Experiences with microaggressions and discrimination in racially diverse and homogeneously white contexts.

OBJECTIVES: The interaction between one's context and identity may be essential in understanding people's racial experiences. In this study, we examined 2 contexts (racially diverse vs. homogenously White) and measured the experiences of discrimination and microaggressions for monoracial people of color (POC), multiracial individuals, and White individuals. Additionally, we measured experience of microaggressions with a new scale that measured instances of multiracial-specific microaggressions, and the offensiveness of these microaggressions. METHOD AND RESULTS: Through a self-reported survey, monoracial POC, multiracial individuals, and White individuals across the United States reported their experiences with discrimination and microaggressions, and offensiveness of multiracial-specific microaggressions. Overall, monoracial POC and multiracial individuals reported experiencing less discrimination and microaggressions in diverse contexts versus homogenous contexts. White individuals reported the lowest amounts of discrimination and microaggressions, which did not differ across contexts. CONCLUSIONS: Living in a racially diverse context may have positive benefits for racial minorities, and White individuals do not necessarily experience greater instances of discrimination or microaggressions in diverse contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Brief Report: Reductions in Parenting Stress in the Context of PEERS-A Social Skills Intervention for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Social skills intervention is an evidence-based practice for enhancing communication and interpersonal skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participation in the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®), a manualized social skills intervention for adolescents with ASD, is associated with improved social skills and peer interactions, as well as decreased autism symptoms. Participation in PEERS® has also been linked to increased parent self-efficacy and decreased family chaos. The present study examined parenting stress in the context of PEERS®. Following participation in PEERS®, parents reported lower levels of parenting stress associated with adolescent mood and social isolation. These findings provide further evidence of the family-wide benefits of adolescent-focused social skills intervention.

Randomized Trial of the Parent And Caregiver Active Participation Toolkit for Child Mental Health Treatment.

The purpose of this pilot study was to examine preliminary feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a toolkit (Parent And Caregiver Active Participation Toolkit) to increase parent participation in community-based child mental health services. Study participants included 29 therapists (93% female; M age = 34.1 years; 38% Latino) and 20 parent/child dyads (children 80% female; M age = 8.6 years; parents 40% Latino) in 6 diverse community mental health clinics. Therapists were randomly assigned to standard care or the toolkit with standard care. Therapist and parent survey data and observational coding of treatment sessions were utilized. Mean comparisons and repeated measures analyses were used to test differences between study conditions over 4 months. Results supported preliminary feasibility and acceptability of the toolkit, with therapists assigned to the toolkit participating in ongoing training, adhering to toolkit use, and perceiving the toolkit as feasible and acceptable within their setting. Results preliminarily demonstrated improvement in therapists' job attitudes, as well as actual use of parent engagement strategies. Results also preliminarily demonstrated increases in parent participation in child therapy sessions and more regular attendance, as well as some indication of support for perceived treatment effectiveness. Overall, results suggest the feasibility, acceptability, and potential effectiveness of the toolkit to enhance therapist job attitudes; practices that support parent engagement, parent engagement itself, and consumer perspectives on treatment outcomes; and the potential promise of future research in the area of parent participation interventions in child mental health services.