Acculturation Stress and Conduct Problems Among Latino Adolescents: The Impact of Family Factors

Acculturation stress is experienced by both immigrant and nonimmigrant Latino youth and predicts youth behavioral problems. While prior research has found that family and parental factors can protect youth from the negative impact of various stressors on externalizing behavior, less research has been devoted to understanding whether family factors can specifically protect Latino youth from the negative impact of acculturation stress. Furthermore, there is a dearth of research that examines whether risk and protective processes operate differently among U.S.-born and foreign-born Latino youth. The current study examines how family factors of parent monitoring and familism (support and obligation) may moderate the association between acculturation stress and youth conduct problems in a sample of foreign-born (n = 61) and U.S.-born (n = 106) Latino youth. Results revealed a relationship between acculturation stress and increased youth conduct problems, regardless of youth nativity. Among U.S.-born Latino youth, parent monitoring moderated the relationship between acculturation stress and conduct such that parental monitoring was especially important for reducing risk for conduct problems at higher levels of acculturation stress. For foreign-born youth, however, parent monitoring was protective against conduct problems across all levels of acculturation stress. Familism (obligation and support) did not moderate the relationship between acculturation stresses and conduct problems in either group, but a sense of obligation to the family was negatively associated with conduct problems among foreign-born youth. Implications for culturally appropriate and effective interventions for Latino youth and families are discussed.