Positive School Climate as a Moderator of Violence Exposure for Colombian Adolescents.

In Colombia, many adolescents have experienced violence related to the decades-long armed conflict in the country and have witnessed or been directly victimized by violence in their communities, often related to gang activity or drug trafficking. Exposure to violence, both political and community violence, has detrimental implications for adolescent development. This study used data from 1857 Colombian adolescents in an urban setting. We aim to understand the relations between exposure to violence and adolescent outcomes, both externalizing behaviors and developmental competence, and then to understand whether school climate (i.e., safety, connectedness, services) moderates these relations. Results demonstrate that armed conflict, community violence victimization, and witnessing community violence are positively associated with externalizing behaviors, but only armed conflict is negatively associated with developmental competence. School safety, connectedness, and services moderate the relation between community violence witnessing and externalizing behaviors. School services moderates the relation between community violence victimization and developmental competence. As students perceived more positive school climate, the effects of community violence exposure on outcomes were weakened. This study identifies potential levers for intervention regarding how schools can better support violence-affected youth through enhancements to school safety, connectedness, and services.

Effect of Middle School Interventions on Alcohol Misuse and Abuse in Mexican American High School Adolescents: Five-Year Follow-up of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Substance abuse preventive interventions frequently target middle school students and demonstrate efficacy to prevent early onset and use of alcohol and illicit drugs. However, evidence of sustained results to prevent later patterns of alcohol misuse and more serious alcohol abuse disorders has been lacking, particularly for US Latino populations. Objective: To test whether a universal middle school prevention program can reduce the frequency of alcohol misuse and rates of alcohol use disorder 5 years after implementation with a Mexican American sample. Design, Setting, and Participants: A previous randomized clinical trial was conducted with 516 Mexican American 7th graders and at least 1 parent who identified as having Mexican origin. Three annual cohorts of families were recruited from rosters of 4 middle schools and randomized to the 9-session Bridges/Puentes family-focused group intervention or a workshop control condition. Recruitment, screening, pretest, and randomization occurred in the same academic year for each cohort: 2003-2004, 2004-2005, and 2005-2006. Data acquisition for the follow-up assessments of late-adolescent alcohol misuse and abuse, which were not included in the initial randomized clinical trial, was conducted from September 2009 to September 2014; analysis was conducted between August 2016 and July 2017. In this assessment, 420 children (81.4%) of the sample were included, when the majority were in their final year of high school. Interventions: The 9-session Bridges/Puentes intervention integrated youth, parent, and family intervention sessions that were delivered in the spring semester at each school, with separate groups for English-dominant vs Spanish-dominant families. The control workshop was offered during the same semester at each school, also in English and Spanish. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes were diagnostic assessment of lifetime alcohol use disorder in the 12th grade, 5 years after the intervention, based on the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children and past-year frequency of alcohol use, binge drinking, and drunkenness based on the 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Results: Of the 420 participants, 215 (51.2%) were girls (mean [SD] age, 17.9 [0.62] years). The intervention reduced the likelihood of having an alcohol use disorder (ß = -.93; SE, 0.47; P = .047; odds ratio, 0.39). Intervention associations with past-year alcohol use frequency, binge drinking, and drunkenness were moderated by baseline substance use. The intervention reduced the frequency of alcohol use (ß = -.51; SE, 0.24; P = .04; Cohen d = 0.43) and drunkenness (ß = -.51; SE, 0.26; P = .049; Cohen d = 0.41) among youth who reported any previous substance use at baseline (T1 initiators) but not among those who had not initiated any substance use (T1 abstainers) at baseline. For past-year binge drinking, the intervention finding did not reach statistical significance among T1 initiators (ß = -.40; SE, 0.23; P = .09) or T1 abstainers (ß = .23; SE, 0.14; P = .11). Conclusions and Relevance: Study results support an association between a universal middle school intervention and alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorders among Mexican American high school students and implementation of universal middle school interventions to reach Latino communities.

Attendance Patterns and Links to Non-Response on Child Report of Internalizing among Mexican-Americans Randomized to a Universal Preventive Intervention.

