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The present study was designed to examine acculturative changes, and their effects on mental health and family functioning, in recent-immigrant Hispanic adolescents. A sample of 302 Hispanic adolescents was assessed five times over a 2½-year period. Participants completed measures of Hispanic and U.S. practices, collectivist and individualist values, and ethnic and U.S. identity at each time point. Baseline and Time 5 levels of mental health and family functioning were also assessed. Latent class growth analyses produced two-class solutions for practices, values, and identifications. Adolescents who increased over time in practices and values reported the most adaptive mental health and family functioning. Adolescents who did not change in any acculturation domain reported the least favorable mental health and family functioning.

Acculturation consists of multiple domains (i.e., cultural practices, identifications, and values). However, less is known about how acculturation processes influence each other across multiple domains of acculturation. This study was designed to investigate transition patterns of acculturative processes within and across domains in a sample of 302 recent-immigrant Hispanic adolescents, Mage (SD) = 14.51 years (0.88) at baseline; male = 53%). Adolescents were assessed six times over a 3-year period. Latent profile analyses identified two profiles (high [or increasing] vs. low) for each domain at each timepoint. We found largely stable transition patterns in each domain over six timepoints. Importantly, sequential associations among profiles in acculturation domains were also detected. Implication for acculturation theory and research are discussed.

This study evaluated the immigrant paradox by ascertaining the effects of multiple components of acculturation on substance use and sexual behavior among recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents primarily from Mexico (35 %) and Cuba (31 %). A sample of 302 adolescents (53 % boys; mean age 14.51 years) from Miami ( n  = 152) and Los Angeles ( n  = 150) provided data on Hispanic and US cultural practices, values, and identifications at baseline and provided reports of cigarette use, alcohol use, sexual activity, and unprotected sex approximately 1 year later. Results indicated strong gender differences, with the majority of significant findings emerging for boys. Supporting the immigrant paradox (i.e., that becoming oriented toward US culture is predictive of increased health risks), individualist values predicted greater numbers of oral sex partners and unprotected sex occasions for boys. However, contrary to the immigrant paradox, for boys, both US practices and US identification predicted less heavy drinking, fewer oral and vaginal/anal sex partners, and less unprotected vaginal/anal sex. Ethnic identity (identification with one’s heritage culture) predicted greater numbers of sexual partners but negatively predicted unprotected sex. Results indicate a need for multidimensional, multi-domain models of acculturation and suggest that more work is needed to determine the most effective ways to culturally inform prevention programs.

The present article proposes an extension of the concept of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to apply to crisis migration – where youth and families are fleeing armed conflicts, natural disasters, community violence, government repression, and other large-scale emergencies. We propose that adverse events occurring prior to, during, and following migration can be classified as crisis-migration-related ACEs, and that the developmental logic underlying ACEs can be extended to the new class of crisis-migration-related ACEs. Specifically, greater numbers, severity, and chronicity of crisis-migration-related ACEs would be expected to predict greater impairments in mental and physical health, poorer interpersonal relationships, and less job stability later on. We propose a research agenda centered around definitional clarity, rigorous measurement development, prospective longitudinal studies to establish predictive validity, and collaborations among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.

Although personal identity development has been conceptualized as a source of psychological stability and protective against depressive symptoms among Hispanic immigrants, there remains ambiguity regarding the directional relationship between identity development and depression. To address this limitation, the current study sought to establish directionality between identity development and depressive symptoms. The sample consisted of 302 recent (<5 years) immigrant Hispanic adolescents (53.3% boys; Mage = 14.51 years at baseline; SD = 0.88 years) from Miami and Los Angeles who participated in a longitudinal study. The findings suggested a bidirectional relationship between identity and depressive symptoms such that identity coherence negatively predicted depressive symptoms, yet depressive symptoms also negatively predicted coherence and positively predicted subsequent identity confusion. Findings not only provide further evidence for the protective role of identity development during times of acute cultural transitions, but also emphasize the need for research to examine how depressive symptoms, and psychopathology more broadly, may interfere with establishing a sense of self.

The present study was designed to examine trajectories of personal identity coherence and confusion among Hispanic recent-immigrant adolescents, as well as the effects of these trajectories on psychosocial and risk-taking outcomes. Personal identity is extremely important in anchoring young immigrants during a time of acute cultural change. A sample of 302 recently immigrated (5 years or less in the United States at baseline) Hispanic adolescents (M age  = 14.51 years at baseline; SD = 0.88 years, range 14–17) from Miami and Los Angeles (47 % girls) completed measures of personal identity coherence and confusion at the first five waves of a six-wave longitudinal study; and reported on positive psychosocial functioning, depressive symptoms, and externalizing problems at baseline and at Time 6. Results indicated that identity coherence increased linearly across time, but that there were no significant changes in confusion over time and no individual differences in confusion trajectories. Higher baseline levels of, and improvements in, coherence predicted higher levels of self-esteem, optimism, and prosocial behavior at the final study timepoint. Higher baseline levels of confusion predicted lower self-esteem, greater depressive symptoms, more aggressive behavior, and more rule breaking at the final study timepoint. These results are discussed in terms of the importance of personal identity for Hispanic immigrant adolescents, and in terms of implications for intervention.

