Effects of Country of Origin and Cognitive Development on Psychological Adjustment and Family Cohesion of Latino Youth Witnesses of Domestic Violence

Latino children living in the context of domestic violence (DV) often lack access to cultural-specific services. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among Latino children’s level of cognitive development (age), country of origin and psychological adjustment as well as styles of coping with domestic violence . Analysis of data collected from an interview conducted with Latino children at a local DV intervention program suggests that Latino children utilize a range of coping responses when confronted with violence in their homes. In a regression analysis using psychological adjustment as the dependent variable, developmental age was not related to adjustment in children. However, country of origin was a significant predictor of psychological adjustment. That is, immigrant children reported lower levels of psychological adjustment compared to children born in the U.S. This remained true while controlling for age, coping strategy, and family cohesion. The growing number of immigrant Latino children in the United States increases the need for culturally relevant research with racial and ethnic minority groups in regard to DV. These findings suggest immigrant Latino children have unique needs in the context of DV

Design for data quality in a multisite cross-sectional and panel study. Field Methods 22:250–69

Abstract: The authors address the issues faced while collecting survey data as part of a large multisite, multidisciplinary long-term project using interviewers rather than self-administered questionnaires in a country in which the researchers are not native. The issues pertain to the collection of high-quality data that accurately measure the variables of interest from which generalizations can be made. Three issues were prominent: potential cross-cultural variation in the validity of measures; how to manage multiple control sites and multiple study sites; and how to control for problems presented by series/panel data (i.e., the influence of prior interviews or subsequent intervening events on later interviews). The authors addressed these issues through five strategies at different points in the study. This discussion concerns the challenges and benefits of using these techniques to address the three main issues