RES competency (confidence, skill, stress) moderated the relation between parental preparation for bias and adolescent mental health symptoms in Latinx families, with RES confidence negatively associated with psychopathology and RES stress amplifying the harmful link between preparation for bias messages and adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms.
Key Findings
Results
Parental racial-ethnic socialization (RES) confidence was negatively associated with parent-reported adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms of psychopathology.
RES confidence was negatively associated with internalizing symptoms (β = -.07, p < .05)
RES confidence was negatively associated with externalizing symptoms (β = -.10, p < .01)
Sample consisted of 210 Latinx parents (Mage = 42.63, SD = 8.68, 56% female) of adolescents ages 10 to 18
The majority of parents were born in the United States (71%) and spoke English at home (76%)
Results
RES general stress moderated the relationship between preparation for bias and both adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms.
RES general stress moderated the relation between preparation for bias and internalizing symptoms (β = .09, p < .01)
RES general stress moderated the relation between preparation for bias and externalizing symptoms (β = .08, p < .01)
The positive beta coefficients suggest that higher parental stress around RES conversations amplified the association between preparation for bias messages and adolescent mental health symptoms
Results
RES call to action stress moderated the relationship between preparation for bias and both adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms.
RES call to action stress moderated the relation between preparation for bias and internalizing symptoms (β = .11, p < .01)
RES call to action stress moderated the relation between preparation for bias and externalizing symptoms (β = .09, p < .01)
Call to action stress represents a specific dimension of RES competency stress distinct from general RES stress
Background
Parental preparation for bias messages, while theoretically protective, have been linked to mental health challenges in Latinx adolescents, and RES competency was proposed as a potential explanatory factor for this discrepancy.
The study examined whether RES competency dimensions—confidence, skill, and stress—moderated the relation between preparation for bias and adolescent mental health symptoms
Both internalizing and externalizing symptom outcomes were assessed via parent-reported measures
The study used online surveys administered to Latinx parents (N = 210)
Conclusions
The findings underscore the importance of supporting parents who experience high stress around having racial-ethnic socialization conversations and leveraging existing Latinx parenting strengths such as RES confidence.
RES confidence was identified as an existing strength in Latinx parenting that was associated with better adolescent mental health outcomes
Parents with high RES stress showed a pattern where preparation for bias messages were more strongly linked to adolescent psychopathology symptoms
The authors suggest interventions should target parental RES stress specifically to support Latinx adolescent mental health
What This Means
This research suggests that when Latinx parents talk to their children about racial discrimination and bias, the mental health outcomes for their adolescent children are not straightforward—they depend heavily on how confident or stressed the parents feel when having these conversations. In a study of 210 Latinx parents of adolescents aged 10 to 18, parents who felt more confident discussing race and ethnicity with their children had kids with fewer mental health symptoms (both internalizing problems like anxiety and depression, and externalizing problems like behavioral issues). However, parents who felt more stressed—either generally or specifically about motivating their children to respond to racism—showed a pattern where their bias-preparation conversations were associated with more symptoms in their children.
This research suggests that it is not simply whether parents talk to their kids about discrimination that matters, but rather how capable and comfortable the parents feel when doing so. When parents are stressed about these conversations, the messages they convey may inadvertently contribute to mental health challenges rather than protect against them. This helps explain a puzzling finding in prior research: that preparation-for-bias messages, which are intended to be protective, sometimes appear linked to worse outcomes in Latinx youth.
Practically, this research suggests that programs supporting Latinx families should not only encourage parents to prepare their children for potential discrimination, but should also help parents build confidence and reduce their own stress around these difficult conversations. Recognizing and building on existing strengths—such as the confidence many Latinx parents already have—may be a productive approach to promoting the mental health of Latinx adolescents.
Gomez Alvarado C, Kiang L, Anderson R, Stevenson H, Christophe N, Jones S, et al.. (2026). Preparation for bias, racial-ethnic socialization competency, and Latinx adolescent mental health.. Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.70256