This investigation sought the perceptions of a selected group of border-educated Mexican American community leaders regarding their curriculum preferences for Mexican American students of the community. The investigation was structured on the basis of a three-part theoretical framework drawn from the literature of psychology and education. The theory included the following: (1) Perceptual Psychology, (2) Philosophies of Education, and (3) Curriculum Considerations. An interview schedule organized on the basis of the theoretical framework was developed based on the Experimentalist, Conservative and Reconstructionist philosophies of education. These twenty Mexican American community leaders were interviewed in depth by the present investigator regarding their curriculum preferences for Mexican American students in their community. Among the findings, the following curriculum preferences indicated by the Mexican American community leaders appeared particularly significant: (1) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to have instruction in their native language throughout their educational careers; (2) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to experience a wide variety of positive personal relationships in the classroom and the school to strengthen their self-regard and confidence throughout their educational careers; (3) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to learn in a classroom environment where harmony between the intellectual and the emotional is continuously sought throughout their educational careers; (4) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to use their personal interests as points of departure for their learning throughout their educational careers; (5) Mexican American students, in order to be active and effective participants in society, should have the opportunity to acquire the leadership-cooperation skills of planning, thinking and deciding throughout their educational careers.

The digit span test has long been used in the study and evaluation of memory processes in children. The study of memory processes in bilingual children has received only limited attention. The purpose of the present study was to examine the influences of bilingual interference, English proficiency, and item familiarity on a task of short-term memory. One-hundred nineteen third grade subjects were assigned to one of four groups based on their language background and ethnicity. Subjects were administered the Digit Span subtest from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised in English as well as a test of general ability, the Coloured Progressive Matrices, and a reaction time measure, item identification. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and multiple regression procedures. Results showed that Mexican-American bilingual subjects who were proficient in English performed comparably to monolingual Mexican-American subjects. These results were discussed in terms of their support for the dual storage and independence positions of bilingual memory. Results of the data analysis also revealed a small but significant direct causal link between English proficiency level and digit span. This finding was discussed in terms of its support for the use of digit span measures with bilingual Mexican-American children providing the students have been determined to be proficient in English on a standardized measure. A final finding of the present study concerned the absence of a role for item familiarity as an intervening variable between English proficiency level and digit span. Results showed a direct association between English proficiency level and reaction time, but no significant association between reaction time and digit span. Implications of the current findings were discussed in relation to relevant theory and prior research findings.

The purpose of this descriptive study in Nogales, Arizona, was to replicate an investigation conducted by Avelina Trujillo (1982) in Tucson, Arizona. This investigation sought the perceptions of selected groups of Mexican-American leaders in Nogales concerning their recollected classroom relationships with their teachers. The investigation was based on a three-part theoretical framework drawn from the literature of psychology, anthropology, and education as established by Trujillo (1982). The theory included the following: (1) Perceptual Processes; (2) Cultural Processes; and (3) Interpersonal Processes. The interview schedule utilized in the Nogales study consisted of 29 statements and associated Likert type scales. Provision was made for comments for each statement. Twenty Mexican-American community leaders in Nogales, Arizona, were identified and interviewed, utilizing the interview schedule. This schedule dealt with the perceived relationships which the participants had with their various teachers. Findings indicate: (1) The participants agreed that their teachers were aware of them and their backgrounds. (2) The participants agreed that their teachers accepted them and their backgrounds. (3) The participants did not feel that their teachers neither encouraged bilingualism nor accepted the participants' native language. (4) The participants noted that their teachers appeared to be sincerely concerned about the academic health and welfare needs of the students. (5) The participants reported that their teachers aspired for them to acquire good educations. (6) The participants reported that their teachers shared with them in their educational and personal problems. The findings from this investigation were compared and contrasted with the findings of the Trujillo (1982) study. The comparison of the data in the two studies was accomplished by computing the differentials (chi square) in perception of each of the 29 items of the interview schedule. Items that were considered to be most significantly different in the two studies were discussed.

