Acculturation and Aggression in Latino Adolescents: a Structural Model Focusing on Cultural Risk Factors and Assets

Overview

Journal J Abnorm Child Psychol

Publisher Springer

Date 2006 Oct 5

PMID 17019628

Citations 43

Authors

Paul R Smokowski

Martica L Bacallao

Affiliations

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Abstract

The specific aim of this investigation was to map cultural factors associated with aggressive behavior in Latino adolescents. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 481 foreign- and U.S.-born Latino adolescents living in North Carolina and Arizona. Structural Equation Modeling was used to validate a conceptual model linking adolescent and parent culture-of-origin and U.S. cultural involvement, acculturation conflicts, and perceived discrimination to family processes (familism and parent-adolescent conflict) and adolescent aggression. Parent-adolescent conflict was the strongest cultural risk factor followed by perceived discrimination. Familism and adolescent culture-of-origin involvement were key cultural assets associated with less aggressive behavior. Exploratory mediation analyses suggested that familism and parent-adolescent conflict mediated the effects of acculturation conflicts, parent and adolescent culture-of-origin involvement, and parent U.S. cultural involvement on adolescent aggression. Implications for prevention programming were discussed.

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