The self-concepts that emerge from this process may be more or solely focused on areas that have very little racial or cultural content. Due to the seemingly perpetual and permeating issue and problem of race in American society, it seems likely that race will be central to the self-conceptions of many African Americans throughout their lives. However, the model proposed by Cross and FhagenSmith (2001) accounts for African Americans who never make race or Black culture a central aspect of their self-conceptions yet arrive at an achieved identity and enjoy psychological and social health. For those African Americans who incorporate their race as a central aspect of their identities, they are likely to go through a process of “recycling” whereby their perspectives and insights regarding their Blackness are constantly reworked, enhanced, and refined by new experiences and encounters (Cross & Fhagen-Smith, 2001). Sellers et al. (1998) have explicated the multidimensionality of African American racial identity wherein the heterogeneity among African Americans in the meaning and significance placed on their race is further elaborated. The dimensions of African American racial identity suggested by Sellers et al. consist of salience, centrality, regard, and ideology. Racial saliency refers to the extent to which being Black is meaningful in a particular context or situation. Racial centrality refers to the extent to which being Black is a normative aspect of one’s self-conception and identity. The extent Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 523 to which one feels positively and negatively about being Black refers to racial regard. Finally, racial ideology refers to one’s attitudes and opinions concerning how African Americans should act in the larger social order (Sellers et al., 1998). In terms of its protective function, Ward (2000) contended that the development of a sense of Black identity that is “unassailable” is the most significant strategy for resistance to racial oppression and hence is requisite for African American children and adolescents. RACIAL SOCIALIZATION According to Stevenson, Cameron, Herrero-Taylor, and Davis (2002), African American adolescents and their parents engage in an interactive and communicative process whereby decisions concerning their cultural heritage and how to navigate the racial landscape of American society are made. In their studies of racial socialization among African American families, Thornton (1997) and Thornton, Chatters, Taylor, and Allen (1990) explicate the following three orientations that may govern this process for African American parents: mainstream, minority, and Black cultural. Parents who possess a mainstream orientation are not likely to emphasize race but more so emphasize self-confidence, personal selfesteem, competence, and hard work to defend against societal insults and racial barriers. Those who possess a minority orientation are more likely to emphasize the significance of race in society and the institutional barriers their children will likely confront due to their racial and ethnic background. Parents who possess a Black cultural orientation are more likely to emphasize the history and achievement of African Americans. Parents possessing this orientation attempt to instill a sense of racial pride in their children (Thornton, 1997). Racial socialization that emphasizes racial issues and prejudice, whether tacitly or explicitly, is argued to be of critical importance for African American adolescents (Miller, 1999; Ward, 1999). Stevenson, Reed, Bodison, and Bishop (1997) suggested that African American adolescents who do not possess an “internalized 524 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 awareness of racism and their unique cultural heritage” (p. 198) are handicapped in terms of their ability to cope effectively with racism-related experiences and the accompanying stress. Racial socialization, as it relates to racism, is argued to promote and enhance not only effective coping but also psychological strength to resist and overcome racial oppression and devaluation (Ward, 1999). DISCRIMINATION AND COPING Racial discrimination has multiple manifestations. It can be experienced directly, vicariously, collectively, institutionally, and transgenerationally (Harrell, 2000). However, it is the daily “micro stressors,” such as being followed or observed in public places, that may be most detrimental to the psyche of African American adolescents in that the accumulative effects may increase their overall stress load (Harrell, 2000). However, mental health outcomes linked to racism and discrimination are likely to be affected by the coping strategies used. In response to a range of life stressors, the type of coping strategy used by adolescents is generally related to divergent mental health outcomes (Moos, 2002). Approach coping strategies, wherein stressors are actively engaged in an effort to resolve them, are generally related to greater feelings of self-efficacy and less distress. In contrast, the use of strategies that avoid stressors or manage emotional reaction to stressors are generally related to greater distress and lower feelings of self-efficacy (Moos, 2002). However, the coping strategies used in response to racism and discrimination may have divergent effects on adolescent adjustment and wellbeing given the ambiguity, power differential, unpredictability, and uncontrollability of many discriminatory acts (Harrell, 2000; Outlaw, 1993). Furthermore, factors such as level of racial consciousness, type of racial socialization received, and emotional and stress reaction to discriminatory experiences may directly relate to adjustment outcomes or may moderate the effects of discrimination distress on mental health outcomes (Harrell, 2000). Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 525 Hence, this study sought to answer the following questions: (a) Is the degree to which race is central to the identities of African American adolescents related to the use of approach and avoidance strategies for coping with perceived discriminatory experiences? and (b) is the degree to which African American adolescents have received messages concerning racism from their parents and/or guardians related to the use of approach and avoidance strategies for coping with perceived discriminatory experiences? In this study, perceived discrimination is used to refer to African American adolescents “subjective perception of unfair treatment” (Noh, Beiser, Kaspar, Hou, & Rummens, 1999, p. 194) based on their racial group membership. As suggested by Stevenson (1998), the perception of discriminatory experiences in and of itself can affect psychosocial outcomes and the psychological well-being of African Americans. METHOD PARTICIPANTS Participants included 88 African American adolescents attending a small, private, and religious-oriented high school located in Northern Alabama. All 9th-, 10th-, and 11th-grade students in attendance on the date of data collection completed self-administered questionnaires in small to large group sessions. A total of 17 questionnaires were eliminated due to missing data, erroneous responses, or participants not identifying themselves as being of African descent and born in America. The resulting sample consisted of 71 adolescents, 37 of which were female and 34 of which were male, with a mean age of 15.6 (SD = 0.96). The sample was fairly evenly distributed across grade levels, with n = 20 for 9th graders, n = 27 for 10th graders, and n = 24 for 11th graders. Overall, participants resided in homes of relative affluence where their parents and/or guardians were professionals and had advanced degrees (47.9%) or were skilled and had some college education (42.3%). The majority of the sample resided in two-parent homes 526 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 (53.5%). Others resided in single-parent homes (29.6%) or other home situations (e.g., with relatives; 16.9%). MEASURES Daily Life Experiences (DLE-R) and Racism Experiences Stress Scale (EXP-STR). The DLE-R and the EXP-STR are composite scales integrated from the Racism and Life Experiences Scales (Harrell, 1997). The DLE-R is a 20-item, 5-point, Likert-type scale that assesses the frequency to which respondents experience “micro aggressions” in their everyday life experiences because of race or racism. Examples include being observed or followed in public places; being ignored, overlooked, or not given service; and being reacted to by others as if they were afraid or intimidated. In this study, the response options ranged from never (0) to all the time (4). The EXP-STR is a 17-item, 5-point, Likert-type scale that assesses the stressfulness of racism experiences. The response options ranged from no stress (0) to extremely stressful (4) in this study. Higher scores on the DLE-R and EXP-STR indicate more frequent discriminatory experiences and discrimination distress. Cronbach’s alphas of .92 for the DLE-R and .89 for the EXP-STR have been reported (Harrell, Merchant, & Young, 1997). The DLE-R and EXP-STR were integrated from different scales of the Racism and Life Experiences Scales for the purpose of this study. Hence, for each perceived discriminatory experience assessed, the degree of stressfulness caused by the experience was also assessed. In an effort to reduce the length of time required to complete the DLE-R and the EXP-STR and to account for those experiences most commonly mentioned by African American adolescents in the popular print media and social science literature (e.g., McCoy, 1998), the number of items were reduced from 20 to 10. However, the reliability estimates of the modified versions of the DLE-R and the EXP-STR scales were .77 and .88, respectively, indicating good reliability. Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity. The Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (Sellers, Rowley, Chavous, Shelton, & Smith, 1997) is a 65-item, 7-point, Likert-type inven- Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 527 tory (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree) that measures the following three dimensions of racial identity: centrality, ideology, and regard. Only the Racial Centrality scale was used in this study. The Racial Centrality scale consists of 10 items that measure the extent to which being African American is central to the selfconceptions and identities of respondents (e.g., “Being Black is an important reflection of who I am”). A high score indicates high race centrality. Among high school students, the Racial Centrality scale has been found to have an acceptable level of internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of .73 (Rowley, Sellers, Chavous, & Smith, 1998). To allow for better ease of use and simplicity for participants in this study, the Racial Centrality scale was reduced from a 7-point to a 5-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). The coefficient alpha for this modified version of the scale was .52, indicating marginal reliability. Racism-Related Socialization Influences Scale. The RacismRelated Socialization Influences Scale (Harrell, 1997) is a 9-item, 5-point, Likert-type scale (1 = not at all to 5 = extremely) that assesses the frequency and content of racism-related messages from family members and other important adults (e.g., “To what extent have your parents, other family members, or other important adults in your life prepared you to deal with racism or talked to you about how to cope with racism?”). Higher scores indicate more frequent discussions about racism by family, school, peers, and so forth. The scale has been found to have acceptable reliability, with Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .70 