Latino youth are the fastest growing group of ethnic minority adolescents in the United States, but their educational needs remain underserved. Although research exploring academic engagement has expanded in recent years, the majority of research examining academic engagement among Latino youth has been cross-sectional. Using data from the…

Existing research rarely considers important ethnic subgroup variations in violent behaviors among Latino youth. Thus, their risk for severe violent behaviors is not well understood in light of the immense ethnic and generational diversity of the Latino population in the United States. Grounded in social control theory and cultural analyses of…

The current study explores the relationship between friendship formation, school engagement, and belonging among White and Hispanic students. It employed the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of adolescents in high school. The sample consisted of 6,366 Mexican, 1,132 Cuban, 1,330 Puerto Rican,…

Data from a national longitudinal survey of secondary school students showed that participation in a school sport was associated with self-esteem among Mexican American boys and girls, Puerto Rican girls, and Cuban American boys. School attachment and physical well-being mediated the relationship between sports participation and self-esteem.…