Economic Hardship and Psychological Distress in Custodial Mothers

The present research examined the relationship between economic hardship and post-divorce psychological distress of custodial mothers. Economic hardship was measured in terms of: (1)current income level; (2) drop in income; and (3) negative economic events. Drop in income was further subdivided into (a) actual amount of drop; (b) ratio of income post-to pre-separation; (c) per person ration of income; and (d) ratio of income per person corrected for reduced financial needs. The HSCL (Derogatis, 1974) measured psychological distress, while four items from the Divorce Events Schedule for Adults (Braver et al., 1987) measured negative economic events. The subjects were 77 custodial mothers, recently separated and either divorced or seeking a divorce. Results documented both an increase in psychological suffering relative to a random sampleand substantial economic declines (about 30%). Further, there were significant unique relationships between the HSCL and both drop in income and the experience of negative economic events (but not current income).     

School Connectedness Buffers the Effects of Negative Family Relations and Poor Effortful Control on Early Adolescent Conduct Problems

This study examined the unique and interactive contributions of school connectedness, negative family relations, and effortful control to subsequent early adolescent conduct problems. Data were collected from 476 adolescents when they were initially in the 6th and 7th grades and again 1 year later. Results from hierarchical regression analyses showed that even after controlling for negative family relations, effortful control, baseline levels of conduct problems, and gender, school connectedness contributed to decreasing subsequent conduct problems. Examination of 2- and 3-way interactions indicated that high levels of school connectedness offset the adverse effects of negative family relations for boys and girls and the adverse effects of low levels of effortful control for girls. Findings underscore the role of school connectedness as a protective factor for early adolescent conduct problems.     

Origins of Effortful Control: Infant and Parent Contributions

Effortful control (EC) refers to the ability to inhibit a dominant response to perform a subdominant one and has been shown as protective against a myriad of difficulties. Research examining precursors of EC has been limited to date, and in this study, infancy contributors to toddler EC were examined. Specifically, parent/family background variables (e.g., education, income), maternal temperament, perceived stress, and internalizing symptoms were addressed, along with infant temperament: positive affectivity/surgency (PAS), negative emotionality (NE), and regulatory capacity/orienting (RCO); and laboratory observation‐based indicators of attention. Infant attention indexed by the latency to look away after initially orienting to the presented stimuli emerged as an important predictor of later EC, after accounting for other child and parent/family attributes, with shorter latencies predicting higher levels of EC. Mothers’ extraversion and parenting stress were the only parent/family attributes to significantly contribute to the prediction of toddler EC, with the former promoting and the latter undermining the development of EC. Infant temperament factors were also examined as a moderator of parent/family influences, with results indicating a significant interaction between mothers’ EC and infant RCO, so that children with greater RCO and mothers high in EC exhibited the highest EC scores in toddlerhood.     

The Civic Orientation and Political Assimilation of Latino Immigrant Youth

ABSTRACT

In recent decades, the rapid and unprecedented expansion of the Latino immigrant population has dramatically reshaped the face of American society. Unfortunately, current scholarship on this topic largely overlooks a key cohort: adolescent and young adult Latino immigrants. Our lack of understanding regarding the political inclinations of this population is highly problematic if we wish to know where Latino politics is headed in the coming decades. Data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health are used to systematically explore and test the core assumptions of several competing assimilation theories applied to Latino immigrant youths. Bivariate analyses suggest that young Hispanic immigrants lag behind their non-Latino and Black and White peers in electoral participation and political partisanship, and minimal differences are noted in commitment to key civic orientations. However, regression analyses that include controls for SES and other contextual variables in most cases reveal no differences between young Latino immigrants and their peers in their commitment to political engagement and crucial civic values. On the whole, our findings largely confirm the expectations of mainline assimilation theory and suggest young Latino immigrants are trending toward integration into the national civic community.     

Financial Strain and Depression Among Farm Operators: The Role of Perceived Economic Hardship and Personal Control1

Abstract The causal processes accounting for the relationship between farm financial strain and depression are not well understood. Using data from a statewide survey of North Carolina farm operators, we develop a covariance structure model that specifies relationships among farm financial strain, perceived economic hardship in the household, personal control, and depression. Analyses reveal that the relationship between farm financial strain and depression is mediated by perceptions of economic hardship and personal control. Results point to the importance of differential resilience to objective economic problems instead of differential exposure to these problems.     

