For marginalized individuals, such as Black youth and their families, direct and indirect experiences with racial discrimination present a risk for a range of deleterious effects on well-being (Anderson et al., 2018; Bynum et al., 2007; Hope et al., 2015; Sellers et al., 2003). Indeed, racial discrimination and other acts of racial injustice has proven lethal in the past decade with Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Cameron Tillman who are among the young Black lives that have been lost due to racial encounters between Black people and police. These instances coupled with modern demonstrations of White supremacy groups in cities such as Charlottesville, Virginia and the District of Columbia are evidence that our nation is continually fraught with racism, hate, and bigotry – all of which have their origin in slavery (Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich, 2011).

As up to 90% of Black youth report racialized discriminatory experiences (Anderson et al., 2018; Neblett et al., 2012) a frequent practice that seeks to buffer against negative manifestations of racism and bolster coping for the well-being of Black children is racial socialization (RS; Hughes et al., 2006; Stevenson, 1994). RS is an evolving, multidimensional construct pertaining to the transmission and endorsement of verbal, nonverbal, direct, or implicit messages about race from adults to children (Bentley-Edwards & Stevenson, 2016; Bentley et al., 2008; Hughes et al., 2006; Lesane-Brown, 2006). For over four decades, RS research has shaped much of what we know about the welfare of Black youth and family functioning (Murry et al., 2018). Specifically, RS is the primary informant of a holistic process of Black youth development, that is, coming to know and accepting what it means to be Black through racial identity development (Lesane-Brown, 2006; Phinney, 1989; Spencer et al., 1997). Towards this end, RS implicates a myriad of psychosocial and academic outcomes for Black youth (Hughes et al., 2006; McHale et al., 2006; Reynolds et al., 2017; Varner et al., 2017).

Black parents are considered the most salient transmitters of RS to their Black children (Demo & Hughes, 1990; Stevenson, 1994; White-Johnson et al., 2010). Thus, a large body of RS literature has been attentive to understanding characteristics among parents that contribute to the RS process, including parents’ own experiences with racism (Anderson et al., 2015; Hughes & Chen, 1997) as well as their socioeconomic status (Hughes et al., 2006; Thornton et al., 1990), gender (Thornton et al., 1990; McHale et al., 2006), educational achievement (Caughy et al., 2002; Hughes & Chen, 1997; White et al., 2010) and family structure (Causey et al., 2015; Thornton, 1990). Collectively, these findings suggest that parental factors may impact the RS messages youth receive as well as the frequency with which they receive these messages towards healthy development (Lesane-Brown, 2006).

Developmental theories focused on youth of color (e.g., Garcia Coll et al., 1996; Spencer et al., 1997) have strived to specify our understanding of the Black youth experience (i.e., RS and racial/ethnic identity development) in the home as well as the broader context of youths’ everyday lives (Spencer et al., 1997, Hughes et al., 2006; 2016). As such, researchers have started considering the ways in which Black youths’ engagement in their proximal environments, such as in their neighborhoods (Caughy et al., 2002), schools (Stevenson & Stevenson, 2014), and churches (Butler-Barnes et al., 2018) offer RS opportunities. Black youth’s television diet in relation to White peers has increasingly made media a notable contribution to Black youths’ racial “meaning making” process (Adams-Bass et al., 2014; Anyiwo et al., 2018; Stevenson, 1988).

A conversation about the RS experiences of Black youth would be remiss without a discussion of the role of kin or “the village” in Black families (Billingsley et al., 2021; Stevenson, 1998). Black homes are frequently characterized by a multigenerational family structure that might include immediate (e.g., parents and siblings), extended family members (e.g., grandparents and cousins), as well as fictive kin (e.g., close individuals not related by blood or marriage; Chatters et al., 1994). Altogether, these individuals have been found to provide Black youth emotional support, advice, and information around overcoming adversity associated with a racially charged living environment (Brown, 2008). Emerging literature around Black adolescent development illustrates various socio-emotional benefits for Black youth who consistently engage with close and supportive non-parental adults in their pre-existing social networks, often considered natural mentoring relationships (NMRs; Hurd & Sellers, 2013). Taken together, literature addressing the role of non-parental agents in RS is inclusive of extended family members, fictive kin, community members, and media (Adams-Bass et al., 2014).

Yet, there is scant understanding of the ways in which non-parental transmission of RS messages compare to parents’ RS efforts among Black youth (Lesane-Brown, 2006; Thornton et al., 1990). RS has never taken a fixed definition and continues to transform in nature (Lesane-Brown, 2006). Notably, recent theorizations of RS have worked to shift the focus of the field toward a knowledge (i.e., messages) and skill-based (i.e., behavioral actions) coping process that preserves the well-being of Black youth and families amid the racial stress they’re subject to across settings of engagement (Anderson & Stevenson, 2019; Hughes et al., 2016; Murry et al., 2018). The current study seeks to contribute to this growing body of literature by investigating factors that contribute to Black youth’s beliefs in the RS messages they receive across parental and non-parental agents of RS. Specifically, the current study investigates whether the RS messages Black youth receive from non-parental adult sources (i.e., teachers, natural mentors) matter above and beyond the messages they acquire from parental figures (i.e., mothers and fathers).

