This longitudinal study examined how academic self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and participation in an after-school program contributed to the academic achievement of Latino middle school students over the course of one school year. Participants were 47 Latino students in sixth through eighth grades who attended two public middle schools in which an after-school program was held that was specifically for Latino students. Results from ordinary least squares regression revealed that intrinsic motivation was positively associated with students GPAs, self-efficacy was a positive predictor of students’ school attendance and standardized math achievement scores, and attendance at the after-school program also contributed positively to students’ math achievement. Results from multilevel growth modeling showed that students’ self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation remained stable across the school year and were not related to students’ degree of participation in the after-school program. Several avenues for future research within the Latino student population are discussed.

This study relies on qualitative methods to investigate Hispanic women’s skin color perceptions. The primary goal is to identify the relevance of these perceptions on their beliefs about their own physical attractiveness. Thirty-four self-identified White-Hispanic women attending a large Hispanic Serving Institution in the southeastern United States were interviewed for this study. Unlike previous research findings on Hispanic women’s skin color preferences, findings identified a "tan" skin color as preferred; pale skin was viewed as "plain" and unattractive. This preference was associated with four themes about physical attractiveness: (1) desirability among their peer groups, (2) increased value in dating contexts, (3) sexual appeal to men, and (4) marker of Hispanic identity in social contexts. Findings from this study are important for those researchers addressing identity development and relationship issues among Hispanic populations in the United States.

The "underclass" concept pervades social science research on poverty, racial relations, and more recently, immigration. In this article, we elaborate and extend Massey’s critique of the underclass concept by briefly reviewing the history of this concept and emphasizing its contemporary application to immigrants and undocumented workers. We also explore how the term as well as popular variants, including the "rainbow underclass," are ambiguously defined yet legitimated by contemporary researchers and, as a result, have become more deeply embedded in social science scholarship. Furthermore, we critique the prevalent use of this term in describing minority groups and highlight its potential to reaffirm individualistic, racist views of immigrants while obscuring social processes that perpetuate inequality. We conclude with a call to scholars and policy analysts to replace this term with pointed analyses of the structural conditions that shape the lives of disadvantaged groups.

Dimensions of acculturative stress and their implications for school belonging and achievement were examined among 199 Latino middle-school students. The proposed model hypothesized that school belonging would mediate the association between acculturative stress dimensions and low school achievement. Eighty percent youth of the sample were immigrants, 73% had Mexican origins, 57% were girls, and the mean age of the participants was 13.6 years. A factor analysis yielded two dimensions of acculturative stress: discrimination stress and immigration-related stress. Immigration-related stress was associated with age of immigration, but discrimination stress was not. Findings supported the hypothesis that lack of school belonging may be a mechanism by which discrimination stress, but not immigration-related stress, decreases school performance among Latino youth.

The article discusses a legislation that would effectively terminate Mexican American Studies programs in k-12 was passed in Arizona in 2010. In this article, the author traces how this legislation drew from discourses of anti-Americanism and wickedness initiated by the state’s superintendent of public instruction against Mexican American Studies and from larger social antagonistic language regarding Mexican ethnics. The author uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) and van Dijk’s notion of the discourse-power circle, in particular, to demonstrate how the superintendent along with the author of the legislation, were successful in controlling the voting actions of enough legislators to pass the bill.

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between acculturation, birthplace, and alcohol-related social problems across Hispanic national groups. A total of 5,224 Hispanic adults (18+ years) were interviewed using a multistage cluster sample design in Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Houston, and Los Angeles. Multivariate analysis shows no association between acculturation and problems among men or women. Birthplace is a risk factor for social problems among both genders. Among men, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and South/Central Americans are more likely to report social problems than Cuban Americans. Other risk factors for men are unemployment, a higher volume of drinking, and a higher frequency of binge drinking. Among women, Mexican American origin and binge drinking are also risk factors for reporting problems. U.S.-born Hispanics may experience stress and other detrimental effects to health because of their minority status, which may increase the likelihood of more drinking and the development of alcohol-related problems.

