Happy Birthday Trayvon: The Link Between Discrimination and Child Psychosocial Outcomes

On February 5, 2013, I thought about Trayvon Martin. After all, it would have been his 18^th birthday, so it was only appropriate. But it was not just a day to consider his life; rather, his death and its impact on families.

As a researcher in a cultural and family studies laboratory, I think about the “Trayvons” of our society constantly. It was his untimely death that led my colleague, Saida Hussain, and me to consider the effects of discrimination on processes within low-income Black families. After developing a theory based on existing research, we found using a statistical model that discrimination reported by parents has a direct and indirect effect on children.

In cases like the shooting of Trayvon, children may perceive community-level experiences of discrimination directly, thus contributing to their internalizing and externalizing behaviors. In such a way, familial and community experiences of discrimination can be directly related to how children feel and act, and contribute to anxiety, low self-esteem, or aggression. This made me reflect: how many images did I see of youth wearing a ‘h oodie’ as a sign of solidarity – or more resoundingly, interchangeability – with Trayvon?

On the other hand, parents who perceive discriminatory actions are likely to feel more depressed than parents who report less discrimination. Depressed parents often have more difficulties parenting. And surely, increases in parenting problems lead to more challenging child behaviors and feelings. As a result, discrimination has an indirect effect on children’s outcomes as well.

Though it may seem like a gloomy pathway to psychological pain for children living in a society that has discrimination, our research also considers possible protective agents. We tested whether parents’ ethnic commitment – or having a sense of belongingness within their ethnic group – changed the relationship between experienced discrimination and depression.

As hypothesized, parents with higher levels of ethnic commitment had lower levels of depression. So, even though we found that discrimination can directly lead to negative child outcomes, we also found that when parental depression is minimized, parenting practices are more likely to be supportive, as are positive child outcomes. As a result of this research, we are next considering how to effectively bolster components of parenting interventions that focus on ethnic identity to improve overall child outcomes.

So, to Trayvon: we hope for a world free of discrimination, but until then, we offer research as a gift to other youth in your honor. Happy birthday, Trayvon.

Keywords: Discrimination, psychosocial well-being, ethnic identity, black families, parenting