Theoretical Framework for Racial Socialization Across Interpersonal Contexts

Phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST; Spencer et al., 1997) has served as the foundation for modern research on the development of Black youth (Williams et al., 2014). Unlike historical developmental frameworks, PVEST is attuned to the ways in which Black youths’ social positions (i.e., social class, culture, ethnicity, and race) and experiences (e.g., racial discrimination) inform their trajectories (Rivas-Drake et al., 2009) towards positive and healthy development. There are five components of PVEST: vulnerability level, net stress engagement, reactive coping, emergent identities, and life stage coping outcomes. At its core, PVEST situates developmental processes known to youth of color (e.g., identity development, RS) within their ecological systems. In establishing vulnerability level, protective factors (those which help to shield youth from stressors), risk contributors (those things which heighten vulnerability and stress reaction), racial attitudes and behaviors can be incorporated into the analysis of the experiences of Black youth (Spencer, 1995, 2006). PVEST provides an opportunity to map and empirically examine the protective factors and vulnerabilities that Black youth experience, including racialized experiences.

For example, when Black youth experience racial discrimination, the probability of associated risks (e.g., trauma, low self-esteem) increase (Anderson et al., 2018; Hope et al., 2015). However, within the context of PVEST, protective factors, such as RS may lessen the ramifications of risks and promote protective and positive outcomes (Hope et al., 2019; Spencer & Tinsley, 2008). PVEST identifies families as a principal source of how youth come to know and understand themselves within the context of their social worlds (Rivas-Drake et al., 2009; Spencer et al., 1997). The ecological systems perspective on youth development allows for exploring the ways in which RS can transpire across different agents in Black youth’s social networks (e.g., parents, extended-family members, community members, peers, media) reference.

Black Adolescent Identity Formation

Identity development for all individuals (Erikson, 1968) involves exploring and evaluating personal experiences for committing to a set of specific beliefs and values that align with one’s biological, physiological, and social characteristics. For Black youth, identity development is different than that of other youth due to the ubiquitous power differential that exists between racial groups and the impact of this dynamic on their lived experiences. Thus, for Black youth, identity is situated within the context of their racial backgrounds and involves understanding the power of prestige in society, and the existence of stereotypes and racism (Phinney, 1993). Precisely, ethnic-racial identity (ERI) formation for Black youth, is a transactional process that involves the personal efforts of individuals as well as contextual influences that can activate, hinder, or foster identity development for young people of color (Rivas-Drake et al., 2014). RS is considered the antecedent for an achieved ERI through the protective and promotive messages it can encompass (Spencer, 2006).

Racial Socialization

For adults who raise Black children, the process of RS is a vital component of parenting (Hughes, 2003; Hughes et al., 2006). Pragmatically, RS is a multifaceted developmental coping process that illuminates the different ways in which Black children and families experience and manage racism in the United States (US; Bentley-Edwards & Stevenson, 2016; Hughes & Watford, 2016; Varner et al., 2017). Peter’s (1985) defines RS, “as the tasks Black parents share with all parents— but includes the responsibility of raising physically and emotionally healthy children who are Black in a society in which being Black has negative connotations” (Peters, 1985, p. 161).

Suitable for the current racial climate in the US, recent RS scholars propose that RS should be recognized as the process through which Black adults transmit intellectual, emotional, and behavioral messages and skills regarding racial encounters for Black youth to acquire (Stevenson & Stevenson 2014; Anderson & Stevenson, 2019). Specifically, the Racial Encounter Coping Appraisal and Socialization Theory (RECAST; Bentley et al., 2008; Stevenson & Stevenson, 2014; Anderson & Stevenson, 2019) suggests that Black families should work in a collective manner to transmit skill-based RS to Black youth, that will require a “more planned, proactive, and preventative” approach (Anderson & Stevenson, 2019). Notable to the current study are the ways in which RECAST draws attention to the central role Black families and caregivers serve in the developmental process of RS, also acknowledging the ways in which family members beyond parents and non-parental familial agents might also be integral to this process. Nevertheless, to date, few studies have sought to investigate how Black youths’ endorsement and subsequent negotiation of specific RS messages are impacted by the ecologies they navigate and relationships that inform their understanding of race and racism in the 21st Century.

Types of Racial Socialization Messages

The implicit or explicit RS messages Black children receive exist out of four foundational tenets (Hughes & Chen, 1997; Hughes et al., 2006; Hughes & Watford, 2016; Friend et al., 2011). Cultural socialization messages address how Black children are taught about their racial heritage and history to promote pride. These types of messages can be transmitted through exposure to cultural information materials (e.g., books, music, holidays). Preparation for bias messages address efforts that make Black children aware of their racialized country and ways to cope with experiences of discrimination. Promotion of mistrust messages inform how Black children develop distrust in interactions with non-Black, non-minority individuals. Egalitarianism/silence about race messages promote a preferred value for individual characteristics versus group membership to succeed in majority culture spaces, often through diluting the importance of race identity and emphasizing meritocracy and “boot strap” oriented ideals.

Non-parental Agents of RS

Extended Family and Fictive Kin

RS is also a developmental process which can be facilitated within the context of the broader Black family (Thompson & Carter, 1997). In the Black community, the presence and magnitude of multigenerational, interdependent families is well-founded (Leffler, 2014; McLoyd, 1990). Black homes are often characterized by immediate and extended family members, as well as fictive kin (i.e., close individuals not related by blood or marriage; Brown et al., 2017; Causey et al., 2015). Historically, the rationale for multigenerational households among racial-ethnic minority families has been connected to poverty (Chase-Lansdale et al., 1994; McAdoo, 2007). Yet, with a continual rise in the Black middle class, the multigenerational nature of families persists (Pew Research Center, 2018). As a result of the oppressive challenges the Black community continuously faces in dominant American society, intergenerational kinship offers Black children, individuals, and families a resilient system of support and advice (Billingsley et al., 2021; Causey et al., 2015; Leffler, 2014; McLoyd, 1990). Indeed, navigating the triple quandary of being Black in America— the challenge of balancing mainstream, cultural, and minority experiences (Bentley et al., 2008; Boykins & Toms, 1985) often shapes these discussions.