This study uses the 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances to empirically explore differences in saving behavior between Hispanic (N = 533) and non-Hispanic White (N = 2,473) households. The results of the logistic regression model show that self-employed Hispanics were more likely to save, while self-employment was not significant for Whites. Being unbanked is the only variable that had a significantly negative relationship with saving for both groups. The results indicate that the model of saving applied to U.S. households may not be appropriate in studies focusing on the saving behaviors of Hispanics. In the empirical model estimated in the current article, only age, being unbanked, and self-employment have significant relationships with the saving behaviors of Hispanics, while many variables were significant for White households.

The use of depression scales as screening tools at university and college centers is increasing and thus, the question of whether scales are culturally valid for different student groups is increasingly more relevant with increased severity of depression for students and changing student demographics. As such, this study examined the reliability and validity of three commonly used depression scales with 203 Latina/o undergraduates. The scales varied in item response, assessment, reliability, convergent and construct validity, and detection of sex and class standing differences for the study’s sample. The strengths and limitations of implementing the scales with Latina/o undergraduates are addressed for research and within practice settings.

At the start of their term, the Obama administration pledged to reform two failing policy systems in the United States: immigration and health care. The Latino populations’ attitudes toward these two critical policy areas are particularly relevant due to the large foreign born population in the Latino community and the large number of Latinos who lack health insurance. Yet studies have not examined what factors shape Latino approval ratings and whether support for health and immigration reform affect Latino approval ratings of the current administration. We use the 2009 Latino Decisions survey and find that the foundations of Latino approval ratings are political in nature, with support for health and immigration policy reform driving support of the current administration. Given the vital role the Latino electorate played during the 2008 election, the success of these two policy reform efforts may have major implications for the 2012 elections.

Latinos have had the highest teenage birthrate of any racial or ethnic group in the United States for the past 15 years, yet little is known about how Latino families are affected by a teenage daughter’s childbearing. In-depth interviews were conducted with 32 Mexican American younger siblings of parenting teens to discern how their sister’s childbearing had affected them and their families. The most commonly reported negative effects were increased family stress and conflict, more arguments with the parenting older sister, and less time spent with family members. Regarding benefits, all youth described a loving bond with their sister’s baby, two thirds described their family becoming closer, and 81% felt closer to their older sister. The implications of these effects for Mexican American families are discussed.

Home-based parental involvement practices (i.e., educational encouragement, monitoring, and support) and their impact on students’ academic persistence were investigated with a sample of 137, ninth-grade Latino students in a northeast high school. Structural Equation Modeling results indicate that the relationship between home-based parental involvement activities and students’ intentions to complete the next school year is mediated by students’ school beliefs (i.e., perceptions of school responsiveness, school engagement-trouble, academic attitudes, and academic self-efficacy). Home-based parental involvement influences children’s attitudes and beliefs about school culminating in students’ intentions to persevere academically. This study addresses the common misperception that Latino parents are not involved in their children’s formal education. An important implication of this study is that parents can have an impact on students’ academic persistence even if they are not able to attend school-based activities.

Measurement of race and ethnicity is integral to assessing and addressing health disparities experienced by minorities. However, the unique experiences of Latinos related to race and the discordance between understandings of race among Latinos and the predominant U.S. conceptualizations of this construct impact how Latinos respond to measurement approaches. As a result, data collection methodologies often yield ambiguous responses that reveal little about this population. This article examines Latinos’ racial responding, and how this relates to their experiences and understanding of their racial identity. We recommend the use of a combined race and ethnicity question and open-ended race and ethnicity questions, when feasible, which will likely yield more meaningful data that can be used to address this populations’ health needs.

Parental involvement in children’s schooling is an important component of children’s early school success. Few studies have examined this construct exclusively among Latino families. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), the present investigation (N = 2,051) explored relations between Latino parents’ home and school involvement activities and their children’s literacy skills, and the role of social capital in promoting parents’ involvement practices. Regression analyses showed that parental involvement was a significant predictor of children’s literacy skills above controls. Results also suggest that stronger communication with other parents may be instrumental in increasing both home and school involvement among Latino families, creating a possible avenue through which Latino parents might develop a collective voice within the school sector. Findings have strong implications for teachers, who may be well-positioned to facilitate opportunities for Latino parents to engage in authentic dialogue about their children’s growth, learning, and school success.

