Objective: To determine whether rates of online racial discrimination changed over the course of 2020 and their longitudinal effects on Black youths' mental health. Method: This longitudinal study collected 18,454 daily assessments from a nationally representative sample of 602 Black and White adolescents in the United States (58% Black, 42% White; mean age = 15.09 years, SD = 1.56 years) across 58 days during the heightened racial tensions between March and November 2020. Results: Black youths experienced increases in online racial discrimination, and these increases were not fully explained by time spent online or by general cybervictimization experiences. Online racial discrimination predicted poorer same-day and next-day mental health among Black youths but not among White youths. Black youths' mental health did not predict their online racial discrimination experiences. Conclusion: Online racial discrimination has implications for shaping mental health disparities that disadvantage Black youths relative to their White peers. Programs can be implemented to decrease online hate crimes, and health providers (eg, pediatricians, psychiatrists) should develop procedures that mitigate the negative mental health effects following online racial discrimination experiences.

Initiatives promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in predominantly White contexts, including STEM fields, have primarily relied on approaches to increase the representation of minoritized individuals. However, an increase in the representation of minoritized individuals is only one step of the process, as the present study suggests that explicit beliefs about particular racial groups' abilities also matter. The present article examined whether classroom racial stereotype endorsement about science and math disadvantaged Black American adolescents relative to their White American peers. Across two longitudinal studies with 533 and 1,189 adolescents (N-adolescents = 1722; N-classrooms = 86; 45% Black American, 55% White American; 51% females; M-age = 13-14), classroom pro-White/anti-Black stereotype endorsement in the fall term predicted better science and math achievement scores for White American adolescents and lower science and math achievement scores for Black American adolescents at the end of the academic year. Student- and teacher-reported student engagement in science and math classrooms mediated the longitudinal relations between classroom pro-White/anti-Black stereotype endorsement and students' achievement scores. Results suggest that classrooms may be important conduits for communicating racial stereotypes that create racially hostile STEM learning environments.

Police stops often perpetuate racial disparities in academic outcomes, yet few studies have examined factors that mitigate these negative consequences. Using two longitudinal studies (Study 1: n = 483, M-age = 12.88, 53% males; Study 2: n = 131, M-age = 15.11, 34% males), this article tests whether parental and school cultural socialization reduced the negative associations between police stops and youth's school engagement. Results showed that youth with police encounters reported lower school engagement. Parental cultural socialization conferred protection in one study, while school cultural socialization was a protective factor in both studies. The implications of this work stand to benefit those working to reduce the negative links between policing and African American youth's school engagement.

In spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic thrust nearly 56 million students in the United States into remote education. By fall 2020, states' and school districts' differing public health measures resulted in the adoption of varying COVID-adapted learning modalities (i.e., in-person, remote, and hybrid). Using daily diary data with a nationally representative sample (N = 517, M-age = 14.65 years), we investigated whether adolescents' academic engagement and connectedness to their teachers and classmates differed by COVID-adapted learning modalities. We also assessed whether adolescent connectedness mediated the link between learning modality and academic engagement. Results revealed that academic engagement and connectedness to teachers and classmates were higher for in-person learners than for students in hybrid and remote learning modalities. Moreover, students' connectedness to classmates and teachers explained the relationship between learning modality and academic engagement.

In spring 2020, U.S. schools universally transitioned to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic's onset, thus creating a natural experiment for examining adolescents' risk and resilience during an ongoing school crisis response. This longitudinal study used a daily-diary approach to investigate the role of social support in the link between remote learning and psychological well-being across 64 days among a national sample of adolescents (n = 744; 42% Black, 36% White, 22% Other ethnicity/race; 41% boys; 72% eligible for free/reduced-priced lunch; Mage=14.60, SDage=1.71, age-range = 12-17 years). On days when youth attended remote learning, they reported lower daily positive affect, more daily stress, and higher parent social support. There were no significant differences in the effect of remote learning on affect or stress by race or economic status. On days when youth experienced more parent support, they reported lower daily stress and negative affect and higher daily positive affect. On days when youth experienced more peer support, they reported higher daily positive affect. Overall, the study highlights the impact of pandemic-onset remote learning on adolescents' psychological well-being and emphasizes the need for future research on school crisis contingency planning to address these challenges.

With racial inequalities plaguing the U.S. school system, educators have recognized the importance of establishing inclusive, equitable, and diverse school environments where students from different ethnic-racial backgrounds can feel respected and supported. This study examined the longitudinal links between adolescents’ experiences of school racial socialization, school climate perceptions, and academic performance and tested whether these links varied by race (n = 941; 54% boys; 63% Black, 37% White). Results revealed that adolescents’ experience of school racial socialization practices (i.e., cultural socialization and promotion of cultural competence) predicted positive changes in their perceptions of school climate and, in turn, promoted better academic performance. School racial socialization was linked to positive school experiences and achievement for both Black and White adolescents. © 2022 AERA.

