Mexican-origin youths' language brokering for fathers and mothers: Daily experiences and youths' diurnal cortisol slopes.

This study examined the associations of language brokering stress intensity and exposure with Mexican-origin youths' cortisol responses when brokering for fathers and mothers, and the moderating role of youths' brokering efficacy in these relations. Participants were 289 adolescents (Mage  = 17.38, SD = .94, 52% girls) in immigrant families. When brokering for mothers, stress exposure was related to flatter (less healthy) same-day diurnal slopes in youth. When brokering for fathers, daily brokering efficacy buffered the detrimental link between stress intensity and youths' same-day cortisol slopes. When brokering for fathers/mothers, stress intensity and exposure were related to flatter (less healthy) next-day diurnal slopes. Although daily brokering stress can relate to youth physiologic functioning, feeling efficacious about brokering may buffer the negative ramifications of stress.

The Phenotypic, Psychological, and Social Interplays of Skin Color and Developmental Outcomes among Mexican-origin Adolescents: Dismantling Systems of Racism and Oppression during Adolescence: Dismantling Systems of Racism and Oppression during Adolescence.

Mexican-origin children from immigrant families are impacted by various systemic oppressions in life. The study seeks to examine how adolescents' developmental outcomes are associated with specific phenotypic, psychological, and social features of skin color, as manifested by skin tone, skin color satisfaction, and foreigner stress. By taking a holistic approach, we examine both positive and negative adjustment outcomes, including delinquency, resilience, and effortful control. Participants were 604 Mexican-origin adolescents aged between 11.08 and 15.29 (Mage = 12.91, SD = 0.92) with at least one immigrant parent. The findings highlight the harm of foreigner stress and the benefit of skin color satisfaction in Mexican-origin adolescents' development of delinquency, resilience, and effortful control, especially for those with a darker skin color.

Discrimination and Ethnic-Racial Identity: Understanding Direction of Effects Using Within- and Between-Person Analyses.

Ethnic-racial identity (ERI) development and ethnic-racial discrimination are two salient experiences among adolescents in the United States. Despite growing awareness of the costs and benefits of these experiences individually, we know little about how they may influence one another. The current study examined competing hypotheses relating discrimination and components of ERI (i.e., exploration, resolution, affirmation) among a sample of Mexican-origin adolescent mothers (N = 181; Mage at Wave 1 = 16.83, SD = 1.01) across six waves of data. Findings revealed that within-person changes in discrimination predicted subsequent ERI resolution and affirmation; however, ERI did not predict subsequent discrimination. Between-person effects of discrimination on affirmation were significant. Our findings underscore the importance of discrimination experiences in shaping Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' normative developmental competencies.

Parental socialization profiles in Mexican-origin families: Considering cultural socialization and general parenting practices.

OBJECTIVES: Recognizing that immigrant parents socialize their children in specific ways, the current study examines Mexican-origin families' parental socialization profiles using both parental cultural socialization and general parenting dimensions. We seek to understand how these dimensions interact to form culturally grounded parental socialization profiles in a sample of Mexican-origin parents and adolescents. METHOD: There were 604 adolescents, 595 mothers, and 293 fathers within Mexican-origin families self-reporting on 2 cultural socialization dimensions (respeto, independence) and 4 general parenting dimensions (warmth, hostility, monitoring, reasoning). Adolescent outcomes were assessed 1 year later. RESULTS: Latent profile analysis revealed eight parental socialization profiles representing distinct combinations of cultural socialization and parenting dimensions. Relative to other profiles, the Integrative-Authoritative profile (high on socialization toward respeto and independence; high on warmth, monitoring, and reasoning; and relatively low on hostility) was the most common parenting pattern and was also associated with more optimal adolescent outcomes. CONCLUSION: Examining cultural socialization alongside general parenting dimensions can better capture parental socialization strategies among Mexican-origin parents. The various parental socialization profiles that characterize Mexican-origin parents have important implications for adolescent outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Mexican-Origin Youth's Cultural Orientations and Values: Do Older Sisters and Brothers Matter?

Family is an important context for cultural development, but little is known about the contributions of siblings. This study investigated whether older siblings' cultural orientations and familism values predicted changes in younger siblings' cultural orientations and familism values across 2 years and tested sibling characteristics and younger siblings' modeling as moderators. Participants were 246 Mexican-origin younger (Mage  = 17.72; SD = 0.57) and older siblings (Mage  = 20.65; SD = 1.57) and their parents. Findings revealed that older siblings' Anglo orientations and familism values interacted with younger siblings' modeling: When younger siblings reported high modeling, older siblings' Anglo orientations and values predicted increases in younger siblings' Anglo orientations and values. Discussion highlights the importance of siblings in cultural socialization.