Among Black youth specifically, relationships with extended family members and kinfolk (e.g., grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings) are often referred to as natural mentoring relationships. Natural mentors are non-parental adults in youths’ pre-existing social networks (Hurd & Zimmerman, 2010; Zimmerman et al., 2002). Although anywhere from a quarter to a third of Black youth report lacking a natural mentor (Hurd et al., 2012), they are seen as caring sources of support, guidance, and help for making important decisions (Hurd et al. 2018). The impact of a natural mentor for Black youth has been connected to a level of connectedness that facilitates trust, personal sharing, and psychological well-being for Black youth (Bowers et al., 2014; DuBois & Silverthorn, 2005; Hurd & Zimmerman, 2010). Notable to the current study are the ways in which familial NMRs have been shown to play an important role in Black youths’ development through the RS messages these mentors are able to communicate to their mentees about the meaning and importance of race (Hurd et al., 2012) and racism (Priest et al., 2014) in their lives separate from parents. Moreover, familial NMRs have been found to mitigate the negative effects of stress for Black youth through teaching about how to cope with race-based threats (Hughes et al., 2006; Hurd & Sellers, 2013; Wittrup et al., 2019).

Among the burgeoning work in this area, previous studies have found that RS may naturally unfold within the context of family-based practices and activities where conversations about cultural, ethnic, racial heritage topics are salient, such as holidays and family gatherings (Hughes et al., 2016). In terms of the specific types of messages non-parental familial adults are likely to communicate to Black youth, familial ethnic-racial socialization has been shown to manifest similar to parental ethnic-racial socialization (Umaña‐Taylor & Hill, 2020). Thus, non-parental familial agents in Black youths’ lives are positioned to communicate messages regarding cultural socialization or pride, preparing for discriminatory encounters, the need for distrust of other racial-ethnic ground, and the need for equality among all racial groups (Hughes et al., 2006; Stevenson et al., 2002). Although research in this area remains emergent and generally underdeveloped, some scholars suggest that Black youth may subsequently struggle with receiving conflicting messages from parental and non-parental RS agents (Winkler, 2010), and that non-parental familial adults may be influential for Black youths’ identity development above and beyond that of parents (Thompson, 1994).

Other Non-parental Adults and Peers

Youth’s increased engagement in a variety of social interactions and relationships during adolescence make NMRs with close non-familial adults, like teachers, also common as well as relationships with peers. As youth mature through adolescence, their increased need for autonomy and independence is likely to orient them towards nonparental adults in academic contexts well, where youth spend a disproportionate amount of their time (Aldana & Byrd, 2015; Hurd et al., 2018) and may be perceived as a “safe haven” for youth (Banerjee et al., 2018). However, in peer-based settings like school, Black youths’ academic engagement and self-efficacy have largely been associated with a range discriminatory and exclusionary experiences from both non-Black teachers and peers (Neblett et al., 2006; Wittrup et al., 2019; Author; under review). There is a growing body of literature connecting the influence of schools and relationships with non-parental adults in schools on Black youths’ RS experiences through formal (e.g., multicultural curriculum and learning materials) and informal messages (racial composition of schools and teachers’ racial attitudes; Aldana & Byrd, 2015).

One study among Black fourth grade students once found that teachers’ attitudes regarding racial equity and equality, and interracial trust and mistrust was associated with students’ same attitudes (Smith et al., 2003). In a more recent study concerning Black female youths (Banerjee et al., 2018), school-based RS was found to moderate the relationship with youths’ experiences with racial discrimination in schools and their academic persistence, academic self-efficacy, and academic self-concept. Another study demonstrated that youths’ efficacy and comfort discussing in-school racialized experiences was associated with participation in a RS program for Black students (Adams-Bass, 2021).

Previous studies also suggest that youths’ positive close relationships with non-familial adults, such as those with teachers may promote their sense of racial pride in a manner that is promotive of their racial identity and academic outcomes within the context of discrimination in school (Hurd et al., 2012). Youths’ pursuit of NMRs outside of their families have also been connected to the types of social support they yearn for when seeking to cope with race-related stressors in their broader ecologies, especially when their mentor shares their same racial-ethnic background (Griffith et al., 2019).

Relationships with peers are meaningful throughout adolescence and offer opportunities to receive RS messages especially with increased age (Priest et al., 2014) and experiences with discrimination (Ayres & Leaper, 2013). Altogether, peers as RS agents have mostly been connected to the dissemination of cultural pride and preparation for bias messages (Barr, 2014).

