HW#2: Mental Health Among Latinx Youth in America - By Marisa Whitaker

Nair, Rajni, and Mark Roosa, and Rebecca White, and Katharine Zeiders. “Cultural Stressors and Mental Health Symptoms Among Mexican Americans: A Prospective Study Examining the Impact of the Family and Neighborhood Context.” Journal of Youth & Adolescence, vol. 42, issue 10, 1 Oct. 2013, p. 1611-1623, Education Full Text (H. W. Wilson), doi:10.1007/s10964-012-9834-z.

This article studies the links between cultural stressors and changes in mental health symptoms from a sample of Mexican American youth. They found that youth experiences of discrimination and language hassles increased internalizing and externalizing symptoms in middle school. Analyses showed that experiences of discrimination and language hassles upon 5th grade youth were positively related to increases in symptoms at 7th grade. There were also increases in externalizing symptoms across the 2-year span.

Salas, Lorraine Moya, and Cecilia Ayón, and Maria Gurrola. “Estamos traumados, The effect of anti-immigrant sentiment and policies on the mental health of Mexican immigrant families.” Journal of Community Psychology, vol. 41, 1 Nov. 2013, p. 1005-1020, PsychINFO, doi:10.1002_jcop.21589

This study examines how Mexican immigrant families’ mental health is affected by immigration legislation, focusing on families and youth. The focus groups shared traumatic themes of their everyday lives including risking their lives, living in a constant state of fear, and feeling stressed and powerless as people. Trauma was experienced, manifested in youth and parents alike. Children live in fear of the deportation of their parents, and that they would be stranded.

Torres, Stephanie. “Immigration policy, practices, and procedures: The impact on the mental health of Mexican and Central American youth and families.” American Psychologist, vol. 37, 1 Oct. 2018, p. 843-854. PsycARTICLES.

This article researches the impact of immigration on Latino families and youth. They found that they current immigration policies create discrimination, vulnerabilities, limited access to services and more within the lives of Mexican American immigrants. With these burdens, many immigrants result to having mental health issues. Immigrant children reported violence exposure and that they migrated to escape community violence. Premigration traumas place immigrants in a greater risk for mental health issues in the future.

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Hurwich, R. E., & Watamura, S. E. (2019). Family processes among Latino Early Head Start families: Understanding the role of caregiver acculturation. Journal of Community Psychology, 47(6), 1433–1448. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22198

This study evaluates a sample of Latino Early Head Start children with a modified FSM to understand the pathways among financial pressure, parenting, parental depression, parent-child relationship, child problem behaviors and parental acculturation. Parental depressive symptoms were related to greater perceived dysfunction in parent-child relationship, and perceived dysfunction in parent-child was related to increased child externalizing and internalizing symptoms.

Manongdo, J. A., & Ramírez García, J. I. (2011). Maternal parenting and mental health of Mexican American youth: A bidirectional and prospective approach. Journal of Family Psychology, 25(2), 261–270. https://doi-org.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/10.1037/a0023004

This study found that parenting behaviors are substantially linked to youth mental health. They show how parenting and Latino youth mental health are linked to inform the development of effective youth interventions. They tested for bidirectional relations between youth-reported mental health symptoms and youth perceptions of mothers' parenting behaviors in Mexican American families from an immigrant, urban enclave. They found two factors of parenting: supportive and harsh parental control.

Safa, M. D., White, R. M. B., Mahrer, N. E., Knight, G. P., Gonzales, N. A., & Pasco, M. C. (2019). US Mexican-origin adolescents’ bicultural competence and mental health in context. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 25(2), 299–310. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000231

This study examined the assiociation between bicultural competence and mental health among US Mexican-origin youth. The associations are relative to developmental niches, components of bicultural competence, and indicators of mental health. They found a better understanding of the characteristics of contexts of developing youth, and the combined influence of sociocultural characteristics of family-neighborhood-school niches on association between bicultural competence and mental health.

White, R. M. B., Roosa, M. W., & Zeiders, K. H. (2012). Neighborhood and family intersections: Prospective implications for Mexican American adolescents’ mental health. Journal of Family Psychology, 26(5), 793–804. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029426

This study combined common perspectives to hypothesize two things. Parents perceptions of neighborhood risk by disrupting key parenting would negatively impact child's mental htaleh and that objective neighborhood risk would alter effect parent and family processes on youth mental health. They furthered a cultural perspective to hypothesize that an ethnic minority group's specific values may support parents to confront neighborhood risk. They found that increasing family level cohesion and support may support Mexican American families residing in objectively risky neighborhood to promote healthy youth development and mental health.

Kam, J. A. (2011). The Effects of Language Brokering Frequency and Feelings on Mexican-Heritage Youth’s Mental Health and Risky Behaviors. Journal of Communication, 61(3), 455–475. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01552.x

Because children are more likely to adapt to the mainstream US cultural faster than adults, including learning English, this study suggests that young language brokers often take part in challenging interactions meant for adults. They explain that youth that follow traditional Mexican culture may be sensitive to family-related stress, placing youth at a greater risk for engaging in problem behaviors.

Kapke, T. L., Grace, M. A., Gerdes, A. C., & Lawton, K. E. (2017). Latino early adolescent mental health: Examining the impact of family functioning, familism, and global self-worth. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 5(1), 27–44. https://doi-org.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/10.1037/lat0000057

This study examines the impact of individual factors and family functioning on the incidence of mental health issues of Latino early adolescents and youth. Traditionally, Latino individuals rely on family members for support. They suggest that while some aspects may strengthen cultural identity, yet it may also diminish family cohesion. Self-esteem is what may help explain the relation of factors associated with cultural adaptation process and mental health outcomes in Latino youth.

Taylor, Z. E., & Jones, B. L. (2020). Cultural Contributors to Ego‐Resiliency and Associations with Depressive Problems in Midwestern Latino Youth. Journal of Research on Adolescence (Wiley-Blackwell), 30, 349–361. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12481

This study evaluates how ego-resiliency may be important for Latino youth, because they are often exposed to high amounts of stressors that can put them at the highest risk of other adolescents for mental health issues. It is a enduring trait reflecting adaptability to day-to-day change. Given high rates of mental health plights in Latino youth, this study reiterates that researchers should assess factors that may attribute to ego-resiliency to Latino youth. They found it is possible that family support also influences mental health, or that discrepancy between parent and child endorsement of the family results in conflict that is possibly linked to detrimental youth outcomes.