Familism values across the transition to adolescent motherhood: Links to family functioning and Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' adjustment.

Familism values are conceptualized as a key source of resilience for Latino adolescents' psychosocial adjustment. The current study addressed the developmental progression and correlates of familism within the context of the transition to adolescent motherhood. Participants were 191 Mexican-origin pregnant adolescents (15 to 18 years of age at first pregnancy; Mage = 16.76 years; SD = 0.98) who were having their first child. Adolescents completed interviews during their third trimester of pregnancy and annually for 5 years after (Waves 1 through 6). We examined changes in familism values across the transition to adolescent motherhood and the moderating role of age at pregnancy. Moderation analyses revealed differences in familism trajectories for younger versus older adolescents. We also examined whether familism values were related to family relationship dynamics (i.e., adolescents' relationships with their own mother figures) and adolescents' psychosocial adjustment, respectively, using multilevel models to test both between-person and within-person associations. Adolescents' stronger familism values were related to adolescent-mother figure warmth and conflict, coparenting communication, and three dimensions of social support from mother figures, but no associations emerged for coparental conflict, adolescents' depressive symptoms, or self-esteem. Discussion addresses these findings in the context of culturally grounded models of ethnic-racial minority youth development and psychopathology.

Neighborhood structural characteristics and Mexican-origin adolescents' development.

Ethnic-racial and socioeconomic residential segregation are endemic in the United States, representing societal-level sociocultural processes that likely shape development. Considered alongside communities' abilities to respond to external forces, like stratification, in ways that promote youth adaptive functioning and mitigate maladaptive functioning, it is likely that residence in segregated neighborhoods during adolescence has both costs and benefits. We examined the influences that early adolescents' neighborhood structural characteristics, including Latino concentration and concentrated poverty, had on a range of developmentally salient downstream outcomes (i.e., internalizing, externalizing, prosocial behaviors, and ethnic-racial identity resolution) via implications for intermediate aspects of adolescents' community participation and engagement (i.e., ethnic-racial identity exploration, ethnic-racial discrimination from peers, and school attachment). These mediational mechanisms were tested prospectively across three waves (Mage w1-w3 = 12.79, 15.83, 17.37 years, respectively) in a sample of 733 Mexican-origin adolescents (48.8% female). We found higher neighborhood Latino concentration during early adolescence predicted greater school attachment and ethnic-racial identity exploration and lower discrimination from peers in middle adolescence. These benefits, in turn, were associated with lower externalizing and internalizing and higher ethnic-racial identity resolution and prosocial behaviors in late adolescence. Findings are discussed relative to major guidelines for integrating culture into development and psychopathology.

Acute salivary cortisol response among Mexican American adolescents in immigrant families.

OBJECTIVES: Though previous research has indicated that language brokering can be stressful, the findings are mixed, pointing to potential moderators of the association. Guided by an ecological perspective, we examined the role of individual, family, and environmental factors in Mexican American adolescents' acute cortisol responses to language brokering. METHOD: The study consisted of 46 Mexican American adolescents recruited around a metropolitan city in Central Texas. Participants translated a difficult medical document from English to Spanish for their parents, followed by an arithmetic task (modeled after the Trier Social Stress Test [TSST]). Participants' perceptions (perceived efficacy and parental dependence), parental hostility, and discrimination experiences were assessed via self-report and were examined as moderators of adolescents' responses to the task. RESULTS: Results revealed differential responses to the task based on individual, family, and environmental factors. High efficacy and low dependence-parental hostility-discrimination related to stress responses characterized by low baselines, steeper reactivity, and faster recovery. Low efficacy and high dependence related to greater baseline stress and a slower recovery. High levels of parental hostility related to a slower recovery. High levels of discrimination related to greater baseline stress. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates that the modified TSST task can elicit an acute hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response, but the nature of this response is dependent upon participants' perceptions of language brokering (parental dependence and efficacy), parental hostility, and discrimination experiences. Adolescents' individual characteristics and contextual demands remain important considerations in understanding their acute stress responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Longitudinal Relations Among Parenting Styles, Prosocial Behaviors, and Academic Outcomes in U.S. Mexican Adolescents.

