(PS5-B39) Racialized Conceptualizations of Emotion Socialization: Black Adolescents’ Perceptions of Their Parents and Links with Parental Emotion Socialization

Background: Parental emotion socialization (ES) refers to the myriad ways parents teach their children how to understand and express emotions (Klimes-Dougan et al., 2007). Parents can reward children’s emotions by comforting, empathizing, or problem solving, or they may neglect children’s emotions, such as by ignoring or dismissing them (Klimes-Dougan et al., 2007). Notions in literature about which strategies are desirable are based on White ideals and patterns observed in White families (Lozada et al., 2022). Black parents may deliberately use ES styles considered “unsupportive” to prepare Black children for experiences of social oppression (Doan et al., 2022). Black parents are theorized to provide emotional support in other ways, while teaching children to express/suppress emotions flexibly depending on whether situations make expression safe or harmful (Dunbar et al., 2017). We predicted that adolescents’ endorsements of their parents’ reward and neglect of their emotions would be associated with positive perceptions of their parents in White families, but not in Black families.

Methods: Data came from a sample of 162 adolescents (ages 10-13; 47% female; 60% racial/ethnic minority) recruited with their primary caregiver (80% biological mothers). For this analysis, data were retained for parent-child dyads in which members identified as being both Black (n = 63) or both White (n = 68). Adolescents used the Emotion Socialization Measure (Klimes-Dougan et al., 2007) to report how much their parent tended to neglect or reward their negative emotions. They also completed the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ; Elgar et al., 2007) and Family Environment Scale (FES; Moos & Moos, 1976). Scores on Maternal/Paternal Investment (APQ), Positive Parenting (APQ), and Cohesiveness (FES) were internally consistent (α = .81) and so were averaged to create an adolescent-reported positive parenting score.

Results: Using PROCESS for SPSS (Hayes, 2022), we ran one multiple regression for each ES style (neglect, reward), testing whether racialized identities moderated the effect of ES on positive parenting. In the first model, Black adolescents rated their parents more positively than did White adolescents (t = 1.98, p = .049), and ES neglect ratings were related to less positive parenting (t = -3.99, p < .001). These main effects were qualified by a significant ES-x-identity interaction (t = 2.98, p = .004). As predicted, ES neglect was associated with positive parenting for White (t = -4.52, p < .001), but not Black adolescents (t = -0.74, p = .464). In the second model, a main effect of ES reward ratings on positive parenting (t = 3.30 p = .001) was again qualified by an interaction with identity (t = -0.97, p = .052). ES reward was associated with positive parenting for White (t = 3.90, p < .001), but not Black adolescents (t = 0.86 p = .394).

Implications: Findings suggest that the use of purportedly “supportive” (i.e., reward) and “unsupportive” (i.e., neglect) ES strategies were associated with perceptions of positive parenting for White, but not Black adolescents. These findings may have implications for understanding ES strategies as racialized concepts and can inform future studies on how parents support and socialize emotions in Black families.