abstract: During adolescence, friends are a central part of adolescents' daily lives, they serve as significant sources of emotional support and companionship (Keefe & Berndt, 1996; Way & Robinson, 2003) as well as provide opportunities to negotiate interpersonal conflicts and disagreements (Laursen & Pursell, 2009). This study was designed to examine the nature and correlates of friendships, capturing the multidimensional nature of these relationships. Specifically, three goals were proposed: (a) to use a pattern-analytic approach to identify different profiles of adolescents' friendships along three dimensions: intimacy, negativity, and involvement; (b) to examine linkages between profile membership and adolescents' cultural orientations and values; and (c) to explore the relation between profile membership and adolescent well-being. Participants were 246 Mexican-origin adolescents (M = 12.50 years; SD = 0.58) who participated in home interviews and a series of nightly phone calls. Adolescents reported on their friendship qualities, their cultural orientations and values, as well as their depressive symptoms, risky behaviors, and on their current grades (GPA). Adolescents' time spent with best friends was calculated from the seven nightly phone calls. Results revealed three distinct latent profiles: Positive Engagement, Moderate Engagement, and Low Involvement. Profile membership was not linked to adolescents' cultural orientations and values. Further, associations emerged between profile membership and adolescents' GPA, but not their risky behaviors and depressive symptoms. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Family and Human Development 2011

Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States with the states that border Mexico having a greater percentage of persons of Mexican origin residing in them. Herbs are widely used by persons of Mexican origin, however, little is known about specifics surrounding these cultural practices. An ethnographic study in the border region of Nogales, Arizona - Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, discovered the cultural components of values, beliefs, practices, and experiences of 9 women of Mexican origin who resided in the Arizona/Sonora, Mexico border region related to using manzanilla tea during the childbearing period. Data from semi-structured in-depth interviews were analyzed using a thematic, content analysis process. Intergenerational transmission of cultural health care knowledge emerged from abstraction of the findings. Details from the women's voices provide enlightenment surrounding the values, beliefs, and practices related to the use of manzanilla tea for childbearing. Nursing should be able to integrate this knowledge into care practices and education thereby promoting more culturally relevant care during the childbearing period for women of Mexican origin.

This study sought to understand why college students of Mexican origin underutilize mental health services (i.e., university counseling services). Previous research has identified several potential reasons for the underutilization of mental health services by Mexican Americans. These reasons can be grouped into one of three categories: (1) negative attitudes toward mental illness and mental health services, (2) greater use of alternative, informal resources, and (3) barriers. To examine these factors in the context of help-seeking behavior, Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used. The TPB assumes that the best predictor of a certain behavior is an individual’s intention to perform that specific behavior. This model includes three determinants of the intent to perform a certain behavior: (1) attitudes toward the behavior, (2) subjective normative beliefs about performing the behavior, and (3) perceived behavioral control of performing the behavior. The primary aim of this study was to examine the meditating effects of culture on the TPB and investigate the unique factors contributing to help-seeking behavior in college students of Mexican origin reporting anxious and/or depressive symptoms. Results showed that the TPB was effective in predicting help-seeking behavior, with attitudes and subjective normative beliefs as the strongest predictors. Acculturation and cultural values did not mediate the TPB model as originally predicted, however the TPB determinants differed in predictability between help-seekers and non help-seekers. Specifically, among help-seekers, attitudes predicted intent to seek psychological services; among non help-seekers, subjective normative beliefs predicted intent. Help-seekers also reported more ease than non help-seekers on a few of the steps toward help-seeking. Lastly, qualitative measures supported findings based on the TPB and provided additional support for the strong stigmatizing views among college students of Mexican origin. These findings suggest that non help-seekers are a complex group and other variables, such as acculturative stress, perceived social support, and screening participants on perceived symptom distress and impairment, need to be addressed. In addition, subjective normative beliefs need to be considered in the development of psychoeducational interventions which encourage seeking psychological services for individuals of Mexican origin experiencing significant anxious or depressive symptoms. / text

