Developmental Psychopathology and Ethnicity I: The Young Adulthood Assessment of the Boricua Youth Study

Abstract

Developmental psychopathology processes pertinent to underserved ethnically diverse youths may not always coincide with those relevant to youths from nondisadvantaged groups. This article reports on the young adulthood assessment (fourth wave; April 2013 to August 2017) of the Boricua Youth Study, which includes 2 population-based samples of children of Puerto Rican background (N= 2,491) aged 5-13 years (recruited in 2000), in the South Bronx, New York, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Study procedures included intensive participant tracking and in-person interviews of young adults and, when possible, their parents. Study participation rates, measures, and weights are described. At Boricua Youth Study wave 4 (on average 11.3 years since last wave of participation), we reassessed 2,004 young adults (mean age= 22.9 years, range= 15-29 years; 51% women; retention rate adjusted for ineligibility= 82.7%) and available parents (n= 1,180). Nonparticipation was due to inability to locate/contact participants (8.6%); refusal (4.7%); and ineligible status (2.8%) owing to cognitive impairment, incarceration, or death. Among participants originally from Puerto Rico, 91% stayed in Puerto Rico during young adulthood. Of participants from the South Bronx, 52.4% remained in the area (85.8% within 100 miles). Most study measures had good internal consistency (Cronbach α≥ .70). Our results support the viability of retaining a population-based cohort of children from the same ethnic group across 2 contexts during a life stage when individuals are likely to move. Longitudinal samples that are generalizable to underserved populations can elucidate developmental processes of relevance for curtailing the risk of psychopathology in disadvantaged contexts.