This study examined longitudinal acculturation patterns, and their associations with family functioning and adolescent risk behaviors, in Hispanic immigrant families. A sample of 266 Hispanic adolescents (M[subscript age] = 13.4) and their primary parents completed measures of acculturation, family functioning, and adolescent conduct problems,…

Responds to the comments by C. Killian on the current authors' original article, "Rethinking the concept of acculturation: Implications for theory and research." Killian has focused on issues of selective acculturation--specifically, the ability of individuals and families to direct their own (and their children's) acculturative trajectories. Let…

The risk for depression increases as Hispanic youth acculturate to U.S. society. This association is stronger for Hispanic girls than boys. To better understand the influence of culture and family on depressive symptoms, we tested a process-oriented model of acculturation, cultural values, and family functioning. The data came from Project RED,…

This article presents an expanded model of acculturation among international migrants and their immediate descendants. Acculturation is proposed as a multidimensional process consisting of the confluence among heritage-cultural and receiving-cultural practices, values, and identifications. The implications of this reconceptualization for the…

Hispanic youth are at risk for experiencing depressive symptoms and smoking cigarettes, and risk for depressive symptoms and cigarette use increase as Hispanic youth acculturate to U.S. culture. The mechanism by which acculturation leads to symptoms of depression and cigarette smoking is not well understood. The present study examined whether…

Objectives: To prospectively investigate associations between overweight and depressive symptoms in Asian and Hispanic adolescents. Methods: Data included 780 Hispanic and 375 Asian students. Structural equation model was used to prospectively explore moderation effects of gender, ethnicity, and acculturation on associations of overweight, body…

Acculturation discrepancy theory predicts that conflicting cultural preferences between adolescents and their parents will increase the adolescents' risk for behavior problems such as substance use. This study evaluated this hypothesis in a sample of 1683 Hispanic students in Southern California who completed surveys in 9th and 10th grade.…

Acculturation has been associated with numerous health and social outcomes among Hispanic/Latino adolescents. Various self-report scales have been used to measure acculturation, making comparisons of results across studies difficult. This study administered several commonly-used acculturation scales to 221 Hispanic/Latino 9th grade students in Los…

Developed and validated the Acculturation, Habits, and Interests Multicultural Scale for Adolescents (AHIMSA), a survey for use in a smoking prevention curriculum for early adolescents in multicultural, urban settings. Found that three of the subscales correlated with subscales of another acculturation instrument, with English language usage, and…