THE ROLE OF SIBLINGS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTAL RACIAL SOCIALIZATION AND OUTCOMES IN TRANSRACIAL ADOLESCENT ADOPTEES

Abstract

Siblings are the longest relationship many people have in their lives, yet are often overlooked in research. Transracial adoptees, who may struggle with forming a sense of racial identity and experiencing low self-esteem, may benefit from the presence of a sibling of color. The research questions posed by this study are 1) What is the independent effect of having a sibling of color for transracial adolescent adoptees' racial identity and self-esteem? 2) Does having a sibling of color moderate the well-established relationship between parental racial socialization and outcomes of racial identity and self-esteem in transracial adoptees? Results of the present study indicated that having a sibling of color was negatively associated with a transracial adolescent adoptees’ self-esteem and having a sibling of color moderated the relationship between racial socialization and self-esteem. Higher racial socialization was associated with lower self-esteem for adoptees with no sibling of color.