ABSTRACT STOKES, MCKENZIE N. “I wish my mom just talked more about [me] being Black”: A Multi- Study Investigation of Parental Racial Socialization in Multiracial Black-White Families. (Under the Direction of Dr. Elan C. Hope). Racial socialization – parent-child communication about race – can equip children of color with the psychological resilience necessary to flourish in a world that is afflicted by oppression. There is a major gap in the empirical understanding of racial socialization in Multiracial Black-White families, where Biracial children are vulnerable to anti-Black and essentialist forms of race-related stress. In this multi-study dissertation, I contribute to this body of research through a systematic review of the qualitative literature on racial socialization in Multiracial Black-White families (Study 1) and development and validation of the first Racial Socialization Questionnaire for Biracial Adolescents (RSQ-BA; Study 2). In the first study, I reviewed 17 qualitative studies using meta-ethnographic methods in order to identify common forms of racial socialization, which included messages about (1) Monoracial Black pride and discrimination, (2) the irrelevance of race (e.g., color-evasiveness), and (3) Multiracial pride and discrimination. In the second study, I used the findings from the meta- ethnography to develop an initial pool of items for the RSQ-BA and piloted them through semi- structured interviews with 15 Biracial Black-White adolescents. I then refined the RSQ-BA based on the participant’s feedback and distributed the final measure to 330 Biracial Black-White adolescents through a national cross-sectional survey. Finally, I conducted an exploratory factor analyses to examine the theoretical dimension of the RSQ-BA (n=165) and a confirmatory factor analyses to validate the factor structures (n=165). Collectively, through the findings from this dissertation, I expand the theoretical understanding of racial socialization in Multiracial Black-White families. I also demonstrate that the RSQ-BA is a robust measure of racial socialization that can be used to examine what and how Biracial Black-White adolescents learn about their race from their parents. © Copyright 2021 by McKenzie N. Stokes All Rights Reserved “I wish my mom just talked more about [me] being Black”: A Multi-Study Investigation of Parental Racial Socialization in Multiracial Black-White Families by McKenzie N. Stokes A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Psychology Raleigh, North Carolina 2021 APPROVED BY: _______________________________ _______________________________ Dr. Elan C. Hope Dr. Qiana R. Cryer-Coupet Committee Chair _______________________________ _______________________________ Dr. Jeni Burnette Dr. Vanessa Volpe ii DEDICATION To every person with mixed racial ancestry that has ever felt anything less than whole. May you read this work and feel seen, heard, and understood. iii BIOGRAPHY McKenzie Noel Stokes was born alongside of her twin sister, McKayla Stokes, on August 29th, 1995. She is the proud daughter of Heather Buehrle, baby sister of Lela Gnuse, and a “bonus” loved one too many more. McKenzie calls a number of places home including Bridgeport California, Canton Ohio, and Richmond Virginia. In 2013, McKenzie began her academic journey at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), where she double majored in Psychology and African American Studies. She fell in the love with the world of research at VCU, and knew that she wanted to use psychological science to empower youth and families that are marginalized in the U.S. In 2017, McKenzie became the first person in her immediate family to graduate with a Bachelors’ degree. She enrolled in the Applied Social and Community Psychology Ph.D. program at North Carolina State University immediately after to pursue her dreams of becoming a social scientist. At NC State, McKenzie contributed to research in the Hope Lab, the Dad Lab, and the Center for Community and Family Engagement. These experiences helped her refine her research interests which include: understanding how family and race-based psychological processes impact the wellbeing of monoracial and biracial Black youth. McKenzie further realized that she wanted to use her work to inform evidence-based practices outside of clinical settings, which led her to pursue a graduate certificate in family life education and coaching. McKenzie’s ultimate objective as a scholar is to use research and coaching psychology to help monoracial and Multiracial Black American families thrive. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Jesus Christ. All of the glory and honor for this degree goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Everyone always speaks of how challenging it is to earn a doctoral degree, and while that is true, his love kept me in perfect peace throughout this journey. He promises in Matthew 11:30 that his yoke is easy and his burden is light, and it couldn’t be more true. THANK YOU, GOD. Project BASES Participants. To the Biracial teenagers who shared pieces of themselves with me – you allowed this project to come into fruition – THANK YOU! Your contributions were more meaningful than you may ever know. I am forever grateful to each of you. Joseph Green. My best friend and life-partner. You don’t just support my dreams; you make them yours and fiercely chase them with me. Thank you for everything you did and everything you have sacrificed to help US reach this goal. You make me better in every way. I love you! Momma. My prayer warrior. All I have to say is: “I am, because you are.” Thank you for everything. McKayla Stokes. “Helping one another is part of the religion of our sisterhood” – Louisa May Alcott. Thank you for helping me in every way, shape, and form since 1995. Most of all, thank you for making sure that I’ve never felt alone in this journey. Our sisterhood is one of my biggest blessings and I couldn’t have made it through this program without it! This world is ours. Lela. You’ve inspired me daily by simply just being you. Thank you for always checking in on me, showing up for me, and supporting me in the “little” ways. They were the big ways. I am so grateful to be your baby “sissy.” My Village. To my family (bonus, extended, church), girlfriends, virtual friends, chasing milestones collaboratively writing pals – THANK YOU x 10000!!! I am so grateful for the way v that each of you showed up for me during this journey. Every little prayer, text, care package, flyer repost, vacation, etc., kept me going. My Committee Members. Thank you Drs. Cryer-Coupet, Burnette, and Volpe! I am so grateful for the ways that you supported and pushed me to become a better scholar throughout this research process. Each of you have equipped me with a unique perspective of social science that I will continue to use throughout my career! Thank you for being wonderful examples of good scientists, teachers, mentors, and people. Dr. Elan Hope. There aren’t enough words to express how grateful I am for your steadfast mentorship over the past four years. You gently shaped me into a scholar that can think critically about the world and field of psychology while providing me with the tools to explore questions that mattered the most to me. Thank you for seeing me and pouring into me as a student and as a person. I am forever indebted to you! vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Objective and Significance ............................................................................................... 3 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 6 Why Biracial Adolescents? .............................................................................................. 6 Racial Socialization as a Promotive & Protective Factor ................................................. 8 Racial Socialization in Multiracial Black-White Families ............................................ 10 Measuring Racial Socialization in Multiracial Black-White Families ........................... 16 Guiding Frameworks ...................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 3: Meta-Ethnography .................................................................................................... 23 Method ............................................................................................................................ 25 Results ............................................................................................................................ 32 Discussion ....................................................................................................................... 41 Chapter 4: Development and Validation of the RSQ-BA ........................................................... 52 Interviews ........................................................................................................................ 52 The RSQ-BA .................................................................................................................