Family Contributions to Risk and Resilience in African American Children

There is substantial evidence that African American children living in urban poverty run a disproportionately higher risk for negative functional outcomes than more affluent African American and Caucasian children. Both factors external to these families, as well as parental and other family factors, have been implicated as risk factors. Two studies are reviewed that (1) identify which parental and family risk and protective factors are the best predictors of problem behaviors in these children, and (2) identify which of these risk and protective factors distinguish resilient versus vulnerable African American children. Results identify maternal psychological distress, high family stress burden, use of coercive parenting practices, and reliance on reframing and active help-seeking as associated with more problem behaviors. The families of resilient children shared many of these risk factors except to a lesser degree. Longitudinal studies on larger, more representative samples are needed to clarify and confirm these results.