Beyond Direct Exposure: The Vicarious Nature of Racism on Children's Development.

Nneka Ibekwe-Okafor, Jacqueline Sims, Sihong Liu, Kaeleigh Hernandez, Stephanie M Curenton, Ilana Yoon, Phillip A Fisher

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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Nneka Ibekwe-OkaforThe University of Texas at Austin, 110 Inner Campus Drive Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA. niokafor@utexas.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6587-3481

Jacqueline SimsBoston University, Center on the Ecology of Early Development, 2 Silber Way, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6709-058X

Sihong LiuStanford University, Stanford Early Childhood Center, 482 Galvez Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5188-5334

Kaeleigh HernandezThe University of Texas at Austin, 110 Inner Campus Drive Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8745-7374

Stephanie M CurentonBoston University, Center on the Ecology of Early Development, 2 Silber Way, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5281-0414

Ilana YoonThe University of Texas at Austin, 110 Inner Campus Drive Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0003-2512-6873

Phillip A FisherStanford University, Stanford Early Childhood Center, 482 Galvez Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5399-7233

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Direct consequences of exposure to racism on emotional distress are well documented, but much less is known about how racism experienced by Black caregivers may influence young children's developmental outcomes. This study examined both the direct and indirect effects of Black caregivers' experiences of racial discrimination and race-related concerns about their children on children's behavioral outcomes during early childhood (ages 0-5). Using data from 300 Black caregivers participating in the Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development (RAPID) project, we conducted mediation analyses to test whether caregivers' emotional distress mediated these associations. We found that caregivers' own experiences of racial discrimination were positively associated with their levels of depressive symptoms, while caregivers' race-related concerns about their children were associated with higher anxiety, stress, and loneliness. Significant indirect effects were observed between both caregivers' discrimination experiences and race-related concerns and children's behavioral outcomes, by way of caregiver emotional distress. Additionally, caregivers' race-related concerns were directly associated with elevated externalizing behaviors in their children. Few studies have explored how Black caregivers' race-related concerns about their children may contribute to their own emotional distress and influence children's early behavioral outcomes. These findings suggest the intergenerational reach of racial discrimination and underscore the importance of disrupting the link between caregiver distress and children's behavioral outcomes.

Indexed as

Behavioral developmentBlack child developmentEmotional distressMental wellbeingRacial discriminationVicarious racism

Identifiers

PMID41329294

DOI10.1111/cdev.13779

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.