About this poster

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Panel information
Panel 6. Risk, Intervention, Prevention, and Action

Abstract

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Overview: Intervening with White parents and families is a promising but underexplored avenue for addressing racial-ethnic disparities. However, despite reverberating calls for White parents to engage in anti-racist racial socialization (RS) with their children, progress has been thwarted by the lack of evidence-based strategies for supporting White parents in these efforts. Even White parents who aspire to integrate anti-racism into their parenting struggle to do so, citing a lack of preparation and appropriate models for anti-racism parenting as key barriers. In the absence of evidence-based guidelines, these families have been left to rely on recommendations from popular-press articles and news blogs, which often lack empirical support. Other White parents may be less advanced in their commitment to anti-racism, endorsing principles of inclusivity and equity without recognizing how color-evasive and power-evasive parenting contradict these values. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop evidence-based interventions that target White parents’ motivation to engage in anti-racist parenting (i.e., anti-racist RS motivation) while simultaneously equipping them with the necessary skills and confidence to effectively do this work (i.e., anti-racist RS competency). To address this need, we recently developed a novel video-based social learning program – One Talk at a Time – Anti-Racism (OTAAR-AR) – which aims to promote anti-racist parenting among White parents of 10-to-14-year-olds. In this proof-of-concept single arm trial, we sought to obtain preliminary estimates of the intervention’s effect on White parents’ anti-racist RS motivation and competency.

Methods: Participants were 10 non-Hispanic White parent-adolescent dyads recruited from the community (parents: 90% female; Mage= 42.20 years; youth: 50% female; 10-to-14-years old; Mage= 11.88 years). Parents completed baseline surveys, followed by the OTAAT-AR program and post-treatment measures. OTAAT-AR consists of 11 videos (3-8 minutes each) that include didactic modules and social modeling. In between the videos, parents complete short reflection exercises and activities via a web-based form.

Results: Pre-post analyses found that after undergoing the OTAAT-AR program, parents felt more motivated to talk with their children about racism targeting people of color (pre-intervention: M = 5.17; post-intervention: M = 5.67, t(9) = -2.24, p < .05; Cohen’s d=-.91, large effect size). Additionally, parents reported significantly greater confidence in talking to their child about identifying racism (pre-intervention: M = 3.90; post-intervention: M = 4.50, t(9) = -2.71, p < .05; Cohen’s d = -.86, large effect size), challenging racism (pre-intervention: M = 3.70; post-intervention: M= 4.10, t(9) = -2.45, p < .05; Cohen’s d = -.76, medium-to-large effect size), and noticing White privilege (pre-intervention: M = 3.70; post-intervention: M = 4.20, t(9) = -2.24, p < .05; Cohen’s d = -.71, medium-to-large effect size). Notably, parents also demonstrated a significantly greater awareness of White privilege from pre- (M= 4.04) to post-treatment (M = 4.69), t (9) = -1.34, p < .05, at a large effect size (Cohen’s d = -1.34).

Conclusion: Findings lend preliminary support for the potential of a brief online parenting program to increase White parents’ motivation and competency in engaging in anti-racist parenting. The concentration on White families marks a critical shift from the historical focus on preparing youth of color to cope with experiences of racism and discrimination. Instead, this work helps to increase our efforts towards the prevention of racism, emphasizing the responsibility of White parents to empower their children to recognize and confront racism and racial inequities.

Future Directions: The pilot is ongoing, with an anticipated sample size of 30 families. Program evaluation interviews with parents will be conducted to assess program feasibility and acceptability. Further, one month follow-up assessments with youth will be completed within the next few months and will complement parent data by providing insights regarding the intervention’s impact on White youths’ racial bias, awareness of racism and White privilege, and engagement in anti-racist action.

Author information

Author	Role
Chardée A. Galán, The Pennsylvania State University	Presenting author
Adrelys Mateo Santana, University of Southern California, United States	Non-presenting author
Emily Satinsky, University of Southern California, United States	Non-presenting author
Kelsey Nguyen, The Pennsylvania State University, United States	Non-presenting author
Gabriela Stein, The University of Texas at Austin, United States	Non-presenting author

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