Comparing Associations Between Puberty,Ethnic–Racial Identity,Self-Concept,and Depressive Symptoms Among African American and Caribbean Black Boys

Research on pubertal development among Black boys is limited. Addressing this gap, we examined associations between three pubertal domains (e.g., voice change, hair growth, and perceived relative timing), depressive symptoms, self-esteem, and self-efficacy, among a nationally representative sample of 395 African American and 164 Caribbean Black boys (M_age = 15 years). Moderation by ethnic–racial identity (e.g., racial centrality, racial regard) was also explored. Results indicated that for both ethnic subgroups early voice change increased self-esteem; whereas early voice change increased depressive symptoms among boys who felt society views Blacks more negatively. Buffering effects of ethnic–racial identity also varied significantly between the two groups. Findings suggest that the meaning Black boys ascribe to their ethnic–racial group may explain puberty-linked outcomes.     

Between the Structural and the Personal: Situated Sense-Makings of “Race” This research was supported by a grant from the MOSAIC Multicultural Center at San Jose State University.

Using a critical intercultural communication perspective and cultural studies interviewing method, this study traces individuals’ subjective sense-makings of diversity through the trope of “race.” Such sense-makings represent the key (and taken-for-granted) locus of the structural and personal where social actors live out the constructions of diversity and race in deeply felt ways. Our study reveals how individuals articulate and understand race via raceless diversity encodings (whereby race is seemingly stripped of its power inequalities, and all racial/ethnic groups are made equal) and racial pivoting (whereby participants both discursively pull away from and move toward race to suit their individual experiences).     

Perceptions of Pubertal Timing and Discrimination Among African American and Caribbean Black Girls

This study used a nationally representative sample of African American and Caribbean Black adolescent females to examine the relation between perceived pubertal timing relative to peers and discriminatory experiences. Participants included the 607 girls who participated in the National Survey of American Life-Adolescent (NSAL-A), and ranged in age from 13 to 17. Most African American girls perceived their development as on-time relative to their same-aged peers; whereas the majority of Caribbean Black girls perceived their development as earlier than their same-aged peers. The results indicated that girls who perceived that their pubertal development was earlier than their same-aged peers reported more general and racial discrimination experiences.