The Mediation Process Between Latino Youths' Family Ethnic Socialization, Ethnic-Racial Identity, and Academic Engagement: Moderation by Ethnic-Racial Discrimination?

Objectives: Guided by Garcia Coll and colleagues' (1996) integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children, the current study examined the role of ethnic-racial identity as a mediator through which family ethnic socialization was associated with academic engagement among Latino youth. Furthermore, based on the high prevalence rates of ethnic-racial discrimination among Latino adolescents, the associations between experiences with peer and adult discrimination and youth's academic engagement (controlling for family ethnic socialization and ethnic-racial identity) were tested. Finally, we tested whether discrimination from either peers or adults moderated the mediation process between family ethnic socialization, ethnic-racial identity, and academic engagement. Method: Data were collected from a cross-sectional study of adolescents in the Southwestern United States. Participants in the current study consisted of self-identified Latino adolescents (N = 370; M-age = 16.14 years; SD = 1.12; Range = 14-18; 52.8% female; 96.2% U.S.-born) who completed self-administered surveys during school hours. Results: Path analyses indicated that family ethnic socialization was indirectly associated with academic engagement via ethnic-racial identity. Adult discrimination was negatively associated with academic engagement; however, peer discrimination was not associated with academic engagement. Finally, neither source of discrimination emerged as a moderator of the associations of interest. Conclusion: Findings point to Latino youth's enhanced resilience against discrimination encounters when they have more experiences with family ethnic socialization and have engaged in greater ethnic-racial identity exploration and resolution.