A Qualitative Examination of Multiracial Individuals’ Perceived Support from Parents

• In Event: 3-120 - Examining the Role of Parents in the Racial Development of Multiracial Youth

Integrative Statement

Introduction. This study used qualitative interviews to capture the perspective of multiracial individuals regarding the support received from their parents throughout their development. Parental support is defined here as a multiracial child’s perspective of how their parents provide social support through listening, understanding, validating, and accepting their unique multiracial experiences, and offering informed advice for navigating racial issues.
Given that parents of multiracial children typically do not share the same racial background, understanding their child’s racial experiences is a unique challenge that affects parent-child relationships in multiracial families (Lorenzo-Blanco, Bares, & Delva, 2013). The parent-child relationship is an important source of social support that can have implications for children’s well-being and racial identity development (Bronte-Tinkew, 2006; Stepney, Sanchez, & Handy, 2015). Although monoracial children can solicit guidance and advice from their parents around racial issues, having parents that are not multiracial themselves or who may not have experience living as a racial-ethnic minority can leave multiracial youth feeling unsupported (Crawford & Alaggia, 2008; Lazloffy, 2008). Thus, the study investigated: a) How do parents support (or fail to support) their multiracial child’s racial experiences? b) How does the gender and racial background of the parents and children affect support?
Method. Multiracial students (with parents of two or more different racial backgrounds) from a large Southwestern university were instructed to email the researcher in response to an ad about the study. Participants (N = 20; 50% female, Mage = 19.55 years) were then carefully selected to ensure representation of both men and women of diverse racial backgrounds (see Table 1). Semi-structured interviews lasted one to two hours. Audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim and coded. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes in the data (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
Results. Analyses revealed three major themes: 1) racial awareness of parents, 2) identity support, and 3) discrimination support. When discussing the racial awareness of parents, participants reported a lack of parental awareness about race and racial issues, particularly among White parents. Identity support referred to the extent to which parents were accepting of their child’s racial identity and encouraged or facilitated the exploration of their different racial backgrounds. Discrimination support described the ways in which parents responded to their child discussing experiences of discrimination.
One significant strength of this study is that the diverse multiracial sample allows for an examination of the similarities and differences in how majority-minority biracial youth (those with a White and minority parent), minority-minority biracial youth, and second-generation multiracial youth (those with at least one multiracial parent) experience support from their parents. Though generalizability is limited by the small sample, details regarding the unique support dynamics between parents and children of different gender and race combinations will be discussed.
In summary, this study informs our understanding of parent-child relationships in multiracial families and provides an in-depth look into multiracial youth’s unique experiences and perceptions of parental support. Suggestions for future studies and implications for clinical practice and parenting education will be discussed.

Authors

• Annabelle Lin Atkin, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Kelly F. Jackson, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hyung Chol (Brandon) Yoo, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author