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About this paper symposium
| Panel information |
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| Panel 17. Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context |
| Paper #1 | |
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| Longitudinal Investigation of Profiles of White U.S. Adolescent Ethnic-Racial Identity and Relations to Psychosocial Outcomes | |
| Author information | Role |
| Megan Satterthwaite-Freiman, M.Ed., Harvard University, United States of America | Presenting author |
| Kristia A. Wantchekon, Georgetown University, United States of America | Non-presenting author |
| Deborah Rivas-Drake, University of Michigan, United States of America | Non-presenting author |
| Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, Harvard University, United States of America | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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In the United States (U.S.), ethnic-racial identity (ERI) is an important developmental competency during adolescence (Umaña-Taylor, 2023). Despite the universality of the ERI developmental process, ERI content (i.e., the meaning individuals ascribe to their ERI) varies between ethnoracial majority and minoritized youth (Wantchekon et al., 2021). Although there have been advances in identifying common profiles of ERI process (i.e., exploration and resolution) and content (i.e., affect, centrality, public regard) among ethnoracially minoritized youth, there is limited related research on White U.S. youth (Karras et al., 2021), including how ERI profiles are associated with youths’ intergroup contact attitudes and psychological adjustment. This study examined ERI profile membership and stability across one year among White adolescents. It also examined relations between profile membership and adolescents’ later intergroup contact attitudes, self-esteem, and depression. Participants were 441 White adolescents (Mage =16.0, SD=0.88; 46% female, 54% male) attending two ethnoracially diverse public high schools in the U.S. Southwest and Midwest. Surveys were completed in Spring 2017 (T1), Fall 2017 (T2), and Spring 2018 (T3). ERI profile measures (T1, T2, T3) included: Exploration, Resolution, and Negative Affect (3-items each; EIS-B; Douglass & Umaña-Taylor, 2015), as well as Centrality and Public Regard (3-items each, MIBI-T; Scottham et. al, 2008). Outcome measures (T3) included: intergroup approach (3-items) and avoidance (2-items) attitudes (Phinney, 1992); self-esteem (10-items; Rosenberg, 1979); and depressive symptoms (20-items; Radloff, 1977). Using Latent Profile Transition Analysis (LPTA; e.g., Johnson, 2021), we identified models with different numbers of profiles at each time point in each type of the variance-covariance matrix. The best model from each type was then compared to identify the final model at each time point. After selecting the final profile solution for each time point, a manual 3-step LPTA was used to examine profile stability, membership, and transition probabilities, as well as test how T1 profile membership related to outcome means at T3. Gender and site were included as covariates. The three ERI profile solution fit the data best at each time point. Profiles were named: Foreclosed and High Regard (T1 n=332; high resolution, low negative affect), Diffused and Moderate Regard (T1 n=78; low exploration and resolution, moderate negative affect), and Low Regard (T1 n=25; high negative affect; Table 1). The Foreclosed and High Regard profile was the largest profile at each time point; had the most stable profile membership across timepoints; and highest adjustment and lowest maladjustment at T3. There were no significant mean differences across profile membership at T1 for intergroup contact approach or avoidance attitudes at T3. Membership in the Foreclosed and High Regard profile at T1 was related to higher self-esteem at T3 compared to membership in the Diffused and Moderate Regard or Low Regard profiles at T1. Membership in the Foreclosed and High Regard profile at T1 was related to lower depressive symptoms at T3 compared to membership in the Diffused and Moderate Regard or Low Regard profiles at T1. Implications for understanding ERI development among White U.S. adolescents will be discussed. |
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| Paper #2 | |
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| Psychological and Academic Adaptation Through a Universal Ethnic Studies Classes: Results of a Natural Experiment | |
| Author information | Role |
| Ms. Sarah Gillespie, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, United States | Presenting author |
| Mirinda Morency, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Emily Chan, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Gail M. Ferguson, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
| Schools in the United States are increasingly offering ethnic studies classes, which focus on exploring students’ ethnic-racial identities (ERI) and critical analysis of systemic racism, to their diverse student bodies, yet scant research exists on their effectiveness for students of different ethnic-racial backgrounds in multiracial classrooms. A policy change to require all high school students in one school district to take an ethnic studies class facilitated a natural experiment for comparing the effects of quasi-random assignment to an ethnic studies class (treatment) relative to a traditional social studies class (control; e.g., U.S. Government, Human Geography). Longitudinal student surveys across the pilot year of the curriculum and school administrative data were used to compare students’ ERI development, well-being, and academic outcomes across ethnic studies and control classes. Participants (N = 535 9th graders; 66.1% ethnic studies) had diverse ethnic-racial (33.5% non-Latine White, 29.5% Black, 21.1% Latine, 10.7% biracial, 2.8% Asian, 2.2% Native American) and gender identities (44.7% female, 7.1% non-binary). Ethnic studies students reported marginally higher ERI exploration and resolution than controls, and sensitivity analyses showed a statistically significant effect on ERI among participants with complete midpoint surveys. Higher resolution was associated with better psychological well-being for all students and higher attendance for White students. Students with low middle school grades (GPA < 2.0) had better high school grades in core subjects when enrolled in ethnic studies than the control class. Overall, the results of this natural experiment provide preliminary support for ethnic studies classes as a method for promoting ERI development, well-being, attendance, and academic achievement for students from diverse ethnic-racial backgrounds. Furthermore, this study illustrates the feasibility of a universal curriculum delivered by teachers in the district. Finally, results contribute to a broader discussion of ERI as a universal developmental competence for students of color and White students alike within diverse schools and societies. | |
| Paper #3 | |
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| Preliminary Insights from an Identity Promotion Intervention: Effects on Ethnic-Racial Identity Exploration and Stress Biology | |
| Author information | Role |
| Sarah Collier Villaume, Northwestern University, United States | Presenting author |
| Michael R. Sladek, University of Oklahoma, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Keira Bryn Leneman, Macalester College, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Shanting Chen, University of Florida, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Stephanie M. Koning, University of Nevada, Reno, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, Harvard Unviersity, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Emma K. Adam, Northwestern University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Ethnic-Racial Identity (ERI) development has been identified as a beneficial competency that progresses during adolescence. Prior research has found the Identity Project, a manualized ERI-promotion intervention, to increase ERI exploration and resolution (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2018). ERI has also been shown to buffer against the harmful effects of racial discrimination on measures of biological stress, including levels of the stress hormone cortisol (e.g., Adam et al., 2020). In light of these findings, the Biology, Identity, and Opportunity (BIO) Study set out to examine whether the Identity Project operates in part through alterations of biological stress pathways (Adam, 2017). The present project is motivated by the overarching research question of how ERI development is reflected at a biological level. Here, we present experimental results from the BIO Study’s impacts on ERI and salivary cortisol. The BIO Study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) that was implemented as an out-of-school intervention in one large, suburban public high school over three academic years (2017/18 through 2019/20), enrolling N = 202 9th grade students (35.6% Black or African American, 32.7% White or Caucasian, 15.3% Hispanic or Latino/a/x, and 15.9% all other groups). Results from intent to treat analyses indicate that the intervention was associated with a significant increase in ERI exploration for adolescents assigned to the treatment condition (B = .25; SE = .12; p = .04). To understand whether the Identity Project and the observed increases in ERI exploration had implications for biological stress pathways, we examined patterns of salivary cortisol across four days in the week following the intervention. Preliminary findings document a larger morning surge in cortisol (i.e., a physiological pattern reflecting preparation for daily demands and challenges; Adam et al., 2006) for students assigned to the treatment condition (b = .06; SE = .02; p < .05), compared to their peers in the control condition. This morning surge was marginally larger for white students than students of color (binteraction = -.06; SE = .03; p < .10). These results suggest that adolescents (particularly white adolescents) respond physiologically to a program that promotes exploration of one’s ERI. The implications of these signs of biological challenge for later health and development will be the subject of future data analysis. |
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Investigating Variability within Ethnic-Racial Identity Development and Intervention Impacts on Psychosocial, Academic, and Biophysical Outcomes
Submission Type
Paper Symposium
Description
| Session Title | Investigating Variability within Ethnic-Racial Identity Development and Intervention Impacts on Psychosocial, Academic, and Biophysical Outcomes |