We examined attendance trajectory profiles among 335 Mexican-American families participating in an 11-week universal intervention to explore if heterogeneity in attendance and thus dosage was associated with intervention response, defined as pre-to-2-year post (T2) reductions in child report of internalizing symptoms. We estimated trajectories accounting for the influence of baseline covariates, selected based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) and Latino family research, to understand covariate associations with trajectories. Results supported six attendance trajectory groups: non-attenders (NA), early dropouts-low internalizing (EDO-LI), early dropouts-high internalizing (EDO-HI), mid-program dropouts (MPDO), sustained attenders-low internalizing (SA-LI), and sustained attenders-high internalizing (SA-HI). All groups except EDO-HI showed significant pre-to-post change on child report of internalizing; however, trajectory groups reflecting more attendance did not have greater pre-to-post change. Nonetheless, child report of internalizing differentiated two subgroups of sustained attenders and two subgroups of early dropouts. These results suggest heterogeneity among families with similar patterns of attendance and highlight the importance of modeling this heterogeneity. Although life stress was a barrier to participation, there was minimal support for the HBM. Cultural influences, acculturation, and familism, played a more prominent role in distinguishing trajectories. As expected, the EDO-HI group was less acculturated than both sustained attender groups and reported weaker familism values than the SA-HI group. However, unexpectedly, the SA-LI group had lower familism than the EDO-LI group. The results suggest that the influence of culture on participation is nuanced and may depend on child symptomatology.

Family Influences on Mexican American Adolescents' Romantic Relationships: Moderation by Gender and Culture.

This study examined prospective associations between the family context and adolescents' romantic relationships as moderated by adolescents' gender and culture among Mexican American families (N = 189). Adolescents at Time 1 (early adolescence) were on average 12.29 years of age (SD = .50) and 54% female. Mothers and fathers reported on family structure and dynamics during early adolescence, and youth reported on their romantic relationship involvement and quality during middle and late adolescence. Results from path analyses indicated that family structure and dynamics (supportive parenting, consistent discipline, parent-adolescent, and interparental conflict) were associated with adolescents' romantic involvement and quality, with differences by adolescents' gender and culture. Findings highlight Mexican American family contexts that contribute uniquely to adolescents' romantic relationships.

Mexican-Origin Youth Participation in Extracurricular Activities: Predicting Trajectories of Involvement from 7th to 12th Grade.

The potential benefits of participation in extracurricular activities may be especially important for youth who are at risk for academic underachievement, such as low income Mexican-origin youth in the U.S. To advance understanding of factors that drive participation for this population, this study examined Mexican-origin youth's trajectories of participation in extracurricular activities across Grades 7-12 and tested theoretically-derived predictors of these trajectories. Participants were 178 adolescents (53.9 % Female, Mage = 12.28) and their mothers who separately completed in-home interviews. Youth reported the frequency of their participation across a range of extracurricular activities. Latent growth curve models of overall extracurricular activities participation, sports participation, and fine arts participation were individually estimated via structural equation modeling. The findings demonstrated developmental declines in overall participation and in sports participation. For fine arts, declines in participation in middle school were followed by subsequent increases during high school (a curvilinear pattern). Motivationally-salient predictors of participation trajectories included youth's traditional cultural values orientation (sports), the mothers' educational aspirations for the youth (sports, fine arts, overall activity), and youth gender (sports, fine arts). Overall, the results suggest variability in participation trajectories based on program type, and highlight the need for additional research to enhance our understanding of the impact of culturally-relevant predictors on participation over time.

The Role of Social and Personal Identities in Self-Esteem Among Ethnic Minority College Students.

This study examined the latent personal-social identity profiles that emerged from simultaneous consideration of ethnic, national (United States), and personal identities among ethnic minority college students (N = 3,009) as well as how personal and social identities are jointly associated with self-esteem. Results indicated that the structure of personal-social identity profiles significantly differed across ethnicity, but also indicated some commonalities. The study identified three profiles among Blacks, four among Asian Americans, and two among Latinos. Some personal-social identity profiles were common across multiple ethnic groups, but others were unique within one specific ethnic group. Overall, the profiles indicated important associations between ethnic identity, U.S. identity, and personal identity. These profiles were linked with self-esteem such that individuals who reported high levels of multiple social and personal identities had the highest self-esteem compared to other profiles.

Participation patterns among Mexican-American parents enrolled in a universal intervention and their association with child externalizing outcomes.

