Biracial Adolescents Research Articles

Biracial adolescents and young adults in college counseling

Given the growing prevalence of individuals of mixed race in the US, it is important for college counsellors to attend to how these individuals are socially pressured to understand their own racial identities. Though some scholarships suggest that it is healthy for biracial individuals to identify with the minority part of their identity, I argue that this pressure is in fact special to the US and rooted in a history of slavery. Through a cross-cultural comparison of biracial identity in the US and Haiti, and through examples and techniques from my own experience as a college counselor, I argue that the ability to embrace one’s dual racial identity as mixed individuals may be a healthier choice because it prevents internal dissonance and helps biracial young adults grapple with the effects of White supremacy on their identities

Parenting, Peers, and Alcohol Use Initiation Among Black, White, and Black-White Adolescents: Evidence Using Discrete-Time Survival Analysis

ABSTRACT Alcohol use among Biracial adolescents remains understudied. This study examined how parenting and peer factors relate to age of alcohol use onset among Black, White, and Biracial Black-White adolescents and emerging adults. We used Add Health data to produce a final analytic sample of 13,528 adolescents who self-identified as White, Black, or Biracial Black-White. Discrete-time survival analysis implemented within logistic regression indicated Black adolescents showed the lowest probability of alcohol use onset by age 18, followed by Biracial adolescents, and White adolescents. The probability of alcohol use onset increased for Monoracial Black and White adolescents at ages 16, 18, and 21. Descriptively our model suggest that Biracial adolescents exhibit a sharp decline in their probability of alcohol use onset at age 16 and a sharp increase at age 21. However, this trend did not differ significantly from the other racial groups. Consistent with social control and learning theories, low parental acceptance, high parental control, and peer substance use were associated with alcohol use onset. Alcohol use onset trajectories differed for Monoracial and Biracial adolescents with Biracial individuals reporting greater alcohol onset in adulthood. Prevention efforts should continue to target parental acceptance, parental control, and peer substance use.

Exploring the association between parental ethnic-racial socialization and parental closeness on Black-White biracial adolescents' choice of racial identification toward blackness.

To explore the influences of Black-White biracial adolescents' choice to racially identify with Blackness, parental ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) messages, parental race, and perceived parental closeness were examined. Specifically, this study investigated how messages that promote monoracial Black pride and messages that prepare youth for monoracial Black bias may be related to adolescents' identification with Blackness, and whether parental race or parental closeness moderated these relationships. Three hundred thirty Black-White biracial adolescents (Mage = 14.82) were recruited across the United States via social media. Participants completed the Racial Socialization Questionnaire for Biracial Adolescents and a demographic questionnaire to indicate how close they felt to each parent. The analytic sample (n = 280) included respondents who racially identified as exclusively Black, blended Black, or exclusively biracial. Multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed significant differences in the association between ERS messages and adolescent racial identification based on the race of the parent socializer. Further moderation analyses indicated that parental closeness, particularly regarding fathers, amplifies these findings. Maternal and paternal ERS messages are differentially associated with biracial adolescents' choice of racial identification toward Blackness. interestingly, ERS messages from White parents seem to significantly influence racial identification compared to Black parents. Parental closeness further elucidates these findings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Potential Pathways From Peer Victimization to Alcohol Use Among Biracial Adolescents: The Intervening Role of Parental Support.

This study examined pathways from peer victimization to alcohol use and the role of parental support in mediating potential peer effects among biracial youth. Given a significant dearth of research on biracial youth, this study addresses this significant gap in the extant literature. Secondary data analyses were conducted using the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study in the United States. This study enrolled 492 self-identified biracial school-aged youth using a nationally representative sampling of public and private schools. Structural equation modeling was computed to test the mediational effects of low number of close friends, affiliation with delinquent friends, and parental support on alcohol use. Major findings indicated that affiliation with delinquent friends was correlated with higher alcohol use, higher levels of parental support were correlated with lower peer victimization, and higher levels of parental support were negatively correlated with affiliation with delinquent peers and alcohol use. Parental and peer effects remain salient for biracial youth who are navigating adolescence and experiencing peer victimization. School-based interventions that include parents and friends of biracial youth are likely to be effective in reducing peer victimization and its negative sequelae.

Peer Victimization and Adverse Psychosocial Wellbeing of Black/White Biracial Adolescents: Is Ease of Talking With Family a Protective Buffer?

A limited number of findings from empirical studies show that biracial adolescents are at a heightened risk of peer victimization. Black/White biracial adolescents are frequent targets of peer victimization due to racism and systematic oppression that are inherent in U.S. schools. Similar to adolescents of other racial and ethnic groups, biracial adolescents who are victimized by their peers are likely to exhibit psychosocial and behavioral issues. However, little is known about protective factors that might buffer the link between peer victimization and adverse outcomes of these youth. The study examines whether perceived ease of talking with parents and siblings moderates the association between peer victimization and psychosocial problems among Black/White biracial early adolescents. Data were derived from the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study. Participants were 158 early adolescents, ages 10–14, who self-reported as both Black and White. Adolescents who perceived their fathers as easy to talk to were less likely to bully others or carry a weapon when victimized by their peers. Adolescents who perceived their mothers to be easy to talk to were less likely to carry a weapon. There were also lower rates of psychosomatic symptoms for youth who reported perceived ease talking with siblings. Impact Statement The current study is one of the few empirical studies that examined the association between peer victimization and adverse psychosocial wellbeing as well as protective factors that buffer this association among a sample of Black/White biracial adolescents. Findings from this study contribute to a growing demand for additional research on biracial adolescents and their peer victimization experiences, which provides concrete insights for possible interventions. In this perspective, the study findings can also bring relevance to the development and implementation of antibullying programs that are culturally appropriate for biracial adolescents.

