The protective and promotive effects of parent racial–ethnic socialization on Asian American adolescents’ psychosocial well-being

Families of color often face daily racist incidents that lead to dynamic interactions and race-based messaging between parents and children; however, few studies have examined this phenomenon in Asian American families. Using 60 days of daily-diary data from a national sample of 108 adolescents (53.7% girls; range = 11-18-year-old; M age = 14.8 years, SD age = 1.7, 29.6% low-income), this study examined (a) how different forms of parental racial-ethnic socialization (PRES) moderated associations between racial-ethnic discrimination (RED) and Asian American adolescents' psychosocial well-being and (b) how coping strategies mediated links between PRES and psychosocial outcomes. Results suggested that cultural socialization and post-discrimination emotional support protected Asian American adolescents from the effects of RED on their affect and problem behaviors, whereas preparation for bias intensified the negative impact of RED on youth's psychological well-being. Active problem solving mediated the relationship between effective PRES approaches and youth's psychosocial outcomes. This study highlights the need for evidence-based approaches to enhance racial-ethnic socialization skills among Asian American parents, as these efforts may be crucial for fostering resilience in their adolescent children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

Asian americans · Developmental psychology · Ethnic group · Psychosocial · Psychotherapist · Socialization · Clinical Psychology · Early Childhood Education and Development · Psychology

• Ethnic–racial discrimination, peer support, and internalizing problems

  Open Access•Qi Huang, Yijie Wang et al.•Journal of Research on Adolescence•2026

  Add to list