Understanding the Influence of Sexual Risk Taking, Ethnic Identity, and Family and Peer Support on School Importance Among Hispanic Adolescents

Abstract

Despite the broader academic gains experienced by Hispanic students, who represent the largest minority group in the United States, they remain the least educated of all major ethnic groups, and our understanding of their academic needs and strengths remains woefully inadequate. Therefore, this study examined the risk (e.g., sexual risk taking) and protective factors (e.g., family support, supportive peer networks, and ethnic identity) associated with school importance among Hispanic teens ( N = 587) residing in a high-risk, resource poor urban community and the ways in which these relationships vary between adolescent males (46.5%) and adolescent females (53.5%). Schools that are able to harness the numerous assets embedded within the Hispanic community are well positioned to create learning environments that are encouraging, are culturally responsive, and can potentially reduce risk involvement that may interfere with valuing the role of school importance. Implications for school-based personnel are discussed.

“It All Starts With the Parents”: A Qualitative Study on Protective Factors for Drug-Use Prevention Among Black and Hispanic Girls

“…High religiosity, parental control, and greater peer disapproval of substance use have been shown to be more influential for black adolescent girls (Schinke et al, 2006). While for Hispanic adolescent girls, strong family connectedness, “ familismo ,” and strong ties to culture have been found to be an important to deterrent to drug use (Garcia-Reid, Lardier, Reid, & Opara, 2018; Guilamo-Ramos, Bouris, Jaccard, Lesesne, & Ballan, 2009; Lardier, Barrios, Garcia-Reid, & Reid, 2018; Schinke, Schwinn, Hopkins, & Wahlstrom., 2016).…”