Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences

This study documents the prevalence and profile of Central American grandparents raising grandchildren in the United States of America. Using nationally representative data from the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey, Central American grandparent caregivers are compared with their noncare-giving peers. Results indicate that nationally an estimated 28,000 Central Americans were raising their grandchildren, representing approximately 1 in 20 Central Americans aged 45 and older. Caregiving grandparents were significantly younger and more likely to be married, to have not completed high school, and to be out of the labor force than were noncaregivers. Almost half of caregiving households were overcrowded and approximately a quarter were below the poverty line. Only 1% of caregivers who were living in poverty were accessing social assistance. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.

The purposes of this research brief were to examine (a) whether youth reports of neighborhood qualities were significantly related to census data at the block group, measuring the same structural qualities and (b) whether the structural qualities were related to youth development either directly or indirectly through youth perceptions. Data were collected from three sources: self-report surveys, school records, and the 2000 U.S. census. A nonrandom sample of 534 Latino students from one high school in Los Angeles was used. Correlations and structural equation modeling (SEM) demonstrated that youth reports of neighborhoods were significantly related to the structural qualities. SEM demonstrated that the structural qualities were indirectly related to all four adolescent outcomes (i.e., self-esteem, self-efficacy, academic aspirations, grades) via adolescents’ perceptions.

Using a nationally representative sample from the National Educational Longitudinal Study, this research examines the longitudinal effects of race and socioeconomic status on 12th-grade educational achievement and achievement 2 years after high school. For 12th-grade outcomes, the authors found no statistical difference in scores between Hispanic and White students. Two years after high school, the results were very surprising: (a) when controlling for socioeconomic status, Hispanic students actually outperformed their White counterparts; (b) socioeconomic status was 10 times more powerful than race in predicting outcomes; and (c) White students received a greater benefit for increases in socioeconomic status than did their Hispanic counterparts.

Pregnancy among young Latinas demands attention. These teens have higher birthrates than other teen populations. Seven focus groups (N = 40) were conducted with Latinas to explore how relationships between young Latinas and their mothers, fathers, and male partners contribute to teen pregnancy. ATLAS/ti (a qualitative data analysis software program) was used to assist in coding and analysis of data. Salient themes were identified. Mothers rely on cultural values regarding sexuality and pregnancy outside of marriage and fear about birth control to dissuade their daughters from pregnancy. Fathers echo these traditional messages. Open communication about sexuality and contraception rarely occurs. Male partners increase pregnancy susceptibility given the difficulty with negotiating condom use. It is important that research and prevention programs recognize the social context in which pregnancy prevention and susceptibility occur.

Representative data show that drug abuse, delinquency, and suicide attempts are major concerns among adolescent Hispanic females. Although comorbidity research indicates that such problems tend to be related to each other, this research largely neglects Hispanic females. Using data from presentence investigations on 141 Hispanic girls sentenced to probation, the present research assesses the prevalence of drug abuse, delinquency, suicide attempts, physical and sexual abuse, and self-mutilation as well as the extent of comorbidity among these problems. Results show very high levels of violent delinquency, marijuana abuse, suicide attempts, and self-mutilation. Comorbidity was also extensive between suicide attempts, self-mutilation, physical and sexual abuse, and between these variables and drug abuse and certain forms of delinquency. This study is among the first to describe the problems of adolescent Hispanic females and highlights the need for additional research to better understand and address the serious issues many of these young women face.

In this study, we compared the depressive symptoms reported by Mexican American elders who scored higher and lower on a linguistic acculturation scale. Prevalence, equality of covariance matrices, equality of error variances, and factor structures were examined for the 20 items included in the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale. The sample consisted of 3,050 community-dwelling Mexican Americans from five states. Significant differences were found on all parameters, indicating that level of acculturation is associated with pervasive differences in the way items are endorsed on the most commonly used inventory of depressive symptoms. Results add to literature suggesting that there may not be a universal structure to symptoms. Higher or lower scores may have different implications for people representing different cultures and/or stages of acculturation, something that both researchers and clinicians should be sensitive to when interpreting results of screening tests.

College drinking behavior is a national public health concern. However, little research has been conducted to test the psychometric validity and reliability of alcohol use measures among Spanish-speaking Hispanic college students. Adopting a translation-back-translation approach, the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI) was translated into Spanish and the Razones del Consumo de Alcohol (RCA), a newly created measure of one’s reasons for drinking, was developed in Spanish. Both measures were administered to 155 Spanish-speaking students at a university in the Southwestern United States. All translated measures demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability. Support for the construct validity of the translated RAPI measure was demonstrated as gender and RCA scores were predictive of RAPI scores in their expected directions [R ² = .438, F(2, 138) = 53.36, p = .000]. Acculturation was not significantly associated with RAPI scores nor did acculturation interact with RCA scores to enhance the predictability of RAPI scores. Finally, an exploratory factor analysis was performed on the RCA revealing a one-factor solution as the most adequate description of the RCA data. Knowledge of reasons for drinking as assessed by the RCA seems useful in predicting drinking-related consequences among Hispanic college students.