to .77 (Harrell et al., 1997). For the purposes of this study, only racism-related socialization messages received from parents or guardians were assessed. This modified version consisted of 5 items. The coefficient alpha for the modified scale in this study was .84, indicating good reliability. Self-Report Coping Scale.The Self-Report Coping Scale (Causey & Dubow, 1992) is a 34-item, 5-point, Likert-type scale (1 = never to 5 = always) that assesses the use of approach and avoidance coping strategies for specific daily stressors. The scale is modifiable to assess coping with a range of stressors. In this study, participants indicated the extent to which they used each coping item 528 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 when they perceived discrimination or unfair treatment because of their race. The following two subscales of the Self-Report Coping Scale assess approach coping strategies: Seeking Social Support (e.g., “Talk to somebody about how it made me feel”) and SelfReliance/Problem Solving (e.g., “Decide on one way to deal with the problem and I do it”). The following three subscales assess avoidance coping: Distancing (e.g., “Tell myself it doesn’t matter”), Internalizing (e.g., “Worry too much about it”), and Externalizing (e.g., “Curse out loud”). Internal consistencies of subscales based on Cronbach’s alphas are reported to range from .68 to .84 (Causey & Dubow, 1992). In this study, the internal consistency of the subscales retained their robustness: Seeking Social Support, α = .86; Self-Reliance/Problem Solving, α = .68; Distancing, α = .79; Internalizing, α = .83; and Externalizing, α = .78. RESULTS DESCRIPTIVE AND CORRELATIONAL ANALYSES Preliminary analysis examined the relations of demographic variables to perceived discriminatory experiences, discrimination distress, racial identity, and racial socialization using a series of one-way ANOVAs. There was only one significant finding. Gender was significantly related to racial centrality, F(1, 69) = 4.22, p = .04. Specifically, male participants (M = 3.63, SD = 0.48) indicated race was significantly more central to their self-conceptions and identities than did their female counterparts (M = 3.39, SD = 0.50). Table 1 presents the means, standard deviations, and range for participants on the primary study variables. On average, the mean scores for approach and avoidance coping strategies indicate that African American adolescents moderately used these strategies to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences. As a group, participants did not report frequent discriminatory experiences. Hence, the level of discrimination distress reported was low. In terms of racial centrality and racial socialization, the mean scores suggest that most participants received messages from their parents Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 529 TABLE 1 Means, Standard Deviations, and Ranges for Primary Study Variables Variable Approach coping strategies Seeking social support Self-reliance/problem solving Avoidance coping strategies Distancing Internalizing Externalizing Race-related factors Perceived discrimination Discrimination-related distress Racial centrality Racial socialization M SD Obtained Range Possible Range 2.47 2.45 .83 .63 1.00-4.50 1.00-3.88 1.00-5.00 1.00-5.00 2.53 1.89 1.97 .88 .87 .99 1.00-4.33 1.00-5.00 1.00-4.50 1.00-5.00 1.00-5.00 1.00-5.00 1.26 1.21 3.51 3.00 .62 .91 .50 .85 0.10-2.80 .00-3.50 2.20-4.60 1.00-5.00 .00-4.00 .00-4.00 1.00-5.00 1.00-5.00 or guardians concerning racism fairly frequently and that for many, being Black was central to their self-conceptions and identities. Correlation coefficients were computed among primary study variables. The results shown in Table 2 show that 5 out of the 10 correlations for coping strategies were statistically significant. In general, the results suggest that participants who coped with perceived discriminatory experiences by using seeking social support strategies were also likely to use self-reliance/problem-solving and internalizing strategies but less likely to use distancing strategies. Furthermore, African American adolescents who used self-reliance/ problem-solving strategies were also likely to use internalizing strategies. Ironically, results indicated that participants who used internalizing strategies were also more likely to use externalizing strategies for coping with perceived discriminatory experiences. Results of correlation analysis indicated that perceived discrimination and discrimination distress were highly related. Hence, participants who experienced high levels of discrimination distress tended to use more internalizing and externalizing strategies to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences. In regard to racial centrality, results suggest that participants for whom being Black is TABLE 2 Intercorrelations for Primary Study Variables Variable A. Seeking social support B. Self-reliance/problem solving C. Distancing D. Internalizing E. Externalizing F. Perceived discrimination G. Discrimination distress H. Racial centrality I. Racial socialization *p < .05. **p < .01. A B C D E F G H I .— .58** –.36** .34* .10 .08 .23 –.04 .21 .— –.20 .28* .08 –.03 .12 –.11 .28* .— –.19 –.13 –.10 –.19 .03 .10 .— .48** .22 .38** –.13 –.21 .— .31** .42** .14 –.16 .— .75** .26* –.01 .— .17 –.15 .— .17 .— 530 Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 531 more central to their identities were likely to perceive more frequent discriminatory experiences in their everyday interactions. Last, African American adolescents who received more frequent messages concerning racism from their parents or guardians tended to use more self-reliance/problem-solving strategies to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences. MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE Separate one-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was conducted to determine the relation of racial centrality and racial socialization to the use of approach and avoidance strategies for coping with perceived discriminatory experiences. A median split criterion was used on the Racial Centrality scale (Median = 3.50) and Racism-Related Socialization Influences Scale (Median = 3.00) to divide participants into low– and high–racial centrality and racial socialization groupings. In a previous study, Scott (2002) found that gender, family structure, and socioeconomic status were significant demographic correlates of strategies used to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences. Hence, these variables were entered as covariates in each MANCOVA. For level of racial centrality, the MANCOVA indicated no significant main effect, Wilks’s lambda = .96, F(5, 62) = 0.50, p = .78, partial η2 = .04, with the η2 indicating a small multivariate effect size. As shown in Table 3, participants in the high–racial centrality group did not significantly differ from their counterparts in the low–racial centrality group in their use of approach and avoidance strategies to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences. In contrast, the multivariate main effect for level of racial socialization was significant, Wilks’s lambda = .76, F(5, 62) = 3.93, p = .004, partial η2 = .24, with the η2 indicating a large multivariate effect size. The univariate test for seeking social support was marginally significant, F(1, 66) = 2.73, p = .10, partial η2 = .04. For selfreliance/problem solving, the univariate test was significant, F(1, 66) = 8.50, p = .005, partial η2 = .11. As shown in Table 3, participants in the high–racial socialization group reported marginally 532 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 TABLE 3 Means and Standard Deviations for Approach and Avoidance Coping Strategies as a Function of Racial Centrality and Racial Socialization Low Racial Centrality (n = 40) High Racial Centrality (n = 31) Coping Strategies M SD M SD F p Seeking social support Self-reliance and/or problem solving Distancing Internalizing Externalizing 2.42 2.43 2.57 1.94 1.87 (0.88) (0.68) (0.88) (0.82) (0.96) 2.53 2.46 2.49 1.83 2.10 (0.77) (0.57) (0.89) (0.94) (1.01) 1.48 0.12 0.13 0.09 0.32 .23 .73 .71 .77 .58 Low Racial Socialization (n = 37) High Racial Socialization (n = 34) Coping Strategies M SD M SD F p Seeking social support Self-reliance and/or problem solving Distancing Internalizing Externalizing 2.28 2.24 2.39 1.99 2.10 (0.79) (0.55) (0.85) (0.90) (1.00) 2.66 2.67 2.69 1.77 1.83 (0.84) (0.65) (0.90) (0.83) (0.97) 2.73 8.50 2.02 1.85 0.71 .10 .005 .16 .18 .40 NOTE: Low and high categories for racial centrality and racial socialization were determined by median-split criterion. greater use of seeking social support strategies and significantly greater use of self-reliance/problem-solving strategies to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences than their counterparts in the low–racial socialization group. Although insignificant, there was a trend for participants in the high–racial socialization group to use more distancing and less internalizing coping strategies than their low–racial socialization counterparts. DISCUSSION This study purposed to explore whether the strategies used by African American adolescents to cope with perceived discrimina- Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 533 tory experiences were related to their racial identity and racial socialization. Results indicated that the degree to which race was central to participant’s self-conceptions and identities was unrelated to both approach and avoidance coping strategies. In contrast, the frequency with which participants received socialization messages concerning racism from their parents and/or guardians was related to the use of approach coping strategies but unrelated to the use of avoidance coping strategies. Findings concerning the lack of relation between racial centrality and coping with perceived discrimination are surprising. Shelton and Sellers (2000) suggested that the degree to which race is central to African American’s self-concept will heighten in racially noxious situations or race-salient conditions, particularly among high racial centrality individuals. This suggests that race for high-centrality individuals will become more meaningful when confronted with experiences perceived as being motivated by race or racism. Although the direction of causality cannot be determined, racial centrality and perceived discrimination were significantly correlated in this study. Other studies have found similar relations between racial identity and perceptions of discrimination (e.g., Romero & Roberts, 1998). Hence, it would seem likely that strategies to cope with perceived discrimination would be engendered among high–racial centrality participants. The lack of relation between racial centrality and coping may lend support to Sellers et al.’s (1997) contention that racial centrality, being a stable property of African American’s racial identity, is not situationally determined. Sellers et al. (1997) suggested that racial centrality may be more related to normative or everyday race-related behaviors such as social interaction patterns and media preferences. Furthermore, African American’s beliefs about the meaning of race (i.e., racial regard and racial ideology) and the situational relevance of race (i.e., racial saliency) may be related to specific behaviors or responses (Sellers et al., 1998). For example, the manner in which African American adolescents respond to perceived discriminatory acts may vary depending on (a) how the act is interpreted and the degree to which race becomes a salient feature of their self-conceptions as a consequence or (b) the racial lens with 534 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 