Parenting African American 1 Running head: AFRICAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENT GIRLS Manuscript submitted: 6/14/99 African American Adolescent Girls in Impoverished Communities: Quality of Parenting and Adolescent Outcomes

We especially thank William Julius Wilson for his guidance and support in the launching of this study in addition to the insights of Jim Quane. Finally, we are deeply grateful to Rebekah Levine Coley and other project members, especially Mignon Moore, Emma Adam, and Ann Kuta, for their time and input into this research. Finally, we thank the families who participated in this study for allowing us into their lives and giving us their time and insights. Abstract The relationship between parenting style and adolescent functioning was examined in a sample of 302 African American adolescent girls and their mothers who live in impoverished neighborhoods. Although previous research has found that authoritative parenting, as compared to authoritarian, permissive, and disengaged parenting, is associated with positive adolescent outcomes in both White, middle-class and large multi-ethnic school-based samples, these parenting categories have not been fully explored within African American families living at or near the poverty line. Data were collected using in-home interviews and self-administered questionnaires of adolescent girls and their self-identified mothers or mother-figures. Parenting style was found to be significantly related to adolescent outcomes in multiple domains including externalizing and internalizing behaviors, academic achievement, work orientation, sexual experience and pregnancy history. Specifically, teens whose mothers were disengaged (low on both Parental Warmth and Supervision/Monitoring) were found to have the most negative outcomes. Furthermore, a significant difference was not found between authoritative and authoritarian parenting. African American adolescents living in inner-city, high-poverty neighborhoods in the United States are at risk for developmental difficulties including behavior problems, depression, early sexual activity, Of particular interest, considering recent policy debates, is the greater likelihood of teenage pregnancy, single parenthood, and dependence on government aid that urban African American adolescent girls face as they move into adulthood. African American adolescent girls growing up in impoverished communities must overcome multiple obstacles placed in the path of success: pervasive, intense, and chronic poverty at the neighborhood and family level; crime and violence; inadequate schooling; few recreational, cultural or growth-enhancing community institutions; and peers who are young mothers or are in gangs Yet, there is great heterogeneity and variability in developmental outcomes in high risk environments, and many young people manage to do well Specifically, they manage to stay in school, graduate, and avoid life-compromising experiences such as early child-bearing and involvement An important intervening or protective factor in the lives of African American or economically disadvantaged adolescent …