Anti-racism activism among Black adolescents and emerging adults: Understanding the roles of racism and anticipatory racism-related stress

This study examines associations between individual racism, anticipatory racism-related stress, and anti-racism activism among Black adolescents (n = 443; M_age = 15.6; 57.4% female) and emerging adults (n = 447; M_age = 23.8; 77.6% female). The authors tested competing hypotheses about associations between individual racism and anti-racism activism on anticipatory racism-related stress. Findings indicated anticipatory racism-related stress may be both a catalyst and consequence of engagement in anti-racism activism for Black adolescents and emerging adults. Results for each age group varied by type of stress (physiological; psychological) and activism (low-risk; high-risk). Supporting youth engagement in anti-racism activism without increasing anticipatory racism-related stress is a key priority for meaningfully advancing scholarship on the development of anti-racism and pursuit of racial justice.     

SURVEY OF NATIONALLY CERTIFIED SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS’ ROLES AND TRAINING IN PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY

A randomly selected group of Nationally Certified School Psychologists (NCSPs; n = 817) were mailed the 42‐item School Psychopharmacology Roles and Training Evaluation (SPRTE) which inquired about their caseloads, practice roles as proposed by DuPaul and Carlson ( 2005 ), and prior training in psychopharmacology. A modified Tailored Design Methodology (TDM; Dillman, Smyth, & Christian, 2009 ), involving four mail‐based contacts, was used to yield a 74% survey return rate (n = 607). Of the returned surveys, a 72% (n = 548) usable response rate was obtained and used in the present study. Consistent with prior literature, nearly all (99.6%) school psychologists reported serving at least one student taking psychotropic medication. Primary direct service roles included monitoring behavioral response to psychotropic treatment (28%), monitoring treatment side‐effects (23%), and developing psychotropic treatment goals from direct assessment measures (14%). Primary indirect service roles included providing behavior management consultation to teachers of students taking medication (96%), implementing adjunctive psychosocial supports (87%), and providing assessment data to physicians for diagnostic purposes (84%). Despite differences in established psychopharmacological training standards, actual practice roles and training received did not differ between NCSPs from APA‐accredited programs and those from National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)‐approved programs. Implications for school psychopharmacology practice, training and research are addressed.