In 2018, Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted a large-scale workplace raid in East Tennessee. Nearly 100 workers were initially arrested, with 54 being detained out of state. Grief and fear associated with the raid rippled across families and the community. In response, community organizations, faith leaders, and other advocates provided both immediate and long-term emotional support and financial relief to address basic needs. The current qualitative study was designed to explore experiences of community responders and providers who supported families, through individual interviews. Participants ( n = 11) were asked a set of semi-open-ended questions regarding their roles, as well as the short- and long-term impacts of the raid. Transcribed interviews were coded by two research team members, applying inductive thematic analysis approaches. Three overarching themes emerged: (1) Immediate Response; (2) Impact of the Raid; and (3) Barriers and Lessons Learned. Results suggest that both community members and providers responded immediately following the raid, providing donations and support. The raid detrimentally impacted families who had a member detained, the community, and providers themselves. Multiple barriers and lessons learned emerged to inform preparation in this and other communities. Findings offer crucial insights for understanding not only the needs but also effective strategies for responding to raids.
Hair occupies a unique role in women’s lives. While a rich landscape of sociocultural knowledge about hair exists, few empirical studies have explored how women feel about their hair, such as their hair-esteem, particularly among Latinas. In our study, we examined hair-esteem among Latinas, who span a full range in terms of hair textures and navigate ideologies at the intersections of race and gender. Specifically, we examined hair-esteem and its relations to self-esteem and hair texture, and tested which demographic variables predict variability in hair-esteem. Five hundred sixteen self-identified Latinas completed an online survey, reporting demographic information, and responded to the following scales: The Hair Typing System, Hair-Esteem Scale (HES), and Self-Esteem. Despite our efforts to recruit widely, our sample was mostly of Mexican-origin, highly educated, and middle-to-upper class. Even so, within our sample, we found a large variation in hair-esteem. Hair-esteem was significantly related to self-esteem, but not to hair texture. In terms of demographic correlates, hair-esteem was positively related to age, relationship status, and the importance women placed on being Latina. Our study presents an important avenue for understanding the relationship between gender ideologies and the well-being of Latinas through the lens of hair, an understudied yet critical aspect of women’s experiences.
This observational study used descriptive analysis to improve understanding of the relationship between fathers’ presence or absence, the occurrence of mothers’ feeding practices, and child eating behaviors at evening meals. Participants were 141 Mexican-origin families with children aged 8 to 10 years. We coded behavioral observations of video-recorded meals. Three parental feeding practices were established a priori : (1) pressure to eat, (2) restriction of amount of food, and (3) positive involvement in child’s meals. Additionally, we identified child eating behaviors and food eaten. Fewer mothers engaged in certain types of positive involvement in child’s meals when fathers were present at the meals, compared to when fathers were absent. Regarding child eating behaviors, when fathers were present, more children engaged in positive talk about food, compared to when fathers were absent. Additionally, when fathers were present, more children ate grains and fewer ate fruit, compared to when fathers were absent. Family mealtime with Mexican American children may provide an opportunity for fathers, alongside mothers, to communicate about and participate in children’s food consumption. Research on obesity in families should include a focus on fathers’ feeding practices, such as positive involvement in a child’s meals, that may complement mothers’ feeding practices.
U.S. immigration policies and enforcement practices make it increasingly difficult for noncitizens to migrate to their countries of origin freely, which has implications for physical and mental distress. This study seeks to answer: (1) how does immigration enforcement impact Mexican immigrants’ mental and physical distress? And (2) what are the consequences of separation from parents for adult Mexican immigrants? Participants ( n = 2,334, 95% male, M = 48 years, 93% surveyed in Mexico, M = 95 months in the U.S.) come from the Mesoamerican Migration Project. Using cluster-adjusted logistic regression we apply a stress process theoretical framework. After adjusting for various sociodemographic and structural factors, analyses examine how changes in immigration enforcement budgets and “no parental migration” (i.e., neither parent migrating) might influence the well-being of Mexican immigrants. Our expected findings are that (1) intense immigration enforcement will increase the odds of distress, that (2) Mexican immigrants who migrate without their parents will be more likely to experience distress than those who do, and that (3) the negative effect of separation from parents will be exacerbated by longer periods of time in the U.S. Our results do not support the first hypothesis, do support the second hypothesis, and partially support the third hypothesis. Findings identified a negative association between immigration enforcement and levels of distress experienced by Mexican immigrants, but many of the stressors associated with the immigration experience—including separation from parents, use of a coyote, being surveyed during the Trump era, and longer periods of time in the U.S.—significantly increase the odds of distress. These findings highlight how migration patterns shift in the face of enforcement practices, and how individual immigration experiences—most notably separation from parents for adult immigrants—affect the mental and physical well-being of Mexican immigrants.
