Latino Immigrant Children Research Articles

Patterns of Socialization among New Latino Immigrants in Comparative Historical Perspective

Education is a bridge enabling children of low-skilled immigrants to access higher tiered professions in a segmented labor force in order to experience socio-economic gains and social mobility. Historically, Catholic immigrants (Irish, Polish, Italian and German) have been served by the parish school which provided a basis for household integration and economic advancement in American society. This paper explores the relationship between the parish school as an agent of socialization and children of new Catholic Latino immigrants. Comparative historical analysis of old and new patterns of immigration serves to demonstrate how the mediating role of the parish school has changed. Qualitative analysis contributes to a theory of institutionally generated social capital which is operationalized by measures of communitarian socialization. Using data from the Consortium of Chicago School Research, I use ordered logit regression to measure the effect of high school socialization patterns on student’s pro-social outcomes. I find that contrary to national data, Catholic high schools in Chicago are enrolling higher percentages of Latinos, a majority of whom are children of immigrants. A school climate characterized by affective support and inspirational ideology are significantly related to pro-social outcomes, while intergenerational closure is not. These findings are important because the parish school has a legacy of contributing to conditions necessary for children of immigrants to experience upward mobility.

Latino Children's Obesity Risk Varies by Place of Birth: Findings from New York City Public School Youth, 2006-2017.

Introduction: Research showing that place of birth (POB) predicts excess weight gain and obesity risk among Latino adults has not prompted similar research in Latino children, although childhood is a critical period for preventing obesity. Objective: To identify differences in obesity risk among Latino children by POB. Methods: Longitudinal cohort observational study on public school children self-identified by parent/guardian as Latino in grades K-12 for school years 2006-07 through 2016-17 with measured weight and height (n = 570,172students; 3,103,642observations). POB reported by parent/guardian was categorized as continental United States [not New York City (NYC)] (n = 295,693), NYC (n = 166,361), South America (n = 19,452), Central America (n = 10,241), Dominican Republic (n = 57,0880), Puerto Rico (n = 9687), and Mexico (n = 9647). Age- and sex-specific BMI percentiles were estimated based on established growth charts. Data were analyzed in 2020. Results: Prevalence of obesity was highest among US (non-NYC)-born girls (21%) and boys (27%), followed by NYC-born girls (19%) and boys (25%). Among girls, South Americans (9%) had the lowest prevalence of all levels of obesity, while Puerto Ricans (19%) and Dominicans (15%) had the highest prevalence. Among boys, South Americans also had the lowest prevalence of all levels of obesity (15%), while Puerto Ricans (22%) and Mexicans (21%) had the highest. In adjusted models, obesity risk was highest in US (non-NYC)-born children, followed by children born in NYC (p < 0.001). Immigrant Latino children exhibited an advantage even after controlling for individual and neighborhood sociodemographic features, particularly Dominicans, South Americans, and Puerto Ricans. Conclusions: The heterogeneity of obesity risk among Latino children highlights the importance of POB.

Adverse childhood experiences and its association with emotional and behavioral problems in U.S. children of Latino immigrants

BackgroundResearch has long shown that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are correlated with major risk factors for several of the leading causes of death in adults. However, only recently have studies begun to measure the impact of ACEs during childhood and on underserved populations. ObjectiveThis study assessed the prevalence of 8 ACEs, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, among rural U.S. Latino children of immigrant parents. We examined the association of those adversities with several factors including emotional and behavioral difficulties, health problems and healthcare utilization. Participants and settingA total of 100 Latino subjects (ages 8–17) were recruited from a community health center in Southwest Florida. MethodsParents and children were asked to complete the Child Trust Events Survey to measure child ACEs; Parents were asked to complete the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to measure child emotional and behavioral problems. ResultsChild ACEs ranged from 1.38 (parent-report) to 1.56 (child self-report) with emotional abuse, incarceration, and loss/separation from a caregiver being the most common. ACEs were correlated with emotional symptoms (p = .038 for child-report; p = .043 for parent-report), hyperactivity/inattention problems (p = .011 for parent-report), and with total behavioral difficulties (p = .021 for parent-report). There was a negative correlation between ACES and child chronic health diagnosis (p = .038 for parent-report; p = .010 for child-report) and total health problems (p = .021). There was no significant relationship between ACEs and healthcare utilization. ConclusionsACEs appear to be more prevalent among rural Latino youth in immigrant families and may be associated with emotional and behavioral problems during childhood.