Media

Ecological perspectives have begun to suggest that broader aspects of Black youth’s environments may influence how they become racially socialized (Aldana & Byrd, 2015; Stevenson & Stevenson, 2014; Thornton et al., 1990; White et al., 2010). Okdie and colleagues (2014), suggest media should be incorporated into psychological studies because the diverse and sophisticated forms of media play an integral role in our daily lives. Arnett (1995) presents media as a “super peer” that youth utilize for self-socialization, displacing actual peers and influencing their behaviors, ideals, and perspectives. While over 90% of teens report engaging in online media daily (Byrd & Ahn, 2020; Perrin, 2015), Black youth’s media consumption is greater than that of youth from other racial/ethnic backgrounds (Dennison et al., 2002; Matabane & Merritt, 2014). In this study, we include the media as a socializing agent because of its omnipresence, the racial messages that are communicated about Black people through the media and the number of hours Black youth are exposed to televised media images daily. While diverse images are more prevalent in today’s media outlets than ever before, Black youth are still psychologically vulnerable to negative and stereotypical depictions of themselves and their racial group in the media (Adams-Bass et al., 2014; Adam-Bass and Henrici, 2019). Teachers may actually respond to and interact with students by referencing contemporary media images, which are often negative representations of Blackness (Adams-Bass, 2021). Thus, there is evidence to suggest that Black youth’s ability to critically view and negate negative images in media is dependent upon how much RS they have acquired from adults in their lives (Adams-Bass et al., 2014; Adam-Bass and Henrici, 2019; Aniywo et al., 2018; Tynes et al., 2014; Neblett et al., 2006).

Predictors of Racial Socialization

When transmitted effectively and productively, RS can help youth resist risks associated with living in a nation that is beleaguered with systems of oppression (Brown et al., 2017). Nevertheless, the RS messages communicated to youth are likely influenced by individual attributes that exist among parents, children, and broader environmental characteristics (Hughes et al., 2006; Hughes et al., 2011; Hughes et al., 2016). Scholars have worked to understand these attributes as predictors, and how they inform RS messages; discussing such factors helps provide a rationale for those which will be explored in the current study.

Gender

Ample research suggests that RS is gendered in terms of the messages transmitted to and endorsed by Black youth (Brown et al., 2017; Thomas & Speight, 1999; Tribble et al., 2019). Mothers are more likely to communicate RS messages to their daughters, and fathers are more likely to communicate RS messages to their sons (McHale et al., 2006). Boys are more likely to receive preparation for bias messages that pertain to racial barriers (e.g., negative stereotypes; Cooper et al., 2015; Smith-Bynum et al., 2016; Thomas & Speight, 1999) and girls mostly receive cultural socialization messages that concentrate on racial pride (McHale et al., 2006; Smith-Bynum et al., 2016). There is also evidence to suggest that RS messages communicated from parents vary based on the age of the young person (Hughes et al., 2006; Thornton et al., 1990).

Socioeconomic Status

The socioeconomic status of Black parents has been linked to the RS experiences of Black youth (Dunbar et al., 2015; Hughes et al., 2006). Some studies have found that Black parents with higher levels of educational attainment and subsequent incomes are connected to greater levels of RS within families (Dunbar et al., 2015) with an emphasis on positive (i.e., cultural socialization) versus negative messages (i.e., racial protection; White-Johnson et al., 2010).

Experiences with Racism

Whereas some research posits that adult experiences with racism among parents might result in mental health concerns that implicate emotional problems in their children (Anderson et al., 2015), other scholars maintain that Black parents’ own experiences with racism as children (Hughes & Chen, 1997), might impact how they racially socialize their offspring in other ways (Cooper et al., 2015; White-Johnson et al., 2010). Stevenson and colleagues (2002) once found that among 266 African American young people, their acknowledgement of familial experiences with racism was connected to increased levels of cultural socialization and preparation for bias messages from parents. A recent qualitative study found associations between knowledge of a vicarious cataclysmic event (i.e., the death of Trayvon Martin) and Black parents’ provision of RS to their youth (Thomas & Blackmon, 2015). Other scholars have found that Black youth’s race-related experiences can inform their engagement with RS (Smith-Bynum et al., 2016; Stevenson & Arrington, 2009), as such, Black youth may solicit RS from others in their proximal environments.

Family Constellation

The heterogeneity of Black families has resulted in mixed findings regarding associations between the nuclear family unit (traditional biological-two parent home) for Black families (Hill, 2001; Causey et al., 2015) and subsequent familial practices like RS. The work of Thornton et al. (1990) offers some scope for understanding the role of family structure on RS, as it found that unmarried parents may be less likely than married parents to transmit any form of RS to their children.

Current Study

The current study intends to contribute to the future direction of RS literature that is considerate of the microsystems in which youth develop (i.e., families, schools, peer groups). According to Hughes and colleagues (2016), better understanding the racialized livelihood of minority individuals, and its connection to healthy development requires understanding “the characteristics of settings in which particular types of identities, socialization experiences, and discrimination experiences coexist to influence development” (Hughes et al., 2016, p. 5). Based on theories that recognize RS as an adaptive mechanism for resiliency in Black families (Murry et al., 2018) and a developmental process for youth that transpires across micro and macrosystems (Spencer et al., 1997), our study investigated to what extent does hearing multidimensional RS messages from non-parental agents predict Black youth’s beliefs in RS messages above and beyond the messages they receive from parental agents? Specifically, we sought to explore the added influence of non-parental agents’ transmission of RS messages for Black youths’ RS experiences. We hypothesized that the added value of non-parental messages would account for significantly more beliefs in RS messages for Black youth.