Present conceptualizations and measures of self-esteem do not account for linguistic self-esteem, an aspect of the self specifically relevant for bilingual students. This study examines the utility of a newly developed measure of linguistic self-esteem. This novel measure is compared with a commonly used self-esteem measure, two standardized language proficiency measures, and student think-aloud interviews to identify the unique contribution of a linguistic dimension of self-esteem for bilinguals. Findings indicate that this linguistic dimension comprises two distinct components, one for each language, and explains variance not previously explained by dimensions contained in an established self-esteem measure. Linguistic self-esteem was not significantly correlated with language proficiency. This study supports the value of this new tool and the validity of a new construct, linguistic self-esteem.

This study tested the influence of bridging and bonding social capital in political participation while controlling for sociodemographic and psychological factors among Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Illinois. Bridging social capital significantly predicted two types of participation. Participants who felt their lives were linked to those of Anglo-Americans and attended functions with members of this group were more likely to contact a public official. In addition, those who attended functions with Anglo-Americans were also more likely to work for or contribute to a political candidate. Bonding social capital significantly predicted attending a public meeting or demonstration. Those who felt more linked to other Latinos in the country were less likely to participate, but those who had a close experience with discrimination were more likely to do so. Overall, findings showed that an understanding of the different aspects of social capital is necessary to decipher the participation puzzle.

The current concept and measures of self-efficacy for depression in adolescents do not consider developmental and cultural aspects essential to understand and assess this construct in Latino youth. We examined the factor structure of the Escala de Autoeficacia para la Depresión en Adolescentes (EADA), a Spanish instrument designed to assess this construct as experienced by this population. Participants were 116 Puerto Rican adolescents aged 13 to 17 years who completed the EADA and two other self-report measures. An exploratory factor analysis yielded a two-factor solution (Personal Self-Efficacy for Depression and Interpersonal Self-Efficacy for Depression) accounting for 37.57% of the total variance. Results revealed that EADA factors have excellent internal consistency as well as concurrent and construct validity, supporting its adequacy to assess Latino adolescents’ self-efficacy for depression. The conceptual meaning of the factors was consistent with the distinction between aspects of this construct hypothesized to be important among Latino youth.

The purpose of this study was to assess the association between acculturation and functional health using multiple proxies of acculturation to examine explanatory pathways to clarify disparate health findings. A population-based cross-sectional, multistage probability sample from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (N = 3,050) was used. The dependent variables of neuropsychiatric function were depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [CES-D]) and cognitive function (mini-mental state examination [MMSE]) examined in separate multivariable regression and structural equation models to examine the pathways between acculturation proxies and neuropsychiatric function. Findings indicated that three acculturation proxies were associated with cognitive function but none were associated with depressive symptoms. English proficiency fully mediated the associations between other acculturation proxies and cognitive function. The findings suggest that language plays a central role in the pathway between acculturation and health among Mexican-origin populations.

This article describes how the perceived increase in Latino/a immigration, the present economic conditions, and the tendency to ascribe negative attributes and behaviors to the immigrant are resulting in anti-immigration actions and laws. It directs attention to the detrimental effects that such perceptions, actions, and laws are having on the psychological and social well-being of Latino/a immigrant families and children. Efforts are taken throughout the article to differentiate perceptions from reality and facts from fiction. The article concludes with selective professional, institutional, and legislative policy recommendations that advocate for a more humane treatment of Latino/a immigrant children and families.

President Obama characterized Arizona’s recent immigration law as undermining "basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans." The authors’ extend the national discussion regarding immigration to ethics and research. Therefore, the purpose of this methodological article is to advance areas for ethical consideration when researching undocumented participants. Undocumented participants have been described as vulnerable and in need of protection when researched. The authors contend that undocumented participants are capable, competent, yet vulnerable simultaneously. Characterizing these participants as wholly vulnerable is a form of Otherization. The authors present a literature review of Other, vulnerable participants, illegal participants, and undocumented persons/participants. Authors have been ethics reviewers and/or researchers of undocumented participants. Drawing on these experiences throughout the article, they provide reflexively composed narrative interludes. Methodological and ethical considerations and strategies in the areas of Culturally Responsive Relational Reflexive Ethics (CRRRE) oriented research, anonymity/confidentiality, and consent are advanced.

