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This study examined the role of racial attitudes in a diverse high school setting. Teachers and students were recruited from a public charter high school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The final sample consisted of 19 students and 10 teachers who participated in face-to-face interviews regarding racial attitudes and racial bias in the academic setting. Three themes emerged among the teacher interviews: rejecting racial inequalities, contradicting thoughts and color-blind explanations, and racially conscious explanations. For the student interviews, two themes emerged: color-blind racial attitudes and witnessing/experiencing bias. These findings yield evidence that color-blind racial attitudes are prevalent in diverse schools among students and teachers, presenting a challenge to intervention efforts in schools aimed at promoting racial justice.

Social injustices toward minority groups are pervasive around the world, and further exacerbated by global threats such as COVID-19 and climate change. Prosocial tendencies, such as empathy, moral reasoning, and helping behaviors directed only toward members of one's own social groups, discriminate against outgroups, and can perpetuate an unjust status quo. Yet, recent meta-analyses point to effective intervention programs that can foster prosocial responses across group lines. Developmental science has identified evidence-based interventions, policies, and programs to foster inclusive prosocial tendencies (toward both in-group and out-group members) to redress social injustices and inequities, and ultimately, lead to more just and peaceful societies. The recent developmental science informs five policy principles (e.g., developmental science, resilience, culture, collaboration, and sustainability) that can advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) around inclusion and peace.

African American and US Latinx families have faced over two centuries of systemic racism and discrimination, elevating risk for trauma, adversity, and disparities for their youth. These circumstances have compromised the health and well-being of many of these youth. However, many other African American and US Latinx youth are able to succeed despite these challenges. In recent years, scholars have begun to identify ways in which minoritized youth adapt and respond to adversity to become competent, well-functioning individuals. Drawing on two conceptual models of cultural resilience, one grounded in the study of African American youth and one grounded in the study of US Latinx youth, we summarize supportive research associated with each model. Using these conceptual models to guide our critical review of extant studies, we present an integrative review of work to guide the design of strength-based, cultural asset-centered research studies and preventive interventions targeting African American and US Latinx youth.

With a growing population of Latinx youth immigrating to the United States, it is important to understand how Latinx youth adapt to mainstream U.S. culture. Given that the majority of research examining social development among recent immigrant adolescents has focused on negative adjustment outcomes, research examining positive social behaviors is needed to avoid deficit approaches to their development, gain a holistic understanding of youth development, and improve interventions with this population.This study examined the associations among trajectories in cultural integration and multiple prosocial behaviors among recent immigrant U.S. Latinx adolescents in Miami, Florida and Los Angeles, California. Adolescents (N = 302; 53.3% males; M age = 14.51 years) completed measures of integration and prosocial behaviors across six time points. Latent growth curve models indicated that integration significantly increased, though this growth tapered off over time. The growth in prosocial behaviors depended on the specific form of helping assessed. While the growth in altruistic and compliant prosocial behaviors was stagnant, there was an increase in anonymous prosocial behaviors and a decrease in public and dire prosocial behaviors. Emotional behaviors did not linearly change, though slightly tapered off by the final time points. Parallel process latent growth curve model results indicated positive correlations between the slopes of cultural integration and most forms of prosocial behaviors. These findings highlight the positive role of cultural integration as an acculturative process for U.S. Latinx youth and the multidimensionality of prosocial behaviors.

Exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in child care environments has raised a public concern. This study aimed to characterize indoor VOCs in four facilities of Head Start programs in Kansas city, Missouri, investigate seasonal and spatial variations in VOC levels, and assess health risks associated with children's VOC exposure. In total, 49 VOCs including aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, aldehydes, glycol ethers, esters and chlorinated hydrocarbons were identified and quantified in the facilities. Significant differences were noted for the VOC concentrations among the facilities. Toluene was the most abundant aromatic hydrocarbon detected in all the air samples, with a narrow median concentration range of 2.17–3.07 μg/m3. 2-(2-Methoxyethoxy)ethanol never reported in prior research was detected in only one facility in this study, with the median (range) concentration of 0.83 (

Researchers have demonstrated mixed associations between acculturative stress and prosocial behaviors (actions intended to benefit others) among Latino/a adolescents and emerging adults. The current study aimed to examine the relations between acculturative stress and Latino/a young adults' prosocial behaviors via familism values and emotion reappraisal. Participants were 1,527 Latino/a college students (M age = 20.35 years, SD = 3.88; 75.2% women) from universities across the United States. The results demonstrated direct and indirect links between acculturative stress and prosocial behaviors. Specifically, acculturative stress was positively related to familism values, which in turn were positively associated with multiple forms of prosocial behaviors. Additionally, emotion reappraisal was positively associated with specific forms of prosocial behaviors. There was also evidence that familism and emotion reappraisals moderated the associations between acculturative stress and specific forms of prosocial behaviors. Discussion focuses on the interplay of culture-related and emotion-regulation processes associated with Latino/a young adults' positive social outcomes.

Children are among the most vulnerable to certain air pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds. Analysis of indoor air has been analytically challenging and costly. The objectives of this study were to (1) develop and validate a sensitive analytical method for assessing the exposure of children to volatile organic compounds at child care centers and (2) characterize the indoor concentrations of target volatile organic compounds in classrooms at child care centers. The volatile organic compounds were sampled by using thermal desorption samplers and the concentrations of the volatile organic compounds were determined by a thermal desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method. Among the 73 target indoor volatile organic compounds, 47 were identified and quantified in the air samples collected from the selected child care center. The limits of detection and limits of quantitation ranged from 0.001 to 0.123 μg m-3, and 0.002 to 0.406 μg m-3, respectively. The correlation coefficients (R2) of the calibration were between 0.982 and 0.999. The mean recoveries of the analytes ranged from 87% to 112%. The precision expressed as the coefficient of variation was between 0.6% and 16.2%. The volatile organic compounds identified in our pilot study include a wide range of potential toxic chemicals and endocrine disruptors, such as the ingredients in dry cleaning agents (e.g., tetrachloroethylene), surfactants (e.g., butoxyethanol), and personal care products (e.g., homosalate). Due to the portability, affordability, and flexibility, the developed sampling and analytical method has several advantages over conventional techniques for large-scale multi-position air quality monitoring studies at child care centers.

The socialization of cultural values, ethnic identity, and prosocial behaviors is examined in a sample of 749 Mexican-American adolescents, ages 9-12; M (SD) = 10.42 years (.55); 49% female, their mothers, and fathers at the 5th, 7th, and 10th grades. Parents' familism values positively predicted their ethnic socialization practices. Mothers' ethnic socialization positively predicted adolescents' ethnic identity, which positively predicted adolescents' familism. Familism was associated with several types of prosocial tendencies. Adolescents' material success and personal achievement values were negatively associated with altruistic helping and positively associated with public helping but not their parents' corresponding values. Findings support cultural socialization models, asserting that parents' traditional cultural values influence their socialization practices, youth cultural values, and youth prosocial behaviors.