Peer-based discrimination and adolescent emotional and sleep health: A daily examination of direct and buffering associations.

Using 10-day daily diary data collected in 2019 from 10th grade students in southern U.S. (N = 161, 57% Latina/x/o, 21% Biracial, 10% Asian, 9% White, 4% Black; 55% female, Mage = 15.51), this study examined various forms of peer-based discrimination in adolescents' everyday lives. Results showed that personally experienced discrimination, peer racial teasing, and vicarious discrimination were frequent and impactful events. Results also provided strong evidence for the protective role of psychological resilience and some evidence for the protective-reactive roles of peer support and school climate in moderating the link between peer-based discrimination and daily well-being. The findings highlight the necessity to eliminate peer-based discrimination and shed light on interventions to reduce the harmful effects of peer-based discrimination on adolescents' daily well-being.

"Some people will tell jokes to you; some people be racist:" A mixed-method examination of racist jokes and adolescents' well-being.

This study examined how adolescents make meaning of racist jokes and their impact on daily well-being using a sequential mixed-methods research design with interview (N = 20; 60% girls, 5% gender-nonconforming; 45% Asian American, 40% Latina/o/x, 10% Black, 5% biracial/multiethnic) and daily diary data (N = 168; 54% girls; 57% Latina/o/x, 21% biracial/multiethnic, 10% Asian American, 9% White, 4% Black). Qualitative results revealed that racist jokes were common, distinct from other overt forms of discrimination, and perceived as harmless when perpetrated by friends. Quantitatively, approximately half of adolescents reported hearing at least one racist joke during the study period, and racist jokes by friends were associated with higher daily angry, anxious, and depressed moods and stress. Racist jokes by known others and strangers were also significantly associated with poorer well-being, although less consistently. Findings highlight the hidden harmful effects of racist jokes on adolescents' daily mood and stress.

Language brokering profiles of Mexican-origin adolescents in immigrant communities: Social-cultural contributors and developmental outcomes.

This study examines social-cultural contributors and developmental outcomes of language brokers. From 2012 to 2020, three waves of data were collected from 604 Mexican-origin adolescent language brokers (Mage = 12.92, SD = 0.92, 54% girls). The study (1) identified four distinct subgroups of language brokers (efficacious, conservative, nonchalant, and burdened) who translated for mothers and fathers, after incorporating objective bilingual proficiency along with multiple dimensions of language brokering; (2) showed that early adolescents' Mexican, rather than U.S., cultural values and orientation were related to later language brokering profiles; and (3) showed that the efficacious group was the most resilient while burdened was the most vulnerable to developmental problems. Preservation of Mexican culture may facilitate language brokering experiences related to more positive developmental outcomes.

Associations of Household and Neighborhood Contexts and Hair Cortisol Among Mexican-Origin Adolescents From Low-Income Immigrant Families.

Although neighborhood contexts serve as upstream determinants of health, it remains unclear how these contexts "get under the skin" of Mexican-origin youth, who are disproportionately concentrated in highly disadvantaged yet co-ethnic neighborhoods. The current study examines the associations between household and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES), neighborhood racial-ethnic and immigrant composition, and hair cortisol concentration (HCC)-a physiological index of chronic stress response-among Mexican-origin adolescents from low-income immigrant families in the United States. A total of 297 (54.20% female; mage = 17.61, SD = 0.93) Mexican-origin adolescents had their hair cortisol collected, and their residential addresses were geocoded and merged with the American Community Survey. Neighborhoods with higher Hispanic-origin and foreign-born residents were associated with higher neighborhood disadvantage, whereas neighborhoods with higher non-Hispanic White and domestic-born residents were associated with higher neighborhood affluence. Mexican-origin adolescents living in neighborhoods with a higher proportion of Hispanic-origin residents showed lower levels of HCC, consistent with the role of the ethnic enclave. In contrast, adolescents living in more affluent neighborhoods showed higher levels of HCC, possibly reflecting a physiological toll. No association was found between household SES and HCC. Our findings underscore the importance of taking sociocultural contexts and person-environment fit into consideration when understanding how neighborhoods influence adolescents' stress physiology.

The Potential for Using a Shortened Version of the Everyday Discrimination Scale in Population Research with Young Adults: A Construct Validation Investigation.

Discrimination is associated with numerous psychological health outcomes over the life course. The nine-item Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) is one of the most widely used measures of discrimination; however, this nine-item measure may not be feasible in large-scale population health surveys where a shortened discrimination measure would be advantageous. The current study examined the construct validity of a combined two-item discrimination measure adapted from the EDS by Add Health (N = 14,839) as compared to the full nine-item EDS and a two-item EDS scale (parallel to the adapted combined measure) used in the National Survey of American Life (NSAL; N = 1,111) and National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) studies (N = 1,055). Results identified convergence among the EDS scales, with high item-total correlations, convergent validity, and criterion validity for psychological outcomes, thus providing evidence for the construct validity of the two-item combined scale. Taken together, the findings provide support for using this reduced scale in studies where the full EDS scale is not available.

