The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among different levels of acculturation on the childbearing beliefs and practices of pregnant Mexican American adolescents living in Southwest border regions. A descriptive correlational design was used in this study. Three instruments were used to collect data. A total of 73 pregnant Mexican American adolescents participated in the study. The Laredo sample and the Tucson sample were identified as true bicultural samples. The El Paso group was identified as a Mexican-oriented bicultural sample. All geographical areas had an equal acceptance of traditional Mexican medicine and biomedical beliefs. Laredo and Tucson adolesents' beliefs in the traditional Mexican childbearing culture was directly related to their acculturation level. For the El Paso group, there was a low negative correlation which indicated that being more or less acculturated did not necessarily affect the adolescents' beliefs in the traditional Mexican childbearing culture.

Guided by Ogbu's cultural-ecological model of human development, this comparative study offers a comprehensive and explicit way of conceptualizing and measuring parenting within the cultural context. Multiple hypotheses are generated for the cross-cultural comparison of parenting styles in Asian Americans and European Americans. The study uses the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health survey data collected from a nationally representative sample of adolescents from grades 7 to 11. Logistic regression, ordered logit, and OLS regression models are employed to analyze ethnicity effects on parenting characteristics and adolescent competencies separately, adding adolescent gender, age, and parent education level as statistical controls. This study explains why family-based and individual-based parenting styles are culturally appropriate for competence acquisition in Asian-American and European-American families respectively. Findings of this study suggest that Asian parenting is largely motivated by the welfare of the family rather than the individual's needs. This pattern is seen in the high emphasis on education, different parental control levels over various behavior domains, characteristics of parental warmth and school involvement, and the way parents approach their adolescents. Greatly influenced by their cultural values about competencies necessary for success, Asian-American parents apparently inculcate the sense of filial obligation in adolescents with an emphasis on school success. European-American parents, on the other hand, develop the quality of self-expression in adolescents with an emphasis on self-esteem. Family-based parenting may be more advantageous to academic and behavioral competencies while individual-based parenting is relatively more effective for psychological adjustments. However, adolescents from both groups score reasonably well over measures of all competence variables. Thus, they may be all considered competent within their cultural contexts, with their differences echoing the fundamental diversity between the two parenting styles. This study presents some challenges to the traditional way of understanding and judging Asian parenting. A more complete scientific understanding of Asian Parenting would be useful for explaining competence acquisition in Asian-American adolescents. / Graduation date: 2003

The purpose of these studies was to examine the predictors of African American and European American adolescents’ attitudes toward affirmative action (Study 1) and school desegregation (Study 2) policies. It was hypothesized that support for both policies would be higher among adolescents who (1) attended more racially diverse classes, (2) held less prejudiced racial attitudes, (3) were more aware of historical and continuing racial inequality and discrimination, (4) described themselves as politically liberal, and (5) had engaged in more racial identity exploration. Participants in both studies included African American and European American adolescents ages 14 to 17 attending a high school in the Midwestern U.S. On the first day of data collection in both studies, adolescents completed assessments of the hypothesized predictor variables in the context of their high school social studies classrooms. On the second day of data collection, adolescents learned about either an affirmative action (Study 1) or a school desegregation (Study 2) policy that had been proposed for their school. Immediately following the policy presentations, adolescents reported their opinions of the policy in open-ended and forced-choice formats. Across studies, results indicated that African American and European American adolescents often held significantly different views of race, racism, and race-related policies. In general, African American adolescents were more aware of racial discrimination, endorsed more positive views about African Americans, and were more supportive of affirmative action and school desegregation policies than European American adolescents. Predictors of individuals’ views of race-related policies also varied by participant race. Among African American adolescents, higher awareness of interracial disparities and discrimination predicted stronger support of affirmative action and school desegregation. Among European American adolescents, in contrast, higher awareness of interracial disparities and discrimination predicted weaker support of affirmative action and school desegregation. More work is needed to examine the origins of differences between African American and European American adolescents’ understanding of, and beliefs about, race in society. / text

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Western Seminary, Portland, Or., 1997. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-200).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Lombard, Ill., 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-221).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Lombard, Ill., 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-221).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-113). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

This study explored whether a relationship exists between smoking behaviors and racial discrimination induced anger among Black adolescents. Participants consisted of 134 Black adolescents from 14 to 18 years of age who frequently visited a recreation center in the Northeast. Forty-four participants were males and 90 were females. All participants were administered a modified version of the CAGE questionnaire, a background information questionnaire, and a measure designed to assess the extent to which they feel angry because they had been discriminated against. Only age was found to be predictive of scores on the CAGE. Only gender was found to be predictive of smoking frequency. The Black Anger Measure (BAM) was significantly correlated with smoking behaviors. Some implications for theory, research and practice are suggested.

This study analyzed the effects of acculturation, locus of control, and incidence of inhalant use on Mexican Americans. Information was collected from 275 subjects at three middle schools and one treatment center. The instrument consisted of Levenson's Locus of Control Scale, the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans, and an incidence of use and family relationship questionnaire developed for this study. Statistical analysis indicated a relationship between acculturation and inhalant use. Further examination revealed relationships between a family members' use and subjects' inhalant use; subjects' alcohol use and inhalant use; and subjects' marijuana use and inhalant use. Information implied that prevention and intervention programs should focus on children of substance users and further research is needed surrounding the role of acculturation.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Depression in African American (AA) adolescents is a prevalent mental health problem, can result in serious concurrent and long-term effects, and is associated with health disparities due to underutilization of mental health services. Initiatives to reduce disparities among depressed AA adolescents require a greater understanding of the experience of depression from their own point of view. The purpose of this dissertation was to generate a comprehensive theoretical framework that describes how AA adolescents experience depression throughout adolescence. The information gained about how AA adolescents understand and manage depressive symptoms, and in some cases seek and use mental health services will contribute to initiatives to reduce behavioral health disparities. This dissertation project was composed of two components. The first component was an integrative review of studies that explored associations between adolescent coping responses and depression. The integrative review summarized and integrated research from the past ten years that examined coping techniques of depressed adolescents. It revealed that the use of active coping strategies plays an important role in recovery from depression. The second component was a grounded theory study which included a sample of 22 community-based AA young adults (ages 18-21) and 5 clinic-based AA adolescents (ages 13-17). During semi-structured interviews, participants described their experiences with depression as adolescents. In addition, a timeline was constructed that included major events related to the unfolding of depression, including treatment seeking, which occurred during adolescence. Data generated from the grounded theory study were analyzed and resulted in two qualitatively derived products. The first is a typology titled Being With Others that depicts interaction patterns of depressed AA adolescents with people in their lives. The five categories in the typology are keeping others at bay, striking out at others, seeking help from others, joining in with others, and having others reach out. The second product is a theoretical framework titled Weathering through the Storm that describes how depression in AA adolescents unfolds over time. The five phases of the framework are labeled enduring stormy weather, braving the storm alone, struggling with the storm, finding shelter in the storm, and moving out of the storm.