Ethnic identity and gender as moderators of the association between discrimination and academic adjustment among Mexican-origin adolescents.

Existing work has identified perceived discrimination as a risk factor that may contribute to the relatively poorer academic outcomes exhibited by Mexican-origin adolescents in the U.S. The current study examined the longitudinal associations among perceived discrimination and three indices of adolescent adjustment in the school setting (i.e., grade point average, teacher reports of externalizing, adolescents' deviant peer associations) among 178 Mexican-origin adolescents (53% female). Ethnic identity affirmation was examined as a protective factor expected to reduce the negative effects of discrimination on adolescents' adjustment, and gender was examined as a potential moderator of the associations of interest. Findings indicated that the deleterious effects of discrimination on adolescents' adjustment in school were particularly salient for Mexican-origin male adolescents. Importantly, ethnic identity affirmation emerged as a protective factor for Mexican-origin male adolescents by buffering the negative effects of discrimination on their externalizing behaviors in school.

[1]  A. Umaña‐Taylor,et al.  Trajectories of depressive symptoms and self-esteem in Latino youths: examining the role of gender and perceived discrimination. , 2013, Developmental psychology.

[2]  R. Forehand,et al.  Presence of a Sibling as a Potential Buffer Following Parental Divorce: An Examination of Young Adolescents , 1991 .

[3]  Meekyung Han,et al.  Perceived school environments, perceived discrimination, and school performance among children of Mexican immigrants. , 2005 .

[4]  C. Suárez-Orozco,et al.  Transformations: Immigration, Family Life, and Achievement Motivation Among Latino Adolescents , 1995 .

[5]  James L. Arbuckle,et al.  Full Information Estimation in the Presence of Incomplete Data , 1996 .

[6]  M. Azmitia,et al.  Latino immigrant parents' beliefs about the "path of life" of their adolescent children. , 2002 .

[7]  Amado M. Padilla,et al.  Academic Invulnerability among a Select Group of Latino University Students , 1996 .

[8]  David Huizinga,et al.  Are there multiple paths to delinquency , 1991 .

[9]  A. Fuligni.  The academic achievement of adolescents from immigrant families: the roles of family background, attitudes, and behavior. , 1997, Child development.

[10]  A. Valenzuela.  Gender Roles and Settlement Activities Among Children and Their Immigrant Families , 1999 .

[11]  Delia S. Saenz,et al.  Discrimination and adjustment for Mexican American adolescents: A prospective examination of the benefits of culturally-related values. , 2010, Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence.

[12]  R. Roberts,et al.  Stress within a bicultural context for adolescents of Mexican descent. , 2003, Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology.

[13]  C. Edelbrock,et al.  The Child Behavior Profile: II. Boys aged 12-16 and girls aged 6-11 and 12-16. , 1979, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

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

[15]  Robert L. Leahy,et al.  The Construction of the Self: A Developmental Perspective , 2001, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

[16]  A. Umaña‐Taylor,et al.  Discrimination and Mexican-Origin Adolescents’ Adjustment: The Moderating Roles of Adolescents’, Mothers’, and Fathers’ Cultural Orientations and Values , 2011, Journal of youth and adolescence.

[17]  Jacob Cohen.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , 1969, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[18]  A. Masten,et al.  The development of competence in favorable and unfavorable environments. Lessons from research on successful children. , 1998, The American psychologist.

[19]  E. Erikson.  Identity, youth, and crisis , 1968 .

[20]  H. McAdoo,et al.  An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. , 1996, Child development.

[21]  J. Eccles,et al.  Schools as Developmental Contexts , 2008 .

[22]  Terry E. Duncan,et al.  Development of Adolescent Problem Behavior , 1999, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[23]  K. Liebkind.  Ethnic identity and acculturation , 2006 .

[24]  Thomas A. DiPrete,et al.  Gender Inequalities in Education , 2008 .

[25]  A. Umaña‐Taylor,et al.  Latino adolescents' mental health: exploring the interrelations among discrimination, ethnic identity, cultural orientation, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms. , 2007, Journal of adolescence.

[26]  J. Phinney.  Ethic identity and acculturation. , 2003 .

[27]  C. Edelbrock,et al.  The classification of child psychopathology: a review and analysis of empirical efforts. , 1978, Psychological bulletin.