This study used growth mixture modeling to examine attendance trajectories among 292 Mexican-American primary female caregivers enrolled in a universal preventive intervention and the effects of health beliefs, participation intentions, cultural influences, and intervention group cohesion on trajectory group membership as well as trajectory group differences on a distal outcome, immediate posttest teacher report of child externalizing (T2). Results supported four trajectory groups-early terminators (ET), mid-program terminators (MPT), low-risk persistent attenders (LRPA), and high-risk persistent attenders (HRPA). Compared with LRPAs, caregivers classified as HRPAs had weaker familism values, less parenting efficacy, and higher externalizing children with lower GPAs. Caregivers in the two persistent attender groups reported strong group cohesion and providers rated these caregivers as having strong participation intentions. Children of caregivers in the LRPA group had the lowest T2 child externalizing. Children of caregivers in the MPT group had lower T2 externalizing than did those of the ET group, suggesting partial intervention dosage can benefit families. Despite high levels of attendance, children of caregivers in the HRPA had the highest T2 externalizing, suggesting this high-risk group needed either more intensive services or a longer period for parents to implement program skills to evidence change in child externalizing.

Parenting intervention effects on parental depressive symptoms: examining the role of parenting and child behavior.

Parental depression is a major risk factor in child development. Growing research suggests parenting programs can positively impact parental depressive symptoms, although the specific mechanisms that explain these effects are unknown. The current study examined parenting mediated effects of a parenting program on mothers' and fathers' depressive symptoms, as well as the role of child behavior in linking parenting to reductions in depressive symptoms. The study samples included 494 mothers and 288 fathers of Mexican origin adolescents who participated in a randomized trial of the Bridges to High School Program/Proyecto Puentes a la Secundaria, a universal prevention and promotion intervention that included parent training but did not directly target parental depressive symptoms. Parenting mediator models tested program effects on parental depressive symptoms through changes in harsh and supportive parenting. Results showed a significant indirect intervention effect on maternal depressive symptoms through changes in mothers' harsh parenting. Next, child behavior models revealed a partial mediation effect of harsh parenting and a full mediation effect of supportive parenting on maternal depressive symptoms through mothers' reports of child externalizing symptoms. Indirect effects of fathers' harsh and supportive parenting on paternal depressive symptoms were also found through fathers' reports of child behavior.

Long-term effects of a universal family intervention: mediation through parent-adolescent conflict.

This randomized trial of a family-focused preventive intervention for Mexican American middle schoolers examined internalizing, externalizing, and substance use outcomes in late adolescence, 5 years after completing the intervention. Parent-adolescent conflict was tested as a mediator of these effects. The role of parent and adolescent acculturation in these pathways was also examined. There were 494 seventh-grade adolescents and their primary female caregivers randomized to receive either a 9-week multicomponent intervention or a brief workshop control group. Assessments were conducted at pretest, 2-year follow-up (9th grade), and 5-year follow-up (when most participants were in the 12th grade). The Bridges program significantly reduced mother-adolescent conflict measured in the 9th grade, with conflict mediating program effects on internalizing and externalizing symptoms, adolescent substance use, and diagnosed internalizing disorder in late adolescence. Mother and child acculturation were both significantly predictive of late adolescence outcomes. Contrary to hypotheses, neither mother nor child acculturation emerged as a significant predictor of mother-adolescent conflict, and the interaction of mother and adolescent acculturation was similarly not related to mother-adolescent conflict. Intervention effects were largely consistent across different levels of acculturation. These findings provide support for the efficacy of family-focused intervention during early adolescence, both in reducing mental health problems and substance use in the long term and in impacting parent-adolescent conflict processes that appear to play an important role in the development of later adjustment problems.

School engagement mediates long-term prevention effects for Mexican American adolescents.

This 5-year follow-up of a randomized clinical trial evaluated the efficacy of a family-focused intervention delivered in middle school to increase school engagement following transition to high school (2 years post-test), and also evaluated mediated effects through school engagement on multiple problem outcomes in late adolescence (5 years post-test). The study sample included 516 Mexican American adolescents who participated in a randomized trial of the Bridges to High School Program (Bridges/Puentes). Path models representing the direct and indirect effects of the program on four outcome variables were evaluated using school engagement measured in the 9th grade as a mediator. The program significantly increased school engagement, with school engagement mediating intervention effects on internalizing symptoms, adolescent substance use, and school dropout in late adolescence when most adolescents were in the 12th grade. Effects on substance use were stronger for youth at higher risk based on pretest report of substance use initiation. There were no direct or indirect intervention effects on externalizing symptoms. Findings support that school engagement is an important prevention target for Mexican American adolescents.

Father enrollment and participation in a parenting intervention: personal and contextual predictors.

