How We Feel About "Us": A Longitudinal Study on Ethnic-Racial Socialization and Ethnic-Racial Affect Development in Middle Childhood to Early Adolescence

For ethnic-racial minoritized children, ethnic-racial affect-feelings about their group and heritage-is a key part of identity development. However, little is known about how positive (e.g., pride about one's group or heritage) and negative (e.g., shame about one's group or heritage) ethnic-racial affect develops over time in children. Examining the developmental trajectories and factors that shape these feelings can help elucidate how to ensure positive child development even in the face of experiencing racism. Therefore, in our 3-year longitudinal study with 117 ethnic-racial minoritized mother-child dyads from the Netherlands (Turkish heritage = 59%, West African or Caribbean heritage = 41%), we used a multimethod approach and multilevel modeling to examine children's ethnic-racial affect development from middle childhood to early adolescence. We were specifically interested in whether and to what extent mothers' ethnic-racial socialization (i.e., messages and practices that convey information about ethnicity and race-related topics), measured through questionnaires and video observations, contributes to ethnic-racial affect development. Our findings indicate that children's positive ethnic-racial affect remained stable over time, while their negative ethnic-racial affect decreased over time. Notably, mothers' higher observed cultural socialization about identity-related topics, such as skin color, national identity, and cultural heritage, was associated with a decrease in children's negative ethnic-racial affect across time. Findings suggest that parent-child conversation about identity-related topics may promote positive child development in the face of experiencing racism.