This study focused on the testimonios [life narratives] of 33 Mexican American Ph.D.s who successfully navigated educational systems and obtained their doctorates in a variety of disciplines at 15 universities across the United States. The theoretical and methodological frameworks employed were critical race theory (CRT), Latina/o critical race theory (LatCrit), and narrative analysis in order to examine power relations, multiple forms of oppression, and the intersections of race, social class, and gender within educational contexts. CRT and LatCrit frameworks were expanded by attending to the experiences of middle class participants and participants who identified as second- or third-generation college students, which challenge traditional paradigms that essentialize Mexican American communities. This study uncovered and contextualized the ways that Mexican American Ph.D.s resisted and reproduced power relations, racism, sexism, and classism through master narratives constructed by the dominant culture to justify low rates of Mexican American educational attainment. The findings suggested that as the dominant culture develops master narratives, Mexican American communities reproduce these stories as well. Mexican American communities also crafted counter-narratives that resisted the master narratives. The dominant culture master narratives were: Mexican American families do not value education; Mexican American women are not allowed to get an education; The dominant culture and Mexican American communities reproduce masculinist ideology; If Mexican Americans would work hard enough and persevere, they can succeed in education; The U.S. is a colorblind, gender-blind, and class-blind society; and Mexican Americans are only in college/graduate school because they are minorities. In addition, Mexican American communities constructed two master narratives in an effort to advocate for educational equity and increase research in Mexican American communities: Mexican Americans must struggle through educational systems and Mexican American Ph.D.s should research Mexican American issues. This study provided a venue for narratives on Mexican American educational attainment that reflected struggle and survival, privilege and merit, as well as overcoming obstacles and not finding any barriers along the way. These narratives have the power to reshape, reframe, and transform discourses of deficiency to those of empowerment and resistance in K-12 education, postsecondary education, and graduate school.

No description available.

Decreased educational attainment has been associated with numerous factors such as teenage pregnancy, repeat pregnancy, risky sexual behavior, substance use, depression, and parental distress. Educational attainment was examined among a group of predominantly Mexican American teenage mothers who were considered at high risk to have a repeat pregnancy, contract sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and use substances. Project Success Longitudinal Study is part of a national study funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. Participants were recruited from eight traditional high schools in a large South Texas school district, an area with a high rate of teenage pregnancy and substance use. The treatment intervention included a multidimensional curriculum that was implemented in the participants' high schools in addition to home- and school-based case management services. It was hypothesized that participants who received the intervention would be more likely to attain their high school degree or equivalent and that amount of treatment received would be associated with educational attainment. Additionally, it was hypothesized that profiles of participants who attained their high school degree or equivalent would differ in the areas of parental distress, social support, symptoms of depression, and substance use when compared to participants who did not attain their high school degree or equivalent. Results indicated that participants who received the intervention reported increased educational attainment during the first two years of the study. Additionally, all participants experienced positive changes on various psychosocial measures.

Background: The United States has pursued stricter immigration enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border, resulting in the deportation of approximately 2 million individuals over the past decade. This is significant in that deported persons are often caregivers of children, who are then placed at an elevated for developing mental health disorders (e.g. anxiety and depression). Mental health in youth of deported parents is a new topic to academic literature, and this study specifically examines mental health, coping strategies, and resilience in five adolescents of deported parents in Tucson, Arizona. Methods: This study employed mixed-methods, where participants completed two self-report surveys (the DASS-21 and brief COPE inventory) and a semi-structured interview with the researcher. Participant's survey responses and interviews were analyzed to assess their symptomology of depression, anxiety, and stress, exhibition of maladaptive and adaptive coping behaviors, and the factors that influence their resilience post-deportation. Results: The results of the DASS-21 found that participants experience symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, but in varying degrees. The data from the brief COPE inventory suggested that participants mostly refrained from maladaptive coping behaviors (e.g. substance use), but were not drawing from critical adaptive coping strategies like getting emotional support. The interviews revealed that certain risk factors (poverty, living instability, rapid transition to adulthood, and poor academic performance) and promotive factors (family networks, school, group activities, and future orientation) moderate their resilience following deportation. The qualitative data also revealed that participants desire and are not connected to mental health services. Conclusions: The study suggests that youth of deported parents are able to be resilient and avoid negative coping behaviors when experiencing the trauma of familial separation. However, given mild-extremely severe symptomology of depression, anxiety, and stress of participants, it was notable that none of the participants mentioned being connected to or seeking mental health services. Thus, this study's result underscore the need for a comprehensive school-based health system where mental health assistance can be provided on-site.

