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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Oct 12.
Published in final edited form as: J Child Fam Stud. 2013;22:76–84. doi: 10.1007/s10826-012-9639-4

Stress Among African American Emerging Adults: The Role of Family and Cultural Factors

Kristina Hood 1, Joshua Brevard 2, Anh Bao Nguyen 3, Faye Belgrave 4, A B Nguyen 5
PMCID: PMC10568646  NIHMSID: NIHMS1935097  PMID: 37829059

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of family and cultural variables on stress among African American emerging adults. Data from this study was collected as part of a larger study that examined cultural, family, and contextual factors and smoking among African American youth in 5th, 8th, and 12th grades. Data were collected from high school seniors at the end of their 12th grade year and 6 months post high school. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine whether racial identity, family cohesion, and parental monitoring influence students’ perceived frequency of stress. Higher levels of racial identity were associated with more perceived stress. There were no significant main effects for either parental monitoring or family cohesion on stress. There were significant interactions between racial identity and parental monitoring and between parental monitoring and family cohesion. Study implications are discussed regarding the importance of stress reduction programs for African American emerging adults and for parents of these adults.

Keywords: Family cohesion, Parental monitoring, Racial identity, Stress, African Americans

Introduction

We all experience stress at some point in our lives, particularly during times of transition. Stress is experienced when a situation is appraised as demanding and appropriate resources to respond are not available (Cohen and Wills 1985). Studies have found linkages between various stressors and psychosocial functioning among African Americans (Cooper et al. 2011; Sellers et al. 2006). These include physical health (Williams et al. 2003), sexual health (Stevens-Watkins et al. 2011), substance use (Copeland-Linder et al. 2011), and vocational and academic achievement (Burchinal et al. 2006, 2008). African Americans also face minority status stress, a unique source of stress that comes from psychosocial difficulties related to racial and ethnic background (Greer and Brown 2011). Such stressors can include racial discrimination, strained relationships with supervisors or co-workers outside of one’s racial and ethnic group, being the first in one’s family to attend college, and racial and ethnic underrepresentation in school or workplace. While many youth experience stress, the level of stress may be higher during times of transition such as when leaving high school.

Emerging Adulthood and Stress

The period of emerging adulthood is both stressful and exhilarating. This developmental period spans the late teens to the mid-twenties, ranging from ages 18 to 25 (Arnett 2000). During this period, decisions are made that will have a lifelong impact on future well-being. Young adults must decide whether to leave home, attend college, or join the work force or armed services. Emerging adults also develop intimate and long-lasting relationships outside of the immediate family and community. Many youth welcome these changes and view them as opportunities for growth. At the same time, transitions in activities, lifestyle, and relationships may alter intrapersonal (e.g., self-worth) and interpersonal (e.g., peer group) perceptions of self. The transition from high school to the workforce or college is particularly salient because of increased social and economic responsibilities.

Transitioning into emerging adulthood may be especially stressful for African Americans because of changes in the consistency and depth of their social systems. The protective influences of family (e.g., parental monitoring, family cohesion), and cultural (e.g., religious practices, ethnic identity, racial socialization) factors may no longer be present or may be diminished (Brown 2008; Li et al. 2007). Much of the research on stress has focused on variables that buffer or protect against stress. Fewer studies have focused on perceived stress as an outcome among African American emerging adults. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of family (e.g., family cohesion and parental monitoring) and cultural (e.g., racial identity) variables on stress among African American emerging adults. We were interested in better understanding the impact of these variables on the frequency of perceived stress. This study was part of a larger study that examined cultural, family, and contextual factors and smoking among African American youth in 5th, 8th, and 12th grade. We used data collected on high school seniors at the end of their 12th grade year and 6 months after high school.

