Ethnic identity, self-esteem, and perceived efficacy as mediators of the relation of supportive parenting to psychosocial outcomes among urban adolescents.

The present study examined the direct and indirect relationships among supportive parenting, ethnic identity, self-esteem, perceived efficacy, and psychological adjustment in an urban sample of 133 African American (M age=16.37) and 110 European American (M age=16.43) adolescents. Although the mediational model was partially supported for both African American and European American youth, the data better fit the model for the African American group. Specifically, perceived efficacy fully mediated the relation between ethnic identity and depressive symptoms, and partially mediated the relation between self-esteem and depressive symptoms for African American youth. For European Americans, self-esteem fully mediated the relation between supportive parenting and perceived efficacy. This study illustrates the importance of examining developmental models separately for adolescents from different ethnic/racial backgrounds.