The role of socioeconomic and sociocultural predictors of Spanish and English proficiencies of young Latino children of immigrants.

Young Latino children of immigrants typically speak primarily Spanish at home and are exposed to varying amounts of English. As a result, they often enter school with a wide range of proficiencies in each language. The current study investigated family background, language use at home and early childhood settings as predictors of Spanish and English language proficiencies among Latino dual language children (N = 228). Findings demonstrated divergent sets of predictors were associated with either Spanish or English proficiencies at kindergarten and second grade. Sociocultural variables (parent origin, gender, home language use, home literacy practices, and language use in early childhood settings) predicted children's Spanish proficiency, while socioeconomic variables (poverty, and maternal and paternal education) predicted children's English proficiency, with little to no overlap in these predictions. These results suggest that different supports are required for proficiency in Spanish and in English, highlighting the importance of sociocultural and socioeconomic factors.

Perspectives on Integrated Behavioral Health in pediatric care with immigrant children and adolescents in a Federally Qualified Health Center in Texas.

The world's displaced population has reached a record high. Immigration is under the global lens and part of the public debate more than ever. The existing data on mental health disorders among displaced youth are alarming, and children and adolescents are disproportionately impacted by forces outside their control. In the United States, the recent border crisis has exponentially increased the needs for accessible mental health services for immigrant children, adolescents, and their families. As a result, implementation of integrated solutions for primary and behavioral health care has grown. In this article, we explore the application of an integrated model, the Primary Care Behavioral Health Consultation Model (PCBH) with Hispanic and Latino immigrant children and adolescents and their families in a Federally Qualified Health Center in Houston, Texas. PCBH holds great promise for increasing access to mental health services for immigrant and refugee populations.

Adolescent Employment and Postsecondary Education among Latino Children of Immigrants

ABSTRACTThis study examined the connection between adolescent employment and future participation in postsecondary education in a sample of U.S. Latino high school juniors/seniors (n = 2164) from the 1992–2002 Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study. Employed and non-employed Latino adolescents did not markedly differ in academic performance, ability, or expectations, suggesting that, for U.S. Latino adolescents, employment may depend on the degree of constraint imposed by social and economic statuses. Results of multilevel binomial logistic regression suggest plausible sources of educational disparities and reveal that high-intensity work during high school may be a source of educational disadvantage for Latino children.

Words and Hugs: Emotional Support for Latino and Asian Children of Immigrants Compared to their White Counterparts with Native-Born Parentage

Previous research highlights parental psychological and personal resources as determinants of children’s emotional support. Less emphasis is placed on the social forces that may be equally important in shaping children’s emotional sustenance. Consequently, I examine the case of Latino and Asian children of immigrants, leveraging instrumental (advice) and affective (cheering up) emotional domains. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999 and quantitative methods, I find that Latino children of immigrants are less likely receive advice from their parents compared to white children with native-born parentage and Asian children with immigrant parentage, and I find that Latino and Asian children of immigrants are less likely to report cheering up from their parents compared to their white counterparts with native-born parentage. In addition, I find that, compared to whites in native-born families, Latino children of immigrants are more likely to receive emotional support from relatives (as opposed to parents), and Latino and Asian children of immigrants are more likely to receive emotional support from siblings (as opposed to parents). Although differences in parental resources explain some of these propensities, gaps remain, especially in the case of cheering up. I argue that parental resources and racialized discursive frames that dictate “normal” family functioning, including emotional performance, shape emotional support receipt differences between white children with native-born parentage and Latino and Asian children of immigrants, which can be detrimental for Latino and Asian children and may be implicated in deepening racial/ethnic inequalities.

