African-American children, compared to European-
American children, report more positive attitudes
about school and homework, perceive themselves to
be more competent in reading and mathematics, hold
higher expectations about their future performance
in reading and mathematics courses, and are more
optimistic that they will attend college. These differ-
ential expectations are at odds with racial differences
in children’s actual performance on school achieve-
ment tests and national statistics on rates of high
school completion and college attendance, suggest-
ing perhaps that some African-American children do
not receive or have not incorporated feedback about
their performance in school. These findings also raise
questions about why young African-American chil-
dren’s greater fondness for school and higher educa-
tional expectations do not translate into higher levels
of academic performance and educational attain-
ment. Notwithstanding comparatively high educa-
tional expectations, as early as second grade, African-
American boys residing in inner city neighborhoods
have lower occupational aspirations and expectations
than middle class European-American boys, with the
gap between aspirations and expectations being larg-
er for the inner-city boys than the other boys. Both
groups of boys become more realistic about occupa-
tional aspirations and expectations the older they are.
For example, the percentage who aspire and expect
to be professional athletes decreases with age.
Evidence concerning race differences in rates of
depression is mixed, with some studies reporting
higher rates among African Americans, others report-
ing higher rates among European Americans, and
still others reporting no racial differences. African-
American adolescents, however, have long had sub-
stantially lower suicide rates than European-
American adolescents. It is thought that suicidal be-
havior is inhibited among African Americans by
extended social support networks that serve as buffers
against stressors and by cultural values that proscribe
suicide. The racial gap in the adolescent suicide rate
has narrowed in recent years, especially among males.
Scholars have speculated that the increases in suicide
among African-American adolescents are due to Afri-
can Americans’ rise to middle class status and its at-
tendant splintering of community and family support
networks, weakening of bonds to religion, and psy-
chological distress resulting from efforts to compete
in historically European-American-dominated social
circles. Others have suggested that with greater as-
similation and contact with European Americans,
African-American adolescents increasingly adopt or
model European-American adolescents’ strategies for
coping with depression and other forms of psycholog-
ical distress. None of these hypotheses has been ade-
quately tested.
African-American male adolescents are more
likely than their European-American counterparts to
be labeled conduct disordered or antisocial; to be dis-
ciplined, suspended, or expelled from junior high
and high school; and to be arrested and incarcerated.
Some of these differences appear to reflect racial bias
resulting in more harsh treatment of African-
American adolescents for comparable offenses. Gen-
erally, studies of self-reported delinquency find no
race differences. For several decades, however, the
rate of death from homicide has been higher for
African-American male adolescents than European-
American adolescents. In annual national surveys
conducted since the early 1980s, African-American
adolescents, compared to European-American and
Hispanic adolescents, consistently reported the low-
est level of marijuana use, the lowest prevalence of al-
cohol use and binge drinking, and the lowest level of
cigarette smoking. School-based surveys probably
underestimate drug use by African-American and
Hispanic youth because of higher dropout rates
among these two groups, compared to European-
American youth. Nevertheless, this does not fully ac-
count for the racial and ethnic disparities. There is
some support for the claim that African-American ad-
olescents are less likely to use drugs because they have
less exposure to peer and adult drug users and are
more religious.Sources of Strength and Buffers of Race-
Related StressorsReligion and Church Membership
Religion has been theorized to be an adaptive
coping mechanism that has enabled African Ameri-
cans to transcend the limitations and harshness of
their social realities and to give meaning and direc-
tion to their individual and collective existence. Dur-
ing the 1980s, nearly 70 percent of African Americans
reported themselves to be members of a church.
Churches provide informal support (e.g., friendship,
companionship, advice and comfort, help during ill-
ness, financial assistance), formal services (e.g., meals
on wheels, transportation, group outings and vaca-
tions, ministerial counseling), and moral guidance.
Religiosity and church membership enhance self-
esteem partly as a consequence of the perception that
one is held in high regard by other believers and by
an omnipotent divine other who makes his/her pres-
ence felt in one’s life. Religiosity also buffers the nega-
tive psychological effects of stress. Having a mother
who seeks spiritual support is one of several factors
that distinguishes African-American children who are
stress resilient from those who are stress impaired.16 AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN