The developmental influence of skin tone on psychosocial outcomes among African American youth

Adams, Elizabeth A.

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March 22, 2019

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Adams, Elizabeth A.
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation is the first to explore the longitudinal impact of skin tone bias among African American adolescents. The relationships between skin tone, self-esteem, peer discrimination, and race socialization were explored using a data from the Youth Identity Project. African American adolescents (N = 189) were surveyed in Grades 5, 7, 10 and 12. During the final wave of data collection a skin tone measure was added to the study, and youths' skin tone was rated on a 3-point scale (1 = Light, 2 = Brown, 3 = Dark). In exploring changes in the relationship between skin tone and self-esteem across time, youth with light-skinned youth reported higher self-esteem than dark and brown-skinned youth in Grades 5 and 7, yet by Grade 12 these differences were no longer significant. Further, results from latent growth curve analyses demonstrate that skin tone predicts a quadratic trajectory, such that skin tone predicts the initial downturn and subsequent rebound of self-esteem during adolescence. In terms of the relationship between skin tone race socialization, light and dark-skinned girls reported receiving more preparation for bias messages than brown-skinned girls, and both light and dark-skinned youth reported receiving more cultural socialization messages than brown-skinned youth. Additionally, parents reported transmitting significantly more cultural socialization messages to their light and dark-skinned youth than to those rated as brown-skinned. Contrary to expectations, skin tone was not a significant predictor of peer discrimination frequency or peer discrimination distress, and peer discrimination distress did not moderate the relationship between skin tone and self-esteem. Finally the results from this dissertation are discussed in terms of implications for parents and clinicians.

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