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

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

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

Health and Social Service Needs of US-Citizen Children with Detained or Departed Immigrant Parents

The second report offers findings from fieldwork in five study sites in California, Florida, Illinois, South Carolina and Texas, examining the involvement of families with a deported parent with health and social service systems, as well as their needs and the barriers they face accessing such services. The researchers find that family economic hardship is highly prevalent following parental detention and deportation, while child welfare system involvement is rarer. Schools represent a promising avenue for interaction with these families and delivery of services, as school officials cannot inquire about immigration status and thus are perceived as safer intermediaries by unauthorized immigrant parents who may be skeptical of interaction with other government agencies. Other important sources of support include health providers, legal service providers and community- and faith-based organizations that immigrants trust

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 Physical and Psychological Well-Being of Immigrant Children

Poor childhood health contributes to lower socioeconomic status in adulthood. Subsequently, low socioeconomic status among parents contributes to poor childhood health outcomes in the next generation. This cycle can be particularly pernicious for vulnerable and low-income minority populations, including many children of immigrants. And because of the rapid growth in the numbers of immigrant children, this cycle also has implications for the nation as a whole. By promoting the physical well-being and emotional health of children of immigrants, health professionals and policy makers can ultimately improve the long-term economic prospects of the next generation

Supporting the Mental Health of Mothers Raising Children in Poverty: How Do We Target Them for Intervention Studies?

Poverty increases maternal stress by heightening exposure to negative life events, job loss, chronic strains, poor housing, dangerous neighborhoods, and conflict with partners, culminating in crippling depressive symptoms, the most prevalent mental health threat. Depressive symptoms interfere with the provision of the strong maternal support needed to counter the hardships of poverty, thus placing infants and toddlers at risk for delayed language, social, and emotional development. Initial clinical trials in high-risk mothers have shown promise, and successive tests of interventions will be strengthened if mothers who have mental health risks can be accurately targeted for inclusion. This article reports on a sequential, data-driven process by which high-risk mothers were targeted for intervention in two trials currently in progress to reduce depressive symptoms. An iterative process of using data to identify at-risk mothers and validate the presence of risk factors helped hone the recruitment and design of the intervention trials. This report also offers guidance for further study