Artful Spaces/Safe Places: A Gallery Provokes Voices that Interrogate Common Narratives of Latino Immigrant Children

What do Latino immigrant children’s voices say as they are provided a safe community space to be heard and soft clay through which to speak? Through art work, focus groups, gallery exhibitions, and filtering data (Author, 2018) this critical ethnographic research (Madison, 2012; Merriam &amp; Tissdell, 2016; Wolcott, 2008; Thomas, 1993) exposes the complex political nature of linguistic, cultural, and national negotiations in which Latino children and their families in this study engage daily. This work troubles stereotypic mainstream narratives (Dillard, 2012; hooks, 1990, 1994; Janks, 2010) and points out the need for strong community/university collaborations to impact the excavation of deeper understandings of people in our neighborhoods. This ethnographic portrait of families, part of a larger study, involved the community director in an urban Spanish speaking church and faculty from literacy education and visual art at IUPUI. In this study children created clay objects called “hanging journals” during a summer program. These clay artworks acted as semiotic mediators (Kress, 2010; Pahl &amp; Rowsell, 2012) for voices of this group—voices which routinely go unheard, or are devalued. Using theoretical frameworks from the fields of literacy and art, layered with multiplex ethnographic research tools, the volume on these important and complicated voices was turned up to hear buried stories and to interrogate commonly accepted narratives that swirl around Latino immigrants and their families.&#x0D; This study provides a peek into the authentic narratives of children as they share the daily navigation of a transnational existence, and shows the power of the arts to communicate across contested spaces. This study embraces the necessity of authentic university/community collaborations as a two-way street to understand and empower Latino youth, to better prepare future teachers as agents of change, and to expose versions of immigrant ways of being and knowing that are misconstrued.

Trauma and cultural values in the health of recently immigrated families.

This study examined Ruiz et al.'s sociocultural model of Hispanic health resilience by assessing trauma exposure and symptoms and Hispanic cultural values in relation to the physical health of 97 Central American immigrant families, within 24 hours of arrival to the United States. Increased posttraumatic stress symptoms, but not exposure, were associated with increased physical health concerns for parents and children. Hispanic cultural values moderated trauma-health relations for adult health only. Identifying posttraumatic stress symptoms as a significant correlate of physical health in Latino immigrant parents and children is critical to identifying vulnerabilities in need of future research and interventions.

Communication of neuropsychological results to caregivers of Latino immigrant children.

Communication of neuropsychological results to caregivers of Latino immigrant children.

Enriched early childhood experiences: Latina mothers’ perceptions and use of center-Based child care

Latino children in the U.S., particularly from immigrant families, are less likely than their peers to attend early care and education (ECE) programs, but this trend may be shifting. This study used longitudinal, ethnographic data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three City Study to explore low-income Latina immigrant mothers’ ECE decisions, including how they learn about, perceive, and select ECE (N = 31). Results of analysis employing grounded theory and narrative approaches revealed two interesting paradoxes. First, for many mothers, center-based child care was viewed as distinctly different from more informal types of non-maternal care and thus, not perceived as a barrier to family time. Second, mothers praised the learning opportunities and education their children received in formal center-based programs, but rarely linked it to preparation for elementary school or the transition to kindergarten. These results are discussed in terms of consistencies with prior quantitative and qualitative research and new directions for research and policy aimed at promoting the well-being of Latino immigrant children and families.

Children of Latino immigrants framing race: making sense of criminalisation in a colour-blind era

ABSTRACTPost-1965 children of Latino immigrants in the United States have come of age during an era of mass incarceration and a colour-blind ideology. Drawing from in-depth interviews with inner city, male, young adult children of Latino immigrants in Los Angeles, we examine the extent to which they make sense of their criminalisation through a racial lens. We find the segregated urban context to be a place of paradox: one that marginalises and racialises children of immigrants, while helping to sustain a colour-blind ideology. Internal dynamics in urban neighbourhoods heightens the criminalisation of young men, but obscures their perceived racialisation. Most young men dismiss instances of discrimination, but a racial lens emerges as they step out of their neighbourhoods into white spaces and discover they are uniformly ‘othered’ in association to the criminalised inner city. Respondents more likely to traverse urban space were more likely to emerge in racial consciousness, whereas the most ‘locked in place’ and subject to criminalisation, normalise this process through a colour-blind lens.