This article examined parenting styles and prosocial behaviors as longitudinal predictors of academic outcomes in U.S. Mexican youth. Adolescents (N = 462; Wave 1 Mage  = 10.4 years; 48.1% girls), parents, and teachers completed parenting, prosocial behavior, and academic outcome measures at 5th, 10th, and 12th grades. Authoritative parents were more likely to have youth who exhibited high levels of prosocial behaviors than those who were moderately demanding and less involved. Fathers and mothers who were less involved and mothers who were moderately demanding were less likely than authoritative parents to have youth who exhibited high levels of prosocial behaviors. Prosocial behaviors were positively associated with academic outcomes. Discussion focuses on parenting, prosocial behaviors, and academic attitudes in understanding youth academic performance.

Discrimination, daily stress, sleep, and Mexican-origin adolescents' internalizing symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Using diary and longitudinal data, the current study examined the relations between Mexican-origin youths' ethnic discrimination, daily sleep and stress processes, and internalizing symptoms. METHOD: Adolescents (N = 113; 49.6% female, Mage = 15.73 years) participated in an initial in-home interview and reported on ethnic discrimination and internalizing symptoms. They then completed a 3-day diary study and reported on their daily stress and sleep behaviors (i.e., sleep quality, sleep duration). Adolescents' internalizing symptoms were reassessed 2 years after the initial assessment. RESULTS: Discrimination related to greater daily stress and lower sleep quality. Daily stress was, in turn, marginally related to concurrent internalizing symptoms, but not longitudinal changes in symptoms. Sleep duration was unrelated to discrimination experiences and concurrent and long-term internalizing symptoms. CONCLUSION: Discrimination disrupts daily processes that include overall stress levels and sleep quality. Daily stress processes may help explain the link between discrimination and Mexican-origin adolescents' concurrent internalizing symptoms. Research examining daily processes provides insight into psychological and behavioral implications of discrimination experiences of adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record

Neighborhood and school ethnic structuring and cultural adaptations among Mexican-origin adolescents.

The ethnic and racial structuring of U.S. neighborhoods may have important implications for developmental competencies during adolescence, including the development of heritage and mainstream cultural orientations. In particular, living in highly concentrated Latino neighborhoods during early adolescence-which channels adolescents into related school environments-may promote retention of the ethnic or heritage culture, but it also may constrain adaptation to the mainstream U.S. culture. We tested these hypotheses longitudinally in a sample of 246 Mexican origin adolescents (50.8% girls) and their parents. Data were collected 4 times over 8 years, with adolescents averaging 12.5 (SD = .58) to 19.6 (SD = .66) years of age across the period of the study. Latino ethnic concentration in early adolescents' neighborhoods promoted the retention of Mexican cultural orientations; Latino ethnic concentration in middle schools undermined the development of mainstream U.S cultural orientations. Findings are discussed in terms of integrating cultural-developmental theory with mainstream neighborhood theory to improve understandings of neighborhood and school ethnic concentration effects on adolescent development. (PsycINFO Database Record

Mexican-origin youth's risk behavior from adolescence to young adulthood: The role of familism values.

Engagement in risk behavior has implications for individuals' academic achievement, health, and well-being, yet there is a paucity of developmental research on the role of culturally relevant strengths in individual and family differences in risk behavior involvement among ethnic minority youth. In this study, we used a longitudinal cohort-sequential design to chart intraindividual trajectories of risk behavior and test variation by gender and familism values in 492 youth from 12 to 22 years of age. Participants were older and younger siblings from 246 Mexican-origin families who reported on their risk behaviors in interviews spaced over 8 years. Multilevel cohort-sequential growth models revealed that youth reported an increase in risk behavior from 12 to 18 years of age, and then a decline to age 22. Male youth reported greater overall levels and a steeper increase in risk behavior from ages 12 to 18, compared to female youth. For familism values, on occasions when youth reported higher levels, they also reported lower levels of risk behavior (i.e., within-person effect). For sibling dyads characterized by higher average levels of familism values, youth reported lower average levels of risk behavior (i.e., between-family effect). Findings provide unique insights into risk behavior from adolescence to young adulthood among Mexican-origin youth. (PsycINFO Database Record

Perceived Discrimination and Mexican-Origin Young Adults' Sleep Duration and Variability: The Moderating Role of Cultural Orientations.