Family Factors and Functioning Among African American Youth

Historically, the African American family has been considered protective against stress and other risk factors. Family cohesion and parental monitoring have direct and indirect effects on a number of psychosocial outcomes. Family cohesion is linked to high academic achievement (Stanard et al. 2010), less anxiety and depression (Street et al. 2009), and less aggressive behavior (Gorman-Smith et al. 2004) among African American youth. Children and adolescents from cohesive families report less stress (Belgrave et al. 2008), less drinking and substance use (Nasim et al. 2007) and associate with fewer deviant peers (Foster et al. 2007).

One of the ways in which families protect their children against risk is by limiting their exposure to antisocial and risky peers. This occurs through parental monitoring (Barber 1997). Parental monitoring consists of parents paying attention to their children, keeping track of them, and structuring their environments (Dishion and McMahon 1998). Successful parental monitoring occurs when children believe that their parents are knowledgeable of their activities outside of the home. Among African American youth, parental monitoring is associated with reductions in drug use and number of sexual partners (DiClemente et al. 2001), increases in condom use (Borawski et al. 2003), less favorable attitudes towards sexual intercourse (Sieverding et al. 2005), and higher academic achievement (Wilson 2009). Parental monitoring has also been found to mediate the relationship between family functioning and youth externalizing problem behaviors among African American adolescents (Dillon et al. 2007).

Higher levels of parental monitoring coupled with a positive family environment are associated with less stress among adolescents. Conversely, family conflict is associated with more stress (Bray et al. 2001; Nash et al. 2005). Higher levels of conflict between parent and child can also influence parents’ ability to discipline and monitor their children’s behaviors. Gorman-Smith et al. (2000) found that children from families high in parental monitoring and discipline consistency but low in family cohesion more at risk for serious and chronic delinquency than families that were low in both monitoring and cohesion. Although it is clear that family factors are related to psychosocial and behavioral outcomes including stress for adolescents, it is not clear if the relationships are the same during emerging adulthood. We were interested in determining how these family variables collectively influenced African American emerging adults’ perceptions of stress.

What is the Relationship between Family Variables, Racial Identity, and Stress?

In addition to directly protecting youth from the harmful affects of stress, the family also indirectly buffers against stress by instilling cultural values. The family is the primary mode of transmission for cultural values, beliefs, behavior, religious instruction, and racial and ethnic socialization (Hill 1999). The African American family provides the foundation from which African American children develop their identity including racial identity. Parenting practices often include racial socialization that provides African American children with the skills to cope in a sometimes racist and discriminatory society (Brown 2008). Racial socialization messages may bolster children’s sense of identity by socializing them to being part of a Black culture and feeling proud of their cultural group. Townsend and Lanphier (2007) found that African American children from families with open communication, clearly defined roles, and problem-solving skills had higher racial identity.

Several cultural resources including racial and ethnic identity, racial pride, and racial socialization may attenuate or help individuals cope with stress. Helms (1990) defines racial identity as “a sense of group or collective heritage with a particular racial group” (p. 3). In contrast, ethnic identity is defined as involvement in the cultural practices and activities of a particular ethnic group and positive attitudes toward, attachment to, and feelings of belonging to that group (Phinney 1995). Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, we focused specifically on racial identity in this study. According to Nobles (1991), people of African descent’s sense of self-worth are intimately tied to their racial identity. African American youths’ racial identity is a protective factor against stress (Sellers et al. 2006) and is correlated with psychosocial functioning across many domains (Belgrave and Allison 2010; Corneille and Belgrave 2007). Adolescents with high racial and ethnic identity compared to those with low racial or ethnic identity perform better academically (Altschul et al. 2006), have more positive self-perceptions and self-esteem (Bracey et al. 2004), engage in more pro-social behaviors (Smith et al. 1999), and are less likely to use drugs and engage in sexual risky behaviors (Belgrave et al. 2000a, b). Fewer studies have directly assessed the impact of racial identity on stress among emerging adults. However, the literature on racial identity and other psychosocial variables supports an inverse relationship between racial identity and stress. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether family (e.g., family cohesion and parental monitoring) and cultural (e.g., racial identity) variables were linked to stress among African American emerging adults.

