Cascading Influences of Caregiver Experiences of Discrimination and Adolescent Antisocial Behavior

Objective: Although a growing body of work has found that parents’ experiences of racial and socioeconomic (SES) based discrimination are directly related to their children’s behavior problems, more work is needed to understand possible pathways by which these factors are related and to identify potential targets for prevention and/or intervention. Method: Using a large (N = 572), longitudinal sample of low-income families from diverse racial backgrounds, the current study explored whether caregivers’ experiences of racial and SES discrimination during their children’s middle childhood (i.e. ages 7.5–9.5) predicted youth-reported antisocial behavior during adolescence and potential factors mediating these associations (e.g. caregiver depressive symptoms and positive parenting practices). Results: We found that higher levels of caregiver experiences of discrimination at child ages 7.5–9.5 predicted higher levels of caregiver depressive symptoms at child age 10.5, which were related to lower levels of caregiver endorsement of positive parenting practices at child age 14.5, which in turn, predicted higher levels of youth-reported antisocial behavior at age 16. Conclusion: The findings highlight the adverse effects of racism and discrimination in American society. Second, the findings underscore the need to develop interventions which mitigate racism and discrimination among perpetrators and alleviate depressive symptoms among caregivers.