Perceived ethnic discrimination is central to the experiences of Latino young adults, yet we know little about the ways in which and the conditions under which ethnic discrimination relates to Latino young adults' sleep patterns. Using a sample of 246 Mexican-origin young adults (M age  = 21.11, SD = 1.54; 50 % female), the current study investigated the longitudinal links between perceived ethnic discrimination and both sleep duration and night-to-night variability in duration, while also examining the moderating roles of Anglo and Mexican orientations in the associations. The results revealed that perceived discrimination predicted greater sleep variability, and this link was not moderated by cultural orientations. The relation between perceived discrimination and hours of sleep, however, was moderated by Anglo and Mexican orientations. Individuals with high Anglo and Mexican orientations (bicultural) and those with only high Mexican orientations (enculturated), showed no association between discrimination and hours of sleep. Individuals with low Anglo and Mexican orientations (marginalized) displayed a positive association, whereas those with high Anglo and low Mexican orientations (acculturated) displayed a negative association. The results suggest that discrimination has long term effects on sleep variability of Mexican-origin young adults, regardless of cultural orientations; however, for sleep duration, bicultural and enculturated orientations are protective.

Familism Values, Family Time, and Mexican-Origin Young Adults' Depressive Symptoms.

Using longitudinal data across eight years, this study examined how parents' familism values in early adolescence predicted youths' depressive symptoms in young adulthood via youths' familism values and family time. We examined these processes among 246 Mexican-origin families using interview and phone-diary data. Findings revealed that fathers' familism values predicted male and female youths' familism values in middle adolescence. For female youth only, fathers' familism values also predicted youths' family time in late adolescence. The link between family time and young adults' depressive symptoms depended on parental acceptance and adolescent gender: Among female and male youth, family time predicted fewer depressive symptoms, but only when paternal acceptance was high. For female adolescents only, family time predicted fewer depressive symptoms when maternal acceptance was high but more depressive symptoms when maternal acceptance was low. Findings highlight family dynamics as the mechanisms through which familism values have implications for youths' adjustment.

The Sociocultural Context of Mexican-Origin Pregnant Adolescents' Attitudes Toward Teen Pregnancy and Links to Future Outcomes.

Given the negative developmental risks associated with adolescent motherhood, it is important to examine the sociocultural context of adolescent mothers' lives to identify those most at risk for poor outcomes. Our goals were to identify profiles of Mexican-origin pregnant adolescents' cultural orientations and their attitudes toward teen pregnancy, and to investigate how these profiles were linked to adolescents' pregnancy intentions, family resources, and short-term family, educational, and parenting outcomes. With a sample of 205 Mexican-origin adolescent mothers, we identified three profiles based on cultural orientations and attitudes toward teen pregnancy: Bicultural-Moderate Attitudes, Acculturated-Moderate Attitudes, and Enculturated-Low Attitudes. The results indicated that enculturated pregnant adolescents had the least favorable attitudes toward teen pregnancy, and the lowest levels of family income, pregnancy intentions, pregnancy support, and educational expectations compared to acculturated and bicultural pregnant adolescents; acculturated adolescents (with the highest family income and high levels of pregnancy support) had the highest levels of parenting efficacy 10 months postpartum. Our findings suggest that enculturated adolescent mothers (with less positive attitudes toward teen pregnancy) may benefit from educational support programs and enculturated and bicultural adolescent mothers (with moderately positive attitudes toward teen pregnancy) may benefit from programs to increase parenting efficacy. Such targeted interventions may, in turn, reduce the likelihood of adolescent mothers experiencing negative educational and parenting outcomes.

Incongruent Teen Pregnancy Attitudes, Coparenting Conflict, and Support Among Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers.

The current longitudinal study examined whether differences between Mexican-origin adolescent mothers and their mother figures (N = 204 dyads) in attitudes on the status attained through teen pregnancy were associated with conflict in their coparenting relationship and whether coparenting conflict was associated with adolescent mothers' perceptions of social support. Findings revealed that when adolescents held more positive attitudes than their mother figures about the status gained through teen pregnancy, they tended to report greater coparenting conflict with their mother figures. Furthermore, greater coparenting conflict was significantly associated with decreases in adolescents' perceptions of social support (i.e., emotional, instrumental, companion support) 1 year later. Findings underscore the importance of incongruent attitudes and the quality of coparenting relationships between adolescent mothers and their mother figures in relation to support processes. Findings are discussed with respect to understanding Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' social support in the context of family subsystem attitudes and interactions.

Trajectories of Ethnic-Racial Identity and Autonomy Among Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers in the United States.