Present Study

This study was part of a larger study that examined cultural, family, and contextual factors and smoking among African American youth in 5th, 8th, and 12th grade. We used data collected from 12th grade students at the end of their 12th grade year (T1), and approximately 6 months post-high school, (T2). We hypothesized that racial identity, family cohesion, and parental monitoring would be directly and negatively associated with perceived frequency of stress among African American emerging adults. We were also interested in examining if there were moderating effects of family and cultural variables on perceived stress. One research question was whether racial identity would moderate the relationship between parental monitoring and perception of stress. We examined this effect to determine if proximal (e.g., parental monitoring) and distal (e.g., cultural) variables jointly effected stress. We expected racial identity to be a protective factor against perceived stress among those youth with low levels of parental monitoring. Our expectation was that youth without parental monitoring, as a resource would benefit from higher racial identity. Additionally, we examined whether parental monitoring would moderate the relationship between family cohesion and perceived stress. Family cohesion is one of the most protective family factors for adjustment among African American youths. However when there is a high level of conflict within the family, family interactions can increase stress. This could particularly be the case when parent–child interactions are centered on monitoring and tracking their children’s activities. We expected that the protective effect of parental monitoring on perceived stress to be stronger within highly cohesive families and weaker among less cohesive families.

Method

Participants

A total of 86 African American students comprised the sample and consisted of 65 (76 %) females and 21 (24 %) males. Forty-five percent (n = 39) were 17 years of age, 43 % were 18 years of age (n = 37), and 12 % (n = 10) were 19 years of age during the spring of their 12th grade year. We recruited 39 (45 %) participants from urban schools and 47 (55 %) from rural schools. Most of the students (79 %) reported earning grades of “B’s” and “C’s”. Forty-five percent lived with both parents and 94 % reported that at least one parent was employed (Table 1).

Table 1.

Demographics

Characteristic (N = 86) N %
Age
17 years old 39 45.3
18 years old 37 43
19 years old 10 11.6
Gender
Female 65 76
Male 21 24
Residence
Urban 39 45.3
Rural 47 54.7
Family life
Lives with both Parents 39 45.3
Parents married 31 36
Parent employed 81 94.1
Self-reported grades
Mostly A’s 6 7
Mostly B’s 33 38.4
Mostly C’s 35 40.7
Mostly D’s 10 11.6
Mostly F’s 2 2.3
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Measures

Racial Identity

Racial Identity was measured using the Private Regard subscale of The Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI) (Sellers et al.1997). Regard is characterized by individuals’ affective and evaluative judgment of their racial group membership. The Private Regard subscale consists of six items that assess one’s overall feelings about one’s racial/ethnic group. Higher scores reflect more positive responses. A sample item includes: “I am proud to be Black.” Participants respond to items on a 7-point, Likert type scale, from 1 “strongly disagree” to 7 “strongly agree.” The Cronbach’s alpha for this sample was .75. This measure was assessed at Time 1.

Family Cohesion

Family Cohesion was assessed with an adapted version of the Family Adaption and Cohesion Scales (FACES) (Olsen et al. 1985). This scale measures four aspects of family relationship characteristics thought to distinguish risk for serious antisocial behavior: cohesion, beliefs about family, structure, and deviant beliefs. The measure has 12-items and uses a 4 point Likert scale that ranges from “not at all true” to “almost always or always true” where higher scores reflect more cohesion. A sample item from this scale includes: “Family members ask each other for help.” The Cronbach’s alpha for this sample was .84. This measure was assessed at Time 1.

