Adaptive Coping in African American Adolescents: The Role of Mother-Adolescent Relationship Quality, Parental Monitoring, and Racial Socialization

Abstract

Adolescence can be a stressful stage of development for adolescents and their families; however, it is particularly stressful for African American adolescents who also have to deal with additional stressors such as racial discrimination, which can be detrimental to one’s mental health. The purpose of this study is to examine how: (a) adolescents’ perception of mother-adolescent relationship quality, (b) adolescents’ perception of parental monitoring from their parents, and (c) adolescents’ perception of racial socialization (e.g., cultural coping with antagonism) messages, predicts adaptive coping strategies. The sample included 111 African American adolescents (55% female), ranging from ages 14 to 17 (mean age = 15.50), residing in the Washington, DC metropolitan area between 2010 and 2011. The median household income for this sample is $60,000-69,999. Results showed that adolescents’ perception of positive mother-adolescent relationship quality and receiving racial socialization messages, specifically cultural coping with antagonism messages, were significant predictors of adaptive coping.