Sociocultural Antecedents and Mechanisms of COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among Mexican-Origin Youth.

Mexican-origin youth, as a large and growing population among U.S. youth, have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Understanding what, when, and how sociocultural factors may influence their COVID-19 vaccine uptake could inform current and future pandemic-response interventions promoting vaccination behaviors among Mexican-origin youth. The current study takes a developmental approach to reveal the long-term and short-term sociocultural antecedents of 198 Mexican-origin adolescents' COVID-19 vaccination uptake behaviors and explores the underlying mechanism of these associations based on the Knowledge-Attitude-Behavior model. The current study adopted Wave 1 (2012-2015) and Wave 4 (2021-2022) self-reported data from a larger study. Analyses were conducted to examine four mediation models for four sociocultural antecedents-daily discrimination, ethnic discrimination, foreigner stress, and family economic stress-separately. Consistent indirect effects of higher levels of concurrent sociocultural risk factors on a lower probability of COVID-19 vaccine uptake were observed to occur through less knowledge about the COVID-19 vaccines and less positive attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccines at Wave 4. Significant direct effects, but in opposite directions, were found for the associations between Wave 1 ethnic discrimination/Wave 4 daily discrimination and the probability of COVID-19 vaccine uptake. The findings highlight the importance of considering prior and concurrent sociocultural antecedents and the Knowledge-Attitude-Behavior pathway leading to COVID-19 vaccination uptake among Mexican-origin youth and suggest that the impact of discrimination on COVID-19 vaccination uptake may depend on the type (e.g., daily or ethnic) and the context (e.g., during the COVID-19 pandemic or not) of discrimination experienced.

Short-term cortisol adaption to discrimination and Mexican-origin adolescents' mental and sleep health.

Discrimination experiences are a salient contributor to the health disparities facing Latina/x/o youth. The biopsychosocial model of minority health posits that discrimination influences health through wear and tear on the biological stress responses, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is a primary stress response system in the body. Emerging evidence suggests that discrimination alters the secretion of cortisol, the end product of the HPA axis, yet, whether the daily processes between discrimination and diurnal cortisol response influence mental and sleep health remains unanswered. This study integrated daily diary and post-diary survey data to examine whether daily diurnal cortisol responses to discrimination influence adolescents' mental (depressive symptoms, anxiety) and sleep (sleep quality, duration) health in a sample of Mexican-origin youth (N = 282; M age = 17.10; 55% female). Results showed that adolescents who experienced more discrimination across the four-day diary period exhibited steeper diurnal cortisol slopes and lower evening cortisol; however, such physiological responses tended to be associated with poorer adolescents' mental and sleep health. The current study underscores the potential adaptation cost associated with short-term cortisol adaptation in the face of discrimination.

Mother-Adolescent Perceived Parenting Profiles and Mexican-origin Adolescents' Academic Performance.

Mothers and adolescents often perceive parenting differently, but it is unclear how different profiles of mother-adolescent perceived parenting and developmental transitions of such profiles would influence adolescent academic performance longitudinally. The current study adopted a three-wave dataset of 604 Mexican-origin adolescents (54% female; Mwave1.age = 12.92 years) and 595 mothers. Adolescents who agreed on high levels of positive parenting with their mothers in early adolescence (i.e., the Both High group) and stayed in the Both High group demonstrated the best academic performance in late adolescence. However, adolescents who changed from the Both High group in early adolescence and ended with discrepancies in perceived parenting or an agreement on low positive parenting with mothers in late adolescence had the worst academic performance. The findings suggest the plasticity of mother-adolescent relationships during adolescence, which can be an intervention target to improve Mexican-origin adolescent academic performance.

Perceived Parenting Discrepancy Profiles, Feelings about Language Brokering, and Internalizing Symptoms among Mexican-origin Adolescents in Immigrant Families.

