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African–American Parents’ Racial and Ethnic Socialization and Adolescent Academic Grades: Teasing Out the Role of Gender

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Abstract

This study examined the relationship of racial and ethnic socialization and academic achievement in a sample of 218 African American adolescents (grades 9–12; 52% girls) attending a public high school in the northeastern United States. Researchers were particularly interested in whether adolescent gender moderated the relationship between racial and ethnic socialization and academic grades. Results indicated that aspects of ethnic socialization, African American cultural values and African American heritage were linked to adolescent grades. Additionally, adolescent gender was found to moderate the association between these socialization variables and grades. The findings also suggest that socialization provided by paternal caregivers around African American cultural values and African American heritage may have differential effects for academic grades than the socialization messages provided by maternal caregivers. Information generated from this study broadens the understanding of socialization factors that can facilitate positive academic outcomes in African American youth and has practical implications for parents and educators.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family and Child Studies, College of Education and Human Services, Montclair State University, University Hall–Rm. 4144, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ, 07043, USA

    Tiffany L. Brown & Miriam R. Linver

  2. Department of Psychology, Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT, USA

    Melanie Evans

  3. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Boston, MA, USA

    Donna DeGennaro

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  1. Tiffany L. Brown
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  2. Miriam R. Linver
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  3. Melanie Evans
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  4. Donna DeGennaro
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Correspondence to Tiffany L. Brown.

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Brown, T.L., Linver, M.R., Evans, M. et al. African–American Parents’ Racial and Ethnic Socialization and Adolescent Academic Grades: Teasing Out the Role of Gender. J Youth Adolescence 38, 214–227 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-008-9362-z

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