The Role of Child Self-Regulation During Discussions about the Police in Black and Latinx Families

• In Event: Diversifying a Normative Science of Children’s Self-Regulation

Abstract

Conversations that prepare Black and Latinx children for police encounters are part of the process known as ethnic-racial socialization (ERS; Anderson & Stevenson, 2019). Caregivers who adapt their ERS to each child’s specific needs and skills, such as their self-regulatory ability to inhibit an immediate response in favor of another (i.e., inhibitory control [IC]; Rothbart et al., 2001), may promote healthier behaviors in their children. This study tested the hypothesis that the goodness-of-fit between profiles of observed ERS about interactions with police and child IC would be differentially associated with child internalizing and externalizing behaviors.
In this longitudinal, exploratory analysis, conversations between 80 caregivers (45% Latinx; 55% Black) and their pre-adolescents (Mage = 11.09, SD = .29; 46% female) were observed as they discussed a hypothetical police interaction. Researchers trained on an observational measure of ERS (Smith-Bynum et al., 2016) rated caregivers from 0-very low/ not present to 4-very high on 12 items encompassing caregivers’ reactions to the scenario and their suggestions of how to respond. Estimated accuracies among raters ranged from 74%-99% (KappaAcc, Bakeman, 2018). IC was measured using a composite of self-regulation tasks when children were ages 2.5 and 3.5 (Pacheco et al., 2018) and categorized as normative, low-stable, and high-stable. Internalizing and externalizing behaviors were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) when youth were age 12.

A Latent Profile Analysis (LPA; Mplus 8.1) suggested a 3-profile solution (Figure 1) of caregiver-provided ERS:
Pragmatic (n = 38): provided straightforward suggestions that were decontextualized of ethnic and racial issues;
Comprehensive (n = 34): equipped a multifaceted approach including detailed suggestion-giving, teaching, and support;
Reactive (n = 8): acknowledged systemic issues of racism and stereotyping with limited provision of respect- and safety-oriented coping suggestions.

Intercepts of internalizing and externalizing behaviors across ERS profiles and youth IC (normative/high versus low) were compared (see Table 1). Youth with low IC in preschool had lower internalizing behaviors than their peers with normative/high IC when their caregivers used Pragmatic ERS, Mdif = 8.16, z = 2.10, p = .04, and higher externalizing behaviors than their peers when they had either Comprehensive, Mdif = 7.42, z = 2.02, p = .04, or Reactive caregivers, Mdif = 7.82, z = 2.39, p = .02. Meanwhile, children with normative/high IC demonstrated lower internalizing and externalizing behaviors when they had Comprehensive or Reactive caregivers rather than Pragmatic caregivers ([internalizing] Comprehensive vs. Pragmatic: Mdif = -6.21, z = 1.72, p = .08; Reactive vs. Pragmatic: Mdif = 14.28, z = 2.47, p =.01; [externalizing] Comprehensive vs. Pragmatic: Mdif = -6.23, z = 1.78, p = .08; Reactive vs. Pragmatic: Mdif = 16.13, z = 4.78, p < .001).

Whereas Pragmatic ERS in the context of police interactions may be a good fit for youth with early low IC, less comprehensive ERS may be harmful over time for children gaining IC skills along a normative trajectory. In contrast, Comprehensive and Reactive ERS proved more beneficial to youth with normative or high-stable IC in the context of a police encounter.

Authors

• Kimberly R. Osborne, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Mia A. Smith-Bynum, University of Maryland - College Park

• Margaret O'Brien Caughy, University of Georgia