While different patterns of perceived parenting discrepancy among mother-adolescent dyads have been shown to be associated with adolescent internalizing symptoms, little is known about the pathway underlying such associations, particularly among immigrant families. The current study considered one culturally salient form of mother-adolescent communication, language brokering (i.e., adolescents translating and interpreting between host and heritage languages for mothers), in order to investigate its mediating role based on two waves of longitudinal data on Mexican-origin immigrant families. Wave 1 included 604 adolescents (54% female; Mage = 12.92, SD = 0.92) and 595 mothers (Mage = 38.89, SD = 5.74); Wave 2 was collected one year later with data from 483 adolescents. Perceived parenting discrepancy patterns at Wave 1 were captured by three profiles based on the levels of both mothers' and adolescents' perceived positive parenting (i.e., Mother High, Adolescent High, and Both High). Compared to the other two profiles, adolescents who reported much lower positive parenting than mothers at Wave 1 (i.e., Mother High) experienced more negative feelings about brokering at Wave 2, relating to more anxiety. Being in the Mother High (vs. Both High) group was also directly related to more depressive symptoms one year later. This study highlights the importance of considering culturally salient forms of communication, such as language brokering, when designing family-level interventions to reduce adolescents' internalizing symptoms by building agreement on high positive parenting among mother-adolescent dyads from immigrant families.

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.

Invisibly Oppressed: Individual and Ecological Correlates of Chinese American Adolescents' Perceived Discrimination.

Despite being portrayed as model minorities, Chinese American adolescents still face challenges of discrimination. Using data from 444 Chinese American adolescents (Mage = 13.04, 54% female), this study examined the independent and joint influence of individual cultural characteristics (adolescents' acculturation and enculturation) and contextual factors (parental discrimination experiences, neighborhood disadvantage, and ethnic concentration) on Chinese American adolescents' perception of discrimination experiences. Results showed that acculturation was associated with fewer discrimination experiences; yet, higher levels of neighborhood disadvantage were related to more youth discrimination. Mothers' discrimination experiences were associated with adolescents' discrimination experiences when adolescents retained more of their Chinese culture. The findings of the study highlight the importance of considering the interplay between contextual and individual factors in influencing adolescents' development.

Daily Experiences of Discrimination and Ethnic/Racial Minority Adolescents' Sleep: The Moderating Role of Social Support.

Using data from a 14-day diary study of 95 ethnic/racial minority adolescents, this study examined the within-person effect of daily discrimination tied to multiple social identities on adolescents' daily sleep quality and duration and whether daily support from important others (i.e., friends, parents, and teachers) would moderate these links. We found that daily discrimination was a low-frequency, but high-impact event associated with shorter sleep duration. Results pointed to the nuanced roles of daily support. Support from friends was negatively related to sleep duration, whereas support from parents appeared to be promotive to sleep quality. Support from teachers protected adolescents from the negative effects of discrimination on sleep duration. Implications for future interventions targeting sleep disturbances associated with discrimination are discussed.

Working Harder than Others to Prove Yourself: High-Effort Coping as a Buffer between Teacher-Perpetrated Racial Discrimination and Mental Health among Black American Adolescents.

High-effort coping (feeling like one must work harder than others to succeed due to anticipated discrimination) is an understudied concept in adolescence. The current study examined among Black American adolescents surveyed in eighth and 11th grade (N = 630, 49% female) how high-effort coping moderated the relations between teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and psychological distress across time, and whether the buffering role of high-effort coping varied by adolescent gender and socioeconomic status. Experiencing racial discrimination from teachers in eighth grade was positively related with depressive symptoms, anger, and suicidal ideation in 11th grade. High-effort coping buffered against teacher discrimination for suicidal ideation among low socioeconomic status youth, as well as for anger among high socioeconomic status youth. Findings underscore the harmful influence of racial discrimination on Black American adolescents' mental health, as well as suggest that among certain subpopulations, high-effort coping may be one psychologically protective resource through which Black American youth retain positive feelings that are undermined by racial discrimination, and thus promote mental well-being.

Reconsidering the "Acculturation Gap": Mother-Adolescent Cultural Adaptation Mis/Matches and Positive Psychosocial Outcomes among Mexican-Origin Families.

Previous studies have linked parent-child cultural adaptation mismatches with adolescents' maladjustment without addressing how intergenerational mis/matches are related to positive aspects of adolescent development and parental outcomes. Using data from 604 Mexican-origin families (adolescent sample:54%female, Mage = 12.41, range = 11 to 15), response surface analysis was conducted to investigate how mother-child mis/matches in cultural adaptation (acculturation, enculturation, English and Spanish proficiency) are associated with adolescents' and mothers' resilience and life meaning. Adolescents and mothers reported greater resilience and meaning when they matched at higher, versus lower, levels of acculturation, enculturation and English proficiency; adolescents reported more resilience when they were more acculturated than mothers. The findings provide a strengths-based understanding of parent-child cultural adaptation mis/matches and elucidate how Mexican-origin families thrive in the cultural adaptation process.

Life Course Transitions and Educational Trajectories: Examining Adolescents who Fall off Track Academically.

