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Updated: Jul 2, 2025

Using the Race Model Inequality to Quantify Behavioral Multisensory Integration Effects
Published on: May 10, 2019
Directionality explored: Black Adolescents' awareness of systemic racism and race-based experiences
Natasha C Johnson1, Stephanie J Rowley2, Beth Kurtz-Costes3
1School of Social Work, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
Abstract:
Increases in conversations about race and racial discrimination experiences during adolescence make this a critical developmental period to investigate adolescents' awareness of racism. We examined bidirectional associations between race-based experiences and awareness of systemic racism-operationalized as understanding systemic causes of racial disparities in education. Adolescents who self-identified as African American/Black were surveyed in Grade 6 (n = 317; Mage = 11.12; 48% girls) and Grade 8 (n = 247; Mage = 13.15; 56% girls). Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed that racial barrier messages, but not racial discrimination experiences, in Grade 6 positively predicted awareness of systemic racism in Grade 8. Adolescents' awareness of systemic racism in Grade 6 did not predict racial socialization or racial discrimination experiences in Grade 8.
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