The impact of racial socialization and family stress in African American homes

The present study examined the relations between African American parents and how socialization leads to different levels of stress, communication, and spiritual transcendence. A cross-sectional, correlational design which included 133 Texas African American parents using survey data, was used to examine how family stress impacts parenting among African Americans. Findings from this study suggested that parent’s behaviors of racial socialization (perception of bias, cultural socialization, and racial mistrust) did not significantly predict parental stress in African American parents. However, while controlling for the age of the youngest child results were significantly different in regards to preparation for bias. Mothers and fathers did not differ significantly in regards to preparation for bias or racial mistrust. Literature on African American family stress is growing, yet, there is a lack of quantitative data that focuses on how racial socialization can predict parental stress, communication, and spiritual transcendence in African American homes. Additionally, a qualitative exploration of the views of African American parents and how their racial encounters impact their entire family would be helpful.