Methods

Participants

Data were drawn from a 2011 mixed-methods study in the mid-Atlantic coast that involved focus groups (Phase 1) and surveys (Phase 2) to investigate relationships between media exposure and adolescent identity among 120 Black youth (for full study details, see Adams & Stevenson 2012). Publications from the parent study investigate body image (Adams-Bass et al., 2014; Author, under review), Black History knowledge (Chapman-Hilliard et al., 2019; Author under review), racial socialization, racial identity, and media messages (Adams-Bass & Chapman-Hilliard 2012; Adams-Bass et al. 2014; Adam-Bass and Henrici, 2019). The current study utilized Phase 2 survey data. All participants identified as Black or African American and were between the ages of 14–21 (Mage = 17.91, SD = 2.27). Participants of this age range were recruited to capture the broad developmental period of “youth” (UNESCO, 2017). According to UNESCO (2017), the ages of 15-to-24 is an integral developmental period which captures both adolescence and a part of the emerging adulthood phase of the lifespan. Phinney’s (1989; 1993) research with young adults has demonstrated that racial-ethnic minority youth face the unfair burden of having to take on adult responsibilities earlier in development as they strive to manage larger culture and as well as develop individual identities in the context of the larger society (Munsey, 2006). The percentage of youth in high school was 35.6 and 56.8% were college students. In the sample, 56.8% of participants’ parents lived in the same household, with 39% of family incomes between $25,001 and $75,000.

Procedure

Black youth aged 14–17 were primarily recruited by disseminating online project announcements to education organization listservs and adolescent development professionals. Black youth aged 18–21 were mostly college students attending Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCUs) and primarily recruited by disseminating project announcements to popular social media sites, education organization listservs, college faculty, and teachers working with target population individuals. The principal investigator (PI) also completed recruitment presentations for the youth in the sample and sign-up sheets were used to follow-up with students about their interest in each phase of the original study. Consent forms were distributed and collected for youth who were interested in participating in either or both phases of the study. The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Pennsylvania IRB.

Due to the age range of study participants (14–21) and their corresponding availability, survey data collection in Phase 2 varied across the two groups. High school aged participants (14–17) were provided the option of completing an anonymous online Qualtrics survey or a paper version of the survey with pencil. College-aged participants (18–21) were all instructed to complete the online Qualtrics survey. The first 120 participants to complete an electronic or paper survey were compensated with retail gift cards.

Measures

Covariates

A set of demographic variables served as covariates based on RS theory and research including youth’s age and gender (1 = male, 2 = female), and parents’ cohabitation status (1 = yes, 2 = no) based on an original set of responses regarding parents’ marital status (i.e., Never Married; Divorced; Widowed; Separated, Married but Living Together; Married). Participants were also asked to report on whether or not they had any personal experiences with racism (1 = yes, 2 = no) as well as whether or not they had knowledge of experiences with racism in their families (1 = yes, 2 = no).

Racial Socialization Messages

Black youth’s RS experiences were explored through 25-items from the Cultural and Racial Experiences of Socialization (Youth-CARES) measure (Bentley-Edwards & Stevenson, 2016). The CARES measure seeks to assess the number of messages Black youth receive from socialization agents in their lives (frequency), the extent to which they believe RS messages from each agent (beliefs), and the parental and non-parental agent or source of the specific RS messages they receive (i.e., parents, siblings, extended family members, peers, teachers, media). Altogether, the CARES measure seeks to merge and extend previous measurements of RS (e.g., The Teenager and Parent Experiences of Racial Socialization) to reflect the complex nature of modern-day race relations, accounting for both protective and deleterious, stereotype confirming messages that implicate the healthy development of Black youth (Bentley-Edwards & Stevenson, 2016).

CARES includes five factors representing multidimensional messages of RS: Racial Protection, Racial Stereotyping, Cultural Insights, Bicultural Coping, and Old School Thinking. Guided by study objectives and factor-loading limitations (see Bentley-Edwards & Stevenson, 2016), only three of the five CARES factors of RS were examined, including racial protection, racial stereotyping, and bicultural coping. As outlined by Bentley-Edwards and Stevenson (2016), Racial Protection messages relate to racial buffering through prideful affirmations, awareness of racism, and protective coping strategies (ten items; α = 0.82; e.g., “racism is real, and you have to understand it or it will hurt you”); Racial Stereotyping messages include intra- and inter-racial appraisals of relationships, motives, and capabilities based in negative stereotypes of ingroup and outgroup members (ten items; α = 0.79; e.g., “sometimes you have to make yourself less threatening to make White people around you comfortable”); and Bicultural Coping messages communicate implicit and explicit strategies for navigating mainstream society (five items, α = 0.65; e.g., “fitting into school or work means swallowing your anger when you see racism”). In the current study, internal consistency was acceptable: α = 0.63 for Racial Protection, α = 0.84 for Racial Stereotyping, and α = 0.65 for Bicultural Coping.

RS Frequency

Altogether, the above-mentioned factors constituted a total of 25 items youth reviewed to indicate how often they heard each type of RS message. Youth responded to each item on a scale from 1 (Never) to 3 (Lots of times).

RS Agents

For each item youth reported knowing, they also indicated the parental and/or non-parental socialization agents in their lives from whom they may have heard these messages. Youth indicated all informants/agents that applied and could choose from the following: Mother/Guardian; Father/Guardian; Grandparent; Sibling; Teacher/Professor; Older Adult; Media. For each statement participants reported not hearing from a specific agent, they responded “no one told me this.” Given the study’s small sample size, informant sources were combined to represent Parental (i.e., mother, father) and Non-parental (i.e., grandparent, sibling, teacher/professor, older adult, media) agents in their lives.

