Family racial socialization and ecological competence: Longitudinal assessments of African-American transracial adoptees

Ecological Competence was assessed longitudinally in 88 African-American transracial adoptees (TRAs). Relations were examined among measures of Family Racial Socialization, Africentric, and Eurocentric Reference Group Orientations, transracial adoption stressors, and their effects on psychological adjustment. Longitudinal path analyses assessed the relations among these constructs. Path analytic models indicated that in childhood (Time 1) Family Racial Socialization predicted neither Africentric Reference Group Orientation (ARGO) nor Eurocentric Reference Group Orientation (ERGO); by adolescence (Time 2), Family Racial Socialization predicted ARGO but not ERGO. Both ARGO and ERGO contributed significantly to adjustment. Change models indicated that adjustment declined significantly over the 10 years. There were multiple determinants of this decline. TRAs experienced difficulty becoming ecologically competent in both ARGO and ERGO. They displayed greater ERGO than ARGO. Discriminant function analyses based on the independent variables yielded hit rates of 71% at Time 1 and over 84% at Time 2 for classifying the TRAs as adjusted or maladjusted.