Department of Human Development and Psychology.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Dev Psychol. 2021 Mar;57(3):432-442. doi: 10.1037/dev0001150. Epub 2021 Feb 11.
Research suggests that the process of adolescents exploring and developing clarity about their ethnic-racial identity (ERI) is an important developmental competency. However, the extent to which individuals view their ERI as central to their overall self-concept (i.e., ERI centrality) informs the degree to which they choose to explore their ERI, potentially moderating ERI development. Utilizing data from a randomized controlled trial of a school-based intervention focused on increasing adolescents' ERI exploration, the current study examined whether the intervention effect was moderated by adolescents' baseline ERI centrality. Study participants (N = 218; M = 15.02; 49% female; 63% ethnic-racial minority; 28% free/reduced lunch) attended a high school in the southwest United States. Moderation analyses indicated that adolescents' ERI centrality at baseline (1-week pretest) significantly moderated the intervention's effect on Time-2 ERI exploration (12-week posttest). Further analyses of simple slopes revealed that the intervention produced significant increases in Time-2 ERI exploration (relative to attention control) for adolescents with average and higher (+1 SD) levels of ERI centrality at baseline, but not for those with lower levels of ERI centrality at baseline (-1 SD), which suggests ERI centrality may have encouraged participant engagement with the intervention. Sensitivity analyses accounting for baseline to posttest changes in ERI exploration and examining long-term effects of the intervention on exploration provided additional support for the specificity of this moderated intervention effect to the 12-week posttest. Our findings are consistent with notions from social identity theory as well as previous research that suggests that ERI centrality encourages ERI exploration among adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
研究表明，青少年探索和明确其种族-民族认同（ERI）的过程是一项重要的发展能力。然而，个体将其 ERI 视为整体自我概念的核心程度（即 ERI 中心性），会影响他们探索 ERI 的程度，从而可能调节 ERI 的发展。本研究利用一项基于学校的干预措施的随机对照试验的数据，该干预措施旨在增加青少年对 ERI 的探索，检验了干预效果是否受到青少年基线 ERI 中心性的调节。研究参与者（N=218；M=15.02；49%为女性；63%为种族少数群体；28%享受免费/减价午餐）就读于美国西南部的一所高中。调节分析表明，青少年在基线时的 ERI 中心性（1 周前测）显著调节了干预对第 2 次 ERI 探索（12 周后测）的影响。对简单斜率的进一步分析表明，对于基线 ERI 中心性处于平均水平及以上（+1 SD）的青少年，干预显著增加了第 2 次 ERI 探索（相对于注意对照组），而对于基线 ERI 中心性较低的青少年（-1 SD）则没有，这表明 ERI 中心性可能鼓励了参与者参与干预。考虑到 ERI 探索从基线到后测的变化以及检验干预对探索的长期影响的敏感性分析，为 12 周后测的这种有调节的干预效果的特异性提供了额外支持。我们的发现与社会认同理论以及先前研究的观点一致，即 ERI 中心性鼓励青少年探索 ERI。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2021 APA，保留所有权利）。