RS Beliefs

To assess youth’s belief in the RS messages they received from different socialization agents in their lives, they were asked to answer, “How much do you agree” with the message from the particular agent on a scale from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 4 (Strongly agree). Internal consistency for the current study was α = 0.52 for Racial Protection, α = 0.76 for Racial Stereotyping, and α = 0.53 for Bicultural Coping.

Results

Preliminary Analysis

Missing data

Missing data accounted for 0–44% of responses. Results of Little’s Missing Completely at Random (Little, 1988) test in SPSS 25 failed to reject the null hypothesis (p = 0.382), supporting the MCAR assumption. Following the recommendation by Schafer and Graham (2002), missing data were handled using multiple imputation (Rubin, 1988). Based on the amount of missingness in the original dataset, 30 multiple imputations (10 iterations) were conducted in R using the Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations (mice) package (van Buuren & Groothuis-Oudshoorn, 2011) and a new data set was created to complete all higher-level analyses. Therefore, the results of the present study suggest that any missing data were mitigated to an appropriate degree.

Summaries of the means and standard deviations for study variables (Table 1) and of the RS messages received from parental and non-parental agents in the youth’s lives are provided (Table 2). Of note, youth respondents indicated having received an average of 23 Racial Protection messages (M = 23.00, SD = 3.46) from both parental and non-parental agents, followed by an average of 20 Racial Stereotyping messages (M = 20.00, SD = 4.62), and approximately 8 Bicultural Coping messages (M = 7.92, SD = 2.36). Youth reported that mothers transmitted the most protection messages, followed by messages from grandparents, the media, teachers, other adults, fathers, and peers. Racial stereotyping messages from the media were highest, followed by messages from other adults, peers, mothers, fathers, teachers, and then grandparents. For bicultural coping messages, those from the media were reported the most from youth, followed by messages from mothers, other adults, teachers, grandparents, peers, and fathers (see Table 2). Table 3 displays the bivariate correlations which were run among all main study variables using Pearson correlations prior to multiple imputation procedures.

Table 1 Summary of means and standard deviations among all study variables
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Table 2 Summary of means and standard deviations among all rs messages
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Table 3 Bivariate correlations for all study variables
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Primary Results

To test the hypothesis that the added value of acquiring non-parental RS messages would account for statistically more beliefs in RS messages for Black youth in our sample when controlling for covariates (i.e., age, gender, family income, parental marital status, as well as adolescent and familial experiences with racism), three hierarchical linear regressions were tested utilizing R software. Each regression represented each of the three RS messages under investigation (racial protection, racial stereotyping, and bicultural coping) and examined the added benefit of receiving each type of RS message from non-parental agents in a stepwise process wherein three blocks were created. For each regression, the first block included only covariates, the second block included RS messages received from parental agents, and the third block included RS messages received from non-parental agents.

Racial protection messages

The first set of hierarchical linear regressions shown in Table 4 addresses youths’ belief in racial protection messages. Results indicated that age and family income were each significantly and positively associated with more belief in racial protection messages. Specifically, older age was related to having more belief in these messages than younger age (b = 0.06, p < 0.05) as was higher family income (b = 0.11, p < 0.05). In contrast, having unmarried/non-cohabiting parents was significantly and negatively associated with having belief in racial protection messages (b = −0.05, p < 0.05). In terms of messages from parental agents, believing racial protection messages was positively associated with acquiring racial protection messages (b = 0.03, p < 0.05) from parents and negatively associated with acquiring bicultural coping messages (b = −0.10, p < 0.05). Therefore, results showed that messages from parental agents and covariates accounted for 27% of the variance in youths’ belief in racial protection messages. Adding non-parental agents to the model did not account for variance in the findings and there were no significant results associated with non-parental agents and youths’ belief in racial protection messages.

Table 4 Hierarchical linear regression results of youths’ belief in racial protection messages
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Racial stereotyping messages

The second set of hierarchical linear regressions shown in Table 5 addresses youths’ belief in racial stereotyping messages. Youth’s belief in racial stereotyping messages was not associated with any parent or youth factors (covariates). In terms of messages from parental agents, results indicated that youths’ belief in racial stereotyping messages was negatively associated with receiving racial protection messages (b = −0.04, p < 0.05) and positively associated with receiving racial stereotyping messages (b = 0.06, p < 0.05). In other words, youth who receive fewer racial protection messages from parents were more likely to believe the racial stereotyping messages communicated to them. Regarding messages from non-parental agents, acquiring racial stereotyping messages (b = 0.03 p < 0.05) from non-parental agents was also positively associated with youths’ belief in racial stereotyping messages. In turn, messages from parental and non-parental agent messages accounted for 30% of the variance in youths’ belief in racial stereotyping messages.

Table 5 Hierarchical linear regression results of youths’ belief in racial stereotyping messages
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Bicultural coping messages

The third and final set of hierarchical linear regressions shown in Table 6 addresses youths’ belief in bicultural coping messages. Youth’s belief in bicultural coping messages was not associated with any parent or youth factors (covariates). In terms of messages from parental agents, results indicated that youths’ belief in bicultural coping messages was negatively associated with acquiring racial protection messages (b = −0.04, p < 0.05) and positively associated with acquiring racial stereotyping messages (b = 0.05, p < 0.05) and bicultural coping messages (b = 0.03, p < 0.05). Regarding messages from non-parental agents, acquiring racial protection messages (b = −0.02, p < 0.05) was negatively associated with youths’ belief in bicultural coping messages. Acquiring bicultural coping messages from non-parental agents was positively associated with youths’ belief in that particular type of message (b = 0.06, p < 0.05). Thus, messages from parental and non-parental agents explained 29% of the variance in youths’ belief in bicultural coping messages.