This study investigates the roles of future-time perspective and emotion regulation in predicting end-of-semester acculturative stress among undergraduate students, with a specific focus on those holding multiple marginalized identities (MMI), who often demonstrate higher acculturative stress in higher education spaces. Students from a 4-year public university in the US (N = 79, median age 22 years), a designated Hispanic Serving Institution, completed surveys at the beginning and end of a semester that captured their demographic information, future time perspective value (FTPV), difficulties in emotion regulation (DER), and acculturative stress. Multiple regression model, controlling for initial acculturative stress, revealed a significant interaction effect between FTPV and DER in predicting stress levels (beta int = .17, p < .05). Simple effects analysis demonstrated that students with low DER experienced reduced acculturative stress when valuing future goals, while those with high DER faced increased stress when emphasizing future goals. A multi-group latent difference score analysis highlighted that this interaction was particularly strong among students with MMI, showing significant predictive effects (beta int = .77, p < .01). Conversely, the interaction was not significant in non-MMI students. These findings emphasize the importance of targeted support for university students with MMI to mitigate acculturative stress. Implications emphasize integrating culturally responsive teaching strategies and emotion regulation training that can incorporate future goal setting in university contexts to foster supportive and inclusive environments for students, particularly those from historically marginalized backgrounds.
Health disparities continue to negatively impact the well-being of Latines and are perpetrated due to internal and external treatment barriers. Cultural adaptations improve Latines engagement in research studies, however, are limited due to a lack of information about daily experiences and health-related challenges. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) provides a potential solution to understanding Latines daily behaviors and challenges as it reduces recall bias, collects behavioral data in real-time, provides information about maladaptive patterns, and can inform the cultural adaptation of behavioral health treatments. EMA has numerous benefits, however, there have been little to no cultural considerations for Latines. The Latine population exhibits high rates of cell-phone usage, yet it remains unclear how EMA has been used with this population specifically. This systematic review identified 26 articles with samples partially or completely consisting of Latines participants (18 years or older) who completed electronically delivered EMA prompts. Health behaviors and disparities directly targeted by these articles were summarized in addition to common EMA designs, adaptations, and challenges observed among the Latine community. Recommendations for using EMA more effectively with Latines were provided to serve as a guide for researchers who aim to produce higher quality research with this population.
Teacher-student relationships (TSRs) are crucial for enhancing academic achievement and supporting the overall school adjustment of students from diverse backgrounds and low-income communities. This study explores elementary teachers’ motivation and practices to build strong TSRs with Latinx students over time. Participants included 27 teachers working in an urban elementary school that predominantly served Hispanic students from low socio-economic status communities. The findings revealed that teachers highly value TSRs, even while facing significant challenges. Cultural differences and language barriers often complicated their work, yet these obstacles motivated teachers to deliberately adopt practices, such as supporting and advocating for students’ needs, fostering communication and embracing vulnerability, affirming students’ potential, and being a positive influence beyond the classroom to establish, maintain, and deepen the meaningful TSRs. This study highlights the necessity and significance of TSRs and advocates for systematic change that prioritizes TSRs.
Drawing on public health critical race praxis and acculturation theory, this study examines how racialization and immigration status shape the self-reported health of Latinx adults. Using the 2021 California Health Interview Survey data for adult Californians (n = 17,345) and multivariate logistic regression analyses, we find that naturalized and U.S.-born Latinxs have higher odds of being in worse health than U.S.-born white citizens. A key determinant of Latinx health is how long individuals have spent in the U.S. Among Latinx naturalized citizens, only those who have been in the U.S. for at least 15 years have worse health than U.S.-born white citizens. Among Latinx non-citizens, those who have been in the U.S. for less than 15 years actually have better health than U.S.-born white citizens. The findings advance how we conceptualize the complexity of Latinx health by accounting for racialized health policy stratification and the pervasive role of institutionalized racism in shaping Latinx health outcomes.