[28]  T. Achenbach,et al.  Child/adolescent behavioral and emotional problems: implications of cross-informant correlations for situational specificity. , 1987, Psychological bulletin.

[29]  James M. Frabutt,et al.  Contextual influences on Latino adolescent ethnic identity and academic outcomes. , 2006, Child development.

[30]  C. Suárez-Orozco,et al.  Learning a New Land: Immigrant Students in American Society , 2008 .

[31]  T. Achenbach.  Manual for ASEBA School-Age Forms & Profiles , 2001 .

[32]  A. Umaña‐Taylor,et al.  Developing the Ethnic Identity Scale Using Eriksonian and Social Identity Perspectives , 2004 .

[33]  D. DeGarmo,et al.  A Culturally Informed Model of Academic Well-Being for Latino Youth: The Importance of Discriminatory Experiences and Social Support. , 2006, Family relations.

[34]  A. Umaña‐Taylor,et al.  Latino adolescents' academic success: the role of discrimination, academic motivation, and gender. , 2009, Journal of adolescence.

[35]  M. Waller,et al.  Sources of Resilience Among Chicano/a Youth: Forging Identities in the Borderlands , 2003 .

[36]  Margaret Semrud-Clikeman,et al.  Emotional Adjustment and School Functioning of Young Adolescents with Multiple Versus Single Learning Disabilities , 2004, Journal of learning disabilities.

[37]  N. Way,et al.  Longitudinal trajectories of ethnic identity among urban Black and Latino adolescents. , 2006, Child development.

[38]  A. Umaña‐Taylor,et al.  Latino Adolescents Perception of Parenting Behaviors and Self-Esteem: Examining the Role of Neighborhood Risk. , 2005 .

[39]  Sherri F. Seyfried.  Academic Achievement of African American Preadolescents: The Influence of Teacher Perceptions , 1998, American journal of community psychology.

[40]  A. Crouter,et al.  Siblings' Differential Treatment in Mexican American Families. , 2005, Journal of marriage and the family.

[41]  C. Edelbrock,et al.  Manual for the Child: Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile , 1983 .

[42]  Lisa M. Edwards,et al.  Coping With Discrimination Among Mexican Descent Adolescents , 2008 .

[43]  O. Ramírez.  Mexican American children and adolescents. , 1998 .

[44]  H. Tajfel,et al.  The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior. , 2004 .

[45]  S. West,et al.  Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. , 1994 .

[46]  Thomas J. Dishion,et al.  Family, School, and Behavioral Antecedents to Early Adolescent Involvement with Antisocial Peers. , 1991 .

[47]  C. Edelbrock,et al.  Behavioral problems and competencies reported by parents of normal and disturbed children aged four through sixteen. , 1981, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[48]  C. Steele,et al.  Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. , 1995, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[49]  J. Tein,et al.  On the Limits of Coping , 2001 .

[50]  C. Coll,et al.  Racism and Child Health: A Review of the Literature and Future Directions , 2009, Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP.

[51]  J. Phinney.  The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure , 1992 .

[52]  L. R. Huesmann,et al.  Childhood and adolescent predictors of early and middle adulthood alcohol use and problem drinking: the Columbia County Longitudinal Study. , 2008, Addiction.

[53]  H. Tajfel.  Human Groups and Social Categories: Studies in Social Psychology , 1981 .

[54]  T. Urdan.  Examining the Relations among Early Adolescent Students’ Goals and Friends’ Orientation toward Effort and Achievement in School☆ , 1997 .

[55]  L. Ontai,et al.  Gender Socialization in Latino/a Families: Results from Two Retrospective Studies , 2004 .

[56]  J. Phinney.  A three-stage model of ethnic identity development in adolescence. , 1993 .

[57]  M. Spencer,et al.  A Theoretical and Empirical Examination of Identity as Coping: Linking Coping Resources to the Self Processes of African American Youth , 2003, Beyond the Self.

[58]  W. Hartup,et al.  Friendships and Adaptation Across the Life Span , 1999 .

[59]  A. Umaña‐Taylor,et al.  Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers’ Stressors and Psychosocial Functioning: Examining Ethnic Identity Affirmation and Familism as Moderators , 2011, Journal of youth and adolescence.