Abstract
Prior scholarship suggests that variation in neighborhood ethnic–racial compositions may be predictors of cultural developmental processes and experiences for adolescents of color. Specifically, neighborhood ethnic–racial concentration may support or inhibit ethnic–racial identity (ERI) development or content; it may amplify or mitigate exposure to discrimination stemming from racism. It is important to consider factors that may explain mixed findings given study, neighborhood, and adolescent characteristics may be sources of systematic heterogeneity. A systematic review was conducted to examine the effects of neighborhood ethnic–racial concentration on discrimination and ERI among Black, Asian American, and Latinx adolescents. The search initially retrieved 162 records; 13 met inclusion criteria and were coded for theoretical and design elements. A total 36 associations were identified (discrimination: k = 16; ERI: k = 20). For discrimination, a majority of the associations (56%) were in the promoting direction, such that higher neighborhood ethnic–racial concentrations of Blacks, Asian Americans, and Latinxs were associated with less discrimination for Black, Asian American, and Latinx adolescents, respectively. For ERI, 35% of the associations were promoting, such that higher neighborhood ethnic–racial concentrations of Blacks, Asian Americans, and Latinxs were associated with more positive ERI outcomes for the same groups. Almost all of the remaining findings for discrimination were null (38%) and all remaining findings for ERI (65%) were null. This systematic review documents how higher neighborhood ethnic–racial concentrations are potentially beneficial to within-group adolescents navigating the development of ERI and discrimination.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The term “Black” refers to individuals of African descent in the United States including the descendants of enslaved Africans, Caribbean Black immigrants and their descendants, and African immigrants and their descendants.
References
*References marked with an asterisk represents articles that are included in the review.
Adelman, R. M., & Gocker, J. C. (2007). Racial residential segregation in urban America. Sociology Compass, 1(1), 404–423. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00018.x.
*Basáñez, T., Unger, J. B., Soto, D., Crano, W., & Baezconde-Garbanati, L. (2013). Perceived discrimination as a risk factor for depressive symptoms and substance use among Hispanic adolescents in Los Angeles. Ethnicity & Health, 18(3), 244–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/13557858.2012.713093.
Benner, A. D., & Graham, S. (2013). The antecedents and consequences of racial/ethnic discrimination during adolescence: Does the source of discrimination matter? Developmental Psychology, 49(8), 1602–1613. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030557.
Benner, A. D., Wang, Y., Shen, Y., Boyle, A. E., Polk, R., & Cheng, Y.-P. (2018). Racial/ethnic discrimination and well-being during adolescence: A meta-analytic review. American Psychologist, 73(7), 855–883. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000204.
Browning, C. R., Soller, B., Gardner, M., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2013). “Feeling disorder” as a comparative and contingent process: Gender, neighborhood conditions, and adolescent mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 54(3), 296–314. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146513498510.
Budescu, D. V., & Budescu, M. (2012). How to measure diversity when you must. Psychological Methods, 17(2), 215–227. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027129.
Card, N. A. (2011). Applied meta-analysis for social science research: Methodology in the social sciences. New York: Gilford Publications.
Clark, R., Anderson, N. B., Clark, V. R., & Williams, D. R. (1999). Racism as a stressor for African Americans: A biopsychosocial model. American Psychologist, 54(10), 805–816. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.54.10.805.
Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20(1), 37–46.
Cokley, K. (2007). Critical issues in the measurement of ethnic and racial identity: A referendum on the state of the field. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54(3), 224–234. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.54.3.224.
Cross, W. E., & Cross, B. T. (2008). Theory, research, and models. In S. Quintana, M. Stephen, & C. McKown (Eds.), Handbook of race, racism, and the developing child (pp. 154–181). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Del Giudice, M., Ellis, B. J., & Shirtcliff, E. A. (2011). The adaptive calibration model of stress responsivity. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 35, 1562–1592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.11.007.
Delgado, M. Y., Updegraff, K. A., Roosa, M. W., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2011). Discrimination and Mexican-origin adolescents’ adjustment: The moderating roles of adolescents’, mothers’, and fathers’ cultural orientations and values. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40(2), 125–139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-009-9467-z.
*Derlan, C. L., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2015). Brief report: Contextual predictors of Black adolescents’ ethnic–racial identity affirmation-belonging and resistance to peer pressure. Journal of Adolescence, 41, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.02.002.
Erikson, E. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton.
García Coll, C., Lamberty, G., Jenkins, R., McAdoo, H. P., Crnic, K., Wasik, B. H., & García, H. V. (1996). An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Development, 67, 1891–1914. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131600.
García Coll, C., & Marks, A. K. (Eds.). (2009). Immigrant stories: Ethnicity and academics in middle childhood. New York: Oxford University Press.
Gil, A. G., & Vega, W. A. (1996). Two different worlds: Acculturation stress and adaptation among Cuban and Nicaraguan families. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 13(3), 435–456. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407596133008.
