Familias con Orgullo: Pilot Study of a Family Intervention for Latinx Sexual Minority Youth to Prevent Drug Use, Sexual Risk Behavior, and Depressive Symptoms.

Families are key in the healthy development of Latinx sexual minority youth (Latinx SMY), a group that experiences behavioral, mental, and sexual health disparities. Despite this, there are no family-based interventions for Latinx SMY and their families to prevent drug use, sexual risk behaviors, and depressive symptoms. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the preliminary impact (i.e., estimated effect sizes) of Familias con Orgullo (FcO) and examine its feasibility and acceptability among 30 Latinx SMY and their parents. Parents and adolescents were randomized to FcO or a control condition and assessed pre/post-intervention. Feasibility was measured based on session completion and effect sizes. Focus groups were conducted to evaluate intervention acceptability. Findings showed promising effects favoring FcO on parent-adolescent communication (d = 0.46) and parental involvement (d = 0.34). There were also promising effects favoring FcO on suicidal thoughts (OR = 0.75) and depression symptoms (OR = 0.69). Finally, 100% of the adolescents in FcO either continued to remain drug-free or transitioned from current use to no use (from baseline to post-intervention) compared to 74% in the control. Effect sizes for condomless sex, parental monitoring, and positive parenting were small. Session completion (above 80%) and focus group findings indicated strong feasibility and acceptability. FcO holds promise for reducing drug use and depressive symptoms and improving family functioning among Latinx SMY.

Showing Up: A Theoretical Model of Anti-Racist Identity and Action for Latinx Youth.

Historical and contemporary political events underscore that Latinx people do not necessarily view race and racism in the United States through a shared lens with other Latinx people and other communities of color. Thus, it is critical to understand how Latinx youth develop attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that challenge white supremacy-or anti-racist identities and behaviors-that actively disrupt racial oppression communities of color face as well as their own communities. In this paper, we review theoretical mechanisms by which Latinx youth may develop anti-racist identities and actions on behalf of their own ethnic/racial communities and other communities oppressed by white supremacy. We conclude by offering suggestions for how institutions may support Latinx youth's anti-racist identities and actions.

A Retrospective Analysis of Racial Discrimination Experiences for Latinx Adolescents and Young Adults.

Encounters with racial discrimination occur from various sources and contexts for Latinx youth. From a historical context, Latinx have long experienced anti-immigrant sentiment and have been treated as perpetual foreigners. This study centers the voices of U.S.-born Latinx youth and explores their experiences of discrimination in 83 in-depth interviews (15-25 years, x~age = 21.27, SD = 2.10; 58% Female). Through retrospective accounts, we identified four themes across narratives: assumed (illegal) immigrant, assumed unintelligent, assumed criminal, assumed inferior. Overt and subtle discrimination occurred across contexts and from multiple sources including peers, store employees, and strangers. The findings have implications for understanding Latinx youth make meaning of past experiences of discrimination and how those experiences are interpreted later in life.

From home to the streets: Can cultural socialization foster Latinx youths' social responsibility?

Grassroots movements such as Poder Quince exemplify how Latinx youth intertwine their cultural heritage and traditions with civic action to create positive change within their communities. Parents' cultural socialization messages have been shown to instill cultural pride and encourage prosocial behaviors (e.g., helping others, caring for younger siblings). However, there is a dearth of research on the sociopolitical discussions Latinx adolescents have with their parents and the mechanisms by which cultural socialization encourages prosocial civic development. Drawing on data from a sample of 269 self-identified Latinx youth from three Midwestern US schools, the present study explored the direct links between parental cultural socialization and adolescents' sense of social responsibility (i.e., concern for others and caring for community) as well as the potential indirect associations via sociopolitical and civic socialization at home. Our findings suggest direct associations between cultural socialization and caring for their communities. Additionally, we observed indirect associations between cultural socialization and youths' social responsibility via family civic socialization practices and engagement in sociopolitical discussions taking place in the home.

The arc of transformation in youth participatory action research: creative expression to creative resistance.

In this introduction to the special issue, Youth Participatory Action Research on Puerto Rican Students' Experiences with Hurricane Maria: Shifting from Resilience to Resistance, we outline the theoretical foundations of youth participatory action research (YPAR) and explicate the guiding principles that are seminal in the corpus of YPAR literature. We propose a synthesized model based on these guiding principles called the arc of transformation in YPAR. The model is used to examine points of convergence and divergence in how these principles are employed across YPAR methods and pedagogies. We close by discussing the rising emergence of arts-based YPAR methods and how they encourage young people to engage in artistic, creative, and innovative approaches to youth-driven inquiry alongside community members, educators, scholars and researchers.