Parental Monitoring

Parental Monitoring was assessed using a modified version of Silverberg’s Parental Monitoring Scale (PMS) (Silverberg and Small 1991). The PMS assesses parental monitoring by asking whether youth perceive their parents or guardians as usually aware of their activities after school. Participants were instructed to respond regarding the behaviors of the parent(s) that they identified as the person who they “see as a mother/father.” The original PMS has 6 items. In this study, a modified 4-item version of the PMS was used with a 3 point Likert scale with response choices ranging from “never” to “always.” Higher scores indicate a higher level of perceived parental monitoring. A sample of an item is: “When you go out, how often do your parents know where you are going?” The Cronbach alpha reliability in this sample was .78. This measure was assessed at Time 2.

Perceived Stress

Perceived Stress was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale developed by Cohen et al. (1983). The 14-item scale measures the frequency in which a person perceives a situation in his/her life as stressful. Respondents are asked to indicate if they have experienced recent events as stressful using response options “never” to “very often” where higher scores indicated more perceived stress. An item is, “How often did you feel stressed and/or nervous over past month.” The Cronbach’s reliability coefficient for this scale was 0.84 with the study sample. This measure was assessed at Time 2.

Procedure

The university’s Institutional Review Board approved this study. Data were collected in elementary, middle, and high schools in the southeastern United States and only data collected from high school students was used in this study. Graduate research assistants served as data collectors after receiving training in the administration of the measures and participating in mock data collection sessions. An additional focus of their training was in how to answer commonly asked questions. The study team obtained parental consent and student assent prior to enrolling youth in the study. All data was collected in the school setting in rooms including cafeterias, auditoriums and the like. To support student privacy, the research team seated students apart from each other. The trained graduate assistants verbally instructed the students in how to complete the survey and reminded students that their participation was voluntary and their responses anonymous. All student participants received gift cards from a local merchant as thanks for their participation.

Data Analysis Strategy

Preliminary analyses were conducted to screen data for outliers and violations of the assumptions of multiple regression including linearity, normality, and homogeneity of variance. In order to test the study’s hypotheses, hierarchical multiple regression analyses were computed. Predictor variables were centered to reduce non-essential multicollinearity. Lower order effects such as racial identity, family cohesion and parental monitoring were entered into the first step. Interaction effects were entered into the second step.

Results

Refer to Table 2 for descriptive information on our primary measures. Many youths reported high levels of stress toward the end of their last year of high school. Eighty-three percent of the sample reported experiencing stress some of the time in the past month. Only 7 % of the sample reported never or almost never experiencing stress and 10 % reported experiencing stress fairly often to very often.

Table 2.

Means, standard deviations, observed ranges, and alphas for each measure

Variable M SD Observed range α
Ethnic identity 6.43 0.68 1–7 0.75
Family cohesion 3.00 0.56 1–4 0.84
Parental monitoring 2.17 0.52 1–3 0.78
Perceived stress 32.90 5.11 0–56 0.72
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Bivariate associations were computed among racial identity, family cohesion, parental monitoring, and stressful events. The results of the correlational analyses are in Tables 3.

Table 3.

Correlations

Variable 1 2 3 4
Ethnic identity – 0.28** −0.04 0.21*
Family cohesion – 0.14 −0.06
Parental monitoring – −0.16
Stressful events –
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*

p < 0.05;

**

p < 0.01

Racial identity was positively associated with perceived stress frequency while family cohesion and parental monitoring were negatively associated with perceived stress frequency. Since none of the associations among our predictors were above .70, there were no initial concerns for multicollinearity.

A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to test whether or not family (e.g., parental monitoring and family cohesion) and cultural variables (e.g., racial identity) predicted perceived stress (Table 4). We were also interested in whether racial identity moderated the relationship between parental monitoring and stress and whether parental monitoring moderated the relationship between family cohesion and stress. Lower order effects including racial identity, family cohesion and parental monitoring were entered into the first step of the regression analysis. Moderating effects were entered in the second step. The overall model accounted for a significant amount of variance in perceived frequency of stress, F(6, 79) = 3.41, p = 0.005, R2 = 0.21 Cohen’s f2 = 0.175 with a medium effect. Racial identity, assessed by private regard for identity as an African American, correlated positively with the degree of perceived stress, t(85) = 2.17, p = 0.03; β = 0.24. There were no significant direct effects for either parental monitoring or family cohesion on perceived stress frequency.