which they view the world and their place in it. Hence, the lack of relation between racial identity and the strategies used to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences in this study is probably due to the dimension of racial identity selected. Future studies should seek to elucidate the complex interplay between the various dimensions of racial identity and their relation to coping and other psychological processes and competencies among African American adolescents. Unlike racial identity, results indicated that racial socialization was related to the use of approach strategies for coping with perceived discriminatory experiences but not to the use of avoidance coping strategies. The items used to assess racial socialization specifically pertained to the messages African American adolescents presumably received from parents or guardians about how to deal with racism, the history of racism in the lives of African Americans, and family member’s specific experiences with racism. Participants who reported a high frequency of such messages were more likely to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences by telling friends or family members what happened (i.e., seeking social support) or relying on their own personal resources and knowledge to deal with it (i.e., self-reliance/problem solving). The use of coping strategies that approach rather than avoid perceived discriminatory acts may be considered more resistance oriented in that approach coping, involving strategies that directly confront and attempt to solve problems, is generally related to positive adjustment outcomes. If this is the case, these results support Ward’s (1999) contention that preparation of African American children and youth for possible racist and discriminatory experiences is requisite if they are to resist racial oppression and be psychologically healthy. For example, findings from the study by Fischer and Shaw (1999) wherein reports of racist events were related to poorer mental health, particularly among those with lesser racial socialization experiences, provide evidence of the possible positive contribution of racial socialization to the resilience and psychological well-being of African American adolescents. However, in terms of perceived discrimination or other race-related stressors, research studies on the interrelations between perceived Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 535 discrimination, racial socialization, coping, and psychological outcomes are necessary before definitive and positive links can be asserted. The findings from this study are not easily interpretable but, nevertheless, suggest that socializing African American adolescents about the manifestations of racism is a process and endeavor that may be important for effective coping. However, the findings are not generalizable beyond the study sample. This study focused on a small, homogeneous sample of African American adolescents from a small, religious community of relative affluence. Hence, different relations between the primary variables may be evident among African American adolescents from less advantaged backgrounds or more secular environments. However, the study of more advantaged samples of African American subpopulations contributes to the understanding of variability in the stress and coping process (Slavin, Rainer, McCreary, & Gowda, 1991). Such studies, therefore, make a vital contribution to the literature. The moderate mean scores for approach and avoidance coping strategies in this study may indicate the weakness of many scales that are (a) normed primarily on White samples and (b) developed for use with more general or normative stressors in capturing the strategies more likely to be used by African Americans to cope with race-related stressors. Furthermore, scholars such as Utsey, Adams, and Bolden (2000) and Daly, Jennings, Beckett, and Leashore (1995) suggest that African Americans possess a general coping style that is tied to their culture and unique experience in American society. The coping measure used in this study may have obscured the nature of the relationships between coping with perceived discrimination and participants’ racial identities and racial socialization. Hence, future studies should use coping measures developed specifically for race-related stressors or that have been normed on African American adolescent samples. Such studies will contribute to the empirical testing and validation of emerging models of racism-related stress (e.g., Clark, Anderson, Clark, & Williams, 1999; Harrell, 2000). Many of the scales used in this study were purposely modified to answer the research questions posed and to simplify their use. 536 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 Hence, the psychometric properties and subsequent validity of the scales may have been compromised. Although estimates of the reliability for the modified scales were primarily good, the findings should nevertheless be viewed with caution. Finally, significant findings in this study may have been obscured by the small sample size and consequent reductions in power. Studies with larger, more representative samples of African American adolescents are needed. Heretofore, the study of stress and coping among African American children and adolescents has been a neglected research endeavor (Compas, Connor-Smith, Saltzman, Thomsen, & Wadsworth, 2001). Hence, studies in this area not only are fertile ground for the discipline of Black studies but also are warranted if we are to gain a comprehensive knowledge of African American adolescent life and functioning. REFERENCES Brown, T. N., Williams, D. R., Jackson, J. S., Neighbors, H. W., Torres, M., & Sellers, S. L., et al. (2000). “Being Black and feeling blue”: The mental health consequences of racial discrimination. Race & Society, 2, 117-131. Causey, D. L., & Dubow, E. F. (1992). Development of a self-report coping measure for elementary school children. 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Daly, A., Jennings, J., Beckett, J. O., & Leashore, B. R. (1995). Effective coping strategies of African Americans. Social Work, 40, 240-248. Fischer, A. R., & Shaw, C. M. (1999). African Americans’ mental health and perceptions of racist discrimination: The moderating effects of racial socialization experiences and self-esteem. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46, 395-407. Harrell, S. P. (1997). The Racism and Life Experience Scales (RaLES): Self-administration version. Unpublished manuscript. Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 537 Harrell, S. P. (2000). A multidimensional conceptualization of racism-related stress: Implications for the well-being of people of color. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 42-57. Harrell, S. P., Merchant, M. A., & Young, S. A. (1997). Psychometric properties of the Racism and Life Experience Scales (RaLES). Unpublished manuscript. McCoy, V. (1998, October). Dollars and disses: For many Black youth, shopping is hardly a simple proposition. Emerge, 10, 62-63. Miller, D. B. (1999). Racial socialization and racial identity: Can they promote resiliency for African American adolescents. Adolescence, 34(135), 493-501. Moos, R. H. (2002). Life stressors, social resources, and coping skills in youth: Applications to adolescents with chronic disorders. Journal of Adolescent Health, 30(4, Suppl. 1), 22-29. Noh, S., Beiser, M., Kaspar, V., Hou, F., & Rummens, J. (1999). Perceived racial discrimination, depression, and coping: A study of Southeast Asian refugees in Canada. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 40(3), 193-207. Outlaw, F. H. (1993). Stress and coping: The influence of racism on the cognitive appraisal processing of African Americans. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 14, 399-409. Phinney J. S. (1998). Ethnic identity in adolescents and adults: Review of research. In P. B. Organista, K. M. Chun, & G. Marin (Eds.), Readings in ethnic psychology (pp. 73-99). Boston: Routledge Kegan Paul. Romero, A. J., & Roberts, R. E. (1998). Perception of discrimination and ethnocultural variables in a diverse group of adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 21, 641-656. Rowley, S. J., Sellers, R. M., Chavous, T. M., & Smith, M. A. (1998). The relationship between racial identity and self-esteem in African American college and high school students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 715-724. Scott, L. D., Jr. (2002). Correlates of coping with perceived discriminatory experiences among African American adolescents. Manuscript submitted for publication. Sellers, R. M., Rowley, S. A. J., Chavous, T. M., Shelton, J. N., & Smith, M. A. (1997). Multidimensional inventory of Black identity: A preliminary investigation of reliability and construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 805-815. Sellers, R. M., Smith, M. A., Shelton, J. N., Rowley, S. A. J., & Chavous, T. M. (1998). Multidimensional model of racial identity: A reconceptualization of African American racial identity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2, 18-39. Shelton, J. N., & Sellers, R. M. (2000). Situationally stability and variability in African American racial identity. Journal of Black Psychology, 26, 27-50. Simons, R. L., Murry, B., McLoyd, V., Lin, K., Cutrona, C., & Conger, R. D. (2002). Discrimination, crime, ethnic identity, and parenting as correlates of depressive symptoms among African American children: A multilevel analysis. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 371-393. Slavin, L. A., Rainer, K. L., McCreary, M. L., & Gowda, K. K. (1991). Toward a multicultural model of the stress process. Journal of Counseling & Development, 71, 156-163. Stevenson, H. C., Jr. (1998). Theoretical considerations in measuring racial identity and socialization: Extending the self further. In R. L. Jones (Ed.), African American identity development (pp. 217-254). Hampton, VA: Cobb & Henry. Stevenson, H. C., Jr., Cameron, R., Herrero-Taylor, T., & Davis, G. Y. (2002). Development of the teenager experience of racial socialization scale: Correlates of race-related socialization frequency from the perspective of Black youth. Journal of Black Psychology, 28(2), 84-106. 538 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 Stevenson, H. C., Reed, J., Bodison, P., & Bishop, A. (1997). Racism stress management: Racial socialization beliefs and the experience of depression and anger in African American youth. Youth & Society, 29, 197-222. Thornton, M. C. (1997). Strategies of racial socialization among Black parents: Mainstream, minority, and cultural messages. In R. J. Taylor, J. S. Jackson, & L. M. Chatters (Eds.), Family life in Black America (pp. 201-215). