Publications
Ethnic-racial discrimination is a pernicious experience that affects discriminated adolescents' healthy human development, but the spillover consequences of discrimination on the nondiscriminated adolescent population are less clear. Adolescents who vicariously witness their classmates experience ethnic-racial discrimination from educators may question their educators' authority and classroom rules, and educators who perpetuate discrimination may engage in other practices that disadvantage the entire classroom. Thus, we posed three research questions: Did classmates' ethnic-racial discrimination from teachers predict adolescents' classroom adjustment outcomes (e.g., class grades, test scores, and engagement), did classroom climate mediate the link between classmates' ethnic-racial discrimination and adolescents' classroom adjustment outcomes, and did the results differ between early versus middle adolescents? To answer these research questions, the present study leveraged longitudinal data among 1,539 adolescents (M-age = 13.81, SDage = 1.49; 60% Black, 30% White, 9% other, 1% Asian; 49% female, 51% male) nested in 104 math classrooms, as math is a subject domain with pervasive ethnic-racial stereotypes about students' abilities and opportunities to succeed in class. Results illustrated that direct and vicarious ethnic-racial discrimination from math educators in the fall semester predicted worse math course grades, state-administered standardized test scores, and classroom engagement across the fall and spring semesters. Math classroom climate perceptions mediated the longitudinal relations between ethnic-racial discrimination and their math adjustment outcomes, and the role of ethnic-racial discrimination varied across different developmental stages of adolescence. Implications for the measurement of ethnic-racial discrimination in the classroom context and the social contagion linked to ethnic-racial disadvantage are discussed.
Given math -related fields are still highly racialized and gendered (NCSES, 2021), this study assessed: 1) whether there were racial differences in adolescents' perceived math cost alongside expectancies and values and 2) the extent to which perceived math cost alongside expectancies and values explained yearly changes in achievement differences by race and gender. This study assessed 2,338 Black (39.4 %) and White (60.6 %) adolescents, roughly half girls (47.8 %), in the 6th to 12th grades (M = 14.71 years old, SD = 1.93, 61.7 % qualifying for free or reduced priced lunch). The results indicated that Black adolescents perceived higher costs to learning math than their White peers but value math in similar ways. Perceived math cost was the only motivational belief to explain achievement differences between Black and White girls but not boys after adjusting for socioeconomic status and grade level. In contrast, perceptions of ability beliefs explained achievement differences between Black boys and girls. These findings point to the importance of employing intersectional approaches to understand the relationship between math motivation and achievement.
Racial stereotypes are salient to Black adolescents and to the academic domain of mathematics; however, few studies have examined the socio-cognitive mechanisms through which racial stereotypes impact math achievement. This 2-year longitudinal study (N = 790 Grade 6, 8, and 10 students during Year 1; 50.7% girls and 49.3% boys) investigated (a) the extent to which the endorsement of positively and negatively biased racial stereotypes predicted Black adolescents' math performance through their cognitive engagement and ability mindset and (b) whether gender and ethnic-racial identity moderated these links. Results suggested that endorsement of negatively biased stereotypes was associated with diminished cognitive engagement and lower math scores across 2 years (p < .05). Additionally, adolescents' ethnic-racial identity commitment moderated the negative links between stereotype endorsement and math cognitive engagement in Year 2 (p < .05). When considering the mediating role of math ability mindsets, the endorsement of both positively and negatively biased racial stereotypes operated on math performance via its links to stronger fixed ability mindset beliefs in both years (p < .05). Gender also moderated the effects of racial stereotype endorsement on math mindset beliefs in Year 1 (p < .01). This study's findings advance the field's understanding of the psychosocial mechanisms through which racial stereotypes operate, thus enabling educators to develop tailored practices that facilitate equitable access to math learning opportunities.
Adolescents of color are particularly poised to experience the mental health crisis partly due to the absence of a clear-cut solution that prepares them to cope with ethnic/racial discrimination. One resilience-promoting factor in minoritized adolescents' lives is cultural socialization (i.e., the beliefs, practices, and worldviews that youth receive about their ethnic/racial group's heritage, history, and values), but the role of cultural socialization in relation to adolescents' resilience in the face of ethnic/racial discrimination is sporadic with extant studies documenting mixed results. Prior studies are likely limited by their focus on cultural socialization from parents relative to school adults and the larger school context. Following ethnic/racial discrimination, school-based cultural socialization may reduce youth's anticipation of discrimination, trust in others from different ethnic/racial groups, and rejection sensitivity. To test our theories, the present study used two daily diaries: Study 1 followed 134 African American adolescents over a 14-day period (N diaries = 1,494), and Study 2 followed 159 Asian American and Latinx adolescents over a 30-day period (N diaries = 3,458). In both studies, on days when ethnic/racial discrimination occurred, adolescents reported greater negative affect. This daily effect of ethnic-racial discrimination on negative affect was exacerbated on days when adolescents received less school-based cultural socialization but weaker on days when adolescents received more school-based cultural socialization. The present studies underscore how school adults foster youth's resilience in the context of ethnic/racial adversity.
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.
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: 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.
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.
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.