Table 4.

Predictors of stress for African American youth

Variable Model 1 Model 2
β B SE B β B SE B
Ethnic identity 0.240* 1.228* 0.567 0.200 1.023 0.549
Family cohesion −0.111 −0.556 0.574 −0.014 −0.072 0.560
Parental monitoring −0.104 −0.533 0.555 −0.116 −0.596 0.525
EI X FC 0.078 0.318 0.451
EI X PM 0.223* 1.158 0.557
FC X PM −0.264** −1.364 0.533
R2 0.071 0.206
F (change in R2) 2.08 4.47**
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N = 86

*

p < 0.05;

**

p < 0.01

The change in R-squared from block 1 to block 2 was 0.135 and significant, p = 0.006. This confirmed our hypothesis that the moderating effects of racial identity on the relationship between parental monitoring and perceived stress frequency provided unique variance above and beyond lower order effects. Among those with low racial identity, lower levels of parental monitoring were associated with higher levels of perceived stress. This effect was not found for those with high racial identity, t(85) = 2.08, p = 0.04; β = 0.22 (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

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The moderating effects of racial identity on parental monitoring and stress

Parental monitoring also moderated the effect of family cohesion on perceived stress, t(85) = −2.56, p = 0.01, β = −0.26. When parental monitoring was high, young adults from non-cohesive families experienced higher levels of perceived stress than youths from cohesive families. However, this effect was not found for those with low parental monitoring (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

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The moderating effects of parental monitoring on family cohesion and stress

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to examine whether family and cultural variables influenced perceived stress frequency among African American students transitioning into adulthood. We found that racial identity was significantly associated with reports of perceived stress such that those who reported higher levels of racial identity also reported more stress. There were no significant direct effects for either parental monitoring or family cohesion. There were two significant interactions. There was a significant interaction between racial identity and parental monitoring such that when racial identity was low rather than high, lower levels of parental monitoring were associated with higher levels of perceived stress. There was also a significant interaction between parental monitoring and family cohesion. When parental monitoring was high, youth from non-cohesive families reported higher levels of stress. These results suggest that the interactions between different types of family variables and stress should be further examined.

One salient finding from this study was that African American emerging adults experienced quite a bit of stress. Eighty-three percent of participants reported some stress within the past 30-days. Perceived stress, in this study was assessed via a self-report measure 6 months after students had completed high school. This can be a particularly stressful time as youth are transitioning into jobs, college, and other adult responsibilities.

Findings also indicated that racial identity was correlated with higher perceptions of stress frequency. Perhaps racial identification leads to more racial discrimination, as one’s identification with being Black is more salient to others when one’s racial identity is high. African American youth with high racial identity are likely to engage in activities and behaviors consistent with this identity. They may also be more likely to openly confront a system that they perceive as discriminatory and this openness may contribute to a backlash. Moreover, this seems to be especially of concern when parental monitoring is low. When parents do not provide supervision of their children and they encounter hostility because of their racial identification, they may experience the most stress.

The results also suggest that a high level of parental monitoring is not a good thing when family cohesion is low. We found that high levels of parental monitoring were linked to more stress when family cohesion was low rather than high. Children growing up in a highly monitored and non-cohesive family may perceive their parents as authoritarian, a parenting style that is directive and rule driven (Baumrind 1971 and Buri 1991). Parents with this parenting style typically use threats, punishments, and direct orders to control children (Patock-Peckham and Morgan-Lopez 2007). For example, Dishion et al. (1995) and Hill et al. (2007) found negative effects of authoritarian parenting style on adolescent substance use. Adolescents growing up in households where they are heavily monitored but do not feel close to family members, may experience restriction of freedom and subsequently experience more stress.