Table 6 Hierarchical linear regression results of youths’ belief in bicultural coping messages
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Discussion

In 2035, youth of color will represent 50% of the US school population (Elmore & Gaylord-Harden, 2013). With an unclear trajectory towards racial equity in our nation, it is important to continue understanding RS within context as a primary mechanism by which Black families can practice resilience in the face of racial stress (Jones et al., 2020; Murry et al., 2018). Results of the current study suggest that the racial protection messages received from parental agents in Black youths’ lives are paramount in buffering against the negative effects of less protective and positive types of racial socialization from non-parental agents in their lives, namely racial stereotyping, and bicultural coping messages. Additionally, it appears that while youth and familial experiences with racism were not statistically significant in the current study, other factors (i.e., youth’s age, parental marital status, family income) were associated with youth’s belief in racial protection messages, by its inclusion of both racial affirmations messages and those that promote an awareness of race-related issues. This finding is supported by previous studies which suggest that parental RS messages related to preparing for and coping with racialized encounters (e.g., “Sometimes you have to correct White people when they make a racist statement”) and racial pride (e.g., “You should be proud to be Black”) might increase with the age of the youth (Hughes & Chen, 1997; McHale et al., 2006) and that these types of RS messages are more common among higher-earning Black families (Hughes et al., 2006).

Literature that connects the RS practices of parents to complex and non-traditional family structures is largely absent, in part due to ways in which Black family functioning does not accede to traditional Western values (Cain & Combs-Orme, 2005; Stein et al., 2018). While more research that examines the relationship between family structure and RS is needed (Stein et al., 2018), one reason for our significant and negative association between parental marital status and youth’s belief in racial protection messages might be due to Black parents perceived need for emphasizing protective and preparatory messages in their communication with their youth as a primary caregiver. In other words, it is possible that single parents feel pressured to equip their youth with a high frequency of multifaceted messages to buffer the risks associated with the various settings their youth are engaging in with more independence (Dunbar et al., 2017; Stein et al., 2018). As active agents in their own RS, Black youth also have the capacity to disagree with, misinterpret, or ignore RS messages from parents (Hughes et al., 2006). However, high levels of protective and affirmative RS messages have been associated with positive parenting practices and parent-child relationships (Elmore & Gaylord-Harden, 2013; Stein et al., 2018; Varner et al., 2017). Thus, Black youth who have a positive bond with their primary caregiver may be more likely to internalize the messages they communicate, even as they are receiving RS messages from non-parental agents in their broader social networks (e.g., natural mentors, teachers, peers).

The RS messages communicated in Black families often reflect the broader ways in which Black families strive to navigate cultural, mainstream, and minority experiences in their lives (e.g., Triple Quandary Model, Bentley et al., 2008; Boykin & Toms, 1985; Varner et al., 2017). Thus, part of the Black experience includes having to negotiate multiple facets of this experience at a time, sometimes eliciting a bicultural approach toward managing the issues one faces (Dunbar et al., 2017; Jagers, 1996). Black youth with higher beliefs in messages that affirm their Blackness, promote an awareness of race, and offer useful strategies for coping with racialized encounters (i.e., racial protection) may have parents who value racial group membership over values associated with mainstream, dominant culture. It is reasonable to suggest that these youth might be less exposed by their parents to coping strategies that are associated with colorblind ideologies that defend the racial interests of White individuals in modern day America (meritocracy; Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich, 2011).

Findings from the current study also suggest that Black youths’ belief in racial stereotyping messages may be negatively linked to presence of racial protection messages from parental agents and positively linked to the presence of racial stereotyping messages from parental and non-parental agents. Racial stereotyping messages can represent having both suspicions of White people (e.g., “You really can’t trust White people”) and negative stereotypes of their own racial group members (e.g., “Sports are the only way for Black kids to get out of the hood”). Therefore, these youth may be more likely to internalize notions of discrimination and inferiority, maintain a marginalized-based orientation toward overcoming challenges associated with being Black, and also engage in maladaptive behaviors for coping with racial stress and managing race related behaviors (Anderson & Stevenson, 2019). When youth have minimal exposure to protective RS messages from their parents, the personal resource bank that they have for interpreting negative racial stereotype messages is limited. When the presence of negative racial stereotype messages is high across contexts and there is a lack of racial protection, youth’s meaning making process may influence their coping, mental health, and well-being.

Lastly, bicultural coping messages were negatively associated with racial protection messages from parental and non-parental agents and positively associated with racial stereotyping messages from parental and non-parental agents. Bicultural coping messages (Bentley Edwards & Stevenson, 2016) encompass different strategies for managing mainstream societal demands like multicultural ideologies. As Black youth spend increasingly most of their time outside of the home in schools where they are being taught by White teachers (Adams-Bass, 2021), it is likely that the messages communicated by teachers are bicultural coping messages or racial stereotyping messages. White teachers are more likely to employ a colorblind ideology and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training specific to working with and understanding the impact of racial bias and institutionalized racism that Black youth and families experience has been limited for teachers and clinical professionals (i.e., school counselor, psychologists, social workers). DEI training has often focused on multiculturalism. While multiculturalism acknowledges ethnic-racial differences among people in an effort to promote intergroup harmony (Aragón et al., 2017; Ryan et al., 2007) research on the advantageousness of multicultural views and approaches are mixed. While some scholars have found multiculturalism to be associated with positive outcomes for minority individuals (Plaut et al., 2018), others have found strong associations with stereotyping among Black individuals (Ryan et al., 2007) and forms of colorblind racism (Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich, 2011).

