Marlena Debreaux

Marlena Debreaux’s research agenda examines how structural racism influences the normative development and mental health of Black adolescents in the United States. Grounded in psychology, adolescent development, sociology, education, and Pan-African Studies, my work begins with an acknowledgment of how racialized social inequality shapes the multiple contexts in which Black adolescents develop.

Beyond examining these relationships broadly, my scholarship seeks to uncover within-group differences, investigating how factors such as nativity, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, and sexuality shape person-context interactions and, in turn, impact development and mental health. More recently, my research has expanded to consider how cultural ideologies designed to uphold social inequality are internalized by both racially minoritized and majority groups, with implications for mental health, sociopolitical behaviors, and attitudes.