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Thornton, M. C., Chatters, L. M., Taylor, R. J., & Allen, W. R. (1990). Sociodemographic and environmental correlates of racial socialization by Black parents. Child Development, 61, 401-409. Utsey, S. O., Adams, E. P., & Bolden, M. (2000). Development and initial validation of the Africultural coping systems inventory. Journal of Black Psychology, 26, 194-215. Ward, J. V. (1999). Resilience and resistance. In A. Garrod, J. V. Ward, T. L. Robinson, & R. Kilkenny (Eds.), Souls looking back: Life stories of growing up Black (pp. 173-185). Boston: Routledge Kegan Paul. Ward, J. V. (2000). The skin we’re in: Teaching our children to be emotionally strong, socially smart, spiritually connected. New York: Free Press. Lionel D. Scott, Jr., is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Mental Health Services Research in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. His research interests are adolescent stress and coping, racial disparities in health outcomes and service utilization, psychosocial development and functioning of African American Adolescents, and racial/ethnic identity and socialization. Come up with a research question about children and/or adolescents you would like to explore pertaining to one of the following topics from this semester: Racial Socialization My research question is: What influence does racial socialization have on African American students? You will then write a 12-15 page (double spaced) research paper exploring the answer to this question. Your paper should include the following sections: Introduction (1-2 pages): The purpose of this section is to establish what your topic is and why it’s important. This is also where you should introduce your research question. Literature review (6-8 pages): The purpose of this section is to describe and synthesize the existing peer reviewed literature on your topic. Discussion & Implications (2-3 pages): The purpose of this section is to highlight the most important takeaways from your literature review, why they’re important, and how this information can be applied to supporting children and/or adolescents. Future Direction (1-2 pages): The purpose of this section is to describe future questions that still need to be answered related to your topic and why they’re important to children and/or adolescents. Paper Requirements: 12-15 doubles spaced pages; Times New Roman 12pt font 10-12 peer reviewed sources, at least 2 of which must come from this class. Title and Title Page (does not count toward page count) APA format reference page (does not count toward page count) Demonstrate an understanding of your topic of choice Synthesize the main ideas of each article (do not simply summarize each article) Clear and well organized ARTICLE 10.1177/0021934702250035 JOURNAL Scott / COPING OF BLACK AND DISCRIMINATION STUDIES / MARCH 2003 THE RELATION OF RACIAL IDENTITY AND RACIAL SOCIALIZATION TO COPING WITH DISCRIMINATION AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS LIONEL D. SCOTT, JR. Washington University in St. Louis This study purposed to explore whether the strategies used by African American adolescents to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences were related to their racial identity and racial socialization. Results indicated that the degree to which race was central to participant’s self-conceptions and identities was unrelated to both approach and avoidance coping strategies. In contrast, the frequency to which participants received socialization messages concerning racism from their parents and/or guardians was related to the use of approach coping strategies but unrelated to avoidance coping strategies. The importance of a more systematic focus on African American adolescent stress and coping is discussed. Keywords: racial identity; racial socialization; discrimination; coping; African American adolescents At present, studies exploring the relationships of racial identity and racial socialization to the strategies used by African American adolescents to cope with discrimination are not evident in the literature. Yet, racial identity and racial socialization are suggested to AUTHOR’S NOTE: This study is based on a doctoral dissertation completed by Lionel D. Scott, Jr., under the direction of Virginia Richardson. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lionel D. Scott, Jr., postdoctoral fellow, Washington University, George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Center for Mental Health Services Research, Campus Box 1093, 1 Brookings Dr., St. Louis, MO 63146; e-mail: lscott@gwbmail.wustl.edu. JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES, Vol. 33 No. 4, March 2003 520-538 DOI: 10.1177/0021934702250035 © 2003 Sage Publications 520 Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 521 foster the adjustment of African American adolescents in the face of race-related adversity (Miller, 1999; Ward, 1999). Recent studies indicated that discrimination is a stressor that has deleterious effects on the mental health of African Americans (e.g., Brown et al., 2000; Simons et al., 2002). Furthermore, Comer (1995) asserted that the additional stressor of racism complicates the adolescent period for African Americans. The manner in which adolescents cope with the myriad life stressors confronting them has a bearing on their psychosocial functioning and emotional wellbeing (Moos, 2002). Hence, exploration of how coping with perceived discriminatory experiences is related to racial identity and racial socialization becomes an important undertaking. RACIAL IDENTITY Racial identity is perhaps the most explored dimension of African American life and functioning (Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley, & Chavous, 1998). Hence, multiple conceptual models and indicators of racial identity exist (Phinney, 1998). The model explicated by Cross and Fhagen-Smith (2001) presented a life span perspective of the relationship between ego identity and Black identity development. In their life span perspective, Cross and Fhagen-Smith (2001) suggested that African Americans pass through the following six sectors across their life spans: (a) infancy and childhood, (b) preadolescence, (c) adolescence, (d) early adulthood, (e) adult nigrescence, and (f) identity refinement. During infancy and childhood, the evolving centrality and saliency of race to African American children will be greatly influenced by varying household and environmental factors (e.g., family traditions, social class, neighborhood culture). As African American children enter preadolescence, Cross and Fhagen-Smith suggested that variable social identities begin to emerge, namely, low race salience, high race salience, and internalized racism. Among those with low racial salience, race and Black culture are irrelevant facets of their identity. Rather, significance is placed on other dimensions of their 522 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 emerging identity such as religious orientation, social status, or unique talents and abilities. As implied, race emerges as a central feature of the self-concepts among African American preadolescents with high racial salience. Last, Cross and Fhagen-Smith suggested that some African American preadolescents may begin to internalize the negative stereotypes, messages, and images of Black people and Black culture. Hence, their emerging identities may be “riddled with confusion, alienation, negativity, and lack of coherence” (Cross & Fhagen-Smith, 2001, p. 254). Having entered adolescence with emergent identities that grant variable salience to race and Black culture, African American adolescents go through a process of identity exploration. According to Cross and Fhagen-Smith (2001), this process involves a testing and sorting of ideas and issues concerning race and Black culture. The self-concepts that emerge from this process may be more or solely focused on areas that have very little racial or cultural content. Due to the seemingly perpetual and permeating issue and problem of race in American society, it seems likely that race will be central to the self-conceptions of many African Americans throughout their lives. However, the model proposed by Cross and FhagenSmith (2001) accounts for African Americans who never make race or Black culture a central aspect of their self-conceptions yet arrive at an achieved identity and enjoy psychological and social health. For those African Americans who incorporate their race as a central aspect of their identities, they are likely to go through a process of “recycling” whereby their perspectives and insights regarding their Blackness are constantly reworked, enhanced, and refined by new experiences and encounters (Cross & Fhagen-Smith, 2001). Sellers et al. (1998) have explicated the multidimensionality of African American racial identity wherein the heterogeneity among African Americans in the meaning and significance placed on their race is further elaborated. The dimensions of African American racial identity suggested by Sellers et al. consist of salience, centrality, regard, and ideology. Racial saliency refers to the extent to which being Black is meaningful in a particular context or situation. Racial centrality refers to the extent to which being Black is a normative aspect of one’s self-conception and identity. The extent Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 523 to which one feels positively and negatively about being Black refers to racial regard. Finally, racial ideology refers to one’s attitudes and opinions concerning how African Americans should act in the larger social order (Sellers et al., 1998). In terms of its protective function, Ward (2000) contended that the development of a sense of Black identity that is “unassailable” is the most significant strategy for resistance to racial oppression and hence is requisite for African American children and adolescents. RACIAL SOCIALIZATION According to Stevenson, Cameron, Herrero-Taylor, and Davis (2002), African American adolescents and their parents engage in an interactive and communicative process whereby decisions concerning their cultural heritage and how to navigate the racial landscape of American society are made. In their studies of racial socialization among African American families, Thornton (1997) and Thornton, Chatters, Taylor, and Allen (1990) explicate the following three orientations that may govern this process for African American parents: mainstream, minority, and Black cultural. Parents who possess a mainstream orientation are not likely to emphasize race but more so emphasize self-confidence, personal selfesteem, competence, and hard work to defend against societal insults and racial barriers. Those who possess a minority orientation are more likely to emphasize the significance of race in society and the institutional barriers their children will likely confront due to their racial and ethnic background. Parents who possess a Black cultural orientation are more likely to emphasize the history and achievement of African Americans. Parents possessing this orientation attempt to instill a sense of racial pride in their children (Thornton, 1997). Racial socialization that emphasizes racial issues and prejudice, whether tacitly or explicitly, is argued to be of critical importance for African American adolescents (Miller, 1999; Ward, 1999). Stevenson, Reed, Bodison, and Bishop (1997) suggested that African American adolescents who do not possess an “internalized 524 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 awareness of racism and their unique cultural heritage” (p. 198) are handicapped in terms of their ability to cope effectively with racism-related experiences and the accompanying stress. Racial socialization, as it relates to racism, is argued to promote and enhance not only effective coping but also psychological strength to resist and overcome racial oppression and devaluation (Ward, 1999). DISCRIMINATION AND COPING Racial discrimination has multiple manifestations. It can be experienced directly, vicariously, collectively, institutionally, and transgenerationally (Harrell, 2000). However, it is the daily “micro stressors,” such as being followed or observed in public places, that may be most detrimental to the psyche of African American adolescents in that the accumulative effects may increase their overall stress load (Harrell, 2000). However, mental health outcomes linked to racism and discrimination are likely to be affected by the coping strategies used. In response to a range of life stressors, the type of coping strategy used by adolescents is generally related to divergent mental health outcomes (Moos, 2002). Approach coping strategies, wherein stressors are actively engaged in an effort to resolve them, are generally related to greater feelings of self-efficacy and less distress. In contrast, the use of strategies that avoid stressors or manage emotional reaction to stressors are generally related to greater distress and lower feelings of self-efficacy (Moos, 2002). However, the coping strategies used in response to racism and discrimination may have divergent effects on adolescent adjustment and wellbeing given the ambiguity, power differential, unpredictability, and uncontrollability of many discriminatory acts (Harrell, 2000; Outlaw, 1993). Furthermore, factors such as level of racial consciousness, type of racial socialization received, and emotional and stress reaction to discriminatory experiences may directly relate to adjustment outcomes or may moderate the effects of discrimination distress on mental health outcomes (Harrell, 2000). Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 525 Hence, this study sought to answer the following questions: (a) Is the degree to which race is central to the identities of African American adolescents related to the use of approach and avoidance strategies for coping with perceived discriminatory experiences? and (b) is the degree to which African American adolescents have received messages concerning racism from their parents and/or guardians related to the use of approach and avoidance strategies for coping with perceived discriminatory experiences? In this study, perceived discrimination is used to refer to African American adolescents “subjective perception of unfair treatment” (Noh, Beiser, Kaspar, Hou, & Rummens, 1999, p. 194) based on their racial group membership. As suggested by Stevenson (1998), the perception of discriminatory experiences in and of itself can affect psychosocial outcomes and the psychological well-being of African Americans. METHOD PARTICIPANTS Participants included 88 African American adolescents attending a small, private, and religious-oriented high school located in Northern Alabama. All 9th-, 10th-, and 11th-grade students in attendance on the date of data collection completed self-administered questionnaires in small to large group sessions. A total of 17 questionnaires were eliminated due to missing data, erroneous responses, or participants not identifying themselves as being of African descent and born in America. The resulting sample consisted of 71 adolescents, 37 of which were female and 34 of which were male, with a mean age of 15.6 (SD = 0.96). The sample was fairly evenly distributed across grade levels, with n = 20 for 9th graders, n = 27 for 10th graders, and n = 24 for 11th graders. Overall, participants resided in homes of relative affluence where their parents and/or guardians were professionals and had advanced degrees (47.9%) or were skilled and had some college education (42.3%). The majority of the sample resided in two-parent homes 526 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 (53.5%). Others resided in single-parent homes (29.6%) or other home situations (e.g., with relatives; 16.9%). MEASURES Daily Life Experiences (DLE-R) and Racism Experiences Stress Scale (EXP-STR). The DLE-R and the EXP-STR are composite scales integrated from the Racism and Life Experiences Scales (Harrell, 1997). The DLE-R is a 20-item, 5-point, Likert-type scale that assesses the frequency to which respondents experience “micro aggressions” in their everyday life experiences because of race or racism. Examples include being observed or followed in public places; being ignored, overlooked, or not given service; and being reacted to by others as if they were afraid or intimidated. In this study, the response options ranged from never (0) to all the time (4). The EXP-STR is a 17-item, 5-point, Likert-type scale that assesses the stressfulness of racism experiences. The response options ranged from no stress (0) to extremely stressful (4) in this study. Higher scores on the DLE-R and EXP-STR indicate more frequent discriminatory experiences and discrimination distress. Cronbach’s alphas of .92 for the DLE-R and .89 for the EXP-STR have been reported (Harrell, Merchant, & Young, 1997). The DLE-R and EXP-STR were integrated from different scales of the Racism and Life Experiences Scales for the purpose of this study. Hence, for each perceived discriminatory experience assessed, the degree of stressfulness caused by the experience was also assessed. In an effort to reduce the length of time required to complete the DLE-R and the EXP-STR and to account for those experiences most commonly mentioned by African American adolescents in the popular print media and social science literature (e.g., McCoy, 1998), the number of items were reduced from 20 to 10. However, the reliability estimates of the modified versions of the DLE-R and the EXP-STR scales were .77 and .88, respectively, indicating good reliability. Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity. The Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (Sellers, Rowley, Chavous, Shelton, & Smith, 1997) is a 65-item, 7-point, Likert-type inven- Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 527 tory (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree) that measures the following three dimensions of racial identity: centrality, ideology, and regard. Only the Racial Centrality scale was used in this study. The Racial Centrality scale consists of 10 items that measure the extent to which being African American is central to the selfconceptions and identities of respondents (e.g., “Being Black is an important reflection of who I am”). A high score indicates high race centrality. Among high school students, the Racial Centrality scale has been found to have an acceptable level of internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of .73 (Rowley, Sellers, Chavous, & Smith, 1998). To allow for better ease of use and simplicity for participants in this study, the Racial Centrality scale was reduced from a 7-point to a 5-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). The coefficient alpha for this modified version of the scale was .52, indicating marginal reliability. Racism-Related Socialization Influences Scale. The RacismRelated Socialization Influences Scale (Harrell, 1997) is a 9-item, 5-point, Likert-type scale (1 = not at all to 5 = extremely) that assesses the frequency and content of racism-related messages from family members and other important adults (e.g., “To what extent have your parents, other family members, or other important adults in your life prepared you to deal with racism or talked to you about how to cope with racism?”). Higher scores indicate more frequent discussions about racism by family, school, peers, and so forth. The scale has been found to have acceptable reliability, with Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .70 to .77 (Harrell et al., 1997). For the purposes of this study, only racism-related socialization messages received from parents or guardians were assessed. This modified version consisted of 5 items. The coefficient alpha for the modified scale in this study was .84, indicating good reliability. Self-Report Coping Scale.The Self-Report Coping Scale (Causey & Dubow, 1992) is a 34-item, 5-point, Likert-type scale (1 = never to 5 = always) that assesses the use of approach and avoidance coping strategies for specific daily stressors. The scale is modifiable to assess coping with a range of stressors. In this study, participants indicated the extent to which they used each coping item 528 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 when they perceived discrimination or unfair treatment because of their race. The following two subscales of the Self-Report Coping Scale assess approach coping strategies: Seeking Social Support (e.g., “Talk to somebody about how it made me feel”) and SelfReliance/Problem Solving (e.g., “Decide on one way to deal with the problem and I do it”). The following three subscales assess avoidance coping: Distancing (e.g., “Tell myself it doesn’t matter”), Internalizing (e.g., “Worry too much about it”), and Externalizing (e.g., “Curse out loud”). Internal consistencies of subscales based on Cronbach’s alphas are reported to range from .68 to .84 (Causey & Dubow, 1992). In this study, the internal consistency of the subscales retained their robustness: Seeking Social Support, α = .86; Self-Reliance/Problem Solving, α = .68; Distancing, α = .79; Internalizing, α = .83; and Externalizing, α = .78. RESULTS DESCRIPTIVE AND CORRELATIONAL ANALYSES Preliminary analysis examined the relations of demographic variables to perceived discriminatory experiences, discrimination distress, racial identity, and racial socialization using a series of one-way ANOVAs. There was only one significant finding. Gender was significantly related to racial centrality, F(1, 69) = 4.22, p = .04. Specifically, male participants (M = 3.63, SD = 0.48) indicated race was significantly more central to their self-conceptions and identities than did their female counterparts (M = 3.39, SD = 0.50). Table 1 presents the means, standard deviations, and range for participants on the primary study variables. On average, the mean scores for approach and avoidance coping strategies indicate that African American adolescents moderately used these strategies to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences. As a group, participants did not report frequent discriminatory experiences. Hence, the level of discrimination distress reported was low. In terms of racial centrality and racial socialization, the mean scores suggest that most participants received messages from their parents Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 529 TABLE 1 Means, Standard Deviations, and Ranges for Primary Study Variables Variable Approach coping strategies Seeking social support Self-reliance/problem solving Avoidance coping strategies Distancing Internalizing Externalizing Race-related factors Perceived discrimination Discrimination-related distress Racial centrality Racial socialization M SD Obtained Range Possible Range 2.47 2.45 .83 .63 1.00-4.50 1.00-3.88 1.00-5.00 1.00-5.00 2.53 1.89 1.97 .88 .87 .99 1.00-4.33 1.00-5.00 1.00-4.50 1.00-5.00 1.00-5.00 1.00-5.00 1.26 1.21 3.51 3.00 .62 .91 .50 .85 0.10-2.80 .00-3.50 2.20-4.60 1.00-5.00 .00-4.00 .00-4.00 1.00-5.00 1.00-5.00 or guardians concerning racism fairly frequently and that for many, being Black was central to their self-conceptions and identities. Correlation coefficients were computed among primary study variables. The results shown in Table 2 show that 5 out of the 10 correlations for coping strategies were statistically significant. In general, the results suggest that participants who coped with perceived discriminatory experiences by using seeking social support strategies were also likely to use self-reliance/problem-solving and internalizing strategies but less likely to use distancing strategies. Furthermore, African American adolescents who used self-reliance/ problem-solving strategies were also likely to use internalizing strategies. Ironically, results indicated that participants who used internalizing strategies were also more likely to use externalizing strategies for coping with perceived discriminatory experiences. Results of correlation analysis indicated that perceived discrimination and discrimination distress were highly related. Hence, participants who experienced high levels of discrimination distress tended to use more internalizing and externalizing strategies to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences. In regard to racial centrality, results suggest that participants for whom being Black is TABLE 2 Intercorrelations for Primary Study Variables Variable A. Seeking social support B. Self-reliance/problem solving C. Distancing D. Internalizing E. Externalizing F. Perceived discrimination G. Discrimination distress H. Racial centrality I. Racial socialization *p < .05. **p < .01. A B C D E F G H I .