The present study examines the influence of economic and family stress processes on change in drug and alcohol use in a cohort of 478 Mexican American youth (50.8% female) followed longitudinally beginning in Grade 5 when the youth averaged 10.4 years of age. Adolescents, their mothers (median age 36 at Grade 5), and their fathers (median age 39 at Grade 5) were assessed on economic hardship (Grades 5 through 7), family stress processes (Grades 5 through 9), and adolescent substance use (Grades 7 through 9). Hypotheses were derived from a culturally informed family stress model (FSM), which proposes that economic hardship initiates a sequential cascade of problems involving parents' emotional distress, interparental conflict, disruptions in parenting and increased risk for adolescent substance use. Structural equation modeling was used to test these hypothesized linkages and the findings were consistent with predictions derived from the FSM. The results also demonstrated that parents' familism moderated the association between parent distress and interparental conflict, acting as a source of resilience in this family stress process. Findings suggest that prevention and intervention efforts focused on reducing caregiver distress and interparental conflict and enhancing parenting practices, as well as policies that reduce the level of economic hardship experienced by families, may aid in the reduction of adolescent substance use. Additionally, interventions focused on facilitating the cultural value of familism may promote more positive interactions between Mexican American parents which, in turn, may promote more effective parenting practices that help to reduce the risk for adolescent substance use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Background

Because adolescents vary in their susceptibility to peer influence, the current study addresses potential reciprocal effects between associating with deviant peers and use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs (ATOD), as well as the potential buffering role of parental monitoring on these reciprocal effects.

Method

674 children of Mexican origin reported at fifth and seventh grade (10.4 years old at fifth grade) on the degree to which they associated with deviant peers, intended to use alcohol, tobacco or other drugs (ATOD) in the future, and had used controlled substances during the past year. Trained observers rated parental monitoring from video-recorded family interactions at the first assessment.

Results

Youth who intended to use ATODs during fifth grade experienced a relative increase in number of deviant peers by seventh grade, and youth with more deviant peers in fifth grade were more likely to use ATODs by seventh grade. Parental monitoring buffered (i.e., moderated) the reciprocal association between involvement with deviant peers and both intent to use ATODs and actual use of ATODs.

Conclusions

Parental monitoring can disrupt the reciprocal associations between deviant peers and ATOD use during the transition from childhood to adolescence.

We examine the pathways by which parents influence adolescents’ close friendships, focusing on three types of behavioral styles: hostile, warm, and problem solving. Structural equation models are estimated using data at two time points from the Iowa Youth and Families Project (N = 227 friendship pairs). Results suggest that the lives of adolescents and both their mother and father are inexorably linked. Observed interactions with a close friend at Time 2 reveal teens recreate their parents’ original hostile, supportive, and problem-solving styles from Time 1. This outcome depends on (a) type of behavior and (b) gender. Mothers’ supportive behavior, fathers’ problem solving, and both parents’ hostile behavior significantly influence adolescents’ comparable interaction styles. Adolescents’ subsequent behavior toward their friend significantly affects friendship quality. Lower levels of hostile behavior in female youth, increased problem solving by males, and supportive actions toward a friend for both relate positively to rewarding friendships.

In an effort to better understand possible pathways that lead to a relatively high incidence of depressive symptoms among Mexican American youth, an interpersonal stress model of depression was tested using a community sample of 674 Mexican American mothers and their 5th grade children. Structural equation analyses revealed that maternal depression was positively related to mothers' interpersonal stress in their relationships. Additionally, maternal poor parenting quality was associated with three child outcomes: lower social competence, higher interpersonal stress, and higher depressive symptoms. Child difficulties with peers, however, were not related to child depression. Overall, evidence suggests that familial factors, rather than peer factors, were related to child depression for these study participants.

Aims

Alcohol consumption and internalizing symptoms, which often co-occur, pose considerable risk to the developing adolescent and have lasting public health consequences. Previous research has documented concurrent associations between alcohol use and symptoms of anxiety and depression, but the dearth of longitudinal research, particularly for ethnic minority youth, raises questions about the replicability and causal direction of these effects. The goal of the present research was to clarify these issues, and investigate whether different facets of anxiety and depression are uniquely associated with alcohol use in adolescence.

Method

The present research examined cross-lagged relations between frequency of alcohol use and internalizing symptoms, using data from a longitudinal study of 674 Mexican-origin youth (50% female) assessed at ages 14 and 16.

Results

Alcohol use at age 14 prospectively predicted increases in overall internalizing symptoms, and overall internalizing symptoms at age 14 prospectively predicted increases in alcohol use. Reciprocal effects were consistently found for the general distress and anxious arousal facets, but not for anhedonic depression and a scale measuring the cognitive aspects of anxiety.

Conclusions

The findings provide evidence of reciprocal relations between alcohol use and internalizing symptoms, but also highlight the danger of treating all symptoms of anxiety and depression as interchangeable components of a single broad domain. Instead, symptoms common to both anxiety and depressive disorders (e.g., general distress) have the most robust reciprocal relations with alcohol use. Thus, intervention programs aimed at reducing early alcohol use by Mexican-origin youth should target this component of the internalizing domain.

