Latinx Adolescents' Daily Lives: Examining Peer Experiences, Emotional Well-being, and Parent-Child Interactions

• In Event: Family and Cultural Pathways to Socioemotional and Academic Well-Being in Latinx Adolescents

Abstract

Early adolescence is characterized by changes in peer and family interpersonal relationships (Brown & Larson, 2009; Chung et al., 2011). Previous research has documented the daily benefits and consequences of interpersonal relationships with peers and family (Flook, 2011; Griffin et al., 2019). Due to the salience of the peer context during adolescence, problematic peer relationships are associated with less positive and more negative emotional well-being and increased internalizing symptoms (Bai et al., 2020). Positive parent-child interactions also continue to play a vital role in the emotional well-being of adolescents (Mercado et al., 2018; Vannucci et al., 2019) and can serve as an emotional resource and minimize the detriment of negative peer experiences on emotions (Lippold et al., 2016; Martinez & Bámaca-Colbert, 2019). Daily diary studies have documented the importance of family and peer relationships in emotional well-being (Bai & Repetti, 2018) but research focused on the daily lives of ethnic-racial minoritized youth remains an important area in need of exploration. Guided by previous work on risk and resilience processes in relation to daily emotional well-being, the goal of the current study was to examine daily associations among negative peer experiences, positive and negative emotions, and the moderating role of positive parent-child interactions. It was hypothesized that negative peer experiences would be associated with less positive and more negative emotions, and positive parent-child interactions would be associated with more positive and less negative emotions. It was also hypothesized that positive parent-child interactions would buffer against the role of daily negative peer experiences on emotional well-being.

Data were from a pilot study with Latinx parent-child dyads (N = 21) residing in the Northeast U.S. Parents (95% female; 33% U.S. born) and adolescents (Mage=12.76 years, SD = 1.00, Range = 11-14; 52% female; 52% U.S. born) completed a baseline survey and three daily surveys for 14 days. Only adolescent reports on negative peer experiences, positive parent-child interactions, and positive and negative emotions assessed at the end of the day were analyzed. We fitted multilevel models to these data with time nested within persons. Results showed that between-person effects of positive parent-child interactions were associated with more positive and less negative emotions at the end of the day (Table 1). Within person effects showed that daily negative peer experiences were associated with less positive and more negative emotions. Further, daily positive parent-child interactions were associated with more positive emotions but were not associated with negative emotions. Results from moderation analyses indicated that daily negative peer experiences were associated with more negative emotions but only among adolescents who reported -1SD below the mean positive parent-child interactions (Figure 1). Overall, findings highlight the important role of peers on Latinx adolescents’ daily emotional well-being and underscore how positive interactions with parents can function as a mechanism of protection against the stressors that minoritized adolescents experience within peer contexts. Future research should investigate whether daily processes of protection exhibit similar benefits for long-term mental health outcomes. Additional models will explore potential gender and age differences.

Authors

• Griselda Martinez, University of Washington
  Presenting Author

• Jasmin Castillo, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mayra Y Bamaca, University of California-Merced
  Non-Presenting Author

• Dawn Paula Witherspoon, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Non-Presenting Author