Family Obligation and Assistance Among Adolescents with Mexican Backgrounds

有拉丁裔背景的家庭现在是美国最大的少数民族群体， 8元家庭的青少年在心理和行为方面面临着巨大的挑战， 加强结构性改革新出现的证据表明，传统的家庭价值观和做法可能在以下方面发挥关键作用： 塑造拉丁裔青少年的风险，包括外部化行为， 问题，物质使用，抑郁和焦虑症状，以及学校脱离和辍学。 家庭义务和帮助被认为是家庭关系的关键因素， 拥有墨西哥牧场的家庭，唯一最大的劳诺族。家庭义务和援助 也已被证明是显着的预测“S的青少年的适应，包括他们参与 substarx：e使用和他们的”心理健康。但疾病仍然不清楚家庭义务的哪些方面， 帮助是力量的源泉，也是青少年适应的挑战。无 信息，很难制定有意义的计划和政策，重点放在这个不断增长的人口， 青少年。拟议的研究填补了这一空白，在以前的研究采取的方法，家庭， 成员功能作为一个社会身份的青少年从墨西哥背景，并使用几个 社会认同理论的基本原理，以解决四个主要问题：（1）家庭义务是如何实现的， 在墨西哥背景的家庭中社会化的援助？(2)实际上，家庭如何帮助~ 取决于家庭的日常需要和惯例？(3)lamily义务和援助如何影响 青少年的情绪和行为适应;以及（4）家庭义务的动态和 青少年自身的10个特征对青少年的帮助有何影响？ 拟议的研究将解决这些关键问题采用混合方法，包括传统的 定量访谈、每日日记检查和定性访谈。这项研究将在洛杉矶进行。 洛杉矶大都会区，是美国墨西哥背景家庭的主要聚集地。一 共540名青少年，从三所高中的九年级和十年级招募。青少年 他们的父母将连续两次完成一次个人访谈和一份14天的日记清单， 年此外，54个家庭的一个子集将每年参加生态文化家庭访谈，这是 一个既定的定性访谈，旨在提供一个更深入的动态的看法， 家庭义务和帮助的社会化、日常表现和发展影响。

Families with Latino backgrounds now represent the largest ethnic minority group in the United States, and adolescents wtihin the$8 families face substantial challenges to their psychological and behavioral adjustment. Emerging evidence indicates that traditional family values and practices may play a critical role in shaping Latino adolescents' risk for a number of problematic outcomes, including externalizing behavior problems, substance use, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and school disengagement and dropout. Family obligation and assistance have been identified as key elements of famHy relationships among famUies with Mexican baCkgrounds, the single largest LaUno ethnic group. Family obligation and assistance also have been shown to be Significant predictOf"S of adolescents' adjustment, induding their involvement in substarx:e use and theil" psychological well being. But ills stlD unclear 'Nhich facets of family obligation and assistance are sources of strength and which are challenges for the adolescents' adjustment. Withoutltlis information, it Is difficult to develop meaningful programs and policies that focus on this growing population of adolescents. The proposed research study fills th is gap in prior research by taking an approach that family membership functions as a social identity for adolescents from Mexican backgrounds, and uses several prInciples of Social Identity Tl1eory in order to address four kay questions: (1) How ara family obligation and assistance socialized within families from Mexican backgrounds?: (2) How does actuallamily assistan~ depend upon the families' daily needs and routines?; (3) How does lamily obligation and assistance impact adolescents' emotional and behavioral adjustment?; and (4) How do the dynamics of family obligation and assistance vary aCCOl"ding 10 characteristics of the adolescents' themselves? The proposed stud~' will address these key questions employing mixed methods, including traditional quantitative interviews, daily diary checktists, and qualitative IntervieWS. The study will take place in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, a primary location of families wilh Mexican backgrounds in the United Slates. A total of 540 adolescents wi! be recruited from the ninth and tenth grades of three high schools. Adolescents and their parents will comptete a personal interview and a fourteen day diary checklist for two consecutive years. In addition, a subset Of 54 families will annually participate in the Ecocultural Family Interview, which is an established qualitative Interview designed to provide a more In-depth view of the dynamics of the socialization, daily manifestation, and developmental implications of family obligation and assistance.