RESUMO
Mexican and Central American-origin youth in immigrant families, the fastest growing segment of the K-12 school population, experience considerably worse educational outcomes than do youth from other Latino national origins and other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Socioeconomic factors, as well as length of U.S. residence, have important implications for youth's academic success. The present study uses longitudinal structural equation modeling techniques to identify how parents' socioeconomic status (SES) and youth's length of U.S. residence are associated with adolescent academic outcomes and, in turn, educational attainment in adulthood. The sample included 1,207 Mexican- and Central American-origin youth participants in the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS). Youth completed surveys at times corresponding roughly to ages 13 to 15 (Time 1), 16 to 18 (Time 2), and 23 to 25 (Time 3). When compared with youth with a longer duration of U.S. residence, young people who had lived in the U.S. for less than 5 years at Time 1 reported higher educational attainment at Time 3 by way of a better grade-point average (GPA) and higher educational expectations at Time 1. Parent SES was associated directly and indirectly with higher educational attainment through youth's greater educational expectations at Times 1 and 2. Although recent immigrant youth experienced sharper declines in GPA and educational expectations from Time 1 to Time 2 than youth with a longer duration of U.S. residence, newcomer youth's early academic success appears to have lasting benefits for educational attainment.
Los jóvenes de familias inmigrantes de origen mexicano y centro-americano, el segmento de la población escolar K-12 que más rápido crece, experimentan claramente peores resultados académicos que los jóvenes de otros orígenes latinos y de otros orígenes raciales y étnicos. Los factores socioeconómicos, así como el tiempo de residencia en los Estados Unidos (EEUU), tienen importantes implicaciones para el éxito académico de los jóvenes. El presente estudio utiliza técnicas longitudinales del modelo de ecuaciones estructurales para identificar cómo el estatus socioeconómico de los padres (SES) y el tiempo de residencia de los jóvenes en EEUU durante los años de adolescencia están asociados con los resulted académicos y, por tanto, con el rendimiento educativo alcanzado por estos jóvenes en la edad adulta. La muestra incluyó 1207 jóvenes de origen mexicano y centro-americano participantes en el Estudio Longitudinal de Hijos de Inmigrantes. Los jóvenes completaron cuestionarios aproximadamente entre los 13 y 15 años de edad (Tiempo 1), 16 y 18 (Tiempo 2) y 23 y 25 (Tiempo 3). Comparados con los jóvenes con más tiempo de residencia en los EEUU, los jóvenes que habían vivido en los EEUU menos de 5 años en el Tiempo 1 presentaron mayor rendimiento educativo por medio de una mayor GPA y una mayor expectativa educativa en el Tiempo 1. Mayor SES estuvo directamente e indirectamente asociado con mayor rendimiento educativo a través de una mayor expectativa educativa de los jóvenes en Tiempo 1 y 2. Aunque los jóvenes inmigrantes recién llegados experimentaron un descenso más brusco tanto en GPA como en expectativa educativa desde el Tiempo 1 al Tiempo 2 en comparación con los jóvenes con períodos de residencia más largos en EEUU, los resultados académicos positivos en el Tiempo 1 de los jóvenes inmigrantes recién llegados parecen tener beneficios duraderos para el rendimiento educativo en la edad adulta.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: We compared trends in and correlates of marijuana use, cocaine use, and heavy alcohol use for adolescents of Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and other Latin American heritage in the United States. METHODS: We used/examined data from nationally representative samples of eighth-grade Hispanic students who participated in the Monitoring the Future study during the years 1991-2002 (n=24235). RESULTS: Drug use was significantly higher among boys and adolescents of almost all Hispanic ethnicities who did not live with both parents. In addition, drug use differed considerably according to ethnic group on language first spoken, parental education, urbanicity, and region. CONCLUSIONS: A better understanding of the homogeneity and heterogeneity of drug use patterns within and between Hispanic groups should assist in the development of prevention programs.
Assuntos
Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas/epidemiologia , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Cocaína/epidemiologia , Hispânico ou Latino/estatística & dados numéricos , Fumar Maconha/epidemiologia , Adolescente , Cuba/etnologia , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Americanos Mexicanos/estatística & dados numéricos , Michigan/epidemiologia , Prevalência , Porto Rico/etnologia , Estudantes , Inquéritos e Questionários , Estados Unidos/epidemiologiaRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: This study examines differences in adolescents' use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs by racial and ethnic groups. METHODS: The authors analyzed questionnaire data from large, nationally representative samples of U.S. high school seniors to examine differences in drug use prevalence and trends among racial and ethnic groups between 1976 and 2000. RESULTS: On average, American Indian seniors showed the highest levels of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use. Cuban American and white seniors also tended to have relatively high levels of substance use, followed by Mexican American and Puerto Rican seniors. Other Latin American, African American, and Asian American seniors reported the lowest levels of drug use. Most of these differences are longstanding, but some have widened and others narrowed during the past 25 years. CONCLUSION: Significant differences exist in adolescent use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs by racial and ethnic groups, and these differences have changed over time. Future research should examine these differences and seek to identify the sources and consequences of the disparities.