Greene, M. L., Way, N., & Pahl, K. (2006). Trajectories of perceived adult and peer discrimination among Black, Latino, and Asian American adolescents: Patterns and psychological correlates. Developmental Psychology, 42(2), 218–236. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.2.218.
Guyll, M., Matthews, K. A., & Bromberger, J. T. (2001). Discrimination and unfair treatment: Relationship to cardiovascular reactivity among Black and European American women. Health Psychology, 20(5), 315–325. https://doi.org/10.1037//0278-6133.20.5.315.
Hirschfeld, L. A. (2008). Children’s developing conceptions of race. In S. M. Quintana & C. McKown (Eds.), Handbook of race, racism, and the developing child (pp. 37–54). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Hochhausen, L., Perry, D. F., & Le, H.-N. (2010). Neighborhood context and acculturation among Central American immigrants. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 12(5), 806–809. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-008-9201-z.
Hughes, D., Del Toro, J., Harding, J. F., Way, N., & Rarick, J. R. D. (2016). Trajectories of discrimination across adolescence: Associations with academic, psychological, and behavioral outcomes. Child Development, 87(5), 1337–1351. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12591.
*Hurd, N. M., Sellers, R. M., Cogburn, C. D., Butler-Barnes, S. T., & Zimmerman, M. A. (2013). Racial identity and depressive symptoms among Black emerging adults: The moderating effects of neighborhood racial composition. Developmental Psychology, 49(5), 938–950. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028826.
Hwang, J., & Sampson, R. J. (2014). Divergent pathways of gentrification racial inequality and the social order of renewal in Chicago neighborhoods. American Sociological Review, 79, 726–751. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122414535774.
Johnston, R., Poulsen, M., & Forrest, J. (2007). The geography of ethnic residential segregation: A comparative study of five countries. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 97(4), 713–738. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.2007.00579.x.
*Juang, L. P., & Nguyen, H. H. (2010). Ethnic identity among Chinese-American youth: The role of family obligation and community factors on ethnic engagement, clarity, and pride. Identity, 10(1), 20–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/15283481003676218.
*Juang, L. P., & Alvarez, A. N. (2011). Family, school, and neighborhood: Links to Chinese American adolescent perceptions of racial/ethnic discrimination. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 2(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023107.
Kiang, L., Tseng, V., & Yip, T. (2016). Placing Asian American child development within historical context. Child Development, 87(4), 995–1013. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12578.
Knight, G. P., Basilio, C. D., Cham, H., Gonzales, N. A., Liu, Y., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2014). Trajectories of Mexican American and mainstream cultural values among Mexican American adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(12), 2012–2027. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-9983-8.
Lee, M.-J., & Liechty, J. M. (2015). Longitudinal associations between immigrant ethnic density, neighborhood processes, and Latino immigrant youth depression. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 17(4), 983–991. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0029-4.
Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126(2), 309–337. https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.126.2.309.
Leventhal, T., & Dupéré, V. (2019). Neighborhood effects on children’s development in experimental and nonexperimental research. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 1(1), 149–176. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-121318-085221.
Leventhal, T., Dupéré, V., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2009). Neighborhood influences on adolescent development. In R. M. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Leventhal, T., Dupéré, V., & Shuey, E. A. (2015). Children in neighborhoods. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science (pp. 1–41). Hoboken, NJ, USA: Wiley.
*Martin, M. J., McCarthy, B., Conger, R. D., Gibbons, F. X., Simons, R. L., Cutrona, C. E., & Brody, G. H. (2011). The enduring significance of racism: Discrimination and delinquency among Black American youth. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21(3), 662–676. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00699.x.
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & Prisma Group. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. PLoS Medicine, 6(7), e1000097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097.
Orwin, R. G., & Vevea, J. L. (2009). Evaluating coding decisions. In H. Cooper, L. V. Hedges, & J. C. Valentine (Eds.), The handbook of research synthesis and metaanalysis (2nd ed., pp. 177–203). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Oyserman, D., & Yoon, K.-I. (2009). Neighborhood effects on racial–ethnic identity: The undermining role of segregation. Race and Social Problems, 1(2), 67–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-009-9007-1.
*Riina, E. M., Martin, A., Gardner, M., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2013). Context matters: Links between neighborhood discrimination, neighborhood cohesion and Black adolescents’ adjustment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(1), 136–146. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9804-5.
Sampson, R. J., Raudenbush, S. W., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277, 918–924. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.277.5328.918.
Seaton, E. K., & Yip, T. (2009). School and neighborhood contexts, perceptions of racial discrimination, and psychological well-being among Black adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(2), 153–163. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-008-9356-x.
*Seaton, E. K., & Carter, R. (2018). Pubertal timing, racial identity, neighborhood, and school context among Black adolescent females. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 24(1), 40–50. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000162.
