Cultural Equivalence and Cultural Variance in Longitudinal Associations of Young Adolescent Self-Definition and Interpersonal Relatedness to Psychological and School Adjustment

Ethnic group differences in the contributions of self-definition (self-worth and efficacy) and interpersonal relatedness with parents and peers to changes in psychological and school adjustment were examined among 448 White, Black, and Latino girls and boys (11–14 years of age). Self-report questionnaires and school records were evaluated for socioeconomic and ethnic group differences in patterns of change over 1 year. Overall similarity in changes over time across ethnic groups was found for relatedness, self-definition, and psychological adjustment, although Black and Latino youth reported more overall adjustment difficulties, Black youth reported less positive relationships with parents, and lower SES youth reported less positive peer relationships than others. Ethnic group differences in changes to school adjustment, even after controlling SES, suggested a cultural variation in which often cited declines in school adjustment during middle school characterize White adolescents to a greater degree than Black or Latino adolescents. Ethnicity moderated associations of relatedness and self-definition with psychological and school adjustment such that Black and Latino youth appeared particularly vulnerable to experiences that threaten closeness and trust in relationships. Results pointed to potentially important situational and cultural differences in maladaptive and adaptive developmental processes across ethnicity.

[1]  M. Rotheram-Borus,et al.  Social Expectations Among African American, Hispanic, and European American Adolescents , 2000 .

[2]  R. Blum,et al.  Reducing the Risk: Connections that Make a Difference in the Lives of Youth. , 1997 .

[3]  T. Achenbach.  Integrative Guide for the 1991 CBCL/4-18, Ysr, and Trf Profiles , 1991 .

[4]  J. Ogbu.  Minority coping responses and school experience. , 1991 .

[5]  J. Allen,et al.  Attachment and adolescent psychosocial functioning. , 1998, Child development.

[6]  B. Leadbeater,et al.  Adolescent problem behaviors: the influence of attachment and autonomy. , 1990, The Psychiatric clinics of North America.

[7]  D. Entwisle.  Schools and the adolescent. , 1990 .

[8]  S. Fordham,et al.  Black students' school success: Coping with the “burden of ‘acting white’” , 1986 .

[9]  V. Mcloyd,et al.  Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. , 1998, The American psychologist.

[10]  B. B. Brown,et al.  Ethnic differences in adolescent achievement. An ecological perspective. , 1992, The American psychologist.

[11]  S. Blatt,et al.  Psychometric properties of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire for adolescents. , 1992, Journal of personality assessment.

[12]  M. Greenberg,et al.  Parent and peer attachment in early adolescent depression , 1990, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[13]  S. Blatt.  Representational structures in psychopathology. , 1995 .

[14]  N. Way,et al.  Close and General Friendships among African American, Latino, and Asian American Adolescents from Low-Income Families , 2000 .

[15]  S. Freud.  Civilization and Its Discontents , 2018, Princeton Readings in Political Thought.

[16]  David L. DuBois,et al.  Self-System Influences During Early Adolescence: , 2000 .

[17]  Héctor Betancourt,et al.  The Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race in American Psychology , 1993 .

[18]  A. Vazsonyi,et al.  No More Than Skin Deep: Ethnic and Racial Similarity in Developmental Process , 1994 .

[19]  R. Brislin.  Cross-cultural research methods , 1973 .

[20]  R. Larson.  Toward a psychology of positive youth development. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[21]  D. Henry,et al.  Longitudinal Family and Peer Group Effects on Violence and Nonviolent Delinquency , 2001, Journal of clinical child psychology.

[22]  W. Berman,et al.  Attachment in adults: Clinical and developmental perspectives. , 1994 .

[23]  S. Blatt,et al.  Relatedness and self-definition: A dialectic model of personality development and disturbance , 1996 .

[24]  G. Marín,et al.  Research with Hispanic Populations , 1991 .

[25]  R. Loeber,et al.  Development of juvenile aggression and violence. Some common misconceptions and controversies. , 1998, The American psychologist.

[26]  R. Catalano,et al.  Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: implications for substance abuse prevention. , 1992, Psychological bulletin.

[27]  J. Eccles,et al.  School as a Context of Early Adolescents' Academic and Social-Emotional Development: A Summary of Research Findings , 2000, The Elementary School Journal.

[28]  J. Phinney,et al.  When we talk about American ethnic groups, what do we mean? , 1996 .

[29]  N. Leffert,et al.  Contribution of Developmental Assets to the Prediction of Thriving Among Adolescents , 2000 .

[30]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  The development of depression in children and adolescents. , 1998, The American psychologist.

[31]  S. Blatt,et al.  Two primary configurations of psychopathology. , 1983 .

[32]  D. Cantwell,et al.  Adolescent Depressed Mood in a Multiethnic Sample , 1998 .

[33]  J. Phinney,et al.  Research Paradigms for Studying Ethnic Minority Families Within and Across Groups , 1998 .

[34]  S. Harter.  Developmental differences in the nature of self-representations: Implications for the understanding, assessment, and treatment of maladaptive behavior , 1990, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[35]  N. Way,et al.  Friendship Patterns among African American, Asian American, and Latino Adolescents from Low-Income Families , 2001 .

[36]  G. Fergerson.  Whither "culture" in adolescent health research? , 1998, The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

[37]  Stephen A. Cernkovich,et al.  The family and peer relations of Black adolescents. , 1993 .

[38]  Eugenia Hanfmann,et al.  Neurosis and Treatment: A Holistic Theory , 1965 .

[39]  C. Midgley,et al.  Development during adolescence. The impact of stage-environment fit on young adolescents' experiences in schools and in families. , 1993, The American psychologist.