Correlates of school bullying victimization among Black/White biracial adolescents: Are they similar to their monoracial Black and White peers?

AbstractGuided by the social‐ecological perspective, we examined familial, peer, and school‐related predictors of bullying victimization among a large sample of U.S. White, Black, and biracial adolescents. Data were drawn from the Health Behavior in School‐aged Children study, drawn from adolescents who self‐identified as White, Black, or biracial. Of the total sample, 3211 were White, 1188 were Black, and 175 were biracial. Adolescents completed measures of bullying victimization, perceptions of family relations, peer relationships, and school connectedness. Biracial students reported more bullying victimization than White and Black students. For biracial adolescents, family affluence off, and negative perceptions of other students were both found to be positively associated with victimization. For Whites, age, difficulty in talking with parents, parents sometimes like me to make my own decision, parents almost never like me to make my own decisions were negatively associated with victimization. On the other hand, talking with friends and negative perceptions of other students were positively associated with victimization. Among Blacks, age, and parents who almost never like me to make my own decisions were negatively associated with victimization. However, a parent who is almost never loving was positively associated with victimization. Implications for future research and school‐based practice are provided.

Cigarette-smoking trajectories of monoracial and biracial Blacks: Testing the intermediate hypothesis.

Research on the cigarette-smoking patterns of biracial adolescents and young adults is severely limited. In this study, we tested the intermediate biracial substance-use hypothesis, which suggests that the prevalence of substance use among biracial individuals falls intermediate to their monoracial counterparts. We examined cigarette-smoking trajectories of a de-aggregated sample of biracial Black adolescents and young adults. We used longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health (Add Health; Harris et al., 2009). Our sample (N = 9,421) included 4 monoracial groups (Black, White, Hispanic, and American Indian [AI]) and 3 biracial groups (Black-AI, Black-Hispanic, and Black-White). Study hypotheses were tested using latent growth-curve modeling. We found some support for the intermediate biracial substance-use hypothesis for 2 of 3 biracial groups (Black-American Indian, Black-Hispanic) and 2 of 4 cigarette-use outcomes (lifetime cigarette use, number of cigarettes smoked during past month for regular smokers). The cigarette-use trajectories of biracial Blacks were significantly different from only 1 corresponding monoracial group. Black-AIs and Black Hispanics engage in lifetime cigarette use at comparable rates to monoracial Blacks. Black-Hispanic regular smokers' rate of cigarette smoking is comparable to the higher rates of Hispanics and not to the lower rates of Blacks. Knowledge of the origins, developmental course, and consequences of tobacco use among the biracial population may lead to effective intervention programs and policies for this group. (PsycINFO Database Record

School Racial Composition and Biracial Adolescents' School Attachment

Despite extensive research on multiracial youth in recent years, to date, no empirical studies have analyzed how racial context may affect biracial adolescents' sense of belonging in a social institution beyond families. In this study, we examine how the racial makeup of the student body affects self-identified biracial adolescents' school attachment. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we find that the proportions of white or black students in school significantly affect the school attachment of Hispanic/black, Asian/black, and American Indian/black biracial adolescents, but school racial composition in general has little influence on biracial adolescents with a partial-white identification (i.e., black/white, Hispanic/white, Asian/white, and American Indian/white). Our analyses also show that on average, students of most biracial groups display lower school attachment than their corresponding monoracial groups, but the differences from the monoracial groups with the lower school attachment are generally small. We discuss the implications of our findings for biracial adolescents' perceived racial boundaries and contemporary American race relations.

The friendship networks of multiracial adolescents

We investigate the friendship networks of multiracial adolescents through a comparison of the size and composition of the friendship networks of multiracial adolescents with single-race adolescents. We consider three hypotheses suggested by the literature on multiraciality and interracial friendships: (1) that multiracial adolescents have smaller friendship networks than single-race adolescents because they are more often rejected by their single-race peers, (2) that multiracial adolescents form more racially diverse friendship networks than single-race adolescents, and (3) that multiracial adolescents are especially likely to bridge (or socially connect) friendships among members of their single-race heritage background groups. Using data on adolescent friendship networks from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we find that multiracial adolescents are as popular as non-white adolescents and have social networks that are as racially diverse as the single-race groups with the most diverse friendship networks. Biracial adolescents with black ancestry have an especially high rate of friendship bridging between black persons and persons of other races, relative to black or white adolescents. The results hold using both self-identified and parental race definitions.

Examining Ethnic Identity and Self-Esteem Among Biracial and Monoracial Adolescents

The psychological well-being and ethnic identity of biracial adolescents are largely underrepresented topics in current scholarly literature, despite the growing population of biracial and multiracial individuals in the United States. This study examined self-esteem, ethnic identity, and the relationship between these constructs among biracial and monoracial adolescents (n = 3282). Using analysis of covariance, significant differences emerged between biracial and monoracial adolescents on both a measure of self-esteem and a measure of ethnic identity. Specifically, biracial adolescents showed significantly higher levels of self-esteem than their Asian counterparts, but significantly lower self-esteem than Black adolescents. Furthermore, biracial adolescents scored significantly higher than Whites on a measure of ethnic identity, but scored lower than their Black, Asian, and Latino peers on the same measure. Finally, correlational analyses revealed a significant and positive relationship between ethnic identity and self-esteem for all groups.