In turn, these findings allude to the tension that is associated with how some Black families come to manage socio-historical forces. Cultural strengths-based coping assets like protective RS practices among parents are crucial for the promotion of resiliency or the “ordinary magic” that is often associated with Black family life (Murry et al., 2018). Yet, when family stress goes unaddressed, or is managed maladaptively, negative outcomes within families and relationships are exacerbated (Green et al., 2021). As such, some Black youth in our study may belong to families whose experiences created an ambivalent socialization environment for them. Thus, messages that instilled a sense of pride in their racial group may have been limited, while messages that focused on orienting them toward functioning in majority culture were more prevalent.

Limitations and Future Directions

Although this study adds to our understanding of how Black youth come to acquire and subsequently endorse RS messages garnered across ecological settings, our findings should be considered in light of limitations. Of concern to our findings was a relatively small size and missing data among our variables of interest. CARES is a newer multidimensional measure of ethnic-racial socialization that is still narrowly used in peer-reviewed literature at this time; yet it offers a complex account of the RS messages Black youth are exposed to across parental and non-parental informants (Bentley-Edwards & Stevenson, 2016). Future RS studies using CARES with large sample sizes should accommodate advanced research questions that seek to examine the RS experiences of Black youth from specific socialization agents in their lives, and their impact on developmental outcomes (e.g., psychological functioning). Taking a mixed methods approach toward the study of RS are also sorely lacking (Hughes et al., 2016). Including different sources of data (e.g., surveys and interviews) from youth to describe their RS experiences across agents may offer richer accounts of how and why particular agents may be more influential in their understanding and internalization of particular RS messages. While we were able to center youth voices in answering our research questions, limiting our analyses to youth-report limited our capacity to address the bidirectional and transactional nature of youth’s RS experiences with different socialization agents. Future work should aim to acquire reports that extend to multiple or all informants of interest (e.g., youth and parent report; Anderson et al., 2018). The current study was also cross-sectional, which precluded an account of the potential ways in which Black youth’s RS experiences change over time among agents. Future studies can address this paucity in the literature through longitudinal investigations of RS (Hughes et al., 2016).

Research that documents the experiences of Black family stress and resilience is necessary across a range of familial units is also necessary. Thus, future work should also consider investigating how biracial and multiracial youth come to acquire and believe RS messages across agents, particularly parents of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Furthermore, many biracial and multiracial family environments seek to offer their youth opportunities to appreciate every component of their racial-ethnic heritage (e.g., being both Black and White). In turn, developing new measures that encompass the experiences of both Black and White livelihood might be necessary for the well-being of mixed-race youth (Stone & Dolbin-MacNab, 2017).

Although the current study did not examine the relationship between youth’s beliefs in RS messages and developmental outcomes, positive coping through protective RS is vital to their psychosocial and academic well-being (Hurd & Sellers, 2013; Sellers et al., 2003). While this study focuses on protective racial socialization for Black youth, not all parents communicate protective messages. It is possible that youth who are likely to endorse negative stereotypes of Black people encountered in the media as realistic presentations (Adams-Bass & Chapman-Hilliard 2012, Adams-Bass et al., 2014, Adam-Bass and Henrici, 2019) live in households with parents who share internalized racism messages and/or colorblind messages of racial socialization.

Notwithstanding the limitations, the current study makes an important contribution to the current state of the evolving field of RS. Oppression and inequality constitute the basis of stress in Black families, and RS is one major asset to their pursuit of resiliency. As such, programs and policies that support and encourage RS experiences among Black families may be especially necessary for ensuring their protective and buffering nature. Specifically, there is a need for community-based intervention programs oriented toward equipping Black parents with the confidence, courage, and skills to critically and consciously manage their own racialized experiences so that they might promote their youth’s own racial coping abilities (e.g., EMBRace; Anderson et al., 2018). Therapists working with Black youth and families should prioritize issues of diversity and social justice in their approaches to clinical practice and offer psychoeducation and parent training (Adam-Bass and Henrici, 2019; Coard et al., 2004) regarding the importance of parental RS for their youth’s ability to appraise and cope with race-related stressors achieve important and developmental competencies.

Conclusion

Findings from our study elucidate the importance of parents in the racial socialization experiences of Black youth, even as they receive or are exposed to these messages across ecological contexts. It supports the notion that RS is a transverse process for Black youth that occurs across the settings and relationships they participate in, while further confirming that Black youth’s access to protective and promotive RS messages from parents are paramount in buffering against the effects of negative racialized encounters and rhetoric. Thus, it is imperative that scholars continue to critically investigate parents as key socialization agents for Black youth as well as deepen insights about their impacts in collaboration with other racial socialization agents that may also be central to their socio-emotional well-being (Green et al., 2021). In light of the Black Lives Matter movement and the global COVID-19 pandemic, which have disproportionately impacted the Black community, there has been a recent uptick in diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings and content in educational and professional settings. Our results corroborate the need for an awareness and appreciation of Black history, coping, and resilience among Black youth and the adults (i.e., the parental and non-parental adults) who support them in the dissemination of content that addresses the racialized experiences of Black youth.