Browsing by Subject "African American youth"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Empowerment-Based Positive Youth Development: A New Understanding of Healthy Development for African American Youth
    (2014-03) Travis, Raphael Jr.; Leech, Tamara G.J.
    A shift occurred in research about adolescents in the general population. Research is moving away from deficits toward a resilience paradigm and understanding trajectories of positive youth development. This shift has been less consistent in research and practice with African American youth. A gap also exists in understanding whether individual youth development dimensions generate potential in other dimensions. This study presents an empowerment-based positive youth development model. It builds upon existing research to present a new vision of healthy development for African American youth that is strengths-based, developmental, culture-bound, and action-oriented. It emphasizes the relationship between person and environment, the reinforcing nature of developmental assets, and the necessity of a sense of community and community engagement for youth.
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    Fostering Higher Academic Performance in African American Youth Through Enhanced Self-Efficacy: The Importance of Integrated Racial-Ethnic Identity
    (2021) Kyere, Eric; Fukui, Sadaaki; Holly Jr., James; School of Social Work
    Although the dimensions that constitute racial-ethnic identity (REI) interrelate to affect psychosocial and academic outcomes, few studies have explored the nature (e.g., directionality) of these interrelations in understanding a strong and healthy REI among African American youth in relation to psychosocial and academic outcomes. In the current study, we applied path analysis to investigate the potential mediation effects of private regard in translating the effects of racial centrality and public regard to affect African American youth’s academic performance through self-efficacy. Using a nationally representative sample of African American youth, findings suggest that racial centrality and public regard correlate to affect private regard, controlling for neighborhood safety and sociodemographic backgrounds. Private regard in turn, associated with self-efficacy to affect academic performance measured by GPA. These results indicate the need to investigate the potential mediation effects among REI dimensions to understand the nuanced pathways REI dimensions configure to form a strong and healthy REI to affect psychosocial and academic outcomes among African American youth.
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    The Role of Racial–Ethnic Identity in Understanding Depressive Symptoms in the Context of Racial Discrimination Among African American Youth
    (The University of Chicago Press, 2022-06-06) Kyere, Eric; Rudd, Stephanie Ellen; Fukui, Sadaaki
    Objective: The current study tested the individual associations of three dimensions of racial–ethnic identity (i.e., private regard, public regard, and racial centrality) on depression and their moderation effects on the relationship between racial discrimination and depression. Method: We conducted secondary data analysis using a large, nationally representative cross-sectional sample of African American youth in the United States ( N=810 N=810 ; mean age =15, SD=1.44 SD=1.44 ; 52% female). We used hierarchical multiple regression modeling to test the moderation effects of racial–ethnic identity dimensions on the relationship between racial discrimination and depression, controlling for demographics and parental support. Results: Of participants, 86% reported experiencing at least one of the racial discrimination experiences on the Everyday Discrimination Scale. Consistent with prior research, racial discrimination was associated with depressive symptoms; higher levels of emotional support from parents were significantly and negatively associated with depression. Most importantly, whereas the racial–ethnic identity dimensions were positively correlated to one another, we found they have unique associations with depression. In particular, public regard (i.e., participants’ evaluation of how society views the Black racial group) moderated the association between racial discrimination and depression. Conclusions: Although it is important to understand the independent effects of the racial–ethnic identity dimensions, the current study also suggests the need to understand their interactive effects on depression in the context of racial discrimination among African American youth.
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    What can parents do? Examining the role of parental support on the negative relationship between racial discrimination, depression, and drug use among African American youth
    (Sage, 2016-07) Zapolski, Tamika C. B.; Fisher, Sycarah; Hsu, Wei-Wen; Barnes, Jessica; Psychology, School of Science
    African American youth who experience racial discrimination are at heightened risk to use drugs as a coping response to distress. Based on the buffer-stress hypothesis, we proposed that parental support would attenuate this effect. Participants were 1,521 African American youth between 4th and 12th grade. As hypothesized, a mediation pathway was observed between racial discrimination, depression symptoms, and drug use. This effect was observed for both genders, although the pathway was partially mediated for males. Additionally, as hypothesized, parental support buffered the negative effect of depression symptomatology on drug use as a consequence of discrimination. Our findings highlight the impact racial discrimination has on health outcomes for African American youth and the importance of managing youth's emotional responses to discrimination. Moreover, findings illuminate the protective role of supportive parenting within the risk model and should thus be considered as an important component within prevention programming for this population of youth.