The social spheres of multiracial teens: Parents, friends, and social media’s relation to multiracial adolescents’ ethnic-racial identities

The number of youth who identify as multiracial has surged in the past decade. However, this population has reportedly suffered high rates of maladaptive behaviors, highlighting the need for research on supports for multiracial youth, including healthy identity development. Using Jackson and Mumma’s (2023) model of multiracial identity, this study explored how positive social media use, friendship self-efficacy, and friendship aid related to multiracial adolescents’ ethnic-racial identity (ERI; exploration, resolution, affirmation) in 128 adolescents (56% female, U.S. sample, Mage = 14.3). Further, we explored if this relation was moderated by parent/child relationship quality. Direct effects evidenced friendship self-efficacy was positively related to all aspects of ERI, friend aid was only related to ERI resolution, parent/child relationship quality related positively to exploration, and positive social media use was negatively related to affirmation. Results showed the relation of friend aid, and positive social media use with ERI resolution was moderated by parent/child relationship quality. Results indicate the significance of parent-child relationships in ERI while also suggesting that friendships and social media may play important roles in understanding the diverse influences on multiracial teens’ identities.