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Cultural specificity of support sources, correlates and contexts: Three studies of African‐American and Caucasian youth
Author(s) -
Maton Kenneth I.,
Teti Douglas M.,
Corns Kathleen M.,
Vieira-Baker Catherine C.,
Lavine Jacqueline R.,
Gouze Karen R.,
Keating Daniel P.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/bf02506796
Subject(s) - ethnic group , social support , health psychology , psychology , peer support , african american , family support , perspective (graphical) , peer group , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , demography , public health , social psychology , medicine , psychiatry , ethnology , nursing , artificial intelligence , sociology , anthropology , computer science , history , physical therapy
Levels and correlates of parental support, peer support, partner support, and/or spiritual support among African American and Caucasian youth were examined in three contexts: adolescent pregnancy (Study 1), first year of college (Study 2), and adolescence and young adulthood (ages 15–29; Study 3). Partially consistent with a cultural specificity perspective, in different contexts different support sources were higher in level and/or more strongly related to adjustment for one ethnic group than the other. Among pregnant adolescents, levels of spiritual support were higher for African Americans than Caucasians; additionally, peer support was positively related to well‐being only for African Americans whereas partner support was positively related to well‐being only for Caucasians. Among college freshmen, family support was more strongly related to institutional and goal commitment for African Americans than Caucasians; conversely, peer support was more strongly related to institutional and goal commitment among Caucasians. Among 15 to 29‐year‐olds, levels of parental support and spiritual support were higher among African Americans than Caucasians; additionally, spiritual support was positively related to self‐esteem for African Americans but not for Caucasians. Implications and limitations of the research are discussed.