Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences recent issues

Perceived Discrimination, Perceived Stress, and Mental and Physical Health Among Mexican-Origin Adults

2008-10-09

This study provided a test of the minority status stress model by examining whether perceived discrimination would directly affect health outcomes even when perceived stress was taken into account among 215 Mexican-origin adults. Perceived discrimination predicted depression and poorer general health, and marginally predicted health symptoms, when perceived stress was taken into account. Perceived stress predicted depression and poorer general health while controlling for the effects of perceived discrimination. The influence of perceived discrimination on general health was greater for men than women, and the effect of perceived stress on depression was greater for women than men. Results provide evidence that discrimination is a source of chronic stress above and beyond perceived stress, and the accumulation of these two sources of stress is detrimental to mental and physical health. Findings suggest that mental health and health practitioners need to assess for the effects of discrimination as a stressor along with perceived stress.

The Validity of a Proxy Acculturation Scale Among U.S. Hispanics

Cruz, T. H., Marshall, S. W., Bowling, J. M., Villaveces, A. — 2008-10-09

This study examines the validity of a proxy acculturation scale composed of four acculturation-related variables. The authors use data from a nationally representative sample of 1,437 U.S. Hispanics. Results indicate good internal scale reliability, a high degree of correlation between the proxy scale and the full acculturation measure, and substantial agreement between dichotomized versions of the two scales. Although reliability declines slightly, validity increases with removal of generational status from the scale. Validity is found to be high for the three largest subpopulations by country of ancestry (Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba). The proxy acculturation scale is a useful tool for the measurement of acculturation level among the majority of U.S. Hispanics when use of a more comprehensive acculturation scale is infeasible or impractical.

The Influence of Religiosity, Gender, and Language Preference Acculturation on Sexual Activity Among Latino/a Adolescents

Edwards, L. M., Fehring, R. J., Jarrett, K. M., Haglund, K. A. — 2008-10-09

The purpose of this study was to determine the main and interactive effects of religiosity, gender, and language preference acculturation on sexual activity among 570 Latino/a adolescents from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. Results indicated that adolescents who viewed religion as very important, had frequent church attendance, and had more traditional attitudes on sexuality were less likely ever to have sex compared with adolescents who were less religious. Those with frequent church attendance and high traditional attitudes had fewer lifetime and recent sex partners. Unassimilated religious youth were less likely ever to have sex, had fewer lifetime and recent sexual partners, and a later age of sexual debut. Females were less likely to have had sex, had fewer recent and lifetime partners, and had a later age of coital debut than males. Religiosity had a healthy dampening of sexual activity among Latino/a adolescents and, in particular, among those who were less assimilated.

Academic Success Strategy Use Among Community-Active Urban Hispanic Adolescents

Vick, R. M., Packard, B. W.-L. — 2008-10-09

Although much has been written about the "risky" behaviors in which some Hispanic adolescents participate, the predictors of academic success are less understood. Toward this end, predictors of academic self-regulation were investigated in Hispanic adolescents. Specifically, a predictive model incorporating self-efficacy, instrumentality, salience of becoming a college student, and structured programming was examined in a sample of 66 Hispanic teens drawn from an urban community center. A model including self-efficacy, instrumentality, and salience of becoming a college student explained 53% of the variance in academic self-regulation, and further regression tests suggested that self-efficacy acted as a mediator of the other two predictors. However, structured leadership programming was not related to self-regulation. Case illustrations are presented. Future research involving the study of community-active Hispanic teens and their academic success is discussed.

Parenting Latino Toddlers and Preschoolers: Clinical and Nonclinical Samples

Perez, M. E., Fox, R. A. — 2008-10-09

Parenting practices contribute significantly to the social-emotional development of young children. There is limited literature that addresses the role of culture in parenting, particularly among Latino families who have very young children with significant behavior problems. The current study compared the parenting practices of 30 low-income Latino mothers whose young children had been referred for mental health services for their behavior problems with a similar group of 30 mothers of children without behavior problems. Results showed that mothers in the clinical sample nurtured their children less often and used more frequent verbal and corporal punishment as discipline than the nonclinical sample. The clinical sample also had a significantly higher incidence of mental health problems in their families. Results also showed the significant toll that raising young children with challenging behaviors takes on their mothers. The implications of these findings for the early identification of these children are discussed.

