Abstract
Latino youth have higher rates of educational and mental health difficulties compared to peers from other racial/ethnic groups. To understand the factors related to such maladjustment, a mediational model linking youth report of parent-youth acculturation gaps to prospective changes (from spring to fall semester) in youth report of academic performance, depressive symptoms and alcohol use via youth report of parent-youth conflict and family cohesion, was studied in a sample of 248 U.S.—and foreign—born Latino youth (Mage = 15.21 years; 50% female; 67% U.S.-born). Parent-youth acculturation gaps were associated with changes in youth academic performance across two semesters via their negative impact on family functioning. For U.S.-born youth, parent–youth acculturation gaps were also linked to changes in alcohol use via parent-adolescent conflict. Results provide some support for the acculturative gap hypotheses while unique findings across nativity groups suggest that such individual-level characteristics may serve as important sources of variation for Latino youth.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 105-120 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Journal of youth and adolescence |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2018 |
Keywords
- Acculturation
- Family cohesion
- Latinos
- Parent-adolescent conflict
- Psychosocial functioning
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Education
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)