Family Matters: Promoting the Academic Adaptation of Latino Youth in New and Established Destination

As primary agents of socialization, families and schools can powerfully shape the academic adaptation of youth. Using data from the SIAA studies, we compare the family and school environments of Latino high school seniors living in a new destination, North Carolina, with those living in an established destination, Los Angeles. We then evaluate how family and school environments influence their educational aspirations, expectations, and performance. We find that parents’ achievement expectations promote Latino youths’ academic success while perceived future family obligations inhibit them. Additionally, we find that schools remain essential in promoting Latino immigrant youths’ achievement by providing a supportive and safe learning environment. Discrimination in schools and the broader community is associated with lower educational expectations and aspirations but not lower academic performance

O desempenho acadêmico dos jovens Proficiência Limitada em Inglês (LEP) de imigrantes novos e estabelecidos Unidos: Lições da Avaliação Nacional do Progresso Educacional (NAEP)

The dramatic growth and dispersal of immigrant families has changed the face of public education at a time when states are experiencing increased school accountability pressures under the No Child Left Behind Act and its recent successor, the Every Student Succeeds Act. Of particular concern is how these demographic shifts affect the academic well-being of Limited English Proficient (LEP) youth, the protected sub-group that most directly targets children from immigrant families. Using individual-level data from the National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP), we examine how eighth grade test scores of LEP youth differ across new and established immigrant destination states. Results show that achievement for LEP youth is higher in new than in established immigrant states, but that this advantage is not consistent across ethnic/racial groups. LEP youth in new immigrant states benefit from more favorable demographic characteristics and family and school resources, but these differences only explain a small portion of the achievement gap. El crecimiento y disperso dramático de familias inmigrantes han cambiado la educación pública en un tiempo cuando los estados están experimentando un aumento de presiones sobre la responsabilidad de la escuela bajo de la ley No Child Left Behind y su sucesor, la ley Every Student Succeeds. De importancia en particular es como estos cambios demográficos afectan el bienestar académico de jóvenes de Competencia Limitada de Ingles (LEP), el sub-grupo protegido que enfoca en los niños de familias inmigrantes. Por el uso de data del nivel individuo de la Evaluación Nacional del Progreso Educativo (NAEP), los autores examinan como los resultados de exámenes de jóvenes de LEP en el octavo grado y estos resultados varían entre las destinaciones nuevas y establecidos para inmigrantes. Los resultados muestran que rendimiento para jóvenes de LEP es más alto en estados nuevos para inmigrantes que los establecidos, pero que esta ventaja no está consistente en todos los grupos étnicos y raciales. Jóvenes de LEP en estados nuevos de inmigrantes benefician de características demográficas más favorables y recursos de la familia y escuela, pero estas diferencias solo explican un porcentaje pequeño de la brecha en rendimiento. O crescimento e expansão dramática de famílias de imigrantes mudaram a educação pública num momento em que os estados estão enfrentando um aumento das pressões sobre a responsabilidade escolar da lei No Child Left Behind e seu sucessor, a lei Every Student Succeeds. De importância em particular é como essas mudanças demográficas afetam o bem-estar acadêmico dos jovens de Proficiência Limitada em Inglês (LEP), o subgrupo protegido que se centre nas crianças de famílias de imigrantes. Usando dados do nível individual da Avaliação Nacional do Progresso Educacional (NAEP), os autores examinam os resultados dos testes de jovens de LEP na oitava série, e estes resultados variam entre os destinos novos e estabelecidos de imigrantes. Os resultados mostram que o desempenho para os jovens de LEP é maior nos novos estados que nos imigrantes estabelecidos, mas esta vantagem não é consistente em todos os grupos étnicos e raciais. Jovens imigrantes com LEP em novos estados beneficiam de características demográficas mais favoráveis e os recursos da família e da escola, mas essas diferenças explicam apenas uma pequena percentagem da diferença no desempenho