Sexual orientation disclosure to classmates among Latinx sexual minority high school and college youth.

This study examined how minority stressors mediate the association between sexual orientation disclosure to classmates and well-being in a sample of 238 Latinx sexual minority youth (SMY; age range: 14-24 years). Results indicated that sexual orientation disclosure to classmates was associated with higher levels of sexual orientation-based victimization, which contributed to higher levels of internalized homonegativity, which ultimately contributed to higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem. Sexual orientation-based victimization and internalized homonegativity were positively associated with depressive symptoms and negatively associated with self-esteem but sexual orientation disclosure to classmates was only positively associated with depressive symptoms. Associations between sexual orientation-based victimization and internalized homonegativity were stronger among college Latinx SMY compared to SMY in high school.

What Drives You? Black and Latinx Youth's Critical Consciousness, Motivations, and Academic and Career Activities.

More research is needed that elucidates the mechanisms by which critical consciousness impacts marginalized youth's academic and career development. To address this gap, this short-term longitudinal study (i.e., two waves) examined motivations for post-high school plans (i.e., career/personal motivation; humanitarian motivation; encouragement received from important individuals; pressure from parents/family to succeed) as mediators in the relationship between dimension of critical consciousness and academic and career activities. The sample consisted of low-income, Black and Latinx youth (N = 191; Mage = 16, SD = 0.80; 59% female) living in Chicago. The results from structural equation path models show that youth's beliefs about their ability to engage politically (i.e., sociopolitical efficacy) predict motivations for post-secondary plans (e.g., encouragement; pressure from parents/family), which is subsequently related to engagement in academic and career activities, albeit in different directions. To continue fostering positive youth development, critical consciousness programming will need to integrate how youth understand their role in changing social inequality in relation to their perception of and interactions with parents and mentors.

The Development of Ethnic-Racial Identity Process and Its Relation to Civic Beliefs among Latinx and Black American Adolescents.

Despite associations between ethnic-racial identity processes (i.e., exploration and resolution) and positive psychosocial outcomes among adolescents, limited empirical research investigates longitudinal associations between these processes and civic beliefs. To address this gap in the literature, this research explored whether changes in ethnic-racial identity exploration and resolution predicted civic beliefs among adolescents. Participants included 400 Latinx (n = 121; 47.1% girls) and Black American (n = 279; 52.0% girls) adolescents in the 6th (n = 210), 7th (n = 113) and 8th Grades (n = 74). Neither initial levels nor changes in ethnic-racial identity exploration predicted civic beliefs across four time-points of the study, or across two years of middle school. Adolescents who demonstrated greater increases in ethnic-racial identity resolution across two years of middle school were likely to have greater civic beliefs by the end of the two years, as compared to adolescents who had smaller increases in resolution. These results suggest that adolescents who have an increasingly clear sense of their ethnic-racial selves may have greater access to cognitive and socioemotional resources that promote their development of beliefs on the need to advance the well-being of their communities.

Developmental antecedents of adolescent optimism in rural midwestern U.S. Latinx youth.

AIMS: Decades of scientific research have found optimism to have wide-ranging effects on individuals' health and well-being. Researchers have largely examined optimism in adults, but have begun addressing the benefits of optimism in adolescents. Challenges and stressors in adolescence can threaten youths' subjective well-being; therefore, identifying factors that contribute to the growth of optimism could have important health implications. However, researchers have more often examined the effect of optimism on youth outcomes rather than factors that might positively or negatively contribute to the development of optimism. METHODS: We assessed how salient developmental tasks (resilience, ethnic pride, and school attachment), family stress, and depressive problems individually contribute to Latinx youths' optimism at two time points (N = 123, 58.8% female, M age = 11.54 years). RESULTS: We found support for associations between both resilience and school attachment and optimism, but findings were weaker across time and with stressors included in the model. Depressive problems also appeared to weaken optimism across time. CONCLUSION: Given the established links between optimism and health, it will be important for researchers to continue to identify factors that contribute to the development of youth optimism, and assess whether they could be used in interventions to foster optimism.

Ecological systems in relation to Latinx youth in the juvenile justice system: A narrative literature review.

