Trajectories of racial discussion and parental depression in Asian American families

Racial-ethnic socialization (RES) is a critical parenting practice among Asian American parents, yet little is known about its impact on parental mental health. Drawing on Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) transactional model of stress and coping, this longitudinal study examined trajectories of three RES domains (awareness of discrimination, avoidance of outgroups, minimization of race) and their associations with depressive symptoms among 209 Asian American parents (mean age 41.68; 79.43% female) over 12 months. Using growth mixture modeling, three distinct trajectory classes emerged for each domain: Moderate-Stable (35% for awareness of discrimination; 17% for avoidance of outgroups; 15% for minimization of race), High-Increasing (12% for awareness of discrimination; 8% for avoidance of outgroups; 13% for minimization of race), and Low-Decreasing (53% for awareness of discrimination; 76% for avoidance of outgroups; 72% for minimization of race). For awareness of discrimination, parents in the Moderate-Stable class showed significantly higher depressive symptoms levels compared to the High-Increasing and Low-Decreasing classes. For avoidance of outgroups, High-Increasing class parents reported higher depressive symptoms levels than the Moderate-Stable class, while the Low-Decreasing class demonstrated the highest depressive symptoms levels overall. For minimization of race, parents in the High-Increasing class exhibited significantly higher depressive symptoms levels compared to other classes. Results highlight the psychological challenges of engaging in RES and suggest the need for culturally competent mental health services supporting Asian American parents in these conversations.