Processes underlying Mexican adolescents' sexual behaviors and intentions: Examining the roles of familial cultural values and parental monitoring.

OBJECTIVES: The study examined the associations between familial cultural values of familismo (familism) and respeto (respect), parental monitoring, and Mexican adolescents' sexual behaviors. METHOD: The sample consisted of 1,024 Mexican adolescents (12-18 years) from two urban schools in Puebla, Mexico. RESULTS: Findings indicated that respeto was associated with paternal and maternal monitoring, sexual responsibility, sexual intention, and sexual behavior. Further, through indirect effects, among males, respeto was associated with paternal monitoring, which was, in turn, associated with sexual intentions. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the relevance of caregivers and cultural values in Mexican adolescents' sexual health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The role of Latino masculine values in Mexican adolescent sexuality.

OBJECTIVES: This study broadens the field of quantitative research on culture-specific values and Mexican adolescent sexual behavior from an ecological perspective. We examined how general values such as machismo and caballerismo, and sexual values such as the importance of male virginity are associated with Mexican adolescent normative sexual behaviors and intentions. We also examined the role of gender, age, and school type in these associations. METHOD: We administered measures of caballerismo, machismo, importance of male virginity, sexual intentions, and sexual behaviors to a sample of 539 Mexican adolescents, aged 12 to 15. RESULTS: The results indicated that adolescents who endorsed the machismo value more had greater intentions to have sex, and were more likely to receive oral sex. Adolescents who endorsed less caballerismo had greater intentions to have sex when they were not sexually active. Additionally, adolescents who reported lower importance of male virginity had greater intentions to have sex and a higher likelihood of having vaginal sex. Gender, age, and school context moderated a few associations. For example, older adolescents (but not younger) who endorsed more caballerismo reported lower intentions to have sex. CONCLUSIONS: The current study expands the understanding of how general and sexual culture-specific values are associated with the sexual intentions and behaviors of Mexican adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Associations between Cultural Stressors, Cultural Values, and Latina/o College Students' Mental Health.

Latina/o college students experience cultural stressors that negatively impact their mental health, which places them at risk for academic problems. We explored whether cultural values buffer the negative effect of cultural stressors on mental health symptoms in a sample of 198 Latina/o college students (70 % female; 43 % first generation college students). Bivariate results revealed significant positive associations between cultural stressors (i.e., acculturative stress, discrimination) and mental health symptoms (i.e., anxiety, depressive, psychological stress), and negative associations between cultural values of familismo, respeto, and religiosity and mental health symptoms. Several cultural values moderated the influence of cultural stressors on mental health symptoms. The findings highlight the importance of helping Latina/o college students remain connected to their families and cultural values as a way of promoting their mental health.

A pilot study of what African American maternal caregivers and their adolescent daughters talk about when asked to discuss tobacco together.

Parents play a critical role in shaping their children's substance use behaviors, yet few studies have examined the messages that caregivers give their adolescents about tobacco. In this study, we identify tobacco-related messages discussed by African American maternal caregivers and their adolescent daughters. Twenty-five African American maternal caregivers and their adolescent daughters participated in a video-taped discussion about tobacco. Discussions were transcribed and coded thematically. Seven themes emerged, which were grouped into tobacco-messages and communication strategies. Messages included health risks, non-health-related reasons to stop smoking, reasons people smoke, and tobacco products and marijuana. Strategies caregivers used to communicate their tobacco-related messages included sharing personal or their families' experience with smoking, using humor, and role-playing. Finally, embedded within all of the themes, participants expressed their disapproval of tobacco use, whether it was directed at their own use, their adolescents' use, a family members' use, or peers' use. African American maternal caregivers and their daughters openly talk about a variety of tobacco-related topics, and caregivers are open to sharing their own and their families' experience with substance use. Findings also suggest that having caregivers and their adolescents participate in discussions tasks could be potentially beneficial in facilitating discussions and could identify areas in which caregivers could use help in discussing sensitive topics.