African American adolescent engagement in the classroom and beyond: the roles of mother's racial socialization and democratic-involved parenting.

Previous research has explored how differential youth outcomes are associated with racial socialization and parenting style individually, but very little work has examined whether democratic-involved parenting style bolsters the positive link between racial messages and adolescent outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine mothers' use of democratic-involved parenting as a moderator of the association between racial socialization (e.g., racial pride, racial barrier, and self-worth messages) and youth engagement. The types of engagement explored were attitudes toward class work and persistence on task. Ninety-four African American youth (ages 11-14) reported on maternal style and socialization. As predicted, racial barrier socialization was positively associated with engagement among adolescents who perceived their mothers to provide more involvement coupled with opportunities for their teens to make decisions. In contrast, barrier socialization and engagement were negatively associated among adolescents who viewed their mothers as low in democratic-involved parenting. Implications for adolescent engagement and for research on racial socialization and democratic-involved parenting style are discussed.