The growing population of young bilingual learners in the U.S. accentuates the need to analyze the dynamic interplays between the perceptions of parents and their children about the students' learning environment. This study investigates the latent factors undergirding the perceptions of parents and bilingual students regarding various aspects of the learning environments by comparatively analyzing the Bilingual Parental Engagement and Support Survey (BPESS), a parental survey of students' learning environments, and the Bilingual Academic and Socio-emotional Environment Survey (BASES), a student survey of their learning environments. A factor analysis was performed on parents' responses (n = 1,212) to BPESS, and three latent factors were identified: Parents' Perceptions of Schools and Teachers, Parental Socio-emotional and Academic Support, and Parental Interest in Children's Future. A correlation analysis indicated that these factors have weak relationships with the four factors identified from BASES. The three factors from the parental survey did not significantly predict their children's academic performance. The paper discusses the implications of the findings and limitations of the study.
Familism, a core cultural value among Mexican Americans, often serves to protect Latinx individuals from negative mental health outcomes as compared to their non-Latinx peers. Yet, its moderating effect on passive coping strategies, particularly rumination, has been called into question. This study explores how familism, alongside another key cultural value, respect, may provide a more nuanced understanding of how collectivist cultural values work to protect mental health differently across individuals and contexts. In a sample of 191 Latinx college students, regression analyses tested whether familism and respect moderated the effect of rumination on symptoms of depression and anxiety. While familism significantly predicted depressive symptoms, and anxiety, it did not moderate the relationship between rumination and depressive symptoms or anxiety. On the other hand, respect was found to moderate the relationship between rumination and depressive and anxiety symptoms in a buffering way: as rumination increased, those with higher levels of respect experienced fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than those with lower levels of respect. These findings demonstrate that there are limitations to the moderating effect of familism for Latinx college students and that the cultural value of respect may offer a protective effect that warrants further investigation.
Childhood obesity disproportionately affects Hispanic children in the United States, with physical inactivity as a major contributor. Hispanic culture emphasizes family ties, positioning parents as key influencers of children’s physical activity (PA). Emerging evidence suggest that children’s PA may shape parental behaviors, such as parents’ provision of support for PA and engagement in PA alongside their child. This study examined bi-directional associations between parental PA support and child PA among Hispanic children with overweight/obesity. Secondary analyses were conducted using three waves of data from the Health4Kids randomized controlled trial, a family-based intervention in Texas with rolling enrollment between June 2015 and August 2018. Participants included 253 Hispanic children ( M age = 8.75 ± 1.68 years; 50.6% male) with overweight/obesity and one parent (94% mothers). Children wore an ActiGraph GT3X accelerometer for 7 days to measure moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Parents completed the Comprehensive Home Environment Survey to assess PA modeling and support at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Separate cross-lagged panel models were computed for child MVPA with parental modeling and support. Results revealed a bi-directional relationship between child MVPA and parental support from baseline to 6 months, however, this relationship did not persist from 6 to 12 months. No significant cross-lagged associations were observed between parental modeling and child MVPA across any time points. Findings highlight a bi-directional relationship between parental support and child PA, suggesting that while parental support facilitates child PA, active children may also prompt parents to provide greater support. Parental modeling showed no significant influence on child PA, indicating that direct support may be more impactful than modeling. Overall, results highlight the importance of examining specific parental influences and suggest that parental support may be a critical target for interventions aiming to promote PA among Hispanic children with overweight/obesity.
This study examines the roles of acculturation and parenting stress in child maltreatment among foreign-born Hispanic families. Self-reported data from 288 foreign-born Hispanic mothers in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study were used. Mediation path models revealed that none of indicators of acculturation were associated with child maltreatment among foreign-born Hispanic families. However, parenting stress was associated with both child physical assault and psychological aggression among foreign-born Hispanic families. The relationship between foreign-born Hispanic mothers' traditional gender norms and child psychological aggression was significantly mediated by parenting stress. These findings suggest that interventions designed to help foreign-born Hispanic mothers manage parenting stress, particularly that related to gendered family roles, may be effective in preventing child psychological aggression.
