Latino Adolescents' Participation in Extracurricular Activities: How Important Are Family Resources and Cultural Orientation?

Abstract

Latino adolescents often are less likely to participate in extracurricular activities compared to youth from other ethnic groups. This descriptive study examined the differences in activity participation by family resources and markers of cultural orientation for the four largest Latino ethnic groups in the U.S. Findings were based on secondary data analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 11,689 Latino youth). Family resources were not strong predictors of participation, but the markers of cultural orientation did predict activity participation. Surprisingly, foreign-born youth had higher participation than native-born youth. The proportion of their friendship network that was non-Hispanic friends positively predicted activity participation, whereas the proportion of co-ethnic and foreign-born Hispanic friends negatively predicted activity participation. Findings from this investigation highlight that there were few differences in participation by Latino ethnic group affiliation but great variability within each Latino ethnic group.