We conducted a narrative review of literature focused on Latinx youth in the Juvenile Justice System (JJS). The goal of this review was to identify the behavioral health needs and social and cultural factors that place Latinx youth at disproportionate risk for contact and entrenchment with the JJS. Ecodevelopmental Theory (ET) was used as the guiding framework for this review, and a total of 16 peer reviewed articles from Embase, PsychINFO, and Pubmed were collected, analyzed, and summarized. Consistent with ET, we organized themes from the literature into the following sections: (a) microsystem (i.e., family, psychiatric care, sexual health care, school); (b) mesosystem (i.e., family and social environment); (c) exosystem (i.e., family and neighborhood context, and bicultural stress); and (d) macrosystem (i.e., generational status, cultural stress, social class). Sociopolitical disparities, such as disproportionate sentencing by social class and trauma stemming from political violence, and intersections of cultural variables (e.g., generational status and acculturation) should be closely considered in any prevention and intervention efforts targeting Latinx youths. More research to understand and address the unique needs of this population is also needed.

Coping and Culture: The Protective Effects of Shift-&-Persist and Ethnic-Racial Identity on Depressive Symptoms in Latinx Youth.

Shift-&-persist is a coping strategy that has been shown to lead to positive health outcomes in low-SES youth but has not yet been examined with respect to psychological health. This study tests whether the shift-&-persist coping strategy works in tandem with ethnic-racial identity to protect against depressive symptoms in the face of two uncontrollable stressors: economic hardship and peer discrimination. In a sample of 175 Latinx youth (51.4% female; Mage = 12.9), shift-&-persist buffered the positive relation between economic hardship and depressive symptoms. In terms of peer discrimination, among youth who reported little use of shift and persist, discrimination was related to higher depressive symptoms, whereas youth who reported higher amounts of shift and persist (at and above the mean) were protected and did not evidence this association. However, among youth with high ethnic-racial identity, shift-&-persist failed to protect against the deleterious association between peer discrimination and depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that shift-&-persist is protective for Latinx youth, although the context in which it is protective changes based on the racialized/non-racialized nature of the stressor.

Acculturation Stress Magnifies Child Depression Effect of Stressful Life Events for Latinx Youth 3 Years Later.

Introduction: Experiences of stressful life events (SLEs) during childhood are associated with greater risk for youth psychopathology. Although SLEs are reported in greater frequency by Latinx families, Latinx populations remain largely absent in the SLE literature. Furthermore, Latinx populations face added stressors related to socio-political climate, acculturation, and racism and discrimination. The purpose of this study was to explore the intersection between parent-reported SLEs and acculturation (i.e., socio-political climate-related) stressors for Latinx youth. Greater frequency of caregiver reported SLEs were hypothesized to predict higher depressive symptoms in their children three years later, and acculturation stress was hypothesized to amplify these effects. Method: The community-recruited, low-income sample for this study consisted of 198 Latinx caregivers (98.5% mothers, 77.3% foreign-born) and their children (M age = 7.4, 47.5% female). Study hypotheses were tested using MPlus. Results: Consistent with prior literature, more SLEs reported at age 7 by parents were associated with more child-reported depressive symptoms at age 10 but only among boys. However, for both boys and girls, there was a significant interaction between acculturation stress and family SLEs. Specifically, as the amount of acculturation stress reported at age 7 increased, the negative impact of family SLEs on child-reported depressive symptoms at age 10 was magnified, regardless of gender. Conclusion: Adding to the literature on SLEs within Latinx families, these results indicate that acculturation and socio-political climate stressors need be considered in discussions of the effects of life stress on Latinx youth and their families.

School belonging mediates the longitudinal effects of racial/ethnic identity on academic achievement and emotional well-being among Black and Latinx adolescents.

Social Identity Theory proposes that a positive in-group social identification fosters students' academic motivation and psychological well-being. The present study, grounded in Social Identity Theory, investigated the roles of racial/ethnicity identity (REI) in the development of school adjustment among Black and Latinx youth as well as the psychological mechanisms underlying these longitudinal associations. We hypothesized that REI would positively predict the development of academic achievement and emotional symptoms. In addition, we hypothesized that the development of school belonging would mediate the predictive effects of REI on the growth of academic achievement and emotional symptoms. Participants were 475 (n = 182 Black, 48.9% female; 293 Latinx, 47.8% female) students in Grades 7-9. Students self-reported their REI, school belonging, and emotional symptoms. Academic achievement was assessed using standardized achievement test scores. The longitudinal mediation models indicated that REI indirectly predicted the development of academic achievement and emotional symptoms through students' sense of school belonging. Specifically, higher REI embedded achievement and lower REI awareness of racism predicted higher school belonging in Grade 7. Higher Grade 7 school belonging in turn predicted faster academic growth in Grade 7 to Grade 9 as well as lower emotional symptoms in Grade 7. In addition, the three dimensions of REI also directly predicted the growth of academic achievement and emotional symptoms in Grades 7-9. The mediated effects were smaller in size than the direct effects. These findings highlight the importance of fostering positive REI and a strong sense of school belonging in promoting school adjustment among racial/ethnic minoritized, academically at-risk youth.

Do Ethnic Identity, Familial, and Community Contexts Impact the Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Psychopathology Among Latinx Adolescents?

OBJECTIVE: Few studies have explored the interplay of how individual identity, parental, familial, and contextual factors impact associations between Latinx adolescent adversities and psychopathology. This study aimed to examine whether these factors mediate the relationship between adversities and psychopathology in Latinx youth. METHOD: Latinx youth (n = 2,411) data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study were used to examine path models with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as the predictor and either youth- or caregiver-rated internalizing/externalizing scores over 4 timepoints as the outcome (ages 9-13 years). Models examined 3 potential mediators: (1) ethnic identity, (2) familial context (comprising parental monitoring, family conflict, and caregiver acceptance), and (3) community cohesion. Models were conducted separately for internalizing and externalizing symptoms. RESULTS: Greater adversity was associated with greater youth- and caregiver-rated internalizing/externalizing psychopathology over time. Greater adversity was associated with lower family functioning and lower ethnic identity, and greater family functioning was associated with lower psychopathology. Family functioning mediated associations between adversity and psychopathology over time (youth-reported internalizing: 95% CI = 0.012-0.019; youth-reported externalizing: 95% CI = 0.020-0.028). In contrast, there was not strong evidence for ethnic identity and community cohesion mediating associations between adversities and psychopathology over time. CONCLUSION: Unlike previous studies, ethnic identity did not influence the relationship between ACEs and psychopathology over time. Additional research is needed to identify whether possible tensions rise as Latinx youth acculturate into US culture and achieve optimal levels of ethnic identity formation. Providers need to assess specific Latinx parental and familial contexts that may interfere with youth identity formation.

The Volunteer State: Latinx youth and the making of membership in Nashville, Tennessee.

Volunteering has long held a vaunted position in the United States, which has only increased in the wake of welfare reform and the retraction of the state from the provision of public goods. This article explores how immigrant-origin Latinx youth in Nashville, Tennessee, who are active community volunteers linked volunteering to moral personhood and their claims to national membership. This linkage is based on an internalized deficit perception of the Latinx immigrant person as an immoral national interloper and a stigmatization and racialization of economic need. However, youth also engaged in a reframing of the meanings of membership and volunteering rooted in their relational commitments to each other and their undocumented peers' blocked paths to citizenship. These socially reproductive and more transformative understandings of volunteering, and their links to self-as-citizen, reveal the contingent value of civic engagement for immigrant-origin Latinx youth. It also reveals their central roles in defining the parameters of membership in an era of increased nativist racism and decreased state social service provision in the United States.

Acculturation and daily cigarette use among Mexican-origin youth: The moderating role of executive functions.

INTRODUCTION: Acculturation and enculturation have been conceptualized, respectively, as risk and protective factors for cigarette use. Although acculturation/enculturation orientations are often studied as stable characteristics, they represent a dynamic process influenced by individuals' social environments and can fluctuate across time. Therefore, investigating how youth actively navigate their acculturation and enculturation beliefs and behaviors on a day-to-day basis can advance scientific understanding of factors related to cigarette use. Executive functions, including inhibitory control, shifting, and working memory, are robust predictors of smoking (e.g., cigarette use). However, we know little about the protective role of executive functions on the daily level associations between acculturation/enculturation and cigarette use among Mexican-origin youth. OBJECTIVES: In a low-income Mexican-origin youth sample (M = 16.94, SD = 1.01; 52 % female), this study examined within-person associations between daily acculturation/enculturation and daily cigarette use and the moderating role of individual-level executive functions. METHOD: We captured the daily fluctuations of acculturation/enculturation and smoking by utilizing data from a 4-day daily diary. The study assessed inhibitory control, shifting, and working memory using behavioral paradigms. RESULTS: A multilevel logistic moderation model revealed statistically significant interactions between acculturation (but not enculturation) and all executive function skills predicting cigarette use. Higher daily acculturation levels were related to greater odds of daily cigarette use only for youth with lower levels of executive function skills. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that interventions aimed at improving executive functions may protect Mexican-origin youth from the possible adverse effect of acculturation on cigarette use.

Psychological sense of community, community civic participation, and ethnic identity on social justice orientation and psychological empowerment between LGBQ and Non-LGBQ youth of color.

For lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) youth of color, the intersection of identifying as both LGBQ and a person of color results in not only managing racial stereotypes, but also heterosexism and genderism. Developing a critical understanding of oppressive social conditions and ways to engage in social action is a form of resistance for these youth. Research is needed among LGBQ youth of color that examines the range of predictors and outcomes related to civic engagement, development, and empowerment. Drawing on data derived from a sample of urban youth of color (N = 383; 53.1% Female; 75% Hispanic; Age range = 14 to 18 years; 15% identify as LGBQ), this study will: (1) examine the relationship between community-based perceptions (e.g., psychological sense of community), ethnic identity, behaviors (e.g., community civic participation) and awareness of social justice concerns with dimensions of psychological empowerment; and (2) assess differences that these relationships have between LGBQ and non-LGBQ youth of color. Findings indicate that main predictors have a positive impact on intrapersonal and cognitive dimensions of psychological empowerment through social justice orientation, with noted variations between LGBQ and non-LGBQ youth of color.

"Si Mis Papas Estuvieran Aquí": Unaccompanied Youth Workers' Emergent Frame of Reference and Health in the United States.

Relying on in-depth interviews and ethnographic data in Los Angeles, California, this study examines the health experiences of unaccompanied, undocumented Latin American-origin immigrant youth as they come of age as low-wage workers. Findings demonstrate that unaccompanied, undocumented youth undergo cumulative physical and mental health disadvantages in the United States's secondary labor market and during critical developmental life stages while lacking the parental monitoring and guidance to navigate them. Developing comparisons between their past and present living conditions and between themselves and other youth in Los Angeles-what I refer to as an emergent frame of reference-youth workers come to perceive family disruptions, and especially separation from their parents, as the most salient factor affecting their health. While some youth ultimately resign themselves to short-term attempts to assuage illness, injury, or distress through activities like substance abuse, others pursue community connections and support groups that can sustain them long term.

Examining Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Association of Victimization and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors with Alcohol Use Among Sexual Minority Youth.

Purpose: Integrating Minority Stress Theory and Bagge and Sher's Theoretical Framework of the Alcohol-Suicide Attempt Relation, this study aimed to test whether experiencing both minority stress and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) had a greater strength of association with Latinx and Black sexual minority youth (SMY)'s alcohol use compared with that of White SMY. Methods: Using data on 2341 non-Latinx Black, Latinx, and non-Latinx White SMY from the 2015 and 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys, we tested the prevalence of STBs, victimization, and alcohol use for Black and Latinx participants compared with White participants. Multivariate logistic regression analyses tested the main effects of STBs, victimization, and race/ethnicity on alcohol use. Finally, interaction terms assessed the interaction among STBs, victimization, and race/ethnicity on alcohol use. Results: The results supported our hypothesis, based on Minority Stress Theory, that experiencing victimization would be associated with greater alcohol use. Results also supported Bagge and Sher's theoretical framework showing that suicide plan and attempts were associated with greater alcohol use. When taking all of these stressors into account, results showed that Latinx SMY who experienced victimization had greater current prevalence of alcohol use than their White counterparts. However, Latinx SMY who were victimized and experienced suicidal ideation reported lower alcohol use than White SMY. Conclusion: These findings support the double jeopardy and resiliency hypotheses, which suggest that minority stressors have differing associations for each racial/ethnic SMY group's alcohol use. More research is needed that helps to disentangle the protective and risk factors for alcohol use among Black and Latinx SMY.

Critical Action Among Asian and Hispanic/Latinx Youth: Identifying a Multidimensional Measure and Exploring Within-Group Differences.

Critical action-behaviors aimed at dismantling systems of oppression-must be examined within youths' racialized experiences and should incorporate cultural and sociohistorical factors. We considered an expansive list of items capturing youth behaviors to create a novel four-factor (service, community change, expression, and care) measure of critical action for Asian and Hispanic/Latinx youth. Multiple distinct profiles of critical action were identified within both racial-ethnic groups, and associations between the profiles and sociodemographic and contextual support variables were explored. Gender differences in the type of critical action were found in both racial-ethnic groups, pointing to the potential influence of gender roles on critical action among these populations. Differences in critical action patterns were also found between those born in the U.S. versus those born outside the U.S.; access to critical action may differ within racial-ethnic groups depending on birthplace and associated nuances in familial and cultural contexts. This paper demonstrated a need for attending to variation between and within groups in the study of critical action in order to effectively support racialized youth's coping within and resistance against systems of oppression.