A Longitudinal Examination of Race Centrality in African American Youth and Parents

Adam J. Hoffman: A Longitudinal Examination of Race Centrality in African American Youth and Parents (Under the direction of Beth Kurtz-Costes) For most African Americans, racial identity is an important aspect of their individual identity. Racial centrality, a dimension of racial identity, is protective of psychosocial well-being among African Americans. The current study explored the stability of racial centrality in African American youth and their parents, and the relationship between parent and child racial centrality across time. African American youth (N = 379) and parents completed surveys when youth were enrolled in Grades 5, 7, 10, and 12. Results indicated that individual differences in parents' and youths' racial centrality were stable across time. Although bivariate correlations confirmed positive relationships between parents' and youths' identity after Grade 7, only a few of these relationships were significant in cross-lag panel analyses. Results provide novel insight about the development and stability of racial centrality in African American youth and the effect that parents have in shaping their children's racial identity.