Educational interventions typically center on youth displaying early academic risk, potentially overlooking those falling off track academically later in their educational careers. The current study investigated the extent to which life course transitions experienced during adolescence were linked to falling off-track academically in high school. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 4284; 53% female; Mage = 14.88) documented that 1516 students displayed no educational risk in early high school, yet 14% did not pursue 4-year college by age 24. Analyses revealed the unique life course transitions predictive of falling off-track academically (i.e., sexual intercourse, alcohol use, family transitions, residential mobility). The study's findings highlight important intervention avenues to promote adolescents' continued educational persistence.

Antecedents and Consequences of Discrepant Perceptions of Racial Socialization between Parents and Adolescents within Mexican-Origin Families.

Parents and adolescents often have different views regarding parental racial socialization practices; however, studies documenting such discrepancies remain scarce. Using a person-centered approach, this study investigated patterns of parent-adolescent discrepant views on racial socialization (i.e., cultural socialization, bias coping, bias awareness) as well as antecedents and consequences of the discrepancy profiles. Participants were 604 adolescents (54% female, Mage = 12.41, Rangeage = 11-15) and their mothers and fathers. The results showed distinct discrepancy patterns and suggested that more maternal/paternal warmth was associated with profiles that have smaller discrepancies or profiles in which adolescents reported higher socialization than parents. Adolescents who reported higher or similar socialization as parents demonstrated better adjustment. Implications for interventions aimed at strengthening parent-child relationships and communication about race and culture are discussed.

Discrimination, language brokering efficacy, and academic competence among adolescent language brokers.

INTRODUCTION: Discrimination is detrimental for the development of ethnic minority adolescents' academic competence. To combat the negative effects of discrimination and promote academic success, it is important to understand the mechanisms underlying the association between discrimination and academic competence. Guided by the integrative model of ethnic minority children's development and the adapting cultural systems framework, this study examined whether a culture-specific factor, language brokering efficacy, mediated the relation between adolescents' perceived discrimination and their academic competence. METHOD: Data were drawn form a two-wave longitudinal study of 604 Mexican American adolescent language brokers residing in and around a metropolitan city in central Texas, USA (54% female; Mage = 12.5; SD = 1.0; 75% born in the U.S.). Path analyses were conducted to answer the research questions. RESULTS: The study revealed that the link between discrimination and academic competence was mediated by language brokering efficacy when translating for fathers and mothers, although the path from language brokering efficacy to academic competence was stronger when brokering for mothers. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight the importance of incorporating ethnic minority children's adapting cultural experiences in linking the contextual influence with their developmental competence. Implications for interventions aiming to reduce the negative impacts of discrimination are also discussed.

Discrimination and adolescents' academic and socioemotional adjustment: The moderating roles of family and peer cultural socialisation.

Racial discrimination has detrimental effects on ethnic minority adolescents' development. Guided by the integrative model of minority children's competencies and the bioecological model, the current study examined how family and peer cultural socialization independently and conjointly buffered the detrimental effects of discrimination on ethnic minority adolescents' academic and socio emotional adjustment. Using short-term longitudinal data from 245 eighth graders (87% Latinx, 51% female), results suggested that the moderating roles of cultural socialisation operated differently for academic and socioemotional outcomes. Specifically, the three-way interaction results indicated that family and peer cultural socializations appeared to be protective for adolescents' school engagement in the face of discrimination. The significant two-way interaction results revealed that both peer and family cultural socialisation tended to be protective-reactive for socioemotional outcomes, wherein the benefits of cultural socialisation were realised under low-risk but not high-risk conditions for depressive symptoms. Our study provides a nuanced understanding of the moderating roles of cultural socialisation in the links between discrimination and adolescents' well-being, and it highlights the importance of considering cultural socialisation from multiple contexts in examining ethnic minority adolescents' adjustment.

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).

Profiles of Language Brokering Experiences and Contextual Stressors: Implications for Adolescent Outcomes in Mexican Immigrant Families.

Adolescents from Mexican immigrant families are often embedded in a challenging social environment and experience multiple contextual stressors, including economic stress, discrimination, and foreigner stress. We consider how the effects of these contextual stressors may be amplified or diminished for adolescents who function as language brokers, interpreting and mediating for their English-limited parents. Using two waves of survey data collected from a sample (N = 604 at Wave 1; N = 483 at Wave 2) of Mexican American adolescents with ages ranging from 11 to 15 (Mage = 12.41, 54% female), four distinct brokering-stress profiles were identified. Latent profile analyses revealed that with moderate levels of contextual stress, adolescents with more positive language brokering experiences (protective group) demonstrated more favorable outcomes than those with neutral language brokering experiences (moderate group) and those who did not involve themselves as frequently in language brokering activities (less-involved group). In contrast, high levels of contextual stress, coupled with more negative language brokering experiences (risk group), produced the least favorable outcomes among adolescents.