SelfhelpMagazine

by Jelani Mandara, Ph.D. & Carolyn B. Murray, Ph.D.

Single Parenting and African-American Children
In a study examining how family characteristics affect African-American children, researchers found that African American adolescent boys with non-married parents are more at risk for developing low self-esteem compared with other African American youth.

This study illustrates the apparently valuable role of the African-American father in raising his children, particularly his boys.

Psychologists Jelani Mandara, Ph.D. & Carolyn B. Murray, Ph.D., of the University of California, Riverside, studied perceptions of self-esteem and family functioning from a sample of 116 15-year-old African-American girls and boys and their parents from various high schools in southern California. Fifty percent of the parents were married, 38 percent were divorced and 13 percent were never-married single mothers.

Results show that boys with married parents had higher overall self-esteem compared with boys with non-married parents, even when family income and family functioning were taken into consideration. Parental marital status had no affect on girls' self-esteem.

Effect of Single Parenting on Boy Self Esteem
They say the study shows that the role fathers play in socializing their children is very important and that public policy should be more focused on reversing the current trends of low marriage rates and high divorce rates. Free or subsidized family counseling before and during marriage and expanding visitation rights for noncustodial parents are among the public policy changes the authors suggest.

Results from the study also indicated that adolescents from families with higher incomes perceived themselves as more likable and lovable and as having higher self-control. Also, results suggest that the better the family functions, the higher the self-esteem of the adolescent.

The researchers say focusing directly on adolescent's self-esteem with productive extracurricular activities and increasing the quality of family functioning may buffer the effects of having single parents. They also say parents need to become more aware of the family factors that affect male and female children differently.

Reference:"Effects of Parental Marital Status, Income, and Family Functioning on African American Adolescent Self-Esteem," Jelani Mandara, Ph.D. & Carolyn B. Murray, Ph.D., Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 14, No. 3.

This information received from the American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC.