The Development and Initial Pilot Results of the Narrative Engagement of Cultural Socialization Measure (NEOCS)

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Abstract

Cultural socialization refers to the intergenerational transmission of cultural values, beliefs, and perspectives that occurs between children and adults (Hughes et al, 2006; Wang & Brenner, 2015). Parents are considered to be primary socialization agents. Early childhood experiences influence how we perceive the world. As such, cultural socialization (CS) begins in early childhood and extends throughout the lifespan (Umana-Taylor et al, 2014). While ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity is increasing in the United States, there is evidence of increased disharmony in intergroup relations (Craig & Richeson, 2014; SPLC, 2018, 2019). Researchers have noted that increased violence and civil unrest can have a negative impact on public health (Alang et al, 2017). Understanding how CS occurs at an early age within families across the ethnic-racial spectrum could contribute to policy and/or interventions that may improve intergroup relations. Thus, a need exists to ascertain how parental cultural socialization practices factors into the health and well-being of children from all ethnic and racial groups. No current assessment of this process, however, currently exists. The aims for the current project, then, are to 1) develop a valid, reliable, and standardized assessment to measure cultural socialization practices and 2) to validate NEOCS using a sample of parent-child dyads from different ethnic and racial groups. The development and validation of NEOCS will provide a standardized way of capturing certain cultural socialization practices during a book-reading task.

NEOCS development will involve five processes: 1) a literature review, 2) creation of coding framework, 3) thematic analysis of recorded pilot sessions, 4) face validity with revision from internal consultants and 5) implementation. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify definitions, main constructs, dimensions and sub-dimensions to be measured. This included developing a coding system for scoring the assessment. Thematic analysis was established through iterative rounds of independent coding and feedback sessions. These steps are already completed. In the fourth phase, the coding procedure will be reviewed by experts in the field. The team has already identified an expert who is able to conduct face validity of NEOCS before they are revised and implemented. Finally, videos of parents reading with their children will be collected from the Social Confounders for Health Outcomes Linked to Education (SCHOOL) and coded with the NEOCS. The sample this fall will include approximately 150 racially and socio-economically diverse dyads. The intention is to code the interactions with NEOCS and utilize the Cultural Socialization scale (Wang et al, 2015) as an initial measure of concurrent validity.

In addition to thematic analysis and refining of the coding framework and training process, we anticipate presenting results from the initial SCHOOL cohort. We anticipate the development of NEOCS to continue with the intention of making it available to the field upon validation. This will help address the gap in measuring and, thus, understanding, parental cultural socialization practices.

Authors

• Etomgi Okezie, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Jennifer Locasale-Crouch, Virginia Commonwealth University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Khara Lynn Pence Turnbull, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kirsty Thompson, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author

• Aubrey Hill, University of Virginia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brianna Jaworski, University of Virginia
  Non-Presenting Author