English and Spanish Acquisition by Hispanic Second Graders in Developmental Bilingual Programs: A 3-Year Longitudinal Randomized Study

Fuhui Tong, , Irby, B. J., Lara-Alecio, R., Mathes, P. G. — 2008-10-09

The authors studied a longitudinal English intervention in a 70/30 (Spanish/ English) developmental bilingual education (DBE) program (n = 302) and compared this model with a typical-practice, 80/20, late-exit transitional bilingual education program (n = 187) in terms of students' language and literacy acquisition from kindergarten to second grade in an urban school district in southeastern Texas. The findings revealed significant differences (p values < .05) in favor of DBE students on (a) English measures of oral language, preliteracy skills, and reading fluency and comprehension (effect sizes of .12 to .71) and (b) Spanish measures of letter name and sound, preliteracy skills, and reading comprehension (effect sizes of .19 to .38). It was concluded that quality English instruction that incorporates direct and focused instruction, context-embedded vocabulary learning, and ongoing professional training in DBE programs is much needed to promote bilingualism and biliteracy.

Insulating an Ideology: The Enclave Effect on South Florida's Cuban Americans

Girard, C., Grenier, G. J. — 2008-10-09

Many Cuban Americans embrace a distinctive anti-Castro ideology. Although this ideology supports the embargo against Cuba—purportedly to bring about the Castro regime's compliance or collapse—the real objectives may be more symbolic than practical. Ultimately, the institutional completeness provided by the enclave in South Florida insulates and regenerates this "exile" ideology. The authors hypothesize that if more than one half of an immigrant's time outside of Cuba has been in the South Florida enclave, the odds of supporting the exile ideology will be greater. Using a telephone survey of 1,807 Cuban Americans in South Florida, they find the predicted "enclave effect." Also, they find that receiving news from English-language media—outside the enclave's institutional matrix—reduces the likelihood of support for the exile ideology.

Friendships Influence Hispanic Students' Implicit Attitudes Toward White Non-Hispanics Relative to African Americans

Aberson, C. L., Porter, M. K., Gaffney, A. M. — 2008-10-09

This study examined the role of Hispanic students' friendships with White non-Hispanics (n-Hs) and African Americans (AAs) in predicting implicit and explicit prejudices toward these groups. Participants (N = 73) completed implicit and explicit attitude measures and a friendship questionnaire. Friendships were associated with implicit attitudes such that participants with more White n-H than AA friends exhibited implicit favoritism for White n-Hs. Friendships did not influence explicit attitudes. The authors discuss findings relative to the unique contributions Hispanic samples make to research on the contact hypothesis, systems justification, and environmental association models of implicit attitudes.

Measuring the Wage Costs of Limited English: Issues With Using Interviewer Versus Self-Reports in Determining Latino Wages

Hamilton, D., Goldsmith, A. H., Darity, W. — 2008-07-14

Scholars have found that poor English proficiency is negatively associated with wages using self-reported measures. However, these estimates may suffer from misclassification bias. Interviewer ratings are likely to more accurately proxy employer assessment of worker language ability. Using self-reported and interviewer ratings from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality, the authors estimate the impact of English proficiency on wages for men (n = 267) and women (n = 178) with Mexican ancestry residing in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Use of interviewer proficiency ratings suggests a larger and more gradational language penalty as fluency falls, and women face a stronger penalty than their male counterparts. Moreover, controlling for worker accent and skin shade does little to alter these effects.

The Ethnic Niche as an Economic Pathway for the Dark Skinned: Labor Market Incorporation of Latina/o Workers

Morales, M. C. — 2008-07-14

A significant number of Latina/os are turning to employment in ethnic niches as an alternative to general labor markets. This study places special focus on how skin color segmentation or colorism influences job-market allocation. The hypothesis is that dark-skinned Latina/os are more likely to be employed in ethnically homogeneous jobsites or niches. The author tests the hypothesis using survey logistic regression on a sample of 322 Central American-(Guatemalan, Nicaraguan, and Salvadoran) and Mexican-origin workers utilizing data from the Los Angeles Study of Urban Inequality. The results show that dark-skinned Latina/o workers are more likely to be employed in ethnic niches as opposed to lighter-skinned individuals. It is concluded that skin color stratifies Latina/o workers into distinct markets that can have implications for their socioeconomic incorporation.

