Ethnic‐Racial Socialization and Its Correlates in Families of Black–White Biracial Children
Family Relations / Family Relations Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies
Published online on March 03, 2014
Abstract
Child, family, and contextual correlates of ethnic‐racial socialization among U.S. families of 293 kindergarten‐age Black–White biracial children were investigated in this study. Children with one White‐identified and one Black‐identified biological parent who were enrolled in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Kindergarten Cohort participated in this study. Parents' racial identification of children, parent age, family socioeconomic status, urbanicity, and region of country predicted the likelihood of frequent ethnic‐racial socialization. Relative to their biracially and Black‐identified peers, White‐identified biracial children were less likely to have frequent discussions about ethnic‐racial heritage. Findings suggest that ethnic‐racial socialization is a prevalent parenting practice in families of young biracial children and that its frequency varies depending on child, family, and situational factors. Implications for practice are discussed.