Parental bonding and anxiety: Differences between African American and European American college students

Empirical evidence suggests that early home environments characterized by l ow care and high overprotection are positively associated with the adult ex pression of anxiety. While available evidence supports this position for Eu ropean Americans, there has been no examination of the relationship between perceived parental rearing practices and anxiety among African Americans d espite the theoretical assertion that African American parenting environmen ts may be characterized as somewhat more overprotective than European Ameri cans. This study investigated the relationship between maternal rearing pat terns and trait and state measures of anxiety and depression among a sample of 59 African American and 55 European American college students. Results indicated that built groups reported similar levels of anxiety, depression, perceived care, and perceived overprotection. European Americans exhibited the typical pattern of a negative relationship between anxiety, depression , and care and a positive relationship between anxiety and overprotection. African Americans evidenced a similar negative relationship between anxiety , depression, and care, but no relationship between anxiety, depression, an d overprotection. Furthermore, specific aspects of ethnic identity (i.e., e thnic achievement, ethnic behaviors) were found to be negatively associated with measures of trait anxiety among African Americans but not European Am ericans. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.