This study examined trajectories of ethnic-racial identity (ERI) and autonomy development among Mexican-origin adolescent females in the United States (N = 181; M(age) at Wave 1 = 16.80 years, SD = 1.00) as they transitioned through the first 5 years of parenthood. Trajectories of ERI and autonomy also were examined in relation to psychosocial functioning. Unconditional latent growth models indicated significant growth in autonomy, ERI resolution, and ERI affirmation from middle to late adolescence. Conditional latent growth models indicated that autonomy and ERI exploration growth trajectories were positively associated with psychosocial adjustment. Although adolescent mothers are experiencing transitions that are not normative during adolescence, they also engage in normative developmental processes, and their engagement in such processes is linked with better adjustment.

An idiographic and nomothetic approach to the study of Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' socio-cultural stressors and adjustment.

The current study examined the longitudinal relations of socio-cultural stressors (i.e., acculturative stressors, enculturative stressors, ethnic discrimination) and Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' depressive symptoms and risk-taking behaviors. Utilizing an idiographic and nomothetic approach, we conducted lagged analyses to examine how individuals' fluctuations in stressors predicted subsequent adjustment. Further, we investigated potential threshold effects by examining if the impact of fluctuations in stressors differed at varying levels of stressors. Mexican-origin adolescent females (N = 184) participated in yearly in-home assessments across 5 years and reported on their experiences of acculturative and enculturative stressors, ethnic discrimination, depressive symptoms, and risk-taking behaviors. Findings revealed that within-person fluctuations in acculturative stressors and, to a lesser extent, perceived discrimination related to youths' depressive symptoms. For risk-taking behaviors, however, only within-person fluctuations in enculturative stressors emerged as significant. Further, a threshold effect emerged in the link between enculturative stressors and risk-taking behaviors, suggesting that fluctuations in enculturative stressors predicted changes in risk-taking behaviors at high levels of enculturative stressors but not low levels. Our findings highlight the differential relations between socio-cultural stressors and adolescent females' adjustment and suggest that prevention programs aimed at reducing depressive symptoms should attend to any degree of change in socio-cultural stressors, whereas programs focused on risk-taking behaviors should be especially attuned to levels of enculturative stress.

Mexican American adolescents' sleep patterns: contextual correlates and implications for health and adjustment in young adulthood.

Late adolescence is a period of substantial risk for unhealthy sleep patterns. This study investigated the contextual correlates and health and adjustment implications of sleep patterns among Mexican American youth (N = 246; 51% female). We focused on Mexican American youth because they represent a large and rapidly increasing subgroup of the US population that is at higher risk for health and adjustment problems; this higher risk may be explained, in part, by sleep patterns. Using data from seven phone diary interviews conducted when youth averaged 18 years of age, we assessed average nighttime sleep duration and night-to-night variability in sleep duration. Guided by socio-ecological models, we first examined how experiences in the family context (time spent and quality of relationships with parents, parents' familism values) and in extra-familial contexts (school, work, peers) were related to sleep duration and variability. The findings revealed that time spent in school, work, and with peers linked to less sleep. Further, conflict with mothers was related to greater sleep variability. Next, we tested the implications of sleep in late adolescence for health (perceived physical health, body mass index) and adjustment (depressive symptoms, risky behaviors) in young adulthood. These findings indicated that more sleep variability predicted relative decreases in health and increases in risky behaviors, and shorter sleep duration predicted relative decreases in poorer perceived health for males. The discussion highlights the significance of the transition to young adulthood as a target for sleep research and the importance of studying sleep within its socio-cultural context.

Acculturative and enculturative stress, depressive symptoms, and maternal warmth: examining within-person relations among Mexican-origin adolescent mothers.

Mexican-origin adolescent mothers face numerous social challenges during dual-cultural adaptation that are theorized to contribute to greater depressive symptoms. Alongside challenges, there are familial resources that may offer protection. As such, the current study examined the trajectories of depressive symptoms among 204 Mexican-origin adolescent mothers (M age = 16.80, SD = 1.00) across a 4-year period (third trimester of pregnancy, and 10, 24, and 36 months postpartum). Further, we examined the within-person relations of two unique sources of stress experienced during dual-cultural adaptation, acculturative and enculturative stress, and youths' depressive symptoms; we also tested whether adolescent mothers' perceptions of warmth from their own mothers emerged as protective. Adolescent mothers reported a decline in depressive symptoms after the transition to parenthood. Acculturative and enculturative stress emerged as significant positive within-person predictors of depressive symptoms. Maternal warmth emerged as a protective factor in the relation between enculturative stressors and depressive symptoms; however, for acculturative stressors, the protective effect of maternal warmth only emerged for US-born youth. Findings illustrate the multidimensionality of stress experienced during the cultural adaptation process and a potential mechanism for resilience among Mexican-origin adolescent mothers.