— .58** –.36** .34* .10 .08 .23 –.04 .21 .— –.20 .28* .08 –.03 .12 –.11 .28* .— –.19 –.13 –.10 –.19 .03 .10 .— .48** .22 .38** –.13 –.21 .— .31** .42** .14 –.16 .— .75** .26* –.01 .— .17 –.15 .— .17 .— 530 Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 531 more central to their identities were likely to perceive more frequent discriminatory experiences in their everyday interactions. Last, African American adolescents who received more frequent messages concerning racism from their parents or guardians tended to use more self-reliance/problem-solving strategies to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences. MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE Separate one-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was conducted to determine the relation of racial centrality and racial socialization to the use of approach and avoidance strategies for coping with perceived discriminatory experiences. A median split criterion was used on the Racial Centrality scale (Median = 3.50) and Racism-Related Socialization Influences Scale (Median = 3.00) to divide participants into low– and high–racial centrality and racial socialization groupings. In a previous study, Scott (2002) found that gender, family structure, and socioeconomic status were significant demographic correlates of strategies used to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences. Hence, these variables were entered as covariates in each MANCOVA. For level of racial centrality, the MANCOVA indicated no significant main effect, Wilks’s lambda = .96, F(5, 62) = 0.50, p = .78, partial η2 = .04, with the η2 indicating a small multivariate effect size. As shown in Table 3, participants in the high–racial centrality group did not significantly differ from their counterparts in the low–racial centrality group in their use of approach and avoidance strategies to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences. In contrast, the multivariate main effect for level of racial socialization was significant, Wilks’s lambda = .76, F(5, 62) = 3.93, p = .004, partial η2 = .24, with the η2 indicating a large multivariate effect size. The univariate test for seeking social support was marginally significant, F(1, 66) = 2.73, p = .10, partial η2 = .04. For selfreliance/problem solving, the univariate test was significant, F(1, 66) = 8.50, p = .005, partial η2 = .11. As shown in Table 3, participants in the high–racial socialization group reported marginally 532 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 TABLE 3 Means and Standard Deviations for Approach and Avoidance Coping Strategies as a Function of Racial Centrality and Racial Socialization Low Racial Centrality (n = 40) High Racial Centrality (n = 31) Coping Strategies M SD M SD F p Seeking social support Self-reliance and/or problem solving Distancing Internalizing Externalizing 2.42 2.43 2.57 1.94 1.87 (0.88) (0.68) (0.88) (0.82) (0.96) 2.53 2.46 2.49 1.83 2.10 (0.77) (0.57) (0.89) (0.94) (1.01) 1.48 0.12 0.13 0.09 0.32 .23 .73 .71 .77 .58 Low Racial Socialization (n = 37) High Racial Socialization (n = 34) Coping Strategies M SD M SD F p Seeking social support Self-reliance and/or problem solving Distancing Internalizing Externalizing 2.28 2.24 2.39 1.99 2.10 (0.79) (0.55) (0.85) (0.90) (1.00) 2.66 2.67 2.69 1.77 1.83 (0.84) (0.65) (0.90) (0.83) (0.97) 2.73 8.50 2.02 1.85 0.71 .10 .005 .16 .18 .40 NOTE: Low and high categories for racial centrality and racial socialization were determined by median-split criterion. greater use of seeking social support strategies and significantly greater use of self-reliance/problem-solving strategies to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences than their counterparts in the low–racial socialization group. Although insignificant, there was a trend for participants in the high–racial socialization group to use more distancing and less internalizing coping strategies than their low–racial socialization counterparts. DISCUSSION This study purposed to explore whether the strategies used by African American adolescents to cope with perceived discrimina- Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 533 tory experiences were related to their racial identity and racial socialization. Results indicated that the degree to which race was central to participant’s self-conceptions and identities was unrelated to both approach and avoidance coping strategies. In contrast, the frequency with which participants received socialization messages concerning racism from their parents and/or guardians was related to the use of approach coping strategies but unrelated to the use of avoidance coping strategies. Findings concerning the lack of relation between racial centrality and coping with perceived discrimination are surprising. Shelton and Sellers (2000) suggested that the degree to which race is central to African American’s self-concept will heighten in racially noxious situations or race-salient conditions, particularly among high racial centrality individuals. This suggests that race for high-centrality individuals will become more meaningful when confronted with experiences perceived as being motivated by race or racism. Although the direction of causality cannot be determined, racial centrality and perceived discrimination were significantly correlated in this study. Other studies have found similar relations between racial identity and perceptions of discrimination (e.g., Romero & Roberts, 1998). Hence, it would seem likely that strategies to cope with perceived discrimination would be engendered among high–racial centrality participants. The lack of relation between racial centrality and coping may lend support to Sellers et al.’s (1997) contention that racial centrality, being a stable property of African American’s racial identity, is not situationally determined. Sellers et al. (1997) suggested that racial centrality may be more related to normative or everyday race-related behaviors such as social interaction patterns and media preferences. Furthermore, African American’s beliefs about the meaning of race (i.e., racial regard and racial ideology) and the situational relevance of race (i.e., racial saliency) may be related to specific behaviors or responses (Sellers et al., 1998). For example, the manner in which African American adolescents respond to perceived discriminatory acts may vary depending on (a) how the act is interpreted and the degree to which race becomes a salient feature of their self-conceptions as a consequence or (b) the racial lens with 534 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 which they view the world and their place in it. Hence, the lack of relation between racial identity and the strategies used to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences in this study is probably due to the dimension of racial identity selected. Future studies should seek to elucidate the complex interplay between the various dimensions of racial identity and their relation to coping and other psychological processes and competencies among African American adolescents. Unlike racial identity, results indicated that racial socialization was related to the use of approach strategies for coping with perceived discriminatory experiences but not to the use of avoidance coping strategies. The items used to assess racial socialization specifically pertained to the messages African American adolescents presumably received from parents or guardians about how to deal with racism, the history of racism in the lives of African Americans, and family member’s specific experiences with racism. Participants who reported a high frequency of such messages were more likely to cope with perceived discriminatory experiences by telling friends or family members what happened (i.e., seeking social support) or relying on their own personal resources and knowledge to deal with it (i.e., self-reliance/problem solving). The use of coping strategies that approach rather than avoid perceived discriminatory acts may be considered more resistance oriented in that approach coping, involving strategies that directly confront and attempt to solve problems, is generally related to positive adjustment outcomes. If this is the case, these results support Ward’s (1999) contention that preparation of African American children and youth for possible racist and discriminatory experiences is requisite if they are to resist racial oppression and be psychologically healthy. For example, findings from the study by Fischer and Shaw (1999) wherein reports of racist events were related to poorer mental health, particularly among those with lesser racial socialization experiences, provide evidence of the possible positive contribution of racial socialization to the resilience and psychological well-being of African American adolescents. However, in terms of perceived discrimination or other race-related stressors, research studies on the interrelations between perceived Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 535 discrimination, racial socialization, coping, and psychological outcomes are necessary before definitive and positive links can be asserted. The findings from this study are not easily interpretable but, nevertheless, suggest that socializing African American adolescents about the manifestations of racism is a process and endeavor that may be important for effective coping. However, the findings are not generalizable beyond the study sample. This study focused on a small, homogeneous sample of African American adolescents from a small, religious community of relative affluence. Hence, different relations between the primary variables may be evident among African American adolescents from less advantaged backgrounds or more secular environments. However, the study of more advantaged samples of African American subpopulations contributes to the understanding of variability in the stress and coping process (Slavin, Rainer, McCreary, & Gowda, 1991). Such studies, therefore, make a vital contribution to the literature. The moderate mean scores for approach and avoidance coping strategies in this study may indicate the weakness of many scales that are (a) normed primarily on White samples and (b) developed for use with more general or normative stressors in capturing the strategies more likely to be used by African Americans to cope with race-related stressors. Furthermore, scholars such as Utsey, Adams, and Bolden (2000) and Daly, Jennings, Beckett, and Leashore (1995) suggest that African Americans possess a general coping style that is tied to their culture and unique experience in American society. The coping measure used in this study may have obscured the nature of the relationships between coping with perceived discrimination and participants’ racial identities and racial socialization. Hence, future studies should use coping measures developed specifically for race-related stressors or that have been normed on African American adolescent samples. Such studies will contribute to the empirical testing and validation of emerging models of racism-related stress (e.g., Clark, Anderson, Clark, & Williams, 1999; Harrell, 2000). Many of the scales used in this study were purposely modified to answer the research questions posed and to simplify their use. 536 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 Hence, the psychometric properties and subsequent validity of the scales may have been compromised. Although estimates of the reliability for the modified scales were primarily good, the findings should nevertheless be viewed with caution. Finally, significant findings in this study may have been obscured by the small sample size and consequent reductions in power. Studies with larger, more representative samples of African American adolescents are needed. Heretofore, the study of stress and coping among African American children and adolescents has been a neglected research endeavor (Compas, Connor-Smith, Saltzman, Thomsen, & Wadsworth, 2001). Hence, studies in this area not only are fertile ground for the discipline of Black studies but also are warranted if we are to gain a comprehensive knowledge of African American adolescent life and functioning. REFERENCES Brown, T. N., Williams, D. R., Jackson, J. S., Neighbors, H. W., Torres, M., & Sellers, S. L., et al. (2000). “Being Black and feeling blue”: The mental health consequences of racial discrimination. Race & Society, 2, 117-131. Causey, D. L., & Dubow, E. F. (1992). Development of a self-report coping measure for elementary school children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21, 47-59. Clark, R., Anderson, N. B., Clark, V. R., & Williams, D. R. (1999). Racism as a stressor for African Americans. American Psychologist, 54, 805-816. Comer, J. P. (1995). Racism and African American adolescent development. In C. V. Willie, P. P. Rieker, B. M. Kramer, & B. S. Brown (Eds.), Mental health, racism, and sexism (pp. 151-170). Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. Compas, B. E., Connor-Smith, J. K., Saltzman, H., Thomsen, A. H., & Wadsworth, M. E. (2001). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence: Problems, progress, and potential in theory and research. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 87-127. Cross, W. E., Jr., & Fhagen-Smith, P. (2001). Patterns of African American identity development: A life span perspective. In C. L. Wijeyesinghe & B. W. Jackson, III (Eds.), New perspectives on racial identity development: A theoretical and practical anthology (pp. 243-270). New York: New York University Press. Daly, A., Jennings, J., Beckett, J. O., & Leashore, B. R. (1995). Effective coping strategies of African Americans. Social Work, 40, 240-248. Fischer, A. R., & Shaw, C. M. (1999). African Americans’ mental health and perceptions of racist discrimination: The moderating effects of racial socialization experiences and self-esteem. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46, 395-407. Harrell, S. P. (1997). The Racism and Life Experience Scales (RaLES): Self-administration version. Unpublished manuscript. Scott / COPING AND DISCRIMINATION 537 Harrell, S. P. (2000). A multidimensional conceptualization of racism-related stress: Implications for the well-being of people of color. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 42-57. Harrell, S. P., Merchant, M. A., & Young, S. A. (1997). Psychometric properties of the Racism and Life Experience Scales (RaLES). Unpublished manuscript. McCoy, V. (1998, October). Dollars and disses: For many Black youth, shopping is hardly a simple proposition. Emerge, 10, 62-63. Miller, D. B. (1999). Racial socialization and racial identity: Can they promote resiliency for African American adolescents. Adolescence, 34(135), 493-501. Moos, R. H. (2002). Life stressors, social resources, and coping skills in youth: Applications to adolescents with chronic disorders. Journal of Adolescent Health, 30(4, Suppl. 1), 22-29. Noh, S., Beiser, M., Kaspar, V., Hou, F., & Rummens, J. (1999). Perceived racial discrimination, depression, and coping: A study of Southeast Asian refugees in Canada. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 40(3), 193-207. Outlaw, F. H. (1993). Stress and coping: The influence of racism on the cognitive appraisal processing of African Americans. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 14, 399-409. Phinney J. S. (1998). Ethnic identity in adolescents and adults: Review of research. In P. B. Organista, K. M. Chun, & G. Marin (Eds.), Readings in ethnic psychology (pp. 73-99). Boston: Routledge Kegan Paul. Romero, A. J., & Roberts, R. E. (1998). Perception of discrimination and ethnocultural variables in a diverse group of adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 21, 641-656. Rowley, S. J., Sellers, R. M., Chavous, T. M., & Smith, M. A. (1998). The relationship between racial identity and self-esteem in African American college and high school students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 715-724. Scott, L. D., Jr. (2002). Correlates of coping with perceived discriminatory experiences among African American adolescents. Manuscript submitted for publication. Sellers, R. M., Rowley, S. A. J., Chavous, T. M., Shelton, J. N., & Smith, M. A. (1997). Multidimensional inventory of Black identity: A preliminary investigation of reliability and construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 805-815. Sellers, R. M., Smith, M. A., Shelton, J. N., Rowley, S. A. J., & Chavous, T. M. (1998). Multidimensional model of racial identity: A reconceptualization of African American racial identity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2, 18-39. Shelton, J. N., & Sellers, R. M. (2000). Situationally stability and variability in African American racial identity. Journal of Black Psychology, 26, 27-50. Simons, R. L., Murry, B., McLoyd, V., Lin, K., Cutrona, C., & Conger, R. D. (2002). Discrimination, crime, ethnic identity, and parenting as correlates of depressive symptoms among African American children: A multilevel analysis. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 371-393. Slavin, L. A., Rainer, K. L., McCreary, M. L., & Gowda, K. K. (1991). Toward a multicultural model of the stress process. Journal of Counseling & Development, 71, 156-163. Stevenson, H. C., Jr. (1998). Theoretical considerations in measuring racial identity and socialization: Extending the self further. In R. L. Jones (Ed.), African American identity development (pp. 217-254). Hampton, VA: Cobb & Henry. Stevenson, H. C., Jr., Cameron, R., Herrero-Taylor, T., & Davis, G. Y. (2002). Development of the teenager experience of racial socialization scale: Correlates of race-related socialization frequency from the perspective of Black youth. Journal of Black Psychology, 28(2), 84-106. 538 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / MARCH 2003 Stevenson, H. C., Reed, J., Bodison, P., & Bishop, A. (1997). Racism stress management: Racial socialization beliefs and the experience of depression and anger in African American youth. Youth & Society, 29, 197-222. Thornton, M. C. (1997). Strategies of racial socialization among Black parents: Mainstream, minority, and cultural messages. In R. J. Taylor, J. S. Jackson, & L. M. Chatters (Eds.), Family life in Black America (pp. 201-215). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Thornton, M. C., Chatters, L. M., Taylor, R. J., & Allen, W. R. (1990). Sociodemographic and environmental correlates of racial socialization by Black parents. Child Development, 61, 401-409. Utsey, S. O., Adams, E. P., & Bolden, M. (2000). Development and initial validation of the Africultural coping systems inventory. Journal of Black Psychology, 26, 194-215. Ward, J. V. (1999). Resilience and resistance. In A. Garrod, J. V. Ward, T. L. Robinson, & R. Kilkenny (Eds.), Souls looking back: Life stories of growing up Black (pp. 173-185). Boston: Routledge Kegan Paul. Ward, J. V. (2000). The skin we’re in: Teaching our children to be emotionally strong, socially smart, spiritually connected. New York: Free Press. Lionel D. Scott, Jr., is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Mental Health Services Research in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. His research interests are adolescent stress and coping, racial disparities in health outcomes and service utilization, psychosocial development and functioning of African American Adolescents, and racial/ethnic identity and socialization. Body Size and Social Self-Image Among Adolescent African American Girls Youth & Society Volume 41 Number 2 December 2009 256-277 © 2009 Sage Publications 10.1177/0044118X09338505 http://yas.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com The Moderating Influence of Family Racial Socialization Ellen M. Granberg Clemson University Leslie Gordon Simons Ronald L. Simons University of Georgia Social psychologists have amassed a large body of work demonstrating that overweight African American adolescent girls have generally positive selfimages, particularly when compared with overweight females from other racial and ethnic groups. Some scholars have proposed that elements of African American social experience may contribute to the maintenance of these positive self-views. The article evaluates these arguments using data drawn from a panel study of socioeconomically diverse African American adolescent girls living in Iowa and Georgia. The article analyzes the relationship between body size and social self-image over three waves of data, starting when the girls were 10 years of age and concluding when they were approximately 14. The findings show that heavier respondents hold less positive social self-images; however, the findings also show that being raised in a family that practices racial socialization moderates this relationship. Keywords: T obesity; adolescence; racial socialization he relationship between body weight and self-image among African American adolescent girls has been the topic of considerable study (Ge, Elder, Regnerus, & Cox, 2001; Lovejoy, 2001; Smolak & Levine, 2001). Overall, the results of this work show that, though African American girls are more likely to be overweight than females of other racial groups, they also feel good about their bodies and exhibit a relatively weak association 256 Granberg et al. / Body Size and Social Self-Image   257 between body size and outcomes such as self-esteem, self-evaluation, and psychological health (Berkowitz & Stunkard, 2002; Neumark-Sztainer, Story, Hannan, & Croll, 2002). These patterns have led scholars to suggest that elements of African American life may serve a protective function, limiting the negative influence of body size on self-image (Roberts, Cash, Feingold, & Johnson, 2006). In this article, we explore these arguments by assessing the association between body size and social self-image within a sample of adolescent African American girls. We then examine elements of African American social experience that we hypothesize may be the source of this protection. The Meaning of Body Size Among Adolescent African American Girls Adolescence is a time when the self-concept evolves to more fully incorporate the world and its expectations (Rosenberg, 1986). Concerns with popularity, attractiveness, and social status rise dramatically as does anxiety about the perceptions and evaluations of others (Seiffge-Krenke, 2003). During this developmental phase, possessing a stigmatized physical characteristic, such as being overweight, can make both self and social acceptance even more challenging and contribute to the development of a negative self-image (French, Story, & Perry, 1995; Phillips & Hill, 1998; Smolak & Levine, 2001). Given the importance adolescents place on the positive regard of others as well as the degree of stigma attached to obesity in the culture at large (Brownell, Puhl, Schwartz, & Rudd, 2005), it is not surprising that body size influences social self-images among adolescent girls. Furthermore, though there is ample evidence suggesting African American girls are less vulnerable to these pressures (Hebl & Heatherton, 1998; Nichter, 2000), this should