Fathers are an important, though often underrepresented, population in family interventions. Notably, the inclusion of ethnic minority fathers is particularly scarce. An understanding of factors that promote and hinder father participation may suggest strategies by which to increase fathers' presence in studies designed to engage the family unit. The current research examined Mexican origin (MO) fathers' involvement in a family-focused intervention study. Participants included 495 fathers from eligible two-parent MO families with an adolescent child. Individual, familial, and culturally relevant predictors based on father, mother, and/or child report data were collected through pretest interviews and included in two separate logistic regression analyses that predicted the following: (1) father enrollment in the study and (2) father participation in the intervention. Results indicated that higher levels of maternal education and lower levels of economic stress and interparental conflict were associated with increased father enrollment in the study. Rates of father participation in the intervention were higher among families characterized by lower levels of interparental conflict, economic stress, and Spanish language use. Results highlight the relevancy of the familial and environmental context to MO fathers' research participation decisions. These findings as well as their implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Perceived Discrimination, Coping Strategies, and Mexican Origin Adolescents' Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors: Examining the Moderating Role of Gender and Cultural Orientation.

The literature identifying effective coping strategies related to perceived discrimination has yielded mixed findings, suggesting that recommendations for effective coping may vary by individual and group differences. The current study examined the influence of perceived discrimination and coping strategies on Mexican origin adolescents' later internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors, and assessed the moderating roles of gender and cultural orientation. Participants included 189 adolescents (46% male, 54% female) interviewed at 7th and 8th grade. Results suggested that the associations between perceived discrimination and internalizing symptoms were buffered by distraction coping among youth that were low on Anglo orientation but not among youth high on Anglo orientation. In addition, the associations between perceived discrimination and externalizing behaviors were buffered by social support seeking, but only among youth that were low on Mexican orientation. Directions for future research and application of the current research are discussed.

Maternal Warmth Moderates the Link between Harsh Discipline and Later Externalizing Behaviors for Mexican American Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined maternal warmth as a moderator of the relation between harsh discipline practices and adolescent externalizing problems 1year later in low-income, Mexican American families. DESIGN: Participants were 189 adolescents and their mothers who comprised the control group of a longitudinal intervention program. RESULTS: Maternal warmth protected adolescents from the negative effects of harsh discipline such that, at higher levels of maternal warmth, there was no relation between harsh discipline and externalizing problems after controlling for baseline levels of externalizing problems and other covariates. At lower levels of maternal warmth, there was a positive relation between harsh discipline practices and later externalizing problems. CONCLUSIONS: To understand the role of harsh discipline in the development of Mexican American youth outcomes, researchers must consider contextual variables that may affect youths' perceptions of their parents' behavior such as maternal warmth.

Ethnic identity and gender as moderators of the association between discrimination and academic adjustment among Mexican-origin adolescents.

Existing work has identified perceived discrimination as a risk factor that may contribute to the relatively poorer academic outcomes exhibited by Mexican-origin adolescents in the U.S. The current study examined the longitudinal associations among perceived discrimination and three indices of adolescent adjustment in the school setting (i.e., grade point average, teacher reports of externalizing, adolescents' deviant peer associations) among 178 Mexican-origin adolescents (53% female). Ethnic identity affirmation was examined as a protective factor expected to reduce the negative effects of discrimination on adolescents' adjustment, and gender was examined as a potential moderator of the associations of interest. Findings indicated that the deleterious effects of discrimination on adolescents' adjustment in school were particularly salient for Mexican-origin male adolescents. Importantly, ethnic identity affirmation emerged as a protective factor for Mexican-origin male adolescents by buffering the negative effects of discrimination on their externalizing behaviors in school.

Randomized trial of a broad preventive intervention for Mexican American adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: This randomized trial of a family-focused preventive intervention for Mexican American (MA) adolescents evaluated intervention effects on adolescent substance use, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and school discipline and grade records in 8th grade, 1 year after completion of the intervention. The study also examined hypothesized mediators and moderators of intervention effects. METHOD: Stratified by language of program delivery (English vs. Spanish), the trial included a sample of 516 MA adolescents (50.8% female; M = 12.3 years, SD = 0.54) and at least one caregiver that were randomized to receive a low-dosage control group workshop or the 9-week group intervention that included parenting, adolescent coping, and conjoint family sessions. RESULTS: Positive program effects were found on all 5 outcomes at 1-year posttest but varied depending on whether adolescents, parents, or teachers reported on the outcome. Intervention effects were mediated by posttest changes in effective parenting, adolescent coping efficacy, adolescent school engagement, and family cohesion. The majority of intervention effects were moderated by language, with a larger number of significant effects for families who participated in Spanish. Intervention effects also were moderated by baseline levels of mediators and outcomes, with the majority showing stronger effects for families with poorer functioning at baseline. CONCLUSION: Findings not only support the efficacy of the intervention to decrease multiple problem outcomes for MA adolescents but also demonstrate differential effects for parents and adolescents receiving the intervention in Spanish vs. English, and depending on their baseline levels of functioning.