The purpose of this study was to test the association between religiosity and utilization of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in a sample of foreign-born Hispanic adults, even when excluding prayer as a form of CAM. Data were collected using a self-report Spanish-language survey. Study participants consisted of 306 respondents between the ages of 18 and 79. Most were born in Mexico (56.3%), followed by South America (24.6%), and then Central America (7.4%). Dependent variable measures included mainstream and traditional CAM utilization. Religiosity was measured using eight items representing ritual, consequential, ideological, and experimental domains. After controlling for the potentially confounding influences of age, gender, and income, respondents who reported higher levels of religiosity also reported greater utilization of mainstream and traditional CAM. Previous studies have included prayer as a form of CAM therapy, making it difficult to test the CAM—religiosity association. In this study, even when prayer was not included as a CAM therapy, religiosity was associated with CAM.

Little is known about contributors to positive social, behavioral, and emotional adjustment among foreign-born youth at different stages of adapting to life in the United States. Using baseline data from the Adolescent Latino Acculturation Study (N = 217), this article examines the effects of time in residency on parent adjustment, family stress, parenting practices, and youth behavioral and socioemotional outcomes among Latino immigrant parents and youth (Grades 6 to 10) who have lived in the United States between 1 and 12 years. Results of cross-sectional analyses show that immigrant families with less time in residency may experience higher levels of distress that diminish in intensity over time and that youth problem behaviors increase and academic outcomes worsen with increased exposure to life in U.S. society. Time in residency, parent adjustment, and parenting practices each demonstrated unique and unmediated effects on youth outcomes. Results highlight specific vulnerabilities for families in states with emerging immigrant populations that often have few supports for the successful integration of recent immigrant families.

The current study describes the development and psychometric testing of the Global Support From Mother Figure During Pregnancy Scale (GSMF-P). The measure is developed in both Spanish and English to assess social support provided to adolescents during their pregnancies. The current study examines the reliability, cross-language equivalence, and validity of the scale with a sample of 207 pregnant, Mexican-origin adolescents (M age = 16.2, SD = 0.98) and their mother figures (M age = 40.9, SD = 7.01). The scale demonstrates strong internal consistency across reporters and language versions. Furthermore, findings provide support for the measurement equivalence of the English and Spanish versions. Finally, all construct validity hypotheses are supported, providing initial evidence that the GSMF-P appears to be assessing the construct of mother figure social support from both adolescents’ and mother figures’ perspectives.

This study examined the degree to which teacher behaviors established as predictors of achievement generalize to Hispanic students. Participants included 995 students (68% Hispanic) across Grades 3 through 5 and their teachers (N = 46) in an urban school district in the Midwest. Classroom dynamics were measured using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (La Paro, Pianta, & Hamre, 2008). Achievement measures included standardized reading assessments administered at the end of the school year. Controls included beginning of the school year assessment scores and eligibility for free lunch. Consistent with prior studies, several teacher behaviors were associated with achievement for the non-Hispanic sample; however, the teacher behaviors did not generalize to the Hispanic sample. Implications for using classroom observations that do not reflect the norms of the target population to enhance accountability and assess professional development are presented, and considerations for addressing classroom observation measures are discussed.

One Hundred and Twelve Latino students from Philadelphia participated in this study, which examined the development of deductive reasoning across adolescence, and the relation of reasoning to test anxiety and standardized test scores. As predicted, 11th and ninth graders demonstrated significantly more advanced reasoning than seventh graders. Error response patterns revealed a steady, age-related increase in the ability to use falsification strategies. Test anxiety was not related to reasoning performance. These results are discussed in terms of developmental theories of deductive reasoning. Negative correlations between deductive reasoning and standardized test scores for 11th graders are discussed in light of accountability standards required by the No Child Left Behind Act.