Beliefs, Fertility, and Earnings of African American, Hispanic, and Non-Hispanic White Mothers

Keil, J. M., Christie-Mizell, C. A. — 2008-07-14

This study explores gender ideology, fertility factors (e.g., age at first birth, number of children), and their effects on earnings of African American (n = 413), Hispanic American (n = 271), and White (n = 817) mothers. An analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth over a 10-year period (1988 to 1998) shows that, on average, Hispanic American and White mothers have a significantly more conservative gender ideology than African American mothers. Nevertheless, a conservative gender ideology significantly reduces African American, Hispanic American, and White mothers' earnings when controlling for a variety of important labor force factors. Regarding fertility, the number of children is detrimental to the earnings of White mothers but has no effect on African American or Hispanic mothers in the sample. Although early childbearing significantly depresses the earnings of African American and Hispanic mothers, it does not do so for their White counterparts.

Is Acculturation a Dynamic Construct?: The Influence of Method of Priming Culture on Acculturation

Lechuga, J. — 2008-07-14

Recent evidence suggests that culture is a dynamic construct activated in response to cues encountered in a given situation. Research on acculturation indicates that this is a complex construct that might be domain specific. Two studies were undertaken to investigate the effect of two ways of priming culture on acculturation and enculturation scores in a Hispanic population. In study 1 (N = 59) culture was primed by exposing participants to cultural icons and symbols representative of Mexican and American Culture. In study 2 (N = 145) culture was primed by randomly assigning participants to answer questionnaires in English or Spanish. Results suggest that affiliation with host and/or heritage cultures is a malleable construct. Implications for acculturation measurement are discussed.

Coping With Daily Stressors: Modeling Intraethnic Variation in Mexican American Adolescents

Aldridge, A. A., Roesch, S. C. — 2008-07-14

Using daily diary methodology, 67 Mexican American adolescents completed measures assessing daily stressors experienced, specific coping strategies employed with reference to these stressors, and indices of psychological health over 5 consecutive days. With respect to coping usage, adolescents reported they most often used planning and least often used humor to cope with stress. Significant intraindividual and interindividual variability was found for each coping strategy and psychological health. When this variability was modeled, adolescents who reported using more direct problem solving, positive thinking, acceptance, and humor reported more positive affect. Adolescents who reported using more religious coping, distancing, and acceptance reported more negative affect. These findings indicate that intraethnic variability exists at the daily stressor level in Mexican American adolescents and that this variability in coping is predictive of daily psychological health. Discussion focuses on the developmental importance of flexible coping repertories in Mexican American adolescents and the (mal)adaptive nature of specific coping strategies.

Family Cohesion and Its Relationship to Psychological Distress Among Latino Groups

2008-07-14

This article presents analyses of a representative sample of U.S. Latinos (N = 2,540) to investigate whether family cohesion moderates the effects of cultural conflict on psychological distress. The results for the aggregated Latino group suggest a significant association between family cohesion and lower psychological distress, and the combination of strong family cohesion with presence of family cultural conflict is associated with higher psychological distress. However, this association differs by Latino groups. In this study, no association for Puerto Ricans is seen; Cuban results are similar to the aggregate group, family cultural conflict in Mexicans is associated with higher psychological distress whereas family cohesion in other Latinos is associated with higher psychological distress. Implications of these findings are discussed to unravel the differences in family dynamics across Latino subethnic groups.

Predictors of Condom Use in Latino Migrant Day Laborers

Organista, K. C., Ehrlich, S. F. — 2008-07-14

This article reports on predictors of condom use with casual female sex partners on the part of Latino migrant day laborers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Results come from a secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling to interview 290 sexually active adult, male, migrant Latino day laborers. Regression analysis of sociodemographic background, behavioral, and psychosocial predictor factors revealed a number of significant findings. Men with wives or partners currently living in Mexico were almost 4.5 times more likely to use condoms with casual female sex partners compared to men accompanied by wives or partners in California. It was also found that men at high sexual risk for HIV with casual female partners were more than 5.5 times more likely to use condoms than men at low risk. Interpretations of findings and implications for HIV prevention with this unique and especially marginalized population of Latinos are discussed.

Considerations for Studying Father Involvement in Early Childhood Among Latino Families

Campos, R. — 2008-04-18

Over the last three decades there has been a notable increase in interest about fathers and their role in the socioemotional, academic, and cognitive development of young children. Concurrently, there has been a shift in this nation's ethnic minority demography, where Latinos are now the nation's largest minority group. The father-involvement literature in early childhood is scarce, particularly the scholarship focused on Latino fathers. Furthermore, several conceptual and methodological shortcomings in the exploration of Latino fathers exist. This review explores the following questions: To what extent has the literature explored father involvement in early childhood among Latino fathers? What is the quality of the conceptual and methodological rigor of these studies? What are the salient themes of the literature? Finally, the review will present considerations for studying fathers of young children within Latino communities.

