Young White American children show higher levels of implicit bias against other racial groups than peers of color. A potential driver of this racial bias gap may be racial inequalities in parents’ communication about ethnicity and race. Another likely driver may be stagnated racial identity development, characterized by lack of engagement in antiracist thought or action. Given these factors, an antiracism intervention targeting the family system is a promising lever to disrupt racial biases as they emerge in early childhood. In this study, Ferguson and colleagues will conduct a longitudinal assessment of an innovative dual-component intervention for mothers of White children ages 5-8: Courageous, Antiracist, and Reflective Parenting Efforts: Deepening Intentionality with Each Moment (CARPE DIEM). Building on a pilot study that yielded promising evidence of positive behavioral change in antiracist learning and parenting among White mothers over one year, the team will use an experimental design to test the relative effectiveness of mothers’ communication about race and mothers’ racial identify development independently and in combination on both mothers’ racial identity and socialization outcomes and on children’s racial bias. If the team finds that the intervention is effective, the study will have demonstrated parental socialization mechanisms as a novel lever to reduce racial bias among White children.
Does an online antiracist parenting intervention for White mothers decrease racial bias in young White children?