There are several implications from the findings. Since a large percentage of our sample reported stress, programs that focus on ways to manage stress should begin in high school, if not before to prepare students for the inevitable stress they will later experience later. These programs might also include parents and other family members. Parents could be exposed to information and skill building techniques on how to improve family cohesion and reduce family conflict and how to help their child during this transitional period. Several family and parental programs exist for African American parents of younger children, e.g., Effective Black Parenting Program (Myers et al. 1992), Strengthening Families Program (Alvarado and Kumpfer 2000), Strong African American Families Program (Brody et al. 2006), but fewer are available for parents of older children. It is precisely the time of transition that youth may be most in need of family support and strong parenting.

Families and youth also need to be aware of the potential impact of high racial identity and the possibility of incurring more negative attention and evaluation from others in their environment. While racial and ethnic identity have generally been shown to correlate with favorable outcomes, some studies have shown that high ethnic identity is a risk factor for drug use and other unfavorable behaviors (Marsiglia et al. 2004; Zamboanga et al. 2006; Zamboanga et al. 2009). Similarly, Zamboanga et al. (2006) suggests that acculturative stress may be a factor in drug usage, and that minority youth may use drugs to cope with culture clashes with the majority. African American emerging adults may need to understand how to cope with acculturative and racial stress and how to best foster racial and ethnic pride in a manner that is not counterproductive to their well-being.

The results of this study suggest several avenues for future research. Future studies should focus on other types of family variables (e.g., family structure, parenting styles, racial socialization), and African American young adults experiences of stress and discrimination. This study used a measure of stress that assessed perception of the frequency of stress but other measures of stress such as stressful events might also be important to consider in future studies. Also, future studies could investigate whether the relationship between stress and family and cultural factors differ by gender, and other demographic factors such as age and socio-economic status.

The findings from this study should be considered in light of some limitations. Although we reported on whether the student lived with both parents, the composition of the student’s family was not examined. Yet family composition and living arrangements are likely to influence family cohesion, parenting monitoring, and stress. For example, family cohesion and stress might differ among students who live in households with a parent and a step-parent, a blended household, or a household with two biological parents (Amato 2005 and Hetherington et al. 1998). Another limitation was that the sample size was relatively small and students who attended school and lived in urban and rural communities in the southeastern part of the United States were recruited for this study. These students might face more racism and environmental stressors than those living in suburban communities and/or in other geographical areas of the United States (e.g., Northeast, West). Self-reported measures of stress, parental monitoring, family cohesion, and racial identity were used in this study. Social desirability could have influenced students’ responses. Finally, participants in our sample may differ from those in the general population because they volunteered to participate.

With these limitations noted, we believe this study furthers our understanding of family and cultural variables that influence stress among African American youth. Transitioning to adulthood can be stressful due to new and different responsibilities and roles. The African American family is still central in the lives of our participants at this developmental stage. While previous research has examined the impact of stress on African Americans’ experience, few studies have examined the role of family and cultural variables and how they contribute to stress. We believe this study’s findings are important because they indicate that family relationships are especially important during the critical period of emerging adulthood. Our data suggests that young African Americans may require strong parental support as they gain independence and develop their individual identities as adults.

Acknowledgments

The parent project upon which this paper is based was funded by the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation (VTSF) in a grant to the last author (Grant #8520370). The authors would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Aashir Nasim, Co-PI of this grant, Deborah Butler, Project Director of this grant. Appreciation is also extended to all of the participants in our study who allowed us the opportunity to learn from them.

Contributor Information

Kristina Hood, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284-2018, USA.

Joshua Brevard, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284-2018, USA.

Anh Bao Nguyen, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284-2018, USA.

Faye Belgrave, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284-2018, USA.

A. B. Nguyen, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA

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