Puerto Rican Phenotype: Understanding Its Historical Underpinnings and Psychological Associations

Lopez, I. — 2008-04-18

The following is a historically informed review of Puerto Rican phenotype. Geared toward educating psychologists, this review discusses how various psychological issues associated with phenotype may have arisen as a result of historical legacies and policies associated with race and racial mixing. It discusses how these policies used various markers to demarcate an "authentic" Puerto Rican identity, and how we continue to reference these variables when defining Puerto Rican identity, despite the fact that identity is contextual and fluid. In reviewing the historical underpinnings and contextual nature of phenotype, it is hoped that the reader will gain a greater appreciation of the role of phenotype in the lives of Puerto Ricans and understand how phenotype, and, most importantly, historical trauma can be related to a host of psychological concerns.

The Effects of Ethnicity, SES, and Crime Status on Juror Decision Making: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Euopean American and Mexican American Mock Jurors

Esqueda, C. W., Espinoza, R. K. E., Culhane, S. E. — 2008-04-18

In two studies, a defendant's ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and crime status were varied for effects on verdict decisions, sentencing recommendations, culpability assignments, and trait assessments. In Study 1, European Americans (N = 221) provided a low SES Mexican American defendant with more guilt verdicts, a lengthier sentence, and higher culpability ratings, compared to a high SES Mexican American or a European American defendant, regardless of crime status. Higher negative trait ratings occurred for a low SES Mexican American who committed a low status crime. In Study 2, Mexican Americans (N = 136) showed no differences for guilt verdicts, recommended sentence, or culpability assignment. These findings demonstrate that European American bias toward Mexican Americans may operate in all phases of the legal process, and future research should address specific contexts where bias applies.

The Hispanic Women's Social Stressor Scale: Understanding the Multiple Social Stressors of U.S.- and Mexico-born Hispanic Women

Goodkind, J. R., Gonzales, M., Malcoe, L. H., Espinosa, J. — 2008-04-18

Measurement of social stressors among Hispanic women is a growing and important area of study, particularly in terms of understanding explanatory mechanisms for health disparities. This study involved adaptation of the Hispanic Stress Inventory and the Latin American Stress Inventory to create a measure of social stressors specifically for both immigrant and nonimmigrant Hispanic women. The measurement development process included review of existing scales, focus groups with Hispanic women (U.S.- and Mexico-born) in New Mexico, and creation, pilot testing, and factor analysis of a 41-item scale. Results indicate that the Hispanic Women's Social Stressor Scale is a reliable and valid measure of the social stressors experienced by U.S.-born and Mexico-born Hispanic women in the Southwest. Factor analyses revealed six reliable and conceptually distinct sub-scales of social stressors: immigration, socioeconomic, racism-related, familial, parental, and employment. Convergent and criterion validity were supported.

Ethnic Identity and Self-Esteem: Contrasting Cuban and Nicaraguan Young Adults

Cislo, A. M. — 2008-04-18

A growing literature suggests that stronger ethnic identity is associated with higher levels of self-esteem among Hispanic Americans. However, most studies employ a panethnic "Hispanic" category or focus on one ethnic group, leaving open the question of how different Hispanic groups compare in this association. In the framework of social identity theory, the author provides ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates of the relationship between ethnic identity and later self-esteem in a sample of Nicaraguan and Cuban young adults in South Florida (N = 291). Results indicate that stronger ethnic identity is salutary for Cubans' self-esteem though detrimental for Nicaraguans'. Additionally, Nicaraguans report significantly weaker ethnic identification and lower self-esteem than do Cubans on average. Also, higher perceived ethnic discrimination is associated with stronger ethnic identity for Cubans.

Erratum: Marx, S. (2008). "Not blending in": Latino students in a predominantly White school. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 30(1), 69-88. (Article DOI: 10.1177/0739986307311906)

2008-04-18

Cultural Values and Racial Identity Statuses Among Latino Students: An Exploratory Investigation

Carter, R. T., Yeh, C. J., Mazzula, S. L. — 2008-01-22

The authors investigated the content and structure of cultural value orientations associated with how cultural groups view relationships, time, nature, and activity in a group of 107 Latino college and graduate students. The study employed the Visible Racial Ethnic/Identity Attitude Scale and Intercultural Values Inventory. A regression analysis revealed racial identity status attitudes predict value orientation preferences of human nature as evil, lineal and collateral social relationships, and a belief in harmony with nature. Five repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance revealed a mixed and good view of human nature, a sense of harmony with nature and a future preference. More complex preferences were found with respect to the activity and social relations orientations, reflecting a blending of Eurocentric and Latino cultural values.

