Exploring the process by which positive racial identity develops and influences academic performance in Black youth: Implications for social work

Abstract

Although racial-ethnic socialization and racial-ethnic identity interlink to influence youth's developmental outcomes, the extant research has tended to investigate these constructs and their effect on youths’ outcomes separately. We therefore used path analysis to investigate the interrelationships between prominent racial-ethnic socialization and racial-ethnic identity constructs in one model to ascertain whether when considered simultaneously they have direct and/or mediated effect associations with the academic performance of African-American youths. Participants were drawn from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study. Findings reveal that parenting practices that expose youths to racial/cultural heritage of African-Americans, in tandem with those that alert youths to potential discrimination and strategies to respond, may influence youths’ racial-ethnic identity domains. These racial-ethnic identity domains in turn shape one another in a complex way to positively predict academic performance. Implications for social work research and practice are discussed.