Coping Socialization in Black Families: A Latent Profile Analysis

The purpose of the present study was to employ latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify distinct profiles of Black caregivers based on how they socialize their children to cope with stress. Participants included 126 Black female caregivers (M (age) = 40.67, SD = 9.73) who provided data on 149 4th-8th-grade children (61% female; M (age) = 11.21, SD = 1.52). Caregivers self-reported on socialization of child coping, caregiver support, and caregiver coping behaviors; children reported on caregiver socialization of coping, caregiver support, and child coping. The LPA revealed three distinct socialization profiles: A low diversified socialization profile, an engagement socialization profile, and a high diversified socialization profile. Caregivers in the low diversified socialization profile reported lower levels of primary and secondary engagement and disengagement coping, as well as increased parental support, compared to both the engagement socialization profile and high diversified socialization profile. Furthermore, results revealed that the three socialization profiles did not differ on children's self-report of coping. Results from the present study suggest variability among Black caregivers' coping socialization strategies and additional research is needed to maximize best outcomes for Black youth and their families.