Cultural Contributors to Ego‐Resiliency and Associations with Depressive Problems in Midwestern Latino Youth

Ego‐resiliency is an enduring psychological construct reflecting how individuals‐adapt to environmental stressors, conflict, and change which is linked to positive adjustment. Ego‐resiliency has not been examined in Latino youth, despite their high risk for mental health problems; nor have cultural precursors to ego‐resiliency been examined. Given these gaps, we examined whether familism values (supportive, obligation, and referent) were associated with ego‐resiliency and, in turn, depressive problems in Latino adolescents across two time points (N = 123, mean age = 11.53). Results indicated that supportive familism was associated positively with ego‐resiliency and negatively with depressive problems. Ego‐resiliency negatively predicted depressive problems across time, controlling for prior levels, suggesting that ego‐resiliency may have long‐term effects on depressive problems in Latino youth.     

Active Function of Youth in Social Organizations

Recently, youth have taken an active part in all walks of life, and they are forging ahead in the tide of The Times. Following with the emergence and widespread...     

Changes in Economic Hardship and Intimate Partner Violence: A Family Stress Framework

While recent studies underscore how financial stress and lack of tangible assets significantly increase the odds of intimate partner violence (IPV) among couples, little is known about these effects over time. Theoretically informed by family stress theory, this study examines the influence of changing subjective reports of economic hardship over time on the risk for IPV. Specifically, we test two hypotheses: (1) change in economic hardship significantly predicts IPV; and, specifically, (2) increased economic hardship or unstable economic conditions increases the risk of IPV. Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study, we assess the incidence of IPV for 941 women in committed relationships. Results from our logistic regression analyses suggest that after controlling for numerous demographic factors, women who never experienced economic hardship had lower odds of experiencing IPV than those who did. Further, women who experienced high levels of economic hardship over time had the highest odds of experiencing IPV. However, the effects of changing economic hardship on IPV were attenuated once maternal depression and parenting stress were controlled. Results are discussed in terms of practice and policy implications.     

Economic Hardship and Family-to-Work Conflict: The Importance of Gender and Work Conditions

Using data from a 2007 national survey of working Americans, we examine the association between economic hardship and family-to-work conflict (FWC). We also assess contingencies of this association, focusing particularly on gender and several work conditions. Findings indicate that economic hardship is associated with higher FWC; this pattern is stronger among men. Three work conditions also function as effect modifiers: The positive association between hardship and FWC is stronger for workers with less job authority and more creative work activities. Job pressures also modify this association, but overall, respondents with higher pressures report greater FWC. We discuss how our observations contribute to knowledge about the links between economic conditions and the family–work interface and the importance of status and work-related contingencies.     

Correlates of Alcohol Use Likelihood for Latino Immigrant Youth in an Emerging Context

Using a three-wave prospective longitudinal design spanning 3 years, we assessed alcohol use likelihood trajectories and their correlates among a community sample of Latino immigrant adolescents in the emerging immigrant context of Western Oregon. Results from growth mixture modeling revealed two distinct classes: lower risk youth who reported little likelihood of alcohol use but whose trajectory was increasing, and higher risk youth who reported higher likelihood of alcohol use and whose trajectory was stable. We found significant differences between the two classes such that lower risk youth reported greater levels of Latino cultural orientation and parental monitoring, whereas higher risk youth reported greater levels of family cultural stress and delinquency. Results are discussed in terms of prior research and theory.     

Longitudinal Effects of Best‐Friend Communication Against Substance Use for Latino and Non‐Latino White Early Adolescents

Prior research examining peer influences on adolescent alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use has primarily focused on the positive associations that peer substance use and offers have with adolescent use. Consequently, such research has often emphasized the negative influences of peers. This study, however, operationalizes peer influence through best‐friend communication against substance use and examines whether it indirectly protects against substance use by promoting anti–substance use norms. Structural equation modeling was utilized with longitudinal survey data from 277 Latino and 350 non‐Latino white 6th–8th‐grade‐students. For Latino and non‐Latino white students, best‐friend communication was indirectly related to alcohol and cigarette use through norms. Best‐friend communication also was indirectly related to marijuana use, but only for non‐Latino white students and for male students.     

The Relation of Patterns of Coping of Inner–City Youth to Psychopathology Symptoms

This study provides empirical verification that variations in patterns of coping can explain current and future functioning of youth. The study evaluated the methods and styles of coping of inner–city youth and their relation to age, gender, ethnicity, stress levels, and internalizing and externalizing symptom levels. Three hundred seventy–two 12– to 16–year–old adolescents from inner–city schools (67.0% African American, 24.4% Hispanic; 53.41% males) participated. One hundred forty–nine were also included in a follow–up evaluation of the prospective relation of coping to functioning. A seven–factor model of coping methods was identified and found to be applicable across age groups, genders, and ethnic groups. The model was robust over time. Coping methods were categorized through cluster analysis into five styles. Styles were found to relate somewhat to demographic characteristics and stress levels. Controlling for demographic characteristics and stress levels, coping style related concurrently and prospectively to internalizing and externalizing symptom levels. Except in one instance, age, ethnicity, and gender did not interact with coping in predicting symptoms. Implications for further coping research and risk and intervention design are discussed.     

