Family-School Stress Spillover? Reciprocal Effects Between Family and School: Acculturative Stress and Resources Among Latino Immigrant Youth

Background: According to National Institute of Mental Health (2014), one in every ten Latino youth report major depressive symptoms. Acculturative stress at home or school in the process of adjusting to the US society has been identified as risk factors for depressive symptoms among Latino immigrant youth (Gonzales et al., 2011; Umaña-Taylor & Alfaro, 2009). While the effects of family or school acculturative stress on depressive symptoms were found, few studies have investigated the effects of acculturative stress on resources among Latino immigrant youth. Understanding the roles of resources will shed a light on strategies that can prevent mental health problems among them. This study applied a socio-ecological model and aims to examine the seldom-studied cross-level effects of family and school acculturative stress on Latino youth’s individual, family and school resources.

Methods: Using wave 1 (W1) and wave 2 (W2) data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), our analytical sample consisted of 1,379 Latino first and second generation immigrant youth in the U.S. The dependent variables, Latino immigrant youth’s resources, were self-esteem, future aspiration, maternal closeness, and school connectedness. These variables were measured at W2 by Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and researcher-constructed scales. These scales were used in previous studies and that had good reliability in our study sample. The independent variables, family and school acculturative stress, were measured at W1 by a 3-item scale assessing intergenerational discrepancy: the level of discrepancy between youth and their parents regarding values and expectations; and a 2-item scale measuring youth’ perceptions of prejudiced school climate. Social-demographic characteristics were included as covariates. We conducted Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with latent variables and full information maximum likelihood estimator using Stata 13.0.

Results: Higher intergenerational discrepancy at W1 was associated with lower self-esteem (β =-.08, p=.014), lower future aspirations (β =-.17, p<.001) and lower maternal closeness (β =-.17, p<.001). Higher perceived prejudiced school climate was also associated with lower self-esteem (β =-.30, p <.001), lower future aspirations (β =-.17, p =.006) and lower school connectedness (β =-.52, p <.001). In addition, reciprocal effects between family and school acculturative stress and resources were found: W1 intergenerational discrepancy was associated with lower school connectedness at W2 (β =-.13, p<.001) and W1 perceived prejudiced school climate was associated with lower maternal closeness at W2 (β =-.27, p <.001).

Conclusions/implication: Overall, acculturative stress was adversely associated with Latino youth’s resources at individual, family and school levels. This study revealed the reciprocal effects between family and school factors. Practitioners working with Latino immigrant youth can assess and ameliorate the spillover of stress between family and school. Interventions that promote effective family engagement with school may prevent the detrimental effects of acculturative stress on resources and therefore may foster better mental health development among Latino immigrant youth.