Substance use initiation in adolescence is a critical issue, given its association with substance dependency and associated problems in adulthood. However, due to the dearth of fine-grained, longitudinal studies, the factors associated with early initiation are poorly understood, especially in minority youth. The present study examined substance use initiation in a sample of Mexican-origin youth (N=674) assessed annually from age 10 to 16. Using discrete-time survival analyses, we found that initiation escalated rapidly from late childhood to adolescence, and we identified a wide range of factors, from the individual to the cultural level of analysis, that significantly increased or decreased risk for early initiation. These findings have important implications for programs aimed at preventing early substance use by Mexican-origin youth.

Purpose

Harsh, abusive, and rejecting behavior by parents toward their children is associated with increased risk for many developmental problems for youth. Earlier research also shows that children raised by harsh parents are more likely to treat their own children harshly. The present study evaluated nurturing and supportive behaviors of spouses or cohabiting romantic partners hypothesized to strengthen co-parent relationships and help break this intergenerational cycle of harsh parenting.

Methods

Data come from the Family Transitions Project, a 22-year, 3-generation study of a cohort of over 500 early adolescents (G2) grown to adulthood. During adolescence, observers rated G1 (parent of G2) harsh parenting to G2. Several years later, observers rated G2 harsh parenting toward their oldest child (G3). In addition, G2's romantic partner (spouse or cohabiting partner) was rated by observers on a range of behaviors expected to affect G2 harsh parenting.

Results

Romantic partner warmth and positive communication with G2 were associated with less G2 harsh parenting toward G3 (a compensatory or main effect) and when these partner behaviors were high, there was no evidence of intergenerational continuity from G1 to G2 harsh parenting (a moderating or protective effect). G1 harsh parenting slightly decreased the likelihood that G2 would select a supportive spouse or romantic partner (evidence of cumulative continuity).

Conclusions

Romantic partner warmth and positive communication appear to disrupt continuity in harsh and abusive parenting. As appropriate, preventive interventions designed to reduce risk for child maltreatment should include a focus on spousal or partner behaviors in their educational or treatment programs.

This study examined factors that relate to academic competence and expectations from elementary to middle school for 674 fifth grade students (50% boys; M_age = 10.86 years) of Mexican origin. Models predicting academic competence and expectations were estimated using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) framework, with longitudinal data from fifth to eighth grades. School belonging (i.e., social and emotional connectedness to school) predicted greater academic competence and expectations over time. Findings indicate that student feelings of belonging in school may act as a resource that promotes academic competence and expectations. Furthermore, family income, parent education, and generational status had direct effects on academic competence and expectations to some degree, suggesting the importance of contextual factors in this process.

Social bonds and supportive relationships are widely recognized as being indispensable to healthy psychological functioning and well-being. Social support is a psychological resource that is expected to also contribute positively to parenting practices. The present study longitudinally examined the relations between mothers' (N = 674) and fathers' (N = 430) perceived social support and parenting behaviors, and their relations with children's social competence during early adolescence in Mexican-origin single and two-parent families. Our constructs of interest (warm parenting, monitoring, perceived social support, and children's social competence) were significantly correlated at T1, and demonstrated significant stability across time for both parental models. Parental warmth (as reported by the child, and opposite parent) and parental monitoring (self-reported by mothers and fathers) were correlated and also showed bidirectional associations across time. Parental monitoring at T2 positively predicted change in children's social competence at T3 (controlling for T1 social competence) for mothers. Parental warmth at T2 positively predicted change in children's social competence at T3 (controlling for T1 social competence) for fathers. For mothers, the indirect effect of social support at T1 on children's social competence at T3 via parental monitoring at T2 (and controlling for prior levels) was significant. Findings suggest that maternal perceived social support contributes to children's social competence due to its positive relation to maternal monitoring. Results may also suggest that mothers' and fathers' parenting behaviors differentially relate to children's social competence in Latino families, although additional work focused on comparing parenting behaviors in two-parent families is needed.

School belonging (i.e., social connectedness to school) has positive implications for academic achievement and well-being. However, few studies have examined the developmental antecedents of school belonging, particularly for students of Mexican origin. To address this gap in the research literature, the present study examined reciprocal relations between school belonging and two self-affirmation beliefs-self-esteem and ethnic pride-using data from a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin students followed from fifth to ninth grade (N = 674, Mage at Wave 1 = 10.4 years, 50% girls). Furthermore, we evaluated whether the associations were stronger for boys than girls. Using multiple group analysis in a structural equation modeling framework, results indicate that, among boys, ethnic pride was prospectively associated with increases in self-esteem, self-esteem was associated with increases in school belonging, and the direct association between ethnic pride and school belonging was bidirectional. For girls, ethnic pride was prospectively associated with later school belonging. Discussion focuses on the gender differences in observed effects and implications for school programs and interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record