The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of an ethnic Spanish translation of portions of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Level 7, Form 5, with second-grade Mexican-American children to measure growth in the fundamental skills of listening, vocabulary, word analysis, reading, and mathematics.

abstract: Data from 749 Mexican-origin families across a seven-year span was used to test a model of the processes that moderate and mediate the transmission of religious values from parent to child. There were four separate reports of parenting practices (mother-report, father-report, adolescent’s report on mother, and adolescents report on father) and models were tested separately based on each report. Results suggest the mother’s role was more influential than fathers in transmitting religious values to their child, across parent and adolescent-report. In addition, results revealed different, and opposing effects for mother’s self-report of parenting practices and adolescents report on mother’s parenting behavior. Adolescents’ perceptions of maternal acceptance and consistency increased the likelihood of adolescents maintaining their religious values across adolescence, whereas mothers’ self-reported parenting practices negatively predicted late adolescents’ religious values. Lastly, results of this study lend support for the differential role of mothers in fathers in the development of adolescents’ social competence, specifically in the context of their religious values and use of positive parenting practices. The findings highlight the unique contributions of each reports’ perceptions in studying the transmission of religious values in families, as well, as the distinct role of mothers and fathers in the development of adolescents’ social competence. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2018

abstract: The ability to self-regulate is arguably the single most important skill a child develops early in life. Self-regulation skills are consistently linked to indices of health, success, and wellbeing. The predominating perspective in self-regulation developmental research has emphasized the role of the early caregiving environment, specifically maternal characteristics and behavior, in shaping infants’ emerging regulatory skills. Using two complementary studies, this dissertation draws from a longitudinal sample of 322 low-income, Mexican American mother-infant dyads to better understand mothers’ and infants’ unique roles in contributing to emerging infant regulatory processes. The first study explores the unique contributions of intrinsic (i.e., infant gaze) and extrinsic (i.e., maternal gaze) factors in understanding infant dysregulated emotion and behavior during mother-infant interactions. Using actor partner interdependent models (APIMs), the role of infant and maternal gaze in understanding infant dysregulation were examined longitudinally across three mother-infant interaction tasks (i.e., soothing, teaching, and peekaboo), as well as within task. The expected relations among gaze and dysregulation did not emerge in the longitudinal model; however, differential patterns of associations emerged by task. Findings are discussed within the intersection of risk, culture, and the dyadic interaction context. The second study connects patterns of specific maternal behaviors (i.e., acknowledging, gaze, vocal appropriateness, appropriate range of affect, consistency of style, resourcefulness, and touch) associated with maternal sensitivity to infant cortisol reactivity and recovery. Latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed four distinct combinations of maternal sensitivity behaviors. One pattern emerged as a risk profile—differentiated by higher maternal stress—and was associated with significantly more infant cortisol recovery compared to other profiles. Both studies offer a more nuanced understanding of the respective roles of infant and maternal factors in the development of self-regulation. Further explication of developmental processes involved in early regulatory functioning has implications for advancing both scientific knowledge and improved targeting of prevention and early intervention efforts to promote optimal child outcomes, particularly in populations that at increased risk for developmental psychopathology. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Family and Human Development 2019