The Role of Socialization,Effortful Control,and Ego Resiliency in French Adolescents' Social Functioning

The relations among effortful control, ego resiliency, socialization, and social functioning were examined with a sample of 182 French adolescents (14–20 years old). Adolescents, their parents, and/or teachers completed questionnaires on these constructs. Effortful control and ego resiliency were correlated with adolescents' social functioning, especially with low externalizing and internalizing behaviors and sometimes with high peer competence. Furthermore, aspects of socialization (parenting practices more than family expressiveness) were associated with adolescents' effortful control, ego resiliency, and social functioning. Effortful control and ego resiliency mediated the relations between parental socialization and adolescents' peer competence and internalizing problems. Furthermore, effortful control mediated the relations between socialization and adolescents' externalizing behavior. Findings are discussed in terms of cultural and developmental variation.     

西方意识形态的具象化渗透及青年引导的应对策略

意识形态的运行过程是一个以意识形态为主导并统摄其他观念和各种感性图式的具象化过程,它将抽象的思想意识、价值观念具体为可视化的形象,并逐渐地影响人们的实际生活,使人们的日常实践被普遍支配。当今时代的西方意识形态就是以生动化的影视形象、具体化的商品物体和差别化的价值符号等具象化的方式来实现对人们生活的微观渗透,这种微观渗透力量通过可视化、立体化的具象对我国当代青年的思想观念和价值判断产生了不容忽视的影响。如何应对和清理西方意识形态的具象化渗透,将成为当代青年维护我国主流意识形态的重要使命。     

Moving Up in Rural America: Economic Attainment of Nonmetro Latino Immigrants

Rapid Hispanic population growth represents a pronounced demographic transformation in many nonmetropolitan counties, particularly since 1990. Its considerable public policy implications stem largely from high proportions of new foreign‐born residents. Despite the pressing need for information on new immigrants in nonmetro counties and a bourgeoning scholarship on new rural destinations, few quantitative analyses have measured systematically the social and economic well‐being of Latino immigrants. This study analyzes the importance of place for economic well‐being, an important public policy issue related to rural Hispanic population growth. We consider four measures of economic mobility: full‐time, year‐round employment; home ownership; poverty status; and income exceeding the median national income. We conduct this analysis for 2000 and 2006–2007 to capture two salient periods of nonmetro Hispanic population growth, using a typology that distinguishes among nonmetropolitan areas by the categories of “traditional” immigrant destinations concentrated in the Southwest and Northwest, “new” immigrant destinations to capture recent and rapid Hispanic population growth in the Midwest and Southeast, and “all other” rural destinations as a reference category representing more typical nonmetro population trends. We also compare our results to those for metropolitan destinations. We find that place type matters little for stable employment but more so for wealth accumulation and income security and mobility. Compared with urban Latino immigrants, rural Latino immigrants exhibit higher rates of homeownership as well as greater likelihoods of falling into poverty and lower likelihoods of earning a measure of U.S. median income. From 2000 to 2006–2007, rural‐urban differences deteriorated slightly in favor of urban areas. We conclude by discussing implications of these findings and those of addressing rural immigrant economic well‐being more generally.     

Nativity as a Moderator of Familial and Nonfamilial Correlates of Latino/a Youth Prosocial Behaviors

Familial and nonfamilial relations play prominent roles in fostering youths’ prosocial tendencies. The present study examined the direct and indirect relations among family conflict, parental and peer acceptance, deviant peer affiliation, and prosocial tendencies. Participants included 306 (53.8% female, M_age = 15.50, SD = .42; range = 14–18) U.S. Latino/a adolescents and their parents (87.9% mothers). The majority of adolescents were born in the United States (N = 206, 68.0%; average time in United States = 10 years) and identified as a Mexican heritage group member (N = 248, 81.0%). Findings differed by nativity as parental acceptance predicted prosocial tendencies for U.S. Latinos/as born outside the United States and peers were significant predictors of prosocial tendencies for U.S.‐born Latino/as.     

Kinship Care: A Cultural Resource of African American and Latino Families Coping with Parental Substance Abuse

SUMMARY

This paper examines kinship care as a cultural resource used by African American and Latino families coping with substance abuse by a family member. Although there is a growing body of literature on kinship care, there are no conceptual or empirical studies that have drawn or built on cultural similarities between these two groups of ethnic minority families. A framework that prioritizes cultural assessment and relevance in using familial and cultural resources is proposed to assist practitioners confronted with the demographic realities of working with social, clinical and ethnocultural complexities when serving ethnic minority families. The framework is based on practice implications raised by recent studies on kinship care and from the perspective of pertinent cross-cultural and anthropological literature.