Competence under challenge: exploring the protective influence of parental support and ethnic identity in Latino college students

J Adolesc. 2006 Dec;29(6):961-79. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2006.04.010. Epub 2006 Jun 5.

Abstract

This longitudinal study examined the protective influence of psychological and family factors on academic achievement in 123 Latino college (101 Mexican American, 14 Central American, 8 mixed Mexican/Central American) students. Three cultural resources--ethnic identity, family interdependence, and parental support--were hypothesized as protective factors that modify the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage in a positive direction. The pattern of findings suggests that Latino students with greater psychological and family resources evidence greater academic achievement. After covarying between-person differences in gender and generational status, both ethnic identity and parental support moderated the effects of low socioeconomic status on academic achievement.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • California
  • Educational Status
  • Female
  • Hispanic or Latino / ethnology
  • Hispanic or Latino / psychology*
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Mexican Americans / ethnology
  • Mexican Americans / psychology*
  • Personality Inventory
  • Sex Factors
  • Social Adjustment*
  • Social Identification*
  • Social Support*
  • Social Values
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Students / psychology*