The size of the Mexican-origin population in the United States means that its health patterns have important implications for the country’s overall population health. Understanding how this population is woven into the country’s complex social patterning of health is critical to understanding current social disparities in health. Drawing on a health disparities perspective and nationally representative datasets, this dissertation addresses key gaps in the social demographic literature on the health of the Mexican-origin population through three empirical chapters that examine how multiple measures of cardiovascular health are distributed across diverse social status and temporal configurations. I first examine how the obesity epidemic has unfolded across multiple temporal (age, period, and cohort) and social dimensions (gender, nativity, and race) for the Mexican-origin population. I find that period rather than cohort forces have shaped the rise in obesity among the Mexican-origin population. Furthermore, the pronounced group differences in obesity prevalence have remained stable across periods and cohorts, with the exception of a growing nativity gap among Mexican-origin women, among whom obesity has increased faster for U.S.-born individuals compared with foreign-born individuals. I next address the intersection of two additional temporal and social determinants of health: duration of residence in the United States and educational attainment. Building on research documenting a weak relationship between education and health for Mexican immigrants, I assess whether duration of U.S. residence strengthens this association. The patterns vary by outcome, but generally indicate that negative education gradients in health are more pronounced for long-term Mexican immigrants than for recent Mexican immigrants and that the education gradients of long-term Mexican immigrants resemble those of U.S.-born Whites. I then engage the literature linking acculturation to poor health among Mexican immigrants. Acculturation models of immigrant health have come under critique for ignoring the structural determinants of health. I engage in this debate by using segmented assimilation theory—which emphasizes the role of structural factors—to examine whether education conditions the association between acculturation and health. I find support for the idea that the detrimental influence of acculturation on cardiovascular health is concentrated among Mexican immigrant adults with low levels of education. / text

Mexican-origin adolescent girls have some of the highest rates of unplanned teen pregnancy and births in the United States. Family ecological and feminist perspectives indicate that gender and sexual socialization processes contribute to girls' ability to promote their sexual health, yet little is known about how Mexican-origin girls develop sexual agency. In this culture, mothers are a primary socializing agent about sexuality in the family, and this study examined how mother-daughter sexual communication fostered or inhibited girls' sexual agency. The narrative method "scaffolded interviewing" was used to facilitate open talk about sexuality. Interviews were conducted with 25 girls ages 15-17 and separate interviews with mothers in a southwestern city, with a pilot study first conducted to refine the interview script. Mothers and daughters were asked reciprocal questions about what girls learned about sexuality from mothers and other contexts. The Listening Guide, a voice-based relational approach, was used to interpret the data. Analysis suggested that girls whose mothers provided more open and comprehensive sexual communication, and talked to them before puberty, felt more agentic to assert their needs for sexual safety. Girls who had infrequent, content-limited communication with mothers felt less able to manage fear-based school sex education messages and peer sexual exposure. Analysis of concordance between mothers' and daughters' narratives showed that different perceptions of what constitutes sex talk and sexual autonomy inhibited daughters' disclosure to mothers about sexual concerns. These findings suggest that mother-daughter relationships are critical for sexual health promotion. Implications for educators, practitioners, and families are discussed.

abstract: The central focus of this dissertation was to build on prior research that has underscored the significance of investigating culturally informed values and beliefs to promote racial-ethnic minority youths’ adjustment. In particular, Study 1 examined how Mexican-origin adolescents’ endorsements of familism values contributed to and moderated established theoretical associations within the achievement motivation process (i.e., contextual environment/individual factors, motivational beliefs, achievement-related strategies) and ultimately informed educational adjustment over time, or 5 years postpartum. Findings from Study 1 supported hypotheses regarding the dual role of familism values as both a promotive and protective factor throughout the achievement motivation process. Importantly findings highlight familism as an important cultural asset to consider as a potential facilitator of Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ postpartum educational attainment. In addition to examining the promotive and protective function of familism, Study 2 explored how constellations of culturally informed promotive and protective factors, based on familism values, familial ethnic socialization, mothers’ and adolescents’ education aspirations, and social support (from family, peers, and dating partners), directly informed Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ educational adjustment postpartum. Three distinct profiles emerged across social, aspirational, and familial domains, when adolescents were in their third trimester of pregnancy. Profiles were distinguished by unique patterns among study variables as a function of different levels of assets and resources. Furthermore, coresidency and economic hardship emerged as significant predictors of membership into latent profiles; and membership in specific profile groups significantly predicted educational attainment five years postpartum. Patterns of promotive/protective factors identified in the current study illustrate the importance of considering how the combination of multiple factors, across culturally salient domains, work in tandem to inform Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ long-term educational attainment. Overall study findings offer a comprehensive insight into how familism values and other culturally informed factors contribute to the achievement motivation process and educational adjustment of pregnant and parenting Mexican-origin adolescent. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Family and Human Development 2016

