NCJ Number
235326
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 40 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2011 Pages: 595-605
Date Published
May 2011
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article studies racial/ethnic socialization in the context of parental involvement in education and its relationship to children's cognitive outcomes.
Abstract
Racial/ethnic socialization has not been studied in the context of other parenting behaviors such as parental involvement in education and its relationship to children's cognitive outcomes. The present study tested the impact of racial/ethnic socialization and parental involvement in education on cognitive ability and achievement in a sample of African-American youth. Two dimensions of racial/ethnic socialization, cultural exposure (i.e., exposure to diverse cultures) and cultural socialization (i.e., in-group pride), were examined in a sample of 92 African-American mother-child dyads, of which 50 percent were female. Maternal reports of involvement during their child's fifth grade year were examined as a moderator in the relationship between racial/ethnic socialization and cognitive ability and achievement. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that mothers' reports of cultural exposure messages measured in fourth grade predicted children's scores on fifth grade assessments of passage comprehension. There was also a significant interaction indicating that greater cultural exposure and more parental involvement in education predicted better reading passage comprehension scores over time. The implications for assessing dimensions relevant to cognitive ability and achievement in African-American children are discussed. (Published Abstract)