Predictors of Self-Esteem Among Adolescents in Mexican Immigrant Families: An Examination of Well-Being through an Ecological Perspective

Background and Purpose:  Research shows that self-esteem is a key element related to the well-being of adolescents. In particular, adolescents in Mexican immigrant families are more likely to have lower self-esteem, and they comprise the largest share of immigrant children living in the U.S.  However, the majority of studies have examined Mexican origin adolescents together with other Latinos of different national origins, creating potential confusion due to inter-group differences. Furthermore, this study utilizes an ecological perspective, helping understand how different systems interact and collectively affect the self-esteem of adolescents. As such, the primary aim of the present study is to examine the predictors of self-esteem through an ecological perspective. The secondary aim of this study is to examine how bilingualism and the context of the family can buffer or exacerbate the effects of perceived societal discrimination on the self-esteem of adolescents in Mexican immigrant families.

Methods: This study utilized the 1995 Wave 2 data from the Children of Immigrant Longitudinal Study (CILS), which was designed to examine the adaptation process among immigrant and second generation youth from adolescence to early adulthood. Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to test the hypothesis for the adolescents of Mexican origin (n=575).  Based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory and the proposed hypothesis, the variables were grouped into four models representing individual, family, society contexts, and the interaction effects. The 10-item Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was utilized to measure self-esteem.

Results:  The results indicated that academic achievement (β=.10, p<.01), bilingualism (β=.20, p<.001), and family cohesion  (β=.13, p<.01), were positively associated with self-esteem, while parent-adolescent conflict (β=-.27, p<.001) and societal discrimination (β = -.14, p<.01) were negatively associated with self-esteem. Additionally, bilingualism (β=.10, p<.05) buffered the negative effects of societal discrimination while greater parent-adolescent conflict (β=-.08, p<.04) exacerbated the negative effects of societal discrimination.

Conclusion and Implications:  The findings of this study suggest that the family context appears to be one of the most salient factors to the self-esteem of adolescents in Mexican immigrant families, even when taking into account individual and societal factors. For example, the findings demonstrated that it is crucial for social workers to identify sources of parent-adolescent conflict among Mexican immigrant families and work to resolve them since the negative effect of perceived societal discrimination worsened when adolescents were engaged in conflict with parents at home. Additionally, the findings also demonstrated that bilingual skills may help ameliorate some of the negative effects of societal discrimination. Bilingual adolescents are able to communicate in their parents’ native language, navigate their parents’ culture, and integrate better into mainstream society, resulting in greater levels of self-esteem and protecting them from societal discrimination. Further social work research, policies, and practices aimed at identifying and intervening in the area of self-esteem of adolescents in Mexican immigrant families should continue to examine the nuances in factors within different contexts, with the goal of promoting better self-esteem and psychological well-being.