Latinx adolescents facing multiple stressors and the protective role of familismo.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we cumulatively examined how a number of cultural and general stressors as well as familismo differentially related to Latinx adolescents' psychological well-being as measured by depressive symptoms, anxiety, and future orientation. In addition, we examined whether familismo buffered Latinx adolescents from the negative psychological outcomes associated with both cultural and general stressors. METHOD: Two hundred and twenty-four low-income, Latinx 9th graders (Mage = 14.5) attending three high schools in the Northeastern United States were surveyed. RESULTS: Findings demonstrated that family-based cultural stressors were associated with increased depressive symptoms whereas familismo was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Language conflicts and racial discrimination were also positively associated with anxiety. However, when both cultural and general stressors were accounted for, only greater material need was associated with increased depressive symptoms and a less positive future orientation. Moreover, familismo protected adolescents from depressive symptoms linked to material hardship. CONCLUSIONS: Cultural stressors may be less distressing to Latinx adolescents than more general stressors, like financial hardship, and familismo helps buffer the stress of material hardship. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Coping with Discrimination from Peers and Adults: Implications for Adolescents' School Belonging.

School belonging is a key indicator of students' academic well-being that is threatened by adults' and peers' transgressions of discrimination. Moreover, the hierarchical power structure at school enables adults and peers to enact ethnic-racial discrimination differently, which is also more or less salient among Black, Asian American, and Latinx youth. Therefore, this study aimed to disentangle the links between adult and peer-perpetrated racial discrimination at school, five distinct coping strategies, and school belonging across ethnic-racial groups. Participants were 1686 students in grades 9-12. These results indicated that adolescents who reported peer discrimination also reported greater proactive and aggressive coping. Black youth who reported more adult discrimination also reported more proactive coping, whereas Asian and Latinx youth who reported more peer discrimination reported more proactive coping. Peer discrimination was indirectly associated with greater school belonging via proactive coping, whereas adult discrimination was directly and negatively related to belonging. These findings suggest that adolescents may be selecting to proactively cope when faced with the discrimination source they most often navigate.

Illuminating ethnic-racial socialization among undocumented Latinx parents and its implications for adolescent psychosocial functioning.

The purpose of this study is to examine how parents' documentation status informs their ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) practices and the subsequent implications for Latinx youths' psychological adjustment. The mixed-methods approach combined convergent and exploratory sequential designs to explore the breadth and depth of Latinx parents' messages to their children regarding race and ethnicity. Qualitative data were used to generate hypotheses that were tested quantitatively. Analysis of interviews revealed parents' concerns with obeying the law, avoiding interaction with others, teaching children how to deal with discrimination, the importance of transmitting their culture, and concerns for their children's ever-present fear and stress. Path analysis showed that undocumented parents utilized more cultural socialization and promotion of mistrust messages than their documented counterparts. More promotion of mistrust, in turn, was associated with higher levels of adolescent depressive symptoms. Given the current sociopolitical climate and ethnic-racial tensions in the United States, it is imperative to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the nuanced ERS practices Latinx families employ to both cope with and respond to this situation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).