Mexican American caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's Disease face unique stressors and challenges, which may be influenced by cultural, socioeconomic, and systemic factors. This population often assumes caregiving responsibilities based on strong cultural values of familismo which emphasizes family duty and collective care. However, this commitment can lead to increased emotional strain, mental health concerns, financial and physical strain, particularly when caregivers have limited access to healthcare resources, financial support, or respite. Language barriers and a lack of culturally competent healthcare services can further exacerbate stress, making it difficult to navigate the complex healthcare system. The purpose of this study was to identify key stressors and challenges affecting Mexican American caregivers of Alzheimer's Disease patients. A qualitative approach was employed to capture the lived experiences of Mexican American caregivers. To analyze the data, researchers used the Stress and Coping model. Two overarching themes identified were adjusting to caregiving and the impact on the caregiver's life. Addressing the unique needs of Mexican American caregivers requires culturally sensitive interventions, resources, support systems to reduce stress and improve caregiving outcomes. The study emphasizes the need for systemic change to better support Mexican American caregivers.
This mixed-methods study investigates retro-acculturation among later-generation Mexican Americans, focusing on how cultural values-particularly collectivism and familism-shape identity expression, appearance management, and cultural engagement via social media. Integrating qualitative focus groups (n = 14) with quantitative survey data (n = 149), the study reveals that collectivism significantly predicts both appearance-related behaviors and digital cultural expression, while familism enhances social media-based cultural engagement without directly influencing style choices. Participants in the qualitative interview often reinterpreted parental and familial influences as sources of empowerment, using appearance and online platforms to resist assimilation, reclaim heritage, and challenge mainstream stereotypes. A joint display table underscores the convergence of qualitative and quantitative findings, highlighting the cyclical nature of acculturation as individuals actively negotiate cultural identity across contexts. The study identifies retro-acculturation as a key mediator in digital cultural expression, though less so in appearance management. Findings suggest a need for a more nuanced understanding of identity construction among Mexican Americans, highlighting the importance of authenticity, cultural pride, and agency within family, institutional, and media contexts. This research challenges traditional assimilation models and expands the discourse on cultural reclamation and intergenerational identity dynamics.
Despite an elevated risk of mental health concerns among Latinx college students, Latinx college students tend to underutilize mental health care (MHC). The behavioral model of health services utilization (BMHSU) has often been utilized to examine the individual, social, and environmental characteristics that predispose individuals to use or not use health services. However, the BMHSU has been criticized for failing to consider the influence of specific cultural factors. The purpose of this study was to develop and examine a cultural adaptation of the BMHSU more applicable to Latinxs. The total sample was comprised of 126 Latinx undergraduate students. Hierarchical linear regression indicated that the culturally informed model of MHC utilization more than doubled the predictive power of the BMHSU, accounting for 54% of the variance in MHC utilization, whereas the traditional BMHSU only accounted for 24% of the variance in MHC utilization. Analysis of individual predictors revealed that mental health stigma, familism and greater congruence between an individual's and a professional's evaluation of need drove the predictive power of the model, providing implications for mental health care. Specifically, findings emphasize the need to understand the context in which cultural factors might be protective or function as a risk factor among Latinxs.
Although school mass shooters are overwhelmingly White and male, Black and Latinx youth are exposed to gun violence in and out of schools at disproportionate rates compared to their White peers. Little is known about the impact that racism may have on Latino male youth's orientation toward firearms and weapons use. We applied a QuantCrit framework to examine the relationship between perceived racism and weapons-related behavior among Latino adolescent boys, while also considering the effects of protective and risk factors. Using secondary data from the 2021 Adolescent and Behavior Experience Survey (ABES), we conducted two hierarchical logistic regression models to examine how perceived racism predicted the odds of carrying a gun and bringing a weapon to school. Racism significantly predicted carrying a gun anywhere but not bringing a weapon to school. When bullying and suicidal ideation were added to the model, racism was no longer a significant predictor. School belongingness was not a significant predictor of either gun carrying or bringing a weapon to school. The intertwined nature of discrimination, school bullying, and suicidality reveals the magnitude of risks to normative development faced by Latino adolescent boys. These findings call for additional research to further disentangle the role of promoting or inhibiting environments and for policies that emphasize rather than deny the importance of ethnic-racial identity work, anti-racism in schools, and critical consciousness in support of mental health. Finally, this study contributes to the nascent scholarship using QuantCrit to challenge dominant paradigms in quantitative research on and about communities of color.
