Assessing Future Expectations of Low-Income Minority Young Men: Survival-Threats and Positive Expectations

Abstract

Future expectations, a subset of overall orientation, represent youths’ most realistic appraisals of future outcomes, and has been demonstrated to be associated with a range of health risk behaviors and wellbeing. The current study extends previous measurement efforts to operationalize and measure future expectations by estimating a multidimensional model of future expectations encompassing both positive and survival-based expectations, and using longitudinal data to test the consistency of these constructs over time. The current work uses data from six waves of the Chicago Youth Development Study (n=338), a sample of African American and Latino young men from low income neighborhoods in an urban center, to test a hypothesized multidimensional structure of future expectations across adolescence. Test retest confirmatory factor analyses from six waves of data covering the mean age range of 12 to 19 years reveal good model fit for the hypothesized multidimensional model of future expectations at each wave. Strong measurement invariance based on race/ethnicity is established for the multidimensional model. Implications for a latent construct approach to future expectations with low-income racial/ethnic minority young men are discussed.

Examining the effects of emotional and cognitive desensitization to community violence exposure in male adolescents of color.

“…Subsequent waves were collected when participants were, on average 13, 14, 15, 18 and 19 years of age (Prince et al, in press). Specifically, these youth included 208 African American and 133 Latino males residing in urban neighborhoods characterized by high violence and high poverty.…”

“…During the first wave of interviews, there were a total of 341 fifth and seventh grade males (range ϭ 11-14 years, mean age ϭ 12.41 years). Subsequent waves were collected when participants were, on average 13, 14, 15, 18, and 19 years of age (Prince et al, 2016). Specifically, these youth included 208 African American and 133 Latino males residing in urban neighborhoods characterized by high violence and high poverty.…”

A Longitudinal Analysis of the Indirect Effect of Violence Exposure on Future Orientation Through Perceived Stress and the Buffering Effect of Family Participation

“…As a result, this population may be more likely to experience hopelessness and less likely to envision a positive future for themselves (Logan, 2001; So, Gaylord-Harden, Voisin, & Scott, 2015; Stoddard et al, 2011). This hypothesis is supported by researchers who have found lower educational and occupational aspirations and more negative future expectations among low-income minority individuals living in urban centers compared to other populations (Duke, Skay, Pettingell, & Borowsky, 2009; Prince et al, 2016; Strayhorn, 2009).…”

Type I error rates and power of several versions of scaled chi-square difference tests in investigations of measurement invariance.

“…To our knowledge, the ML chi-square difference test, D ML , has only been evaluated in a large scale simulation study once (Chuang et al, 2015), where it was found to perform poorly in most conditions with nonnormal data, as would be expected. Prior to the current study it has never been evaluated with nonnormal multiple-group data, despite its frequent use in this context to assess measurement invariance (e.g., Clark et al, 2016; Gunnell, Bélanger, & Brunet, 2016; Huizink et al, 2016; Padilla-Walker & Jensen, 2016; Prince et al, 2016; Rice, Suh, Yang, Choe, & Davis, 2016; Veirman, Fontaine, & Van Ryckeghem, 2016). Consistent with expectations, we found that the ML chi-square difference test frequently exhibits inflated Type I error rates when data are not normally distributed.…”