Parent-child acculturation and cultural values differences: Associations with children’s self-esteem and aggression

Latinos are the fastest growing minority group in the US with children of Latino immigrants being the fastest growing sector among this group. Therefore, it is imperative to examine how living in a country that is not the family’s country of origin influences their behavioral and socioemotional outcomes. Among immigrant families, some work indicates that individuals from the same family acculturate at different rates, thus creating an acculturation difference. Parent-child differences in acculturation and acculturation-related constructs have been inconsistently linked to child outcomes. The current study investigates the link between parent-child differences in acculturation and Latino cultural values (i.e., familism and respect) on self-esteem and aggression. Data was obtained from 89 Latino immigrant parent-child dyads from Southern California. Results demonstrated that differences in acculturation were not linked to child outcomes, while differences in values were unfavorably associated with self-esteem and aggression. Specifically, differences in which parents endorsed Latino cultural values more so than their children predicted lower self-esteem and greater aggression. Findings point to the importance of recognizing and understanding the complexity in parent-child differences, their contribution to child outcomes, and potential contribution to programmatic efforts.

Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Low-Income Latino Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Children

To estimate the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences in low-income Latino children and examine differences in the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences by immigrant generational status. This is a secondary data analysis of the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children's Health, a telephone survey of parents/caregivers of a nationally representative sample of US children. The study sample was limited to Latino children in households with an annual income ≤200% of the federal poverty level (FPL) whose parents responded to a 9-item inventory of adverse childhood experiences. Descriptive statistics estimated the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and examined differences in prevalence by immigrant generational status. Of 22 297 children, 29% (n = 6483) were Latino (9% first generation, 57% second generation, 30% third or higher generation); 25% (n = 1692) of all Latino children were exposed to 2 or more adverse childhood experiences. Latino immigrant children had a lower prevalence (13%; n = 801) compared with nonimmigrant Latino children (40%; n = 772). The most common adverse childhood experiences were financial hardship and parent divorce/separation. The total number and mean number of adverse childhood experiences differed by child generational status, and the differences persisted after stratification by age and FPL. The prevalence of exposure to adverse childhood experiences was highest among third- or higher-generation nonimmigrant children and lowest among second-generation immigrant children. The prevalence of adverse childhood experiences in low-income Latino children is similar to the prevalence for all US children; however, the prevalence is significantly higher in nonimmigrant children. Targeted screening to address adverse childhood experiences, policy changes, and guidance regarding care practices to address adverse childhood experiences in Latino children are needed.

Immigrant Latino Children and the Limits of Questionnaires in Capturing Adverse Childhood Events.

* Abbreviations: ACE — : adverse childhood event ICE — : US Immigration and Customs Enforcement An undocumented immigrant father drops off his 12-year-old daughter at school in Los Angeles. Moments later, 2 black, unmarked vehicles surround his car a few blocks from the school. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrest him while his 13-year-old daughter watches from his car; she can be heard sobbing while she films a cell phone video of the arrest that later goes viral.1 An undocumented Guatemalan mother of 4 children, including 1 with cerebral palsy, faces deportation after 24 years as a Connecticut housecleaner and seeks sanctuary in a church with her 9-year-old daughter by her side.2 One day after his mother’s ICE arrest, an undocumented Ecuadorian high school senior in New York is taken into custody by ICE hours before his senior prom.3 While waiting at his school bus stop, an undocumented Salvadorian high school senior in North Carolina is arrested and handcuffed by armed ICE agents as schoolmates watch from the bus; he is detained for 5 months and misses graduation.4,5 Another undocumented North Carolina high school senior (who crossed the border as an unaccompanied … Address correspondence to Glenn Flores, MD, FAAP, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, 282 Washington St, Hartford, CT, 06106. E-mail: gflores{at}connecticutchildrens.org

