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Although the number of students who complete high school continues to rise, dramatic differences in school success remain across racial/ethnic groups. The current study addressed Hispanic adolescents' academic performance by investigating the relationships of parental involvement, culturally responsive teaching, sense of school belonging, and academic self-efficacy and academic performance. Participants were 478 (51.5% female) Hispanic 7th graders in the US-Mexico borderlands. Based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, a structural model was tested. Results showed that the proposed model was supported by demonstrating significant indirect effects of parental involvement, culturally responsive teaching, and sense of school belonging on academic performance. Furthermore, academic self-efficacy was found to mediate the relationships between parental involvement, culturally responsive teaching, and sense of school belonging and academic performance. The current study provides a useful psychoecological model to inform educators and psychologists who seek to meet the needs of Hispanic students.

Previous studies of college entrance and graduation have identified strong ethnic identity, cultural congruity, and low acculturative stress as protective factors for academic persistence among Latina/o college students. However, lacking in the literature is a more differentiated and complete understanding of the complex relationships between cultural and psychosocial factors that may lead to college success for students attending Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) of higher education. Proposing a structural equation model, we examined positive effects of ethnic identity, cultural congruity, and low acculturative stress on emotional wellbeing and GPA of Latina/o students attending HSIs. Further, we explored whether sense of belonging and academic self-efficacy mediate the relationships between the aforementioned cultural factors and emotional wellbeing and GPA. Participants were 289 Latina/o college students attending a Hispanic-Serving Institution in a Southwest city. Results showed that cultural factors, including low acculturative stress and strong ethnic identity, had significant positive effects on emotional wellbeing and GPA. However, the effects of cultural congruity were not substantiated. The mediating effects of sense of belonging and academic self-efficacy on cultural factors and college success outcomes were partially supported. Implications for improving adjustment among Latina/o college students attending Hispanic-Serving Institutions are discussed.

This article describes the development and initial validation of a measure of middle school students’ perspectives of culturally responsive teaching practices. The Student Measure of Culturally Responsive Teaching (SMCRT) was developed by modifying items on the Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy (CRTSE), which measures teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding their culturally responsive teaching practices. Data obtained from a sample of 748 seventh-grade students (63.9% Latino/as) were used to conduct exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses that yielded three factors: Diverse Teaching Practice, Cultural Engagement, and Diverse Language Affirmation. The three-factor model was compared with two competing models, yielding a second-order factor model as the final model. Initial validity of the SMCRT was demonstrated through tests of measurement invariance across subgroups of gender, immigrants, and Latino/as versus non-Latino/as and correlational analyses with SMCRT, teacher support, and school belonging. Internal consistency was also tested using Cronbach’s alpha. Results of the data analyses suggest that SMCRT is a psychometrically sound measure of seventh-grade students’ perceptions of their teachers’ culturally responsive teaching practices.

Although the numbers of Arab American immigrant youth in schools is increasing, there is little understanding of their mental health and the sociocultural factors that might influence it. This study examined the relationship between 2 sociocultural factors (i.e., acculturative stress and religious practices) and internalizing symptoms in first- and second-generation Muslim Arab American adolescents. Adolescents (n = 88) ages 11 to 18 completed measures related to acculturative stress, religious practices, internalizing symptoms, and general demographic information. Results of multiple regression analyses found that acculturative stress significantly predicted internalizing symptoms. Gender was found to moderate this association. No differences in the reported acculturative stress and internalizing symptoms were found between youth of different generational status (i.e., first- vs. second-generation). Finally, adolescents' organizational religious practices, but not their private religious practices, were found to be associated with lower acculturative stress. Implications are discussed related to how school psychologists can provide culturally responsive services to this population. (PsycINFO Database Record

In this study, we proposed and tested a structural model based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory in order to further understand alcohol use among Hispanic adolescents, who are at greater risk of alcohol use than adolescents of other racial/ethnic groups. Family cohesion, school connectedness, and peer influence were conceptualized as three primary process factors, while psychological distress was used as a mediating factor and Mexican culture orientation as a cultural factor. The sample comprised 444 Mexican American adolescents (aged 16-20) living along the U.S./Mexico border. The proposed model explained 33 % of the variance in alcohol use. Most of the hypothesized relationships in the proposed model were supported: (a) low family cohesion had significant indirect effects mediated through psychological distress, poor school connectedness, and negative peer influence; (b) poor school connectedness had significant indirect effects mediated through psychological distress and negative peer influence; (c) psychological distress had a significant direct effect as well as a significant indirect effect mediated through negative peer influence; and (d) negative peer influence had the strongest direct effect. However, contrary to the hypothesis, Mexican culture orientation was not a protective factor, but rather had a significant positive relationship with negative peer influence. Lastly, it was found that gender, school status, Anglo cultural orientation, and severity of alcohol use did not have any moderating effects. Based on the collective findings, suggestions for primary prevention programs designed to reduce underage drinking among Mexican American youth were given.

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We investigated the "immigrant paradox" phenomenon by examining differences in problem behavior engagement and exposure to risk factors across four adolescent groups: 1,157 first-generation, 1,498 second-generation, and 3,316 White and minority third or higher generations. Latent mean differences in problem behavior engagement (i.e., academic failure, aggression, and substance use) and risk factors (i.e., low socioeconomic status, poor family relationship, and low sense of school belonging) were associated with significant differences across adolescent groups. Results supported the generational status effect by demonstrating sequentially greater adolescent problem behavior engagement. However, the difference in exposure to risk factors across adolescent groups only partially supported the immigrant paradox. Further, the multiple group analysis of the relationships between risk factors and engagement in problem behaviors showed increased susceptibility among second generation immigrants for substance use, White natives for academic failure and substance use, and minority natives for physical aggression. Study findings have implications for understanding how the immigrant paradox leads to different adjustment patterns and problem behavior manifestations among immigrant and native adolescents.