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Linking Perceived Discrimination to Longitudinal Changes in African American Mothers’ Parenting Practices
Author(s) -
Brody Gene H.,
Chen YiFu,
Kogan Steven M.,
Murry Velma McBride,
Logan Patricia,
Luo Zupei
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00484.x
Subject(s) - psychology , structural equation modeling , developmental psychology , stressor , socioeconomic status , longitudinal study , depressive symptoms , competence (human resources) , african american , clinical psychology , social psychology , medicine , population , psychiatry , anxiety , environmental health , statistics , ethnology , mathematics , pathology , history
This longitudinal study was designed to test hypotheses, derived from a stress proliferation framework, regarding the association between perceived racial discrimination and changes in parenting among African American mothers in the rural South. A sample of 139 mothers and their children were interviewed 3 times at 1‐year intervals. Mothers reported on perceived discrimination and two proliferated stressors: stress‐related health problems and depressive symptoms. Both mothers and children reported on mothers’ competence‐promoting parenting. Structural equation modeling revealed a chain‐like sequence: Perceived discrimination forecast increases in mothers’ stress‐related health problems, which in turn were positively associated with depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms constituted the proximal variable associated with decreases in mothers’ competence‐promoting parenting. These results emerged independent of socioeconomic characteristics.