Analysis of Latino award winning children’s literature

In this article, we offer information about the specific challenges US Latino immigrant children face. We then determine which of these challenges are included in 72 award winning children’s picture books, specifically created for and/or about Latino children. Our analysis offers information to assist school-based mental health professionals, children’s librarians, educators, and parents in prescriptively selecting books that align with Latino children’s social emotional needs. Additionally, we analysed each book’s proportion of Spanish/English text and described the book’s targeted age level and Horn Book Guide rating. From our perspective, books containing colorful illustrations that include Latino children, realistic situations, familiar Spanish words and phrases, and true-to-life characters help Latino children engage and identify with these stories. Children’s book author Pat Mora also explains her perceptions of quality children’s literature. Although this article is specific to Latino children’s literature, implications are offered that generalize to other ethnic and cultural groups that are typically underrepresented in children’s literature.

Practice Experiences With Latino Immigrant Children.

Practice Experiences With Latino Immigrant Children.

School context influences the ethnic identity development of immigrant children in middle childhood

AbstractThe present paper describes a study investigating the ethnic identity development of Latino immigrant children (n = 155) in middle childhood (ages 8–11) in a predominantly White community. The study examined how ethnic identity was related to children's school context. School context was operationalized at the structural level, as the ethnic composition of the teachers and peers, as well as the schools' implicit messages about their valuing of multiculturalism; and the proximal interpersonal level, as children's perceptions of peer discrimination and teacher fairness. Results indicated that both the structural and proximal context predicted children's ethnic label choices, the importance placed on their ethnic identity, the positivity of their ethnic identity, and their American identity.

Variation in early cognitive development by maternal immigrant documentation status

Children of Latino immigrants − including children of undocumented Latino immigrants − are among the fastest-growing demographic subgroups in the U.S. Although they possess great strengths and diversity, studies have identified gaps in early reading and math scores between preschool-age children of Latino immigrants and their peers. Little is known about how these early cognitive gaps and suspected predictors vary by maternal immigrant documentation status. The current study explores these unanswered questions using 2001 survey data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhoods Study. We test for differences in 3–5year old children’s reading and math scores according to maternal immigrant documentation status (undocumented Latina; documented Latina; citizen Latina; non-Latina citizen White). We also examine whether associations between an extensive set of family, child, and neighborhood covariates and the reading and math scores of these children vary by maternal immigrant documentation status. Consistent with prior research, findings show a gap in reading and math scores between Latino children regardless of documentation status, and the children of non-Latina White mothers. Yet our findings reveal nuance not detected in prior studies. Specifically, children of undocumented Latina mothers face greater socioeconomic hardships and have the lowest cognitive scores. Results suggest increasing cognitive stimulation in the home and participation in formal non-parental care may help close early learning gaps between Latino children with different documentation statuses and their peers with non-Latino citizen parents.

The effects of economic and sociocultural stressors on the well-being of children of Latino immigrants living in poverty.

This article explored whether preschoolers' physical (body mass index [BMI] and salivary cortisol levels) and psychological (internalizing/externalizing behaviors) well-being were predicted by economic hardship, as has been previously documented, and further, whether parental immigration-related stress and/or acculturation level moderated this relationship in low-income Latino families. The sample for the current study included 71 children of Latino immigrants (M = 4.46 years, SD = .62). Parents completed questionnaires assessing immigration-related stress, acculturation level, economic hardship, and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Child's BMI was also calculated from height and weight. Salivary cortisol samples were collected midmorning and midafternoon at home on non-child-care days. Salivary cortisol values were averaged and log transformed. Children's salivary cortisol was predicted by an interaction between economic hardship and acculturation, with lower cortisol values except when children were protected by both lower acculturation and lower economic hardship. Both internalizing and externalizing behaviors were predicted by an interaction between economic hardship and immigration-related stress, with highest behaviors among children whose parents reported high levels of both economic hardship and immigration-related stress. The effects of economic hardship on the well-being of young children of Latino immigrants may depend on concurrent experiences of sociocultural stress, with detrimental effects emerging for these outcomes only when economic hardship and sociocultural stressors are high. (PsycINFO Database Record