Discrimination and Ethnic‐Racial Socialization Among Youth Adopted From South Korea Into White American Families

Samantha M. Schires, NiCole T. Buchanan, Richard M. Lee, Matt McGue, William G. Iacono, S. Alexandra Burt - Child Development

Abstract

The current study examined how discrimination relates to adjustment outcomes in a sample of internationally, transracially adopted Korean Americans from the Minnesota Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (N = 456 adoptees; Mage at T1 = 14.9, Mage at T2 = 18.3, Mage at T3 = 22.3). The moderating roles of ethnic socialization and preparation for bias by parents (i.e., ethnic‐racial socialization) were also examined. Results indicated that discrimination predicted higher levels of depressive and externalizing symptoms in youth who reported less preparation for bias. In those experiencing more preparation for bias, associations were not significantly different from zero. Ethnic socialization did not moderate these associations. Such findings provide important information for adoptive parents regarding how to prepare their children to cope with discrimination.