Department of Sociology, University of Georgia.
Department of Psychology, University of Georgia.
J Fam Psychol. 2021 Jun;35(4):457-467. doi: 10.1037/fam0000822. Epub 2021 Mar 11.
The adverse impact of racial discrimination on youth, and particularly its impact on the development of depressive symptoms, has prompted attention regarding the potential for family processes to protect youth from these erosive effects. Evidence from non-experimental studies indicates that protective parenting behavior (PPB) which occurs naturally in many Black families can buffer youth from the negative impact of racial discrimination. Of interest is whether "constructed resilience" developed through family-centered prevention programming can add to this protective buffering. The current paper examines the impact of constructed resilience in the form of increased protective parenting using 295 families randomly assigned either to a control condition or to the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) program, a family-based prevention program previously shown to enhance protective parenting. We found that baseline racial discrimination was predictive of change in youths' depressive symptoms across the pre-post study period. Second, we found that parents participating in ProSAAF, relative to those randomly assigned to the control group, significantly improved in their use of an intervention targeting PPB. Third, we found a significant effect of change in PPB on the association of discrimination with change in depressive symptoms. Finally, we found that ProSAAF participation buffered the impact of racial discrimination on change in depressive symptoms through change in PPB. Results provide experimental support for constructed resilience in the form of change in PPB and call for increased attention to the development of family-based intervention programs to protect Black youth from the pernicious effects of racial discrimination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
种族歧视对青年的不良影响，特别是其对抑郁症状发展的影响，引起了人们对家庭过程保护青年免受这些侵蚀性影响的潜力的关注。来自非实验研究的证据表明，在许多黑人家庭中自然发生的保护性养育行为 (PPB) 可以缓冲青年免受种族歧视的负面影响。有趣的是，通过以家庭为中心的预防计划培养的“建构性韧性”是否可以增强这种保护缓冲作用。目前的论文通过使用 295 个家庭来检验建构性韧性的影响，这些家庭被随机分配到对照组或基于家庭的预防计划“保护强大的非裔美国家庭”（ProSAAF）中，该计划以前已被证明可以增强保护性养育。我们发现，基线种族歧视是青少年抑郁症状在研究前后变化的预测因素。其次，我们发现，与随机分配到对照组的父母相比，参加 ProSAAF 的父母在干预目标的使用上有了显著改善PPB。第三，我们发现，PPB 的变化对歧视与抑郁症状变化之间的关联有显著影响。最后，我们发现，ProSAAF 的参与通过 PPB 的变化缓冲了种族歧视对抑郁症状变化的影响。结果为以 PPB 变化形式的建构性韧性提供了实验支持，并呼吁更多关注基于家庭的干预计划的发展，以保护黑人青年免受种族歧视的有害影响。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2021 APA，保留所有权利）。