Seaton, E. K., Quintana, S., Verkuyten, M., & Gee, G. (2017). Peers, policies, and place: The relation between context and ethnic/racial identity. Child Development, 88, 683–692. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12787.
Seaton, E. K., Gee, G., Neblett, E., & Spanierman, L. (2018). New directions for racial discrimination research as inspired by the integrative model. American Psychologist, 73, 768–780. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000315.
Sellers, R. M., Smith, M. A., Shelton, J. N., Rowley, S. A. J., & Chavous, T. M. (1998). Multidimensional model of racial identity: A reconceptualization of African American racial identity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2(1), 18–39. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0201_2.
Sharkey, P. (2008). The intergenerational transmission of context. American Journal of Sociology, 113(4), 931–969. https://doi.org/10.1086/522804.
Spears Brown, C., & Bigler, R. S. (2005). Children’s perceptions of discrimination: A developmental model. Child Development, 76, 533–553. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2005.00862.x.
*Stevenson, H. C., & Arrington, E. G. (2009). Racial/ethnic socialization mediates perceived racism and the racial identity of Black adolescents. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 15(2), 125–136. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015500.
*Stock, M. L., Gibbons, F. X., Gerrard, M., Houlihan, A. E., Weng, C.-Y., Lorenz, F. O., & Simons, R. L. (2013). Racial identification, racial composition, and substance use vulnerability among Black adolescents and young adults. Health Psychology, 32(3), 237–247. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030149.
Swanson, D. P., Spencer, M. B., Harpalani, V., Dupree, D., Noll, E., Ginzburg, S., & Seaton, G. (2003). Psychosocial development in racially and ethnically diverse youth: Conceptual and methodological challenges in the 21st century. Development and Psychopathology, 15(03), 743–771. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579403000361.
Tseng, V., Kiang, L., Mistry, J., Mistry, R. S., Wang, Y., & Yoshikawa, H. (2016). Taking stock and moving forward: Research on Asian American child development. Child Development, 87(4), 989–994.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). 2010 Geographic Terms and Concepts. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/terms.html.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2011). Retrieved from https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch11GARM.pdf.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219.
Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Quintana, S. M., Lee, R. M., Cross, W. E., Rivas-Drake, D., Schwartz, S. J., et al. (2014). Ethnic and racial identity during adolescence and into young adulthood: An integrated conceptualization. Child Development, 85, 21–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12196.
*White, R. M. B., Zeiders, K. H., Knight, G. P., Roosa, M. W., & Tein, J.-Y. (2014). Mexican origin youths’ trajectories of perceived peer discrimination from middle childhood to adolescence: Variation by neighborhood ethnic concentration. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(10), 1700–1714. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0098-7.
*White, R. M. B., Knight, G. P., Jensen, M., & Gonzales, N. A. (2018a). Ethnic socialization in neighborhood contexts: Implications for ethnic attitude and identity development among Mexican-origin adolescents. Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12772.
White, R. M. B., Nair, R. L., & Bradley, R. H. (2018b). Theorizing the benefits and costs of adaptive cultures for development. American Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000237.
White, R. M. B., Pasco, M. C., Korous, K. M., & Causadias, J. M. (2020). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association of neighbourhood ethnic-racial concentrations and adolescent behaviour problems in the U.S. Journal of Adolescence, 78, 73–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.12.005.
White, R. M., Zeiders, K. H., & Safa, M. D. (2018c). Neighborhood structural characteristics and Mexican-origin adolescents’ development. Development and Psychopathology, 30(5), 1679–1698. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579418001177.
Wilson, W. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Witherspoon, D. P., Seaton, E. K., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2016). Neighborhood characteristics and expectations of racially discriminatory experiences among Black adolescents. Child Development, 87(5), 1367–1378. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12595.
Zeiders, K. H., Roosa, M. W., Knight, G. P., & Gonzales, N. A. (2013). Mexican American adolescents’ profiles of risk and mental health: A person-centered longitudinal approach. Journal of Adolescence, 36(3), 603–612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.03.014.
Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., & Collins, W. A. (2008). Autonomy development during adolescence. Blackwell Handbook of Adolescence, 8, 175. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470756607.ch9.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Drs. Kimberly Updegraff and Leah Doane for providing feedback on earlier drafts of the manuscript.
Funding
Funding was provided by The William Grant Foundation Scholars (182878, White, Principal Investigator) and Mentoring (186549, White, Principal Investigator) programs.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
MCP conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, coded articles, and drafted the manuscript; RMBW participated in conceiving the study, participated in its design and coordination, coded articles, and drafted the manuscript; EKS participated in drafting the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pasco, M.C., White, R.M.B. & Seaton, E.K. A Systematic Review of Neighborhood Ethnic–Racial Compositions on Cultural Developmental Processes and Experiences in Adolescence. Adolescent Res Rev 6, 229–246 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-021-00152-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-021-00152-7