Parent Perceptions of Child Weight Status in Mexican-Origin Immigrant Families: An Investigation of Acculturation, Stress, and Coping Factors.

Parents often underestimate their child's weight status, particularly when the child is overweight or obese. This study examined acculturation, stress, coping, and involuntary responses to stress and their relation to estimation of child's weight status among Mexican-origin immigrant families. Eighty-six families provided data on child's height and weight, caregiver's perception of their child's weight status, and caregiver's responses to acculturation, stress, and coping scales. Parents underestimated their child's weight status, particularly when the child was overweight or obese. Although acculturation and stress were not associated with accuracy, parents' responses to stress were linked to parent perceptions. Parents who reported more frequent use of involuntary engagement (e.g., rumination, physiological arousal) were more accurate. Future research, as well as healthcare providers, should consider how parents manage and respond to stress in order to fully understand the factors that explain weight perceptions among Mexican-origin immigrant parents.

Dimensions of organized activity involvement among Latino youth: Impact on well-being.

Well-being, including self- and academic perceptions, is a key element of Latino adolescents' experiences. One factor that may be related to well-being among Latino adolescents is organized activity (OA) involvement. Drawing on a risk and resilience framework and utilizing principles of positive youth development, the current study aimed to examine this relation using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) with nested data from 660 Latino-identified youth in the National Education Longitudinal Study: 88 (NELS:88). Furthermore, home language, sex, and family SES were explored as possible moderators of relations between dimensions of OA and well-being. After accounting for prior levels of well-being, results suggest that OA participation, particularly OA intensity, is related to greater self-worth, locus of control, and educational expectations, and that the4se relations may be even stronger for youth from low-SES backgrounds. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.