Racial Socialization in Transracial Adoptive Families: Does It Help Adolescents Deal With Discrimination Stress?

Racial socialization protects minority adolescents from stress associated with racial discrimination. The process of racial socialization, however, may be challenging in transracial adoptive families. White parents may struggle with preparing their children for discrimination and fostering the development of racial pride. Thus, transracially adopted youth may be particularly vulnerable to stress resulting from discrimination. This study examines the extent to which racial socialization by White adoptive parents moderates the link between discrimination and stress for their minority adolescents. A study of 59 parent-child dyads indicated that while not having an independent effect, racial socialization did moderate the link between experiences of discrimination and perceived stressfulness. For those adolescents experiencing high levels of discrimination, racial socialization did serve a protective function.Key Words: adolescents, adoption, interracial, racial socialization.Transracial adoption, defined as a family in which the adoptive parent or parents are of a different race, culture, or ethnicity than the child, currently make up approximately 40% of all adoptions in the United States (Vandivere, Malm, & Radei, 2009). The overwhelming majority of these families are made up of Caucasian adoptive parents and racial minority children (Vandivere et al., 2009). Concerns about the influence of the racial differences within the family on the development of children and the competency of White parents to successfully raise well-adjusted racial minority children have led researchers to examine the developmental outcomes of transracial adoptees.As members of racial minority groups growing up in White families, transracial adoptees may face unique struggles connected to race, including identity development and managing experiences of discrimination (Feigelman, 2000). Murry (2000) refers to the recurrent risk for discrimination experienced in our society as the mundane extreme environment in which minorities live. This chronic risk for discrimination produces a unique minority or culturally specific stress with which individuals must learn to cope. For racial minority adolescences being raised by White parents, there is the real possibility that their struggle to cope with discrimination may be complicated by a lack of, or limited, racial socialization from White adoptive parents, racial socialization which promotes racial-ethnic pride and resiliency (Samuels, 2009). Instead, transracial adoptees are often more exposed to White cultural orientations with inadequate socialization to their minority status or guidance in dealing with experiences of discrimination (Hill, Munry, & Anderson, 2005; Samuels, 2009). Consequently, transracially adopted adolescents may be particularly vulnerable to minority or culturally specific stress. It is the purpose of the present study to examine whether or not racial socialization by White parents helps reduce the discrimination related stress experienced by transracially adopted adolescents.Racial Socialization as a Buffer to Discrimination-Related StressDiscrimination is defined as negative behavior toward a group or its members simply because of membership in that group (Myers, 2005). Research has demonstrated that experiences of racial discrimination are linked with adverse physical (e.g., blood pressure; LaVeist, 2005) and mental health (e.g., stress) consequences for minority adults Barnes & Lightsey, 2005; King, 2005). For minority adolescents, the deleterious effects of racial discrimination include low selfesteem (Harris-Britt, Valrie, Kurtz-Costes, & Rowely, 2007), depressive symptoms (Neblett et al., 2008), and stress (Sellers, Caldwell, Schmeelk-Cone, & Zimmerman, 2003).In studies of racial minority youth raised by same-race parents, racial socialization by parents has been identified as a protective factor against the stress resulting from discrimination (HarrisBritt et al. …