This study examined longitudinal effects of adolescent and parent cultural stress on adolescent and parent emotional well-being and health behaviors via trajectories of adolescent and parent family functioning. Recent immigrant Latino adolescents (Mage = 14.51) and parents (Mage = 41.09; N = 302) completed measures of these constructs. Latent growth modeling indicated that adolescent and parent family functioning remained stable over time. Early levels of family functioning predicted adolescent and parent outcomes. Baseline adolescent cultural stress predicted lower positive adolescent and parent family functioning. Latent class growth analyses produced a two-class solution for family functioning. Adolescents and parents in the low family functioning class reported low family functioning over time. Adolescents and parents in the high family functioning class experienced increases in family functioning.

This study examined longitudinal acculturation patterns, and their associations with family functioning and adolescent risk behaviors, in Hispanic immigrant families. A sample of 266 Hispanic adolescents (M age = 13.4) and their primary parents completed measures of acculturation, family functioning, and adolescent conduct problems, substance use, and sexual behavior at five timepoints. Mixture models yielded three trajectory classes apiece for adolescent and parent acculturation. Assimilated adolescents reported the poorest family functioning, but adolescent assimilation negatively predicted adolescent cigarette smoking, sexual activity, and unprotected sex indirectly through family functioning. Follow-up analyses indicated that discrepancies between adolescent and parent family functioning reports predicted these adolescent outcomes. Results are discussed regarding acculturation trajectories, adolescent risk behavior, and the mediating role of family functioning.

Latinx families can experience cultural stressors, which can negatively influence their emotional and behavioral health. Few studies have examined if perceived neighborhood characteristics buffer against or exacerbate the negative effects of cultural stress on adolescent and parent health outcomes. To address this gap in the literature, this study investigated how parent (social cohesion, informal social control, extent of problems) and adolescent (support) perceived neighborhood factors moderated the associations of parent and adolescent cultural stress with parent and adolescent emotional and behavioral well-being. Data came from waves 1 and 3 of a six-wave longitudinal survey with 302 recent immigrant Latinx adolescents (47% female, Mage = 14.51 years) and their parents (74% mothers, Mage = 41.09 years). Results indicated that when parents reported low levels of neighborhood problems, adolescent cultural stress did not predict adolescent health risk behaviors. However, adolescent and parent cultural stress predicted higher levels of adolescents’ sense of hope when parents perceived low levels of neighborhood problems. Furthermore, adolescent and parent cultural stress predicted higher youth depressive symptoms and health risk behaviors when positive neighborhood factors (informal social control, social cohesion) were high. Similarly, adolescent and parent cultural stress predicted lower adolescents’ sense of hope and self-esteem when positive neighborhood factors were high. These findings indicate that efforts to reduce the negative effects of cultural stress on youth emotional and behavioral health may benefit from combating neighborhood problems. Results further indicate that research is needed to clarify unexpected findings. Directions for future research are discussed.

Hispanic immigrant youth engage in increased health risk behaviors, such as alcohol misuse, due in part to being confronted with acculturative stress in addition to facing major normative developmental challenges, such as identity consolidation (Berry et al. in Appl Psychol 55:303–332, 2006 ). Using a developmental psychopathology framework, in the present study we examined the effect of bicultural stress on alcohol misuse among immigrated Hispanic adolescents, indirectly through trajectories of identity formation and alcohol expectancies. Our sample consisted of 302 recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents (53 % male; M age  = 14.5 at baseline) who were interviewed every 6 months for 3 years. Bivariate growth curve modeling was used to examine the influence of initial early bicultural stress on later alcohol misuse via change in identity development (i.e., coherence and confusion) and subsequent growth in cognitive alcohol expectancies. Findings revealed that initial levels and growth of identity coherence were not significantly associated with either bicultural stress or tension reduction (TR) alcohol expectancies. Multiple mediation analyses indicated that the effect of bicultural stress at time 1 on the frequency of being drunk at time 6 was mediated via high initial levels of identity confusion, followed by growth in risky TR expectancies (T4–T6). A developmental approach to the genesis of alcohol use problems in immigrant youth is discussed.