Family stress and coping for Mexican origin adolescents.

Family-related stressors pose special challenges for adolescents of Mexican origin, given traditional cultural norms that compel youths to get involved with family problems despite their limited ability to effect change. The current study examines the prospective effects of coping strategies (i.e., active, distraction, avoidance, support-seeking, and religious coping) on psychological symptoms in the context of family stress with a sample (N = 189) of Mexican Origin adolescents (11-14). Hypotheses on the limits of coping were partially supported. Stress-coping interaction effects were further moderated by gender. Stress-buffering effect of active coping for internalizing symptoms was only found for girls and only at low levels of family stress for boys. Support-seeking and distraction coping both increased internalizing symptoms for boys at high levels of family stress.

Parenting self-efficacy and parenting practices over time in Mexican American families.

Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study used a longitudinal cross-lagged panel design and a structural equation modeling approach to evaluate parenting self-efficacy's reciprocal and causal associations with parents' positive control practices over time to predict adolescents' conduct problems. Data were obtained from teachers, mothers, and adolescents in 189 Mexican American families living in the southwest United States. After accounting for contemporaneous reciprocal relationships between parenting self-efficacy (PSE) and positive control, results indicated that parenting self-efficacy predicted future positive control practices rather than the reverse. PSE also showed direct effects on decreased adolescent conduct problems. PSE functioned in an antecedent causal role in relation to parents' positive control practices and adolescents' conduct problems in this sample. These results support the cross-cultural applicability of social cognitive theory to parenting in Mexican American families. An implication is that parenting interventions aimed at preventing adolescent conduct problems need to focus on elevating the PSE of Mexican American parents with low levels of PSE. In addition, future research should seek to specify the most effective strategies for enhancing PSE.

Academic Success of Mexican Origin Adolescent Boys and Girls: The Role of Mothers' and Fathers' Parenting and Cultural Orientation.

To understand the role that Mexican origin parents play in their children's academic success, this study used structural equation modeling to evaluate the associations of parents' parenting practices (warmth, monitoring, harshness, and academic involvement) and cultural orientations (enculturation and acculturation) with their adolescents' grades, classroom behavior, and association with peers who get into trouble at school. Data were obtained from teachers, mothers, fathers, and male and female adolescents in 560 Mexican origin families living in the southwest U.S. Results indicated that mothers' and fathers' parenting practices and cultural orientations were linked to adolescents' academic outcomes. However, there were differences for boys and girls. Results are discussed in relation to parent and adolescent gender roles and implications for intervention.

Familism Values as a Protective Factor for Mexican-origin Adolescents Exposed to Deviant Peers.

This study examined interactive relations between adolescent, maternal and paternal familism values and deviant peer affiliations in predicting adolescent externalizing problems within low-income, Mexican-origin families (N = 598). Adolescent, maternal and paternal familism values interacted protectively with deviant peer affiliations to predict lower levels of externalizing problems according to two independent teacher reports. These relations were not found with parent reports of adolescent externalizing problems although these models showed a direct, protective effect of maternal familism values. Consistent with the view that traditional cultural values are protective for Latino adolescents, these results suggest that supporting familism values among Mexican-origin groups is a useful avenue for improving adolescent conduct problems, particularly in a school context.

Mexican American adolescents' cultural orientation, externalizing behavior and academic engagement: the role of traditional cultural values.

This study of 598 7th grade students of Mexican origin examined the role of traditional cultural values as a mediator of the effects of immigrant status, Mexican cultural orientation and Anglo cultural orientation on adolescent externalizing behavior and academic engagement. Immigrant status of adolescents and their maternal caregivers uniquely predicted increased Mexican cultural orientation and decreased Anglo cultural orientation, and both Mexican and Anglo cultural orientation related positively to adolescents' endorsement of traditional cultural values. Endorsement of traditional cultural values related, in turn, to decreased externalizing behaviors and increased academic engagement and these findings were replicated across adolescent and teacher report of these two outcomes. Tests of mediation provided further evidence to support these pathways. Findings support the central importance of traditional cultural values as a protective resource that explains why immigrant youth exhibit fewer externalizing problems and increased academic engagement when compared to their second and third generation peers.