[40]  S. Luthar,et al.  Differential Vulnerability of Dependency and Self-Criticism among Disadvantaged Teenagers. , 1995 .

[41]  J. Brook,et al.  African-American and Puerto Rican drug use: a longitudinal study. , 1997, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[42]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  The promotion of wellness in children and adolescents. , 2000 .

[43]  J. Allen,et al.  Attachment in adolescence. , 1999 .

[44]  E. Perrin,et al.  Methodological issues in using the child behavior checklist and its related instruments in clinical child psychology research , 1995 .

[45]  K. Grossmann,et al.  Attachment quality as an organizer of emotional and behavioral responses in a longitudinal perspective. , 1991 .

[46]  S. Feldman,et al.  Changing perceptions of family cohesion and power across adolescence. , 1988, Child development.

[47]  R. Jessor,et al.  Protective Factors in Adolescent Problem Behavior: Moderator Effects and Developmental Change. , 1995 .

[48]  F. Lorenz,et al.  Trajectories of Stressful Life Events and Depressive Symptoms during Adolescence. , 1994 .

[49]  R. Loeber,et al.  Adolescent psychopathology as a function of informant and risk status. , 1996, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[50]  A. Newcomb.  The developmental significance of children's friendship relations , 1996 .

[51]  D. DuBois.  Early adolescent self-esteem: A developmental–ecological framework and assessment strategy. , 1996 .

[52]  Ana Mari Cauce,et al.  Conceptual, methodological, and statistical issues in culturally competent research. , 1998 .

[53]  L. Steinberg,et al.  Studying Minority Adolescents : Conceptual, Methodological, and Theoretical Issues , 1998 .

[54]  B. Leadbeater,et al.  A multivariate model of gender differences in adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems. , 1999, Developmental psychology.

[55]  B. Leadbeater,et al.  Interpersonal and self-critical dysphoria and behavioral problems in adolescents , 1993 .

[56]  S. Blatt,et al.  Attachment and separateness. A dialectic model of the products and processes of development throughout the life cycle. , 1990, The Psychoanalytic study of the child.

[57]  J. Pittman,et al.  Adolescent Prosocial Values and Self-Efficacy in Relation to Delinquency, Risky Sexual Behavior, and Drug Use , 1999 .

[58]  A. Angyal.  Foundations for a science of personality , 1943 .

[59]  M. Rutter.  Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. , 1987, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[60]  R. Kobak,et al.  Attachment in late adolescence: working models, affect regulation, and representations of self and others. , 1988, Child development.

[61]  J. F. Jackson,et al.  Multiple selves, multiple worlds: Three useful strategies for research with ethnic minority youth on identity, relationships, and opportunity structures. , 1998 .

[62]  Cindy Carlson,et al.  Ethnic Differences in Processes Contributing to the Self-Esteem of Early Adolescent Girls , 2000 .

[63]  W. Hartup,et al.  The Company They Keep: Friendship in Childhood and Adolescence. , 1996 .

[64]  J. Dryfoos.  Adolescents at risk: a summation of work in the field--programs and policies. , 1991, The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

[65]  J. Alvidrez,et al.  The Nature of “Schooling” in School Transitions: A Critical Re-Examination , 1994 .

[66]  W. Vélez.  High school attrition among Hispanic and non-Hispanic White youths. , 1989 .

[67]  James W. Ainsworth-Darnell,et al.  Race, Cultural Capital, and Educational Resources: Persistent Inequalities and Achievement Returns. , 1999 .

[68]  J. T. Gibbs,et al.  Children of color : psychological interventions with culturally diverse youth , 1998 .

[69]  E. Mcgarrell,et al.  Trends in Racial Disproportionality in Juvenile Court Processing: 1985-1989 , 1993 .

[70]  B. Leadbeater,et al.  The development of problem behavior syndromes in at-risk adolescents , 1994, Development and Psychopathology.

[71]  T. Power,et al.  Parental attachment, self-esteem, and antisocial behaviors among African American, European American, and Mexican American adolescents. , 2003 .

[72]  Mario Hernandez,et al.  Promoting cultural competence in children's mental health services , 1998 .

[73]  J. S. Wiggins,et al.  Agency and communion as conceptual coordinates for the understanding and measurement of interpersonal behavior. , 1991 .

[74]  Greg J. Duncan,et al.  Do Neighborhoods Influence Child and Adolescent Development? , 1993, American Journal of Sociology.

[75]  S. Zeldin,et al.  Integrating Research and Practice to Understand and Strengthen Communities for Adolescent Development: An Introduction to the Special Issue and Current Issues , 2000 .

[76]  G. Knight,et al.  An examination of the cross-ethnic equivalence of measures of negative life events and mental health among Hispanic and Anglo-American children , 1994, American journal of community psychology.

[77]  Duane Buhrmester,et al.  Need fulfillment, interpersonal competence, and the developmental contexts of early adolescent friendship. , 1998 .

[78]  B. Leadbeater,et al.  Relatedness, Self-Definition, and Early Adolescent Adjustment , 1997, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[79]  W. Wheeler.  Emerging Organizational Theory and the Youth Development Organization , 2000 .

[80]  Delbert S. Elliott,et al.  Reconciling race and class differences in self-reported and official estimates of delinquency. , 1980 .

[81]  M. Greenberg,et al.  The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence , 1987, Journal of youth and adolescence.

[82]  S. Harter,et al.  Multiple pathways to self-reported depression and psychological adjustment among adolescents , 1996, Development and Psychopathology.

[83]  D. Bakan.  The duality of human existence : an essay on psychology and religion , 1966 .