Peers' negative police encounters may have collateral consequences and shape adolescents' relationship with authority figures, including those in the school context. Due to the expansion of law enforcement in schools (e.g., school resource officers) and nearby neighborhoods, schools include spaces where adolescents witness or learn about their peers' intrusive encounters (e.g., stop-and-frisks) with the police. When peers experience intrusive police encounters, adolescents may feel like their freedoms are infringed upon by law enforcement and subsequently view institutions, including schools, with distrust and cynicism. In turn, adolescents will likely engage in more defiant behaviors to reassert their freedoms and express their cynicism toward institutions. To test these hypotheses, the present study leveraged a large sample of adolescents (N = 2,061) enrolled in classrooms (N = 157) and examined whether classmates' police intrusion predicted adolescents' engagement in school-based defiant behaviors over time. Results suggest that classmates' intrusive police experiences in the fall term predicted higher levels of adolescents' engagement in defiant behaviors at the end of the school year, regardless of adolescents' own history of direct police intrusive encounters. Adolescents' institutional trust partially mediated the longitudinal association between classmates' intrusive police encounters and adolescents' defiant behaviors. Whereas past studies have largely focused on individual experiences of police encounters, the present study uses a developmental lens to understand how the effects of law enforcement-perpetuated intrusion on adolescent development may operate through peer interactions. Implications for legal system policies and practices are discussed.

Objective COVID-19 has presented threats to adolescents' psychosocial well-being, especially for those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. This longitudinal study aimed to identify which social (i.e., family conflict, parental social support, peer social support), emotional (i.e., COVID-19 health-related stress), and physical (i.e., sleep quality, food security) factors influence adolescents' same- and next-day affect and misconduct and whether these factors functioned differently by adolescents' economic status. Method Daily-diary approaches were used to collect 12,033 assessments over 29 days from a nationwide sample of American adolescents (n =546; M-age = 15.0; 40% male; 43% Black, 37% White, 10% Latinx, 8% Asian American, and 3% Native American; 61% low-income) at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Peer support, parent support, and sleep quality operated as promotive factors, whereas parent-child conflict and COVID-19 health-related stress operated as risk factors. Although these links were consistent for adolescents irrespective of economic status, low-income adolescents experienced more conflict with parents, more COVID-19 health-related stress, less peer support, and lower sleep quality than higher-income adolescents. Food insecurity was connected to decreased same- and next-day negative affect for low-income adolescents only. Low-income adolescents also displayed greater negative affect in response to increased daily health-related stress relative to higher-income adolescents. Conclusion These results highlight the role of proximal processes in shaping adolescent adjustment and delineate key factors influencing youth psychosocial well-being in the context of COVID-19. By understanding adolescents' responses to stressors at the onset of the pandemic, practitioners and healthcare providers can make evidence-based decisions regarding clinical treatment and intervention planning for youth most at risk for developmental maladjustment.

Racial disparities in school discipline may have collateral consequences on the larger non-suspended student population. The present study leveraged two longitudinal datasets with 1201 non-suspended adolescents (48% Black, 52% White; 55% females, 45% males; M-age: 12-13) enrolled in 84 classrooms in an urban mid-Atlantic city of the United States during the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 academic years. Classmates' minor infraction suspensions predicted greater next year's defiant infractions among non-suspended Black adolescents, and this longitudinal relation was worse for Black youth enrolled in predominantly Black classrooms. For White youth, classmates' minor infraction suspensions predicted greater defiant infractions specifically when they were enrolled in predominantly non-White classrooms. Racial inequities in school discipline may have repercussions that disadvantage all adolescents regardless of race.

Public Significance Statement The present study shows that more African American youth are suspended for minor infractions than White youth. In addition, these suspensions predicted poor school grades and school climate perceptions for African American youth. These findings raise concerns about school adults' discretion in using punitive school discipline policies and practices, as they may be contributing to academic disparities. African American adolescents are grossly overrepresented in rates of school suspensions for minor disciplinary infractions; however, the consequences associated with this disciplinary practice are unknown. African American adolescents who were suspended for minor infractions may perceive school rules and adults as unfair and illegitimate, and these poor perceptions toward school may compromise their social and interpersonal resources necessary for academic success. The present study investigates: (a) whether suspensions for minor infractions predict lower school grades longitudinally, and (b) whether poor school climate perceptions mediate the longitudinal link between suspensions for minor infractions and school grades. Based on 3 years of school records and social survey data from 2,381 adolescents (35% African American, 65% White), results illustrated that more African American adolescents were suspended for minor infractions than their White peers who committed similar infractions. In addition, African American adolescents suspended for minor infractions also had lower grades 1 and 2 years later. The longitudinal relation between suspensions for minor infractions and subsequent grades was partially mediated by African American adolescents' school climate perceptions. Implications are discussed in relation to racial biases and developmentally appropriate, equitable disciplinary practices.