Her presentation will outline recent findings from the Teen Life Online and in Schools Project, an NIH-funded, longitudinal study of online racial discrimination, adjustment and social skills among adolescents. More specifically, Dr. Tynes will provide an overview of the project and results from a series of studies. She will cover in greater detail new findings exploring the longitudinal contributions of adolescents’ general and race-related online experiences on empathic social skills of 337 African American adolescents in 6th through 12th grade. Results revealed that controlling for age, sex, and previous levels of empathy, frequent race-related Internet use was positively related to increases in empathic social skills one year later. These effects were qualified by a significant interaction which suggested that high amounts of online racial discrimination disrupted the positive impact of race-related Internet use on empathic social skills. Findings will be discussed within the context of developmental theories of race as well as research on what and how adolescents learn about race online. The design of digital tools that empower youth to critique and cope with race-related messages will also be noted.
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