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Racial–Ethnic Protective Factors and Mechanisms in Psychosocial Prevention and Intervention Programs for Black Youth

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Abstract

Extending previous reviews related to cultural responsiveness in the treatment of ethnic minority youth, the current review provides a critical assessment and synthesis of both basic and applied research on the integration of three racial–ethnic protective factors (racial identity, racial socialization, Africentric worldview) in psychosocial prevention and intervention programs for Black children and adolescents. Seventeen programs meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria were evaluated for the extent to which racial–ethnic protective factors and related mechanisms were integrated, applied, and tested in such programs. A systematic assessment of these programs revealed that several prevention and intervention programs drew upon the three factors, particularly Africentric worldview. In addition, a number of studies hypothesized and assessed mechanisms, both those previously identified in conceptual literature and those that emerged from the interventions themselves. A set of recommendations encouraging the implementation of these factors into future prevention and intervention programs, examples of how clinicians can infuse these factors into psychotherapy, and areas for future research are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Briefly, a promotive factor predicts better outcomes across every level of risk, while a protective factor is one that confers its mitigating effects at the highest risk levels (Masten et al. 2009).

  2. In this manuscript, mechanism refers to the processes through which a factor (e.g., Africentric worldview) is promotive or protective.

  3. It should be noted that ethnic identity is related to, but distinct from racial identity (Phinney and Ong 2007). Ethnic identity is concerned with group identification on the basis of shared culture (e.g., language, food, customs, nationality) that often transcends race. Though the terms are related, we preserve the usage of the study, investigation, or PPI under review in the manuscript.

  4. In more recent discussions, Phinney has defined diffusion and foreclosure as “unexamined ethnic identity” .

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Ford Foundation Pre-doctoral and Dissertation Fellowships, awarded to Shawn C.T. Jones. The content does not represent the official views of the funding agency. We wish to thank Drs. Deborah Jones and Anna Bardone-Cone and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on a previous version of this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Shawn C. T. Jones & Enrique W. Neblett

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Correspondence to Shawn C. T. Jones.

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Jones, S.C.T., Neblett, E.W. Racial–Ethnic Protective Factors and Mechanisms in Psychosocial Prevention and Intervention Programs for Black Youth. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 19, 134–161 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-016-0201-6

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