Foiled Aspirations: The Influence of Unauthorized Status on the Educational Expectations of Latino Immigrant Youth

Latino immigrant adolescents have the highest high school dropout rates of any race-ethnic or nativity group in the United States. One potential reason for high dropout rates among Latino immigrant youth is that many are unauthorized entrants. These unauthorized Latino immigrant youth have few opportunities to attend college, and, as they become aware of barriers to their educational progress and employment, they may lower their educational expectations. Using data from the Latino Adolescent Migration, Health, and Adaptation Project (N=275), we examine the association of unauthorized entry into the U.S. with the educational expectations of Latino immigrant youth. We find that adolescents entering the U.S. without authorization have lower educational expectations than those who enter with authorization. These differences in their expectations persist after controlling for differences in their pre-migration, migration, and post-migration experiences. Policies and programs that reduce barriers to higher education and labor market opportunities can potentially help to foster higher educational expectations among unauthorized immigrant youth and may promote their high school completion

Painful Passages: Traumatic Experiences and Post-Traumatic Stress among U.S. Immigrant Latino Adolescents and their Primary Caregivers

Using data from a stratified random sample of 281 foreign-born adolescents and their parents, this study provides data on migration-related trauma exposures and examines how the migration process influences the risk of experiencing trauma and developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We find that 29% of foreign-born adolescents and 34% of foreign-born parents experienced trauma during the migration process. Among those that experienced trauma, 9% of adolescents and 21% of their parents were at risk for PTSD. Pre-migration poverty combined with clandestine entry into the US increased the risk of trauma and the subsequent development of PTSD symptoms. Post-migration experiences of discrimination and neighborhood disorder further exacerbated this risk, while social support and familism mitigated it. Our results emphasize the importance of understanding how factors prior to, during, and after migration combine to influence the health of immigrants

Parental influences on adolescent physical activity: a longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: Physical inactivity is increasing among adolescents in the U.S., especially among girls. Despite growing evidence that parents are an important influence on adolescent health, few longitudinal studies have explored the causal relationship between parental influence and physical activity. This study examines how the relationships between parental influences and adolescent physical activity differ by gender and tests whether these relationships are mediated by adolescents' self-esteem and depression. METHODS: Data are from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The sample includes 13,246 youth, grades 7 to 12, interviewed in 1995 and again 1 year later. Logit models were used to evaluate parental influences on achieving five or more bouts of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week [MVPA] and whether the relationship between parental influence and MVPA was mediated by adolescents' level of self-esteem and depression. RESULTS: Family cohesion, parent-child communication and parental engagement positively predicted MVPA for both genders one year later (odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for females, 1.09 [1.05–1.12], 1.13 [1.07–1.19], 1.25 [1.17–1.33] and males, 1.08 [1.04–1.11], 1.14 [1.07–1.23], 1.23 [1.14–1.33], respectively); however, parental monitoring did not (odds ratio and confidence intervals for females and males, 1.02 [.97–1.07]). For both females and males, self-esteem mediated the relationship between parental influence and physical activity. Depressive symptoms were only a mediator among males. Females reported higher levels of parent-child communication and lower family cohesion compared with males. There were no gender differences in levels of parental monitoring and engagement. Females had significantly lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of depressive symptoms than males. CONCLUSION: Strategies to promote physical activity among adolescents should focus on increasing levels of family cohesion, parental engagement, parent-child communication and adolescent self-esteem

The color of health: Skin color, ethnoracial classification, and discrimination in the health of Latin Americans

