Attachment Theory and Black Youth Development: New Directions for Cross-disciplinary Dialogue

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

The present era of “Black Lives Matter” is an especially crucial time for developmental scientists to explore cross-disciplinary approaches to understanding racism and working toward antiracism in research and practice. Scholars studying Black youth development have long contended that systemic racism is among the foremost sources of threat and trauma faced by Black children and families (García-Coll et al., 1996); thus, we propose that attachment theory may be relevant to current conversations about race, given that it speaks directly to the role of relationships in responding to threat and trauma (Bowlby, 1969/1972). The goal of the present symposium is to bring together attachment researchers and BIPOC scholars studying Black youth and families to stimulate conversation about how we might leverage and extend attachment-related work to better understand and promote positive Black youth development. Paper 1 synthesizes relational sources of risk and resilience in Black youth development, focusing on the role of Black fathers as important attachment figures in children’s lives. Paper 2 presents data on Black mothers’ secure base provision—in the form of preparation for bias and balanced responses to children’s distress—as a predictor of young children’s emotional wellbeing. Paper 3 extends these themes into adolescence in a large-scale study of African American families, examining youths’ relationship quality and positive internal working models of the self (including self-esteem and racial identity) as cultural assets promoting positive youth development. Paper 4 concludes by outlining avenues for future work, and opening space for dialogue among presenters and audience members.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chairs

• Jessica A Stern, University of Virginia - Charlottesville

• Oscar Barbarin, University of Maryland - College Park

Individual Presentations

• Father-Child Attachment in Black Families: Risk and Protective Processes - Presenting Author: Fanita Amincia Tyrell, University of Maryland - College Park; Non-Presenting Author: Ann S. Masten, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Parents’ Preparation for Bias and Responses to Black Children’s Distress Predicts Self-Regulation: An Attachment Perspective - Presenting Author: Angel Sia Dunbar, University of Maryland - College Park; Non-Presenting Author: Esther M. Leerkes, UNC Greensboro; Non-Presenting Author: Fantasy T. Lozada, Virginia Commonwealth University; Non-Presenting Author: Lydia Harim Ahn, Arizona State University

• Revisioning Attachment Theory, African American Parenting, African American Youth Development: A Strength-based, Cultural Assets Framework - Presenting Author: Velma McBride Murry, Vanderbilt University; Non-Presenting Author: Catherine Gonzalez-Detrés, Vanderbilt University; Non-Presenting Author: Dominique Bulgin, Duke Univeristy; Non-Presenting Author: Erica Coates, Georgetown University Medical Center; Non-Presenting Author: Marlena Debreaux, Vanderbilt University; Non-Presenting Author: Misha N. Inniss-Thompson, Vanderbilt University; Non-Presenting Author: Walter Wilson, HealthPoint Family Care, Inc.

• Attachment Theory and Perspectives on Black Youth Development: A Dialogue - Presenting Author: Jessica A Stern, University of Virginia - Charlottesville; Non-Presenting Author: Jude A. Cassidy, University of Maryland - College Park; Non-Presenting Author: Oscar Barbarin, University of Maryland - College Park