1-179 - Parents, Partners, and Peers: Examining the Context of Supportive Relationships for Latina/o Adolescents

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Latinas/os represent the fastest growing ethno-demographic within the United States. Latina/o adolescents face unique challenges, including acculturative stress and elevated internalizing symptoms, compared with White adolescents. Supportive social relationships with parents, friends, and romantic partners may help protect Latina/o adolescents against poor socio-emotional adjustment. However, these relationships, and the protections they confer, are sensitive to individual differences and cultural context. This symposium addresses the role of individual differences and cultural context, including internalizing symptoms, gender, and culturally-relevant experiences and values within Latina/o adolescent supportive relationships. Study 1 examined associations between acculturative and community stress and depressive symptoms in a sample of Midwestern Latina/o adolescents, including support from friends and family and adolescent gender as moderators. Study 2 used a multiple group panel model to examine gender differences in prospective relationships between supportive family relationships and adolescent internalizing symptoms in Latina/o adolescents from New England. Finally, Study 3 examined associations between cultural values, parental psychological control, adolescent gender, and romantic relationship satisfaction among Mexican adolescents. Findings from Study 1 and 2 demonstrate evidence for the gendered role of family support in relation to Latina/o adolescent internalizing symptoms. Findings from Study 3 highlight the interaction between cultural values, familial relationships, and gender in relation to romantic relationship satisfaction. Across studies, results emphasize Latina/o adolescent gender differences with respect to social relationships. Results from these studies illuminate how individual differences and contextual factors, including gender, internalizing symptoms, and culturally-relevant experiences and values, shape relationships and the impact of relationships on Latino adolescent adjustment.

Sub Unit

• Family Context & Processes

Chair

• Emily Grace Simpson, Connecticut Children's Medical Center

Discussant

• Linda Citlali Halgunseth, UConn

Individual Presentations

• Impact of Immigration-Related Stress and Social Support on Depression Symptoms Among Latina/o Adolescents - Presenting Author: Lisa Crockett, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Non-Presenting Author: Cara Streit, University of New Mexico

• Latina/o Adolescents’ Perceived Supportive Family Relationships and Internalizing Symptoms: Examination of Bidirectional Effects - Presenting Author: Emily Grace Simpson, Connecticut Children's Medical Center; Non-Presenting Author: Courtney R Lincoln, Connecticut Children's Medical Center; Non-Presenting Author: Christine McCauley Ohannessian, University of Connecticut School of Medicine

• Cultural Values and Romantic Satisfaction in Mexican Adolescents: Moderation by Parental Psychological Control and Gender - Presenting Author: Alexander Reid, California State University Bakersfield; Non-Presenting Author: Linda Citlali Halgunseth, UConn; Non-Presenting Author: Annamaria Csizmadia, University of Connecticut; Non-Presenting Author: Noel Card, University of Connecticut; Non-Presenting Author: Graciela Espinosa-Hernández, University of North Carolina Wilmington