U.S. Mexican-origin Adolescents' Bicultural Competence and Mental Health in Context

Overview

Journal Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol

Specialties Psychology
Social Sciences

Date 2018 Oct 2

PMID 30272470

Citations 11

Authors

M Dalal Safa

Rebecca M B White

Nicole E Mahrer

George P Knight

Nancy A Gonzales

Michelle C Pasco

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined the prospective association (from Mage = 15.84 to 17.38 years) between bicultural competence and mental health among U.S. Mexican-origin adolescents relative to multiple (a) developmental niches, (b) components of bicultural competence, and (c) indicators of mental health.

Method: Participants included 749 adolescents (49% female, 29.7% Mexico-born) recruited during late childhood and followed through late adolescence. We used latent profile analyses to identify adolescents' developmental niches based on sociocultural characteristics of the family, school, and neighborhood contexts and multiple-group structural equation modeling to examine whether these niches moderated the association between bicultural competence and mental health.

Results: We identified 5 distinct adolescents' developmental niches. We found no association between bicultural competence and internalizing symptoms across niches; bicultural facility predicted lower externalizing symptoms among adolescents developing in niches characterized by immigrant families and predominantly Latino schools and neighborhoods.

Conclusions: The diversity found among U.S. Mexican-origin adolescents' niches underscores the need to assess context broadly by including a range of settings. Studying multiple components of bicultural competence across numerous cultural domains may provide a better understanding of any mental health benefits of biculturalism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Citing Articles

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Contextualizing Bicultural Competence Across Youths' Adaptation From High School to College: Prospective Associations With Mental Health and Substance Use.

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