not be taken to mean they are immune from the psychosocial impact of weight stigma or unconcerned about the aesthetic and health consequences of weight gain (Granberg, Simons, Gibbons, & Melby, 2008; Authors’ Note: This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (MH48165, MH62669). Additional funding for this project was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station (Project #3320), the University of Georgia, and Clemson University. Please address all correspondence to Dr. Ellen Granberg, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, 132 Brackett Hall, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634; e-mail: granber@clemson.edu. 258   Youth & Society Siegel, 2002). Rather, the relative protection enjoyed by African American girls is detectable primarily because they are so often compared to girls from other racial groups, especially Caucasians, where concerns with body size are more salient (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2003). Research focused specifically on African Americans suggests that though they hold more moderate attitudes about weight than those found among European Americans, they still view obesity as a negative characteristic (Flynn & Fitzgibbon, 1996; Kumanyika, Wilson, & Guilford-Davenport, 1993; Paxton, Eisenberg, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2006). For these reasons, our expectation is that when heavier adolescent African American girls are compared with thinner girls who are also African American, heavier girls will show a deficit in social self-image. Also, in line with developmental theories of self and body image, we expect this relationship to become stronger as respondents enter midadolescence. Exploring the Body Size Paradox: Why African American Girls Are Less Concerned With Weight Though we anticipate that weight will be relevant to the self-images of adolescent African American girls, we also propose factors that may contribute to the differential protection they enjoy relative to other groups (Ge et al., 2001; Molloy & Herzberger, 1998). Specifically, we hypothesize that elements of African American social life provide resources upon which African American girls may draw when assessing their physical size and that, when available, these resources can buffer the impact of broader social standards regarding attractive body size. This, we argue, contributes to the relative protection they experience when compared to girls from other racial groups. Interest in the notion that elements of social experience could protect the self-esteem of African American children gained ground with Morris Rosenberg’s 1971 study of self-esteem (Rosenberg & Simmons, 1971). In explaining the finding (surprising at the time) that Black children did not demonstrate evidence of reduced self-esteem, Rosenberg and Simmons cited the effect of what they termed a “consonant social context”: an environment in which social feedback and proximal social comparisons emphasize positive aspects of one’s group membership while limiting exposure to negative aspects. Among African American children, they argued, growing up in such a context reduced exposure to bigotry and racial discrimination, which in turn promoted positive self-esteem even among children living in highly disadvantaged circumstances. Granberg et al. / Body Size and Social Self-Image   259 Researchers studying the association between body size and self-image have proceeded along a similar path arguing that elements of African American social and cultural life may protect girls’ self-images by reducing exposure to negative feedback and promoting positive social comparisons (Root, 1990). This expands the resources upon which African American girls can draw to make positive evaluations of their weight and appearance providing a differential protection not as readily available to girls in other racial groups (Halpern, King, Oslak, & Udry, 2005; Paxton et al., 2006). In this article, we hypothesize two resources that may be particularly important for this process: the structural availability of comparison others who are also African American and the practice of cultural education (i.e., racial socialization) among the families of African American teenagers. We expect these factors to influence the evaluations African American girls make about their bodies by shaping the sources girls use to judge their physical size. For example, research examining sources of body dissatisfaction indicate that social comparisons are one of the primary mechanisms through which adolescent girls assess their bodies (Evans & McConnell, 2003; Thompson, Coovert, & Stormer, 1999). Downward comparisons, in which a girl judges herself smaller than those around her, typically produce greater body esteem and result in more positive self-evaluations (Morrison, Kalin, & Morrison, 2004). African American women are, on average, heavier than their peers from any other major racial group and also show greater variation in body size (Neumark-Sztainer et al., 2002). This would suggest that when African American adolescents compare their body sizes with women from within their own racial group, they are more likely to perceive a favorable (i.e., downward) social comparison than they would when comparing themselves to women who are not African American. Thus, the availability of comparison others who are also African American may improve access to self-enhancing social feedback. The protective effect of African American racial group membership may also develop by facilitating access to cultural resources that enhance adolescents’ self-images—again giving teens the ability to buffer the impact of body size status. We propose that racial socialization, the practice of educating children about the meaning, history, and significance of being African American (Caughy, O’Campo, Randolph, & Nickerson, 2002; Hughes, 2003) may have this effect. Racial socialization has been linked to a number of positive psychosocial outcomes, including higher self-esteem and lower rates of psychological stress (Bynum, Burton, & Best, 2007; Hughes et al., 2006). It also produces two effects that suggest it may contribute to more positive evaluations of body size: biculturalism and positive 260   Youth & Society feelings about one’s ethnic group (Brega & Coleman, 1999; Demo & Hughes, 1990; Hughes et al., 2006; McHale et al., 2006). A bicultural orientation may reduce the impact of mainstream body size standards by facilitating recognition of the biases inherent in Western, White standards of beauty (Lovejoy, 2001). This may be part of what allows African American women and girls to distinguish their own body evaluations from those standards (Evans & McConnell, 2003; Poran, 2002). Similarly, positive feelings about one’s own ethnic group are likely to increase the salience and appeal of the in-group standard. Such recognitions may also reduce the influence of social comparisons made with non-African American others. If racial socialization has the effect we hypothesize, then girls growing up in families where it is practiced frequently should show a weaker relationship between body size and social self-images than do girls growing up in families where racial socialization is not a focus. Our intent with this analysis is to deepen understandings of the relationship between body and self-image among adolescent African American girls. Our first goal is to assess the relative importance of body size to selfimage as these girls move through adolescence. Second, we test the idea that growing up within a consonant social context may protect girls, to some degree, from negative feedback about their bodies. Specifically, we hypothesize two forms of this consonant social context: the structural availability of comparison others who are also African American and the practice of cultural education (i.e., racial socialization) within respondents’ families. In both instances, we expect that these factors will have a moderating effect, reducing the relationship between body size and social self-image. Methods Sample The data for this analysis are drawn from Waves 1 through 3 of the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS), a multisite study of the emotional and social health and development of African American preteens and adolescents. The complete FACHS dataset consists of approximately 900 African American families living in Georgia and Iowa. The FACHS sample is unique among data sets focusing on African Americans because it was designed to identify contributors to African American children’s development in families living outside the urban inner city core and from a wide range of socioeconomic strata. Wave 1 of FACHS was collected during 1997 Granberg et al. / Body Size and Social Self-Image   261 when target respondents were between 10 and 11 years of age; Wave 2 took place in 1999 when target children were between 12 and 13 years of age. Wave 3 data collection occurred in 2001 when the target children were between 14 and 15 years of age. Details regarding the FACHS sampling strategy and data collections procedures can be found in Simons et al. (2002). In the present analysis we use only the female respondents from the FACHS sample. Approximately 400 girls participated in the FACHS data collection at Wave 1; of these, 320 completed Waves 2 and 3. Missing data from the body size measures (explained further below) and other scales reduced the final sample to 256. We used t tests to examine whether respondents included in the sample differed from those excluded on any of the dependent or independent variables and found no significant differences. Measures Social self-image. Our primary research focus is on the association between body size and social self-image among adolescent girls. We measured social self-image using a 5-item index capturing social characteristics that are meaningful to adolescents and that have been linked to behavior and attitudes regarding smoking, alcohol use, diet, and exercise (Gerrard, Gibbons, Stock, Vande Lune, & Cleveland, 2005; Gibbons & Gerrard, 1995, 1997; Simons et al., 2002). The items were reverse coded as necessary so that a high response indicated a more positive social self-image. Items were summed and the Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was approximately .65 at both Waves 2 and 3. Body size measures. The FACHS measures “visible body size” on a 9-point scale ranging from 1 = significantly underweight to 9 = morbidly obese. These ratings were made from videotapes of the FACHS target children recorded during each of the first two waves of data collection. We elected to use visual ratings of body size rather than clinical measures such as BMI because our theoretical interest is in the implications of body weight for social comparisons and social self-images. Thus, a visual assessment of obesity was a more valid measure than one drawn from body mass index (BMI) for age growth charts (National Center for Health Statistics, 2000). Finally, ratings of body size made from videotapes have been shown to be a valid representation of weight status (Cardinal, Kaciroti, & Lumeng, 2006). Observer ratings were based on the Figure Rating Scale (FRS; Stunkard, Sorenson, & Schulsinger, 1983) as well as assessments of particular body parts (e.g., upper arm size, etc.). Details regarding the procedures used to 262   Youth & Society Table 1 Frequencies and Descriptive Statistics for Body Size Ratings Wave 1 Wave 2 Size Rank N % 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total M SD 2 0.8 21 8.2 89 34.8 66 25.8 43 16.8 12 4.7 12 4.7 9 3.5 2 0.8 256 100.0 4.05 1.51 N % 1 9 60 82 46 8 20 11 1 238 4.38 1.50 0.4 3.8 25.2 34.5 19.3 3.4 8.4...
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