Latin America is one of the most ethnoracially heterogeneous regions of the world. Despite this, health disparities research in Latin America tends to focus on gender, class and regional health differences while downplaying ethnoracial differences. Few scholars have conducted studies of ethnoracial identification and health disparities in Latin America. Research that examines multiple measures of ethnoracial identification is rarer still. Official data on race/ethnicity in Latin America are based on self-identification which can differ from interviewer-ascribed or phenotypic classification based on skin color. We use data from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru to examine associations of interviewer-ascribed skin color, interviewer-ascribed race/ethnicity, and self-reported race/ethnicity with self-rated health among Latin American adults (ages 18-65). We also examine associations of observer-ascribed skin color with three additional correlates of health – skin color discrimination, class discrimination, and socio-economic status. We find a significant gradient in self-rated health by skin color. Those with darker skin colors report poorer health. Darker skin color influences self-rated health primarily by increasing exposure to class discrimination and low socio-economic status

Depression and Anxiety Among First-Generation Immigrant Latino Youth: Key Correlates and Implications for Future Research

We examined how the migration and acculturation experiences of first-generation Latino youth contributed to their psychological well-being. Data came from the Latino Adolescent Migration, Health, and Adaptation (LAMHA) study, which surveyed 281 first-generation Latino immigrant youth, ages 12–19. Using logistic regression, we evaluated how migration stressors (i.e. traumatic events, choice of migration, discrimination, and documentation status) and migration supports (i.e. family and teacher support, acculturation, and personal-motivation) were associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety. We found that migration stressors increased the risk of both depressive symptoms and anxiety. Time in the US and support from family and teachers reduced the risk of depressive symptoms and anxiety. Compared to documented adolescents, undocumented adolescents were at greater risk of anxiety, and children in mixed-status families were at greater risk of anxiety and marginally greater risk of depressive symptoms

“It Turned My World Upside Down”: Latino Youths’ Perspectives on Immigration

Few studies have examined the migration and acculturation experiences of Latino youth in a newly emerging Latino community, communities that historically have had low numbers of Latino residents. This study uses in-depth interview data from the Latino Adolescent, Migration, Health, and Adaptation (LAMHA) project, a mixed-methods study, to document the experiences of Latino youth (ages 14–18) growing up in one emerging Latino community in the South – North Carolina. Using adolescent’s own words and descriptions, we show how migration can turn an adolescent’s world upside down, and we discover the adaptive strategies that Latino immigrant youth use to turn their world right-side up as they adapt to life in the U.S

The role of migration in the development of depressive symptoms among Latino immigrant parents in the USA

Nearly one out of every four children in the US is a child of immigrants. Yet few studies have assessed how factors at various stages of migration contribute to the development of health problems in immigrant populations. Most focus only on post-migration factors influencing health. Using data from the Latino Adolescent Migration, Health, and Adaptation Project, this study assessed the extent to which pre-migration (e.g., major life events, high poverty), migration (e.g., unsafe and stressful migration experiences), post-migration (e.g., discrimination, neighborhood factors, family reunification, linguistic isolation), and social support factors contributed to depressive symptoms among a sample of Latino immigrant parents with children ages 12-18. Results indicated that high poverty levels prior to migration, stressful experiences during migration, as well as racial problems in the neighborhood and racial/ethnic discrimination upon settlement in the US most strongly contribute to the development of depressive symptoms among Latino immigrant parents. Family reunification, social support, and familism reduce the likelihood of depressive symptoms

Losing jobs and lighting up: Employment experiences and smoking in the Great Recession

The Great Recession produced the highest rates of unemployment observed in decades, in part due to particularly high rates of people losing work involuntarily. The impact of these job losses on health is unknown, due to the length of time required for most disease development, concerns about reverse causation, and limited data that covers this time period. We examine associations between job loss, employment status and smoking, the leading preventable cause of death, among 13,571 individuals participating in the 2001-2011 waves of the U.S.-based Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Results indicate that recent involuntary job loss is associated with an average 1.1 percentage point increase in smoking probability. This risk is strongest when people have returned to work, and appears reversed when they leave the labor market altogether. Although some job loss is associated with changes in household income and psychological distress levels, we find no evidence that these changes explain smoking behavior modifications. Smoking prevention programs and policies targeted at displaced workers or the newly employed may alleviate some negative health effects produced by joblessness during the Great Recession