abstract: Both theoretical and empirical research has recognized the importance of contextual factors for Mexican-origin youths' educational outcomes. The roles of parents, teachers, and peers have been predictive of Mexican-origin youths' academic achievement, educational expectations, and decision to enroll in postsecondary education. However, few studies have examined the interdependence among sociocultural context characteristics in predicting Mexican-origin youths' educational outcomes. In this dissertation, two studies address this limitation by using a person-centered analytical approach. The first study identified profiles of Mexican-origin youth using culturally relevant family characteristics. The second study identified profiles of Mexican-origin youth using culturally relevant school characteristics. The links between profiles and youths' academic achievement, educational expectations, and postsecondary enrollment were examined in both studies. Overall, this dissertation contributes to the growing body of literature that aims to understand risk and protective processes related to Mexican-origin youths' academic achievement, educational expectations, and postsecondary enrollment. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Family and Human Development 2017

abstract: Sexual risk taking is prevalent in adolescence, particularly among Latino teens, and can have serious consequences in the form of contraction of STIs, HIV, and increased risk of unintended pregnancy. Family contexts characterized by conflict and lack of support are antecedents of adolescent sexual risk taking, but evidence elucidating the mechanisms underlying this association is lacking. The current study sought to test two potential pathways to sexual risk taking within the framework of social developmental theory, among a sample of 189 Mexican origin adolescents and their caregivers interviewed in the 7th, 8th, and 12th grades. Structural equation modeling was utilized to examine pathways from 7th grade family risk to age of sexual initiation, number of lifetime sexual partners, and condom nonuse reported in the 12th grade. Deviant peer affiliations and academic engagement at 8th grade were tested as mediators of this relationship for boys and girls. Results confirm the importance of the family context, with family risk exerting direct effects on the number of lifetime sexual partners for both genders, and on age of sexual initiation for females only. Deviant peer affiliations serve as a mediator of family risk for males, but not females. When included in a model alongside deviant peers, academic engagement does not play the hypothesized mediating role between family risk and any of the sexual risk outcomes. Future research ought to consider additional mediators that better account for the relation between family risk and sexual risk taking among females. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2012

abstract: The overarching goal of this dissertation was to contribute to the field’s understanding of young children’s development of ethnic-racial identification. In particular, Study 1 presented the adaptation of three measures that are developmentally appropriate for assessing young children’s ethnic-racial attitudes, ethnic-racial centrality, and ethnic-racial knowledge, and tested the psychometric properties of each measure. Findings from Study 1 provided limited initial support for the construct validity and reliability of the measures; importantly, there were many differences in the descriptives and measurement properties based on the language in which children completed the measures. In addition to measurement of ethnic-racial identification, Study 2 used the measures developed in Study 1 and tested whether Mexican-origin mothers’ adaptive cultural characteristics (i.e., ERI affirmation, ethnic-racial centrality, and involvement in Mexican culture) when children were 3 years of age predicted greater cultural socialization efforts with children at 4 years of age and, in turn, children’s ethnic-racial identification (i.e., children’s ethnic-racial attitudes, ethnic-racial centrality, ethnic-racial knowledge, and identification as Mexican) at 5 years of age. Furthermore, children’s characteristics (i.e., gender and skin tone) were tested as moderators of these processes. Findings supported expected processes from mothers’ adaptive cultural characteristics to children’s ethnic-racial identification via mothers’ cultural socialization across boys and girls, however, relations varied by children’s skin tone. Findings highlight the important role of children’s individual characteristics in cultural socialization and young children’s developing ethnic-racial identification over time. Overall, given the paucity of studies that have examined ethnic-racial identification among young children, the results from Study 1 and Study 2 have the potential to stimulate growth of knowledge in this area. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Family and Human Development 2016