Journal Article

Developmental Trajectories of Acculturation in Hispanic Adolescents: Associations With Family Functioning and Adolescent Risk Behavior

Zamboanga, Byron L., Unger, Jennifer B., Knight, George P., Schwartz, Seth J., Szapocznik, José, Des Rosiers, Sabrina, Pantin, Hilda, Huang, Shi

2013

Overview

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.

• Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd,Wiley Blackwell,Wiley-Blackwell,Oxford University Press
• Subject: Acculturation / Adolescent / Adolescent Behavior - psychology / Adolescent Development / Adolescent Development - physiology / Adolescents / Alcohol Drinking - ethnology / Alcohol Drinking - psychology / Alcohols / Assimilation / Behavior / Behavior Problems / Biological and medical sciences / Child development / Cigarette smoking / Conduct disorder / Contraception / Developmental psychology / Discrepancies / EMPIRICAL ARTICLES / Families & family life / Family / Family (Sociological Unit) / Family functioning / Family relations / Family Relations - ethnology / Family Relationship / Family roles / Female / Florida - ethnology / Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology / Health Behavior / Health risk assessment / Hispanic Americans / Hispanic Americans - psychology / Hispanic people / Hispanics / Human sexual behavior / Humans / Immigrants / Latin American cultural groups / Low income groups / Male / Medical sciences / Multivariate Analysis / Noncitizens / Parent Child Relationship / Parenting / Parents / Parents & parenting / Prediction / Psychology / Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry / Psychology. Psychophysiology / Psychopathology. Psychiatry / Risk / Risk behavior / Risk behaviour / Risk-Taking / Safe sexual practices / Sexual behavior / Sexual behaviour / Sexuality / Smoking / Smoking - ethnology / Smoking - psychology / Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry / Sociocultural environment / Studies / Substance abuse / Substance-Related Disorders - ethnology / Substance-Related Disorders - psychology / Teenagers / Trajectories / Unsafe Sex - ethnology / Unsafe Sex - psychology