Cascading effects of Chinese American parents’ racial discrimination experiences and racial-ethnic socialization on children’s anxiety

• In Event: Racial-ethnic socialization among Asian American families in the U.S.

Abstract

Chinese Americans experienced high rates of racial discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic (Cheah et al., 2020). In response to these experiences, Chinese American parents (CAPs) may engage in racial-ethnic socialization (RES) practices that promote their children’s awareness of racial discrimination (AOD) that they might encounter (Woo et al., 2020). However, parents’ utilization of these messages may be moderated by their own anxiety during the pandemic racism. Although AOD socialization messages can lead to excessive worry and anxiety in their children (Daga & Raval, 2018), parents with greater efficacy discussing race-related issues with their children may be more likely to use AOD RES in a non-threatening way by contextualizing these messages (Anderson et al., 2021). Moreover, the protective role of parental RES efficacy in modulating the cumulative impact of AOD messages on child anxiety may be more evident over time.
This study used a moderated cascade model to examine the: (1) effects of CAPs’ COVID-19-related racial discrimination experiences on their AOD RES and the moderating role of parents’ anxiety in this effect; (2) effects of AOD RES on children’s anxiety and the moderating role of parents’ RES efficacy in these effects; and (3) variations in these effects during two years across the pandemic.
CAPs (N=108, MageW1=45.44 years, 83% mothers) and their 10- to 18-year-old children (MageW1=13.34 years, 50% girls) competed online surveys at three waves (Wave1: Mar-May 2020; Wave2: Jan-May 2021; Wave3: Jan-May 2022; see Table 1 for variables). A moderated developmental cascade was tested (Figure 1). Parent anxiety moderated the effect of parent COVID-19-related racial discrimination on parent AOD RES; specifically, parents used more AOD RES when they had low or middle but not high anxiety levels, and these effects did not vary from Wave1 to Wave2 versus from Wave2 to Wave3. Parent RES efficacy moderated the effect of parent AOD RES on later child anxiety, where AOD RES predicted more child anxiety at low or mean, but not high, parent RES efficacy levels. This moderating effect was only significant from Wave2 to Wave3 but not from Wave1 to Wave2. The cascade effect of Wave1 parent COVID-19-related racial discrimination experiences predicting more Wave3 child anxiety via Wave2 parent AOD RES was significant only at low or mean levels of parent anxiety and low levels of parent RES efficacy.
CAPs used more socialization messages that promoted their children’s awareness of racial discrimination when they themselves were not overwhelmed by anxiety (Umaña-Taylor & Hill, 2020). Also, CAPs’ efficacy in talking about race buffered children against the negative effect of AOD RES on their anxiety only from 2021 to 2022 but not earlier in the pandemic, suggesting the importance of parental racial literacy, especially in protecting against the cumulative effects of AOD. With calls for parents to have courageous conversations about race with their children, these findings indicate the importance of supporting CAPs in coping with their own anxieties. In addition, racial literacy training and education to improve CAPs’ skills and confidence can benefit their children’s mental health.

Authors

• Huiguang Ren, University of Maryland - Baltimore County
  Presenting Author

• Charissa S. L. Cheah, University of Maryland - Baltimore County