1-103 - Latino Immigrant Children’s Development in Family and Neighborhood Contexts

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Latinos are the largest ethnic group within the US, yet face issues of access within various sectors (e.g., health care, education, housing, employment; Perez, 2004). One reason for these obstacles pertains to their immigrant and/or legal status. Given rising hostility and anti-immigration attitudes toward Latino immigrants, understanding how to protect and promote Latino immigrant children’s well-being is a pressing concern (Philbin, & Ayon, 2016). The family and neighborhood contexts in which these youth grow up may serve as both risk and protective factor for them (Lawton & Gerdes, 2014).
Thus, this paper symposium brings together researchers investigating how immigrant/legal status and the family and neighborhood contexts are associated with Latino youth’s development. The first paper forefronts the legal status of Latino parents to understand how parental stress and resource use are related to children’s behavior and academic achievement. The second paper hones in on Mexican immigrant youth living in Chicago to explore how neighborhood social processes contribute to the parent-child relationship. The third paper similarly examines Mexican immigrant youth, yet living in Los Angeles neighborhoods to investigate how neighborhood social processes play explanatory roles to immigrant adolescents’ socioemotional functioning. Finally, the fourth paper considers the contribution of neighborhood social processes and resources to Mexican-immigrant children’s math and reading achievement and extra-curricular involvement. Together, this panel should help to inform and identify areas for intervention in supporting Latino immigrant youth’s well-being.

Sub Unit

• Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Chair

• Tama Leventhal, Tufts University

Individual Presentations

• The Influence of Parent Legal Status on Latino Immigrant Families and US-born Children’s Development - Presenting Author: Kalina Brabeck, Rhode Island College ; Erin Sibley, Boston College

• The Role of Neighborhood Social Processes in the Parenting-Child Outcomes Relationship Among Latino Immigrant Families - Presenting Author: Rosa Irene Toro, CSU, Fresno; Tama Leventhal, Tufts University

• Neighborhood Ethnic Concentration and Mexican-origin Adolescents’ Adjustment - Presenting Author: Elizabeth Burleson, Arizona State University; Rebecca M. B. White, Arizona State University

• Neighborhoods and Mexican Immigrant Youth’s Achievement and Extracurricular Involvement - Presenting Author: Natalya Zaika, Tufts University; Tama Leventhal, Tufts University