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This study examines generational patterns of parenting styles, the relationships between parenting styles and adolescent well-being among youth of Mexican origin, and the role of generational parenting style patterns in explaining generational patterns in youth behavior (delinquency and alcohol problems) and psychological well-being (depression and self-esteem). This study uses two waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The proportion of teens with permissive parents increased with generation; other parenting styles declined. The rate of youth with behavioral problems increased with generation. Self-esteem improved with generation; depression scores did not. Bivariate generational patterns of behavioral and psychological outcomes are a function of the patterns seen for youth with permissive parents, coupled with the increase in the proportion of permissive parents with each successive generation. In contrast, these outcomes did not worsen with generation for youth with authoritative parents. (Contains 6 tables.)

This study analyzed the roles of trends in sociodemographic factors known to be related to the risk of a teen birth. The goal was to analyze the roles of these trends in maternal education, family structure and mother's age at first birth in the likelihood of adolescents becoming teen mothers across multiple birth cohorts of women covering the years since 1991. Data are from the 1995, 2002, 2006-2010 and 2011-2013 National Surveys of Family Growth (NSFG). Consecutive birth cohorts of female respondents were constructed and retrospectively followed to estimate the risk of a teen birth for each cohort. Logistic regression models estimate the odds of a teen birth across cohorts and within strata of the predictors across cohorts. Maternal education rose across cohorts; the proportion who were non-Hispanic white declined. In general, the likelihood of an adolescent birth did not change within categories of the predictors that are considered at higher risk for a teen birth across birth cohorts. Specifically, there was no change in the odds of a teen birth among women whose mothers did not finish high school, those born to teen mothers and those not from two-parent families. The odds of a birth declined across cohorts for black women. The findings suggest that much of the decline in teen birth rates is due to declines in the proportion of teens in higher risk categories, rather than to declines within those categories., Author(s): Anne K. Driscoll[sup.1] , Joyce C. Abma[sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) National Center for Health Statistics, 3311 Toledo Rd., Rm 6228, 20782, Hyattsville, MD, USA Background Adolescent childbearing is associated [...]

Investigated ethnic identity among urban adolescents using the revised Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure. Interviews with White, Asian American, Hispanic American, and African American youths indicated that Whites scored significantly lower than the other groups, whose scores were similar to one another. The similarity in measurement properties across groups indicates that the instrument is suitable for both interethnic and intraethnic comparisons. (SM)

The impact of race/ethnicity on depressed mood among adolescents and whether pubertal development influences depressed mood was studied with 877 adolescents, 728 mothers, and 447 fathers. Latino adolescents reported more symptoms of depressed mood, a finding independent of socioeconomic status. Effects of puberty are discussed. (SLD)

The cross-ethnic measurement equivalence of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; L. S. Radloff, 1977) was examined using a subsample of adolescents (N = 10,691) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Configural and metric invariance, as well as functional and scalar equivalence, were examined for Anglo American, Mexican American, Cuban American, and Puerto Rican American youths age 12-18 years. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in each group provided evidence of configural invariance for European and Mexican American adolescents but not for Cuban and Puerto Rican youths. A 2-group CFA for Anglo and Mexican Americans demonstrated partial metric invariance for these groups. Multigroup structural equation modeling indicated similar relations between CES-D scores and self-esteem for all 4 groups, supporting cross-ethnic functional and scalar equivalence. The results have implications for using the CES-D in cross-ethnic research and, more broadly, for the assessment and treatment of depression in Latinos.

In 1996, the US federal government passed welfare reform legislation. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) altered greatly the circumstances under which families can receive public assistance, limiting receipt to 5 years, requiring work after 24 months, and allowing states to impose sanctions and other requirements such as family caps (Greenberg, 1999). Because many countries reforming their social welfare system look to the USA as one possible model, analyses of the effects of US welfare policy on children are of relevance internationally. We find that the population receiving welfare in the USA is highly diverse and that background differences and early experiences explain most of the associations between welfare and poverty and children's outcomes. After taking account of these background differences, we find that children who experienced stable albeit disadvantaged economic conditions did not have worse outcomes than children who were never poor. Nor were children whose families' economic fortunes improved at higher risk for poor outcomes. However, children in families whose financial circumstances declined or fluctuated were more at risk for behavioural problems and scored lower on reading tests than were children who had never been poor.

Objectives. Nationally representative data were used to examine associations of romantic attractions and relationships with substance use and abuse. Methods. Data from the Add Health Study were examined. Youths reporting same-sex and both-sex romantic attractions and relationships were compared with those reporting opposite-sex attractions. Survey regression and logistic regression were used to control for sample design effects, Results, In the case of certain outcomes, romantic attraction affected males differently than females. Youths with both-sex attractions were at a somewhat higher risk for substance use and abuse than were heterosexual youths; females with same-sex attractions were also at higher risk for some outcomes. Sexual-minority youths varied little from heterosexual youths in regard to trajectories of substance use and abuse. Conclusions. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between youths with only same-sex attractions and those with both-sex attractions, These findings also call into question previous findings indicating that sexual-minority youths are automatically 'at risk.'

Latino adolescent reproductive health has become an increasingly important topic because of the growth in the numbers of Latino youth and because Latino youth are at high risk for negative reproductive health outcomes. Latinas now have the highest teen birth rates, and Latinos have disproportionately high rates of HIV/AIDS. These trends highlight the need for greater understanding of the sexual and reproductive health and behavior of Latino youth. This overview provides an introduction to key aspects of the Latino population. It then examines and synthesizes the existing literature by domains useful to the study of Latinos. Areas that receive in-depth coverage are socioeconomic status, family, national origin, peers and partners, and acculturation. Based on the current state of knowledge and the issues facing young Latinos, suggestions for future research and uses for existing data and past research are included.