Elizabeth Kiehne

Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Food Insecurity: Prevalence, Impact, Risk Factors, and Coping Strategies

In the United States, nearly 15% of the general population is considered food insecure; ethnic minorities, particularly Latinos, experience disproportionately higher rates. Food insecurity is particularly endemic among the migrant and seasonal farmworker population. This article systematically reviews current knowledge related to the prevalence of food insecurity among migrant and seasonal farmworkers. The impact, risk factors, and coping strategies of food insecurity are also presented. The authors argue for targeted social work efforts at mezzo- and macrolevels and make recommendations aimed at the prevention and amelioration of food insecurity.

Substance Use Profiles of Urban American Indian Adolescents: A Latent Class Analysis

ABSTRACT A growing majority of American Indian adolescents now live in cities and are at high risk of early and problematic substance use and its negative health effects. Objective: This study used latent class analysis to empirically derive heterogeneous patterns of substance use among urban American Indian adolescents, examined demographic correlates of the resulting latent classes, and tested for differences among the latent classes in other risk behavior and prosocial outcomes. Method: The study employed a representative sample of 8th, 10th, and 12th grade American Indian adolescents (n = 2,407) in public or charter schools in metropolitan areas of Arizona in 2012. Latent class analysis examined eight types of last 30 day substance use. Results: Four latent classes emerged: a large group of “nonusers” (69%); a substantial minority using alcohol, tobacco, and/or marijuana [ATM] (17%); a smaller group of polysubstance users consuming, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, other illicit drugs, and prescription or OTC drugs in combination (6%); and a “not alcohol” group reporting combinations of tobacco, marijuana, and prescription drug use, but rarely alcohol use (4%). The latent classes varied by age and grade level, but not by other demographic characteristics, and aligned in highly consistent patterns on other non-substance use outcomes. Polysubstance users reported the most problematic and nonusers the least problematic outcomes, with ATM and “not alcohol” users in the middle. Conclusions: Urban AI adolescent substance use occurs in three somewhat distinctive patterns of combinations of recent alcohol and drug consumption, covarying in systematic ways with other problematic risk behaviors and attitudes.

Adolescent substance-use prevention and legalization of marijuana in Uruguay: A feasibility trial of the keepin’ it REAL prevention program

ABSTRACT This article describes a feasibility pilot of the linguistically adapted keepin’ it REAL (kiR) substance-use prevention curriculum in Uruguay within the context of marijuana legalization. Originally developed for middle school students in the USA, kiR teaches life skills, risk assessment, and decision-making. Two tuition-free privately managed schools in Montevideo were randomly assigned into intervention and comparison conditions. Trained teachers in the intervention condition delivered kiR to two cohorts of 7th grade students. Before implementation, all students (N = 316) completed pretests; posttests (88% completion) were completed six weeks after the final lesson. We assessed the kiR intervention relative to the comparison group using paired t-tests, baseline adjusted general linear models, and Cohen’s d estimates of effect sizes. The intervention group reported the desired changes in four of six last 30-day substance-use outcomes: relatively smaller increases or actual reductions in frequency of alcohol and marijuana use and in amounts of cigarette and marijuana use. Following an eco-developmental perspective, analysis of the findings considered changing substance-use attitudes, behaviors, and policies in Uruguay. Based on this first evaluation of an evidence-based youth intervention, recommendations for substance-use prevention in the context of drug policy change in Uruguay are offered.

Reexamining the Acculturation Gap: The Relationship between the Bidimensional Parent-Adolescent Gap and Risky Behavior among Mexican-Heritage Adolescents.

Elevated rates of risky behavior among Latino youth have been linked to features of acculturation such as discrepant rates of acculturation between parents and adolescents. This study examined how parent-adolescent mainstream and Mexican cultural gaps are differentially related to adolescent risky behavior through family conflict, parental monitoring, and parental involvement among Mexican immigrant families. Contrary to the acculturation gap–distress hypothesis, family conflict did not mediate the relationship between acculturation gaps and adolescent risky behavior. Whereas the mainstream cultural gap was associated with less risky adolescent behavior through increased parental monitoring and involvement, the opposite relationship emerged for the Mexican cultural gap. Findings are discussed in relation to the acculturation gap–distress model and the broader parent-child relationship context. Findings illuminate the practical, theoretical, and empirical importance of recognizing Mexican-heritage youth as embedded within an influential family milieu situated in a culturally plural context.

Acculturation Profiles and Associations With Parenting Among Immigrant Latinos

Acculturation and accompanying acculturative stress affects the parenting practices of Latino immigrants. We (a) examine acculturation profiles based on heritage culture orientation, mainstream culture orientation, familismo, and acculturative stress; (b) describe how social support informs Latinos’ acculturation profiles; and (c) test how these acculturation profiles are associated with parenting behaviors (including parental involvement, monitoring, agency, and discipline self-efficacy) and family conflict. A three-step latent profile analysis revealed five profiles of acculturation: Cultural Individualism (n = 168, 15%), Cultural Engagement (n = 810, 71.3%), Cultural Assimilation (n = 47, 4.3%), Cultural Disengagement (n = 23, 2.1%), and Cultural Stress (n = 77, 7.3%). Social support predicted the Cultural Engagement profile, which was associated with positive parenting behaviors and family functioning. The Cultural Stress profile was associated with detrimental parenting behaviors and family conflict. Recommendations include family interventions that effectively support and strengthen culturally competent coping strategies in response to acculturative stress as a means to promote positive parenting practices.