Current research related to the mental health of African Americans raises concerns about the psychological, social and educational adjustment of African American youth. The institutionalization of African American youth have doubled since 1966 and there has been a 38 percent increase in the rate of youths placed in correctional institutions. African American youth are over-represented in psychiatric diagnoses of conduct disorders, affective disorders, schizophrenia and personality disorders. In addition, African American youth comprise approximately 15 percent of the youth population but they account for almost half of the youth arrests for violent crimes, one fourth of the youth arrests for property crimes, and over half of the youth arrests for murder and aggravated assault. Previous research suggests that for African American children there is an incongruity between the skills they need to be competent in the home and neighborhood environments and those valued in outside settings. This incongruity puts African American children at risk for a range of psychological disorders. Differences between the socialization and communication styles of African Americans and European Americans are largely responsible for this incongruity. These differences can be seen very early in caregiver-infant communication styles. The three main goals of this project are to increase knowledge about the effects of culture on caregivers' speech to their infants, to examine the role of socioeconomic status on caregivers' infant-directed speech and to understand the role of the interaction context on infant-directed speech.
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