Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences

Goodnow’s (1992) two-step model of intergeneration agreement was applied to parental socialization of ethnic identity. Young adults of Mexican descent (M = 20.3 years, SD =3.1) completed questionnaires on their ethnic beliefs, their perceptions of their parents’ beliefs, and their relationships with their parents. Parents of the young adults answered questions about their own ethnic beliefs and their childrearing goals and practices. The relation between parents’beliefs and young adults’beliefs was mediated by young adults’ perceptions of their parents’ beliefs. The difference between young adults’ beliefs and their mother’s beliefs was a function of the accuracy of young adults’perceptions of their mother’s beliefs and their desire to be like their mothers. The difference between young adults’beliefs and their father’s beliefs was a function of the accuracy of young adults’ perceptions of their father’s beliefs.

In this descriptive study, the perceived stress, coping, and coping effectiveness of 158 low-income, urban, Mexican American 10th graders were assessed using open-ended and structured interview procedures. A total of 95% of participants were able to identify a difficult life event stressor and at least one way they coped with this event. Participants, particularly females, most frequently identified family-related events as being the most difficult recent life event stressor. To manage stress, participants most commonly reported using active coping strategies, followed by family social support, self-reliance, and behavioral avoidance. Females were more likely than males to seek family support and to vent emotions when coping with stress. Participants were most likely to use active, problem-focused strategies when confronting school-and personal-related stressors, and to find coping most helpful when dealing with stressful school events. Findings are discussed in terms of the urban, ethnic-minority backgrounds of participants and directions for further research.

This article analyzes the factors that explain the lower earnings of Mexican immigrants relative to natives and explores whether some of the discrepancies in immigrant-native earnings reflect different patterns of income attainment between the two groups. Using data from the 1990 Panel Study of Income Dynamics/Latino National Political Survey, a series of incremental regression models are conducted. Separate models for immigrants and natives reveal that education, occupation, and metropolitan location have a large positive effect on the earnings of native-born Mexican men but no significant effect on immigrants. For immigrants, work experience in the United States increases earnings. Working in manufacturing and living in the South significantly decrease the earnings of immigrants. However, both benefit substantially from union membership. The findings suggest that policy interventions to improve the socioeconomic status of Mexican Americans need to be responsive to different patterns of economic integration.

Based on a replication and modification of an earlier study, 43 Cuban American participants judged 15 fictitious portraits of male adolescents on four rating scales (Scales A to D), as well as judged degrees of cultural similarity or difference among the portraits (Scale E). The portraits reflected a diversity of characteristics related to location of current residence, language spoken, parents’ethnicity, parents’occupation, parents’highest educational levels, family religion, and annual family income. A multidimensional scaling analysis of Scale E data extracted three dimensions: Spanish-Only Speakers/ Non-Spanish Speakers (42% of explained variance), Affluence/Non-Affluence (28% of explained variance), and an uninterpretable dimension (5% of explained variance). In addition, mean portrait ratings on Scale A (Cultural Similarity) and Scale D (Comfort) were correlated significantly with portrait coordinates on the Affluence/Non-Affluence dimension. In a cluster analysis of Scale E data, subgroups of portraits were formed on a variety of cultural traits and not on ethnicity alone.

This research of 1990 census data examines the impact of the substantial entrepreneurship among Cubans in Florida’s cities on urban workers, especially on immigrants from Latin America. The large Cuban business community does not employ a significant number of Latino immigrants, except for recent Cuban immigrants. Non-Cuban Latino immigrants, however, appear quite successful in finding employment in the general economy, hired by non-Latinos. The high levels of entrepreneurship among Nicaraguans suggest that some Latino immigrants are flourishing business owners who contribute to the growth of Florida’s economy. The economic impact of Latin American migration depends on the national origin group; overall, Latino immigrants are likely to be contributors to Florida’s economy.

This study provides a detailed multiple-choice self-report analysis of home, work, and other public locations where drug offenders report using drugs. Specific settings were examined as a function of gender and Latino versus Anglo ethnicity. The participants for this study were 391 individuals attending drug diversion programs in Southern California. The single most frequently reported location of use was the participants’living rooms with a small group of friends. There was no evidence that Latinos were relatively likely to use at home, which had been suggested in previous work. Rather, Latinos differed from Anglos most by showing a relative preference for outdoor locations of use at home or work contexts. These results could reflect a lifestyle difference between Anglos and Latinos.

This study examines mental health and behavioral sequela of heavy drinking in adolescence among Mexican American adults between 18 and 59 years of age. Previous research with U.S. population samples has shown that role performance and role transitions in adulthood are impaired by adolescent substance abuse problems. To test this hypothesis, data from the Mexican American Prevalence and Services Survey were used. Using bivariate and multivariate analyses, early adolescent heavy drinkers were compared with adult heavy drinkers, light to moderate drinkers, and abstainers on various outcomes. Outcomes included DSM-III-R mood, anxiety, and drug abuse or dependence assessed by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview in a probability sample of 3,000 adults in Fresno, California. Whereas adolescent heavy drinkers had higher lifetime mood and drug abuse or dependence disorders, and higher rates of suicide attempts and behavior problems than abstainers or moderate drinkers, adult heavy drinkers also had high rates of mood disorders and arrests in bivariate comparisons. In multivariate contrasts, adolescent heavy drinkers were three times more likely to have lifetime drug abuse or dependence diagnoses than the other subgroups and were twice as likely to have attempted suicide. Implications for preventive interventions in the Mexican American population are discussed.