Faculty Highlight

Paving the Way for Black Families: Dr. Angel Dunbar

Dr. Dunbar is an Assistant Professor in the African American Studies Department. As a developmental scientist, her research focuses on understanding the unique developmental challenges that children of color encounter, encompassing the family processes and individual factors that influence positive adaptation in the face of these challenges.

This year, Dr. Dunbar served as the lead author for several papers, including one that explored the underlying mechanisms by which “racism degrades mental health.” The primary goal of the study was to see not only how mothers and children work through racism together after listening to a racist scenario, but determine what type of dynamic contributed to better self-identity, decreased depression and decreased problem behaviors. Results determined that girls responded better to mothers who were warm and offered positive physical responses such as touching, smiling, and hugging whereas boys responded better to parents who were much more “nononsense.” Both groups benefited from a mother who encouraged their child to problem solve, served as an advocate, and talked through the situation in detail. In another recently published study, Dr. Dunbar explored how parents can help their children regulate emotions. This is a particularly important issue for Black families and their kids – especially boys – whose emotions can often be misinterpreted as angry or violent, even when they are displaying a neutral expression. As a result, many Black parents prefer their child have lower than average behavior problems because their behaviors are so very often misperceived in negative ways.

2022 was a big year for Dr. Angel Dunbar. Between multiple studies published and

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What seems to help are parents who use a balance of supportive language while also teaching behavior-suppression to ensure their children are not overdoing their emotional responses to events. She and her colleagues are interested in the types of conversations parents have with their children, such as holding discussions about not expressing themselves to the same caliber as others around them and explaining topics like discrimination.

“So what we found is that when parents are having these conversations with their children... this type of socialization really does help decrease behavior problems over time. But at the very same time, it may increase depression and anxiety.”

Digging deeper, Dr. Dunbar and her colleagues also consider the role of physiology, exploring biomarkers for resiliency versus those with markers for sensitivity. For children with these sensitivity biomarkers, it is more likely that even when their parents are creating that balance of sensitivity and suppression, they are still at greater risk for depression and anxiety.

So where does this leave us? Dr. Dunbar has a clear goal when it comes to this research, asserting that as long as we have the data, we can use it to inform greater intervention for helping parents. She looks forward to contributing more research with a new grant from the NIH, which she plans to use by exploring how discipline in the classroom might impact suicidal thoughts and behaviors in young Black children.

However, her role in bettering the lives of Black children and families does not just stop at research. On a smaller scale, she seeks out communities where she can give talks to parents about new findings, using research to inform approaches to parenting. She currently serves on an auxiliary council for an all-boys school in D.C., where she looks forward to talking to parents about the research and what steps they can take to support their children.

“I love the stuff I do, I love working with Black families. They’re super resilient, super flexible in terms of what they have to do and most of the time, we have great outcomes. What we are trying to do in my lab and with my colleagues are how to observe…and use these data points to help those who are struggling.”