What Types of Racial Messages Protect Asian American Adolescents From Discrimination? A Latent Interaction Model

In this brief report, the authors investigate how different types of parental racial-ethnic socialization messages (i.e., cultural socialization/pluralism, promotion of mistrust, and preparation for racial bias) moderate the relationship between racial discrimination and psychological distress in a sample of 187 Asian American adolescents. Results indicated a significant positive relationship between racial discrimination and psychological distress. Cultural socialization/pluralism and promotion of mistrust also moderated the racial discrimination and psychological distress link. Specifically, for adolescents reporting low frequencies of cultural socialization/pluralism messages, discrimination was positively associated with psychological distress, suggesting cultural socialization/pluralism messages may be a protective factor. Discrimination was also positively associated with psychological distress for adolescents reporting high frequencies of promotion of mistrust, suggesting that promotion of mistrust may be a risk factor. Overall, the findings emphasize the important role that racial-ethnic socialization messages can have on psychological distress among Asian American adolescents who experience racial discrimination. Public significance statement Findings from the current study suggest that for Asian American adolescents, parents' messages about cultural traditions and history and promotion of diversity protect children from psychological distress in the face of discrimination. Moreover, messages warning children to avoid racial-ethnic outgroup members are positively associated with distress for those who have experienced discrimination.