BLACK MOTHERS’ EXPERIENCES OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND CHILD TEMPERAMENT: THE MODERATING ROLE OF INSTRUMENTAL AND EMOTIONAL SOCIAL SUPPORT

The purpose of this study was to examine if instrumental and emotional social support moderated the relation between Black mother’s experiences of racial discrimination and child temperament at age 3. This secondary data analysis included sixty-nine Black mothers with children aged 3 from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. Mothers reported perceived racial discrimination using The Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS). Child temperament was measured using the three subscales—negative affect, surgency/extraversion, and effortful control—from The Rothbart Childhood Behavior Questionnaire Very Short Form (RCBQvSF) Ages 3-5 Years. Instrumental and emotional social support were measured using the PROMIS Instrumental Support 4a Scale and the PROMIS Emotional Support 4a Scale. Moderated multiple regression with multiple imputation to account
for missingness was used to examine the association between maternal racial discrimination and the three child temperament subscales moderated by instrumental and emotional social support. Findings showed no significant interactive effects between instrumental and emotional social support and discrimination on any of the three subscales of temperament. The present study highlights the value in conducting research on Black women, a historically understudied population.