Abstract
The chapter reviews ecological theoretical perspectives of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and Margaret Beale Spencer’s phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory. Similarities and differences for the theoretical models are presented. Finally, two empirical examples are used as illustrations with rural African American adolescents. The results of the two examples indicate that racial identity buffers the relation between cumulative stressful events and depressive symptoms and that physical activity serves as a buffer between race-related stressors and anxiety for rural adolescent girls. Implications for future work are presented.
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Cunningham, M., Francois, S. (2016). Theoretical Perspectives on African American Youth and Families in Rural Settings. In: Crockett, L., Carlo, G. (eds) Rural Ethnic Minority Youth and Families in the United States. Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20976-0_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20976-0_4
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