Coping With Discrimination Among Mexican Descent Adolescents

Edwards, L. M., Romero, A. J. — 2008-01-22

The current research is designed to explore the relationship among discrimination stress, coping strategies, and self-esteem among Mexican descent youth (N = 73, age 11-15 years). Results suggest that primary control engagement and disengagement coping strategies are positively associated with discrimination stress. Furthermore, self-esteem is predicted by an interaction of primary control engagement coping and discrimination stress, such that at higher levels of discrimination stress, youth who engaged in more primary control engagement coping reported higher self-esteem. The authors' findings indicate that Mexican descent youth are actively finding ways to cope with the common experience of negative stereotypes and prejudice, such that their self-esteem is protected from the stressful impact of discrimination and prejudice. Implications of these findings for Latino/a youth resilience are discussed.

Identity and Language: Contributions to and Consequences of Speaking Spanish in the Workplace

Bergman, M. E., Watrous-Rodriguez, K. M., Chalkley, K. M. — 2008-01-22

Language is an important marker of identity. Guided by social identity theory and using a grounded theory approach, this study examined how languages are chosen and shape experiences in the workplace. Results suggest that language use is influenced by both external (norms, business needs) and internal (identity, language comfort) processes. Furthermore, speaking Spanish in the workplace has both positive (inclusion, camaraderie) and negative effects (exclusion, harassment, discrimination), with many more negative effects reported by our participants. Speaking Spanish appears to mark the speaker as an outsider. Together, our results indicate that language use is an important choice, personally and professionally, for employees and plays an important role in the way individuals are treated in the workplace.

"Not Blending In": Latino Students in a Predominantly White School

Marx, S. — 2008-01-22

This article reports the findings of a study on the experiences of a small but growing population of Latino students in a small-town secondary school. All teachers and administrators were surveyed regarding their impressions of Latino students. All students in the school (95% White, 5% Latino) were surveyed regarding their impressions of ethnicity, culture, and language in their own school experiences. In all, 26 adults, 25 of whom were White, and 800 students participated in the surveys. Ethnographic data augment survey findings. White students responded more positively than did Latino students, with more positive thoughts about the school and their own experiences in the school, for every survey question. Responses of White school personnel are contrasted to those of the only Latino teacher.

The Influence of Parental Warmth and Control on Latino Adolescent Alcohol Use

Mogro-Wilson, C. — 2008-01-22

Latino adolescent alcohol use is related to substance use, later life addiction, and other negative outcomes. The lack of knowledge on parenting and the parent-youth relationship in Latino families in the context of acculturation and its affects on alcohol use prompted this study. Secondary data analysis using the Add Health data set indicates that high amounts of parental control function positively for Latino families, contrary to some findings for non-Latinos. In addition, parental warmth significantly reduced alcohol use and also positively affected the parent-youth relationship which decreased alcohol use. When families spoke English at home, parental control decreased which lead to an increase in alcohol use. A critical examination of the implications for the cultural understanding of parental influences on adolescent alcohol use is discussed. Findings indicate that there are unique family mechanisms for Latino families that should be considered when developing intervention options.

Cross-Cultural Validity of Alcohol Dependence Across Hispanics and Non-Hispanic Caucasians

Carle, A. C. — 2008-01-22

Confirmatory factor analyses for ordered-categorical measures probed for differential item functioning on a standardized measure of alcohol dependence across Hispanics (n = 834) and non-Hispanic Caucasians (n = 14,001) in a nationally representative survey of alcohol use in the United States conducted in 1992. Analyses investigated whether 30 items operationalizing the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) construct of alcohol dependence provided equivalent measurement. The results demonstrated statistically significant differential item functioning for 7 items, suggesting caution regarding the cross-ethnic validity of alcohol dependence. Sensitivity analyses suggested that item-level differences had a limited impact, lending confidence to previous findings. The findings underscore the necessity of cultural sensitivity when generalizing measures and constructs developed in the majority to Hispanic individuals and demonstrate the need for evaluations of differential item functioning in contemporary data.

Brief Reviews of Books Received

Owen, D. — 2008-01-22