Culturally informed family interventions can address health disparities among Hispanic adolescents. This literature review presents the current research base for Hispanic parent-adolescent physical and mental health interventions. We performed a multi-database search and included articles that described a Hispanic parent-adolescent dyadic intervention that targeted physical or mental health outcomes. Eighteen studies included interventions such as Familias Unidas, Families Talking Together, and Bridges. Across the trials, physical health outcomes were largely unchanged, mental health outcomes were positively changed, and interventions that targeted substance use and sexual health behavior produced mixed results. Familias Unidas targeted high-risk adolescents and demonstrated the most efficacy regarding mental health and substance use outcomes. Parent-adolescent dyadic interventions show efficacy in improving mental health outcomes and reducing adolescent risk-taking behaviors. However, they have limits regarding physical health outcomes. This supports the need for more interventions that can target both physical and mental health disparities among Hispanic adolescents.
The prevalence of internalizing symptoms among Hispanic college students is increasing at alarming rates and cultural stress is increasingly being studied as a contributor to these adverse outcomes. Despite the emerging literature examining the impact of cultural stress on Hispanic student mental health, few studies have examined the role of parent-child communication as a mediator in these associations. This study examined the associations of cultural stress and normative stress with daily depressive symptoms, mediated by parent-child communication, among 214 Hispanic college students surveyed during the 2021 to 2022 school year. Parent-child communication mediated the association between cultural stress and daily depressive symptoms (p = .02), but not between normative stress and daily depressive symptoms (p = .09). Encouraging parental communication among Hispanic college students may be a promising approach to addressing the impact of cultural stress on depressive symptoms.
Latino men continue to experience lower college completion rates compared to other demographic groups, highlighting the need to better understand factors contributing to their success. Grounded in Gloria and Rodriguez's psychosociocultural theoretical framework, this phenomenological study highlights how Latino men experience and cultivate resilience during their higher education journey. Through 68 semi-structured interviews with 34 Latino men who transferred from community colleges to 4-year universities in California, Florida, and Texas, three interconnected themes emerged. First, Latino men transform skepticism from family members and society into psychological motivation, reframing doubts as catalysts for academic persistence. Second, multifaceted mentorship emerged as a critical social support mechanism, combining nurturing guidance with direct feedback while fostering career development and accountability. This mentorship extended beyond traditional academic support to include emotional and crisis intervention. Third, Latino men actively negotiate their cultural identities within higher education spaces, balancing their heritage with institutional norms while challenging stereotypes about their academic capabilities. These findings demonstrate how Latino men's resilience manifests through their ability to convert challenges into motivation, build meaningful mentoring relationships, and navigate complex cultural dynamics. The study suggests that supporting Latino men in higher education requires a holistic approach that recognizes and leverages the interconnected nature of psychological, social, and cultural factors. Implications highlight the importance of developing comprehensive support systems that address these dimensions simultaneously rather than treating them as separate entities.
Despite the well-documented overrepresentation of Latine adolescents in the child welfare system and inequities in their behavioral health outcomes, Latine families experience significant barriers to accessing evidence-based behavioral health care. Limited culturally- and linguistically responsive family-based telehealth services contribute to lower service access rates for Latine systems-impacted adolescents. The present pilot study addresses this gap through culturally adapting an existing, empirically informed family-based intervention, and assessing the feasibility and acceptability of delivering the intervention via telehealth to Latine families impacted by the child welfare system. We conducted a pilot feasibility/acceptability trial of the intervention with eleven Spanish-speaking Latine caregivers and four bilingual Latine adolescents. Families' and clinicians' session feedback forms and data collected from individual qualitative exit interviews informed the iterative cultural adaptation process and telehealth intervention feasibility/acceptability outcomes. On session feedback forms (n = 67 caregiver forms; n = 27 adolescent forms), eleven caregivers and four adolescents reported strong acceptability for telehealth sessions and clinicians. Clinicians were rated highly on showing support, listening, answering questions, encouraging discussion, giving information, and keeping sessions interesting (scale = 1-5; average ratings were 4.6-5.0 across domains). Caregivers reported high levels of satisfaction with the telehealth services they or their families received (M = 4.6, SD = 0.4; 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). Themes from qualitative interviews suggest caregivers found the intervention helpful, particularly in improving their emotion regulation and communication with their adolescents. Cultural adaptation of telehealth interventions for Latine families impacted by the child welfare system is feasible, acceptable, and has the potential to fill gaps in behavioral health services access.
