Mimi V. Chapman

Becoming an American Parent Overcoming Challenges and Finding Strength in a New Immigrant Latino Community

One in five children living in the United States is an immigrant or a child of an immigrant, and 62% of these children are Latino. Through qualitative methods, this study identifies ways that Latino immigrant parents with adolescent children cope with their new environment and how that environment shapes their parenting practices. Two primary themes emerge: overcoming new challenges and finding new strengths. Immigrant parents discuss the challenges of overcoming fears of the unknown; navigating unfamiliar work, school, and neighborhood environments; encountering and confronting racism; and losing family connections and other forms of social capital. In response to these challenges, immigrant parents discuss developing bicultural coping skills, increasing parent-child communication, empathizing with and respecting their adolescent children, and fostering social supports. The results fit well with a risk and protective factor framework and provide a basis for improving policies and programs to support effective parenting in Latino immigrant families.

Children's voices: the perceptions of children in foster care.

Scant research exists on how abused and neglected children view the foster care experience and how these perceptions vary by demographic characteristics and placement type. Data come from a national probability sample of children placed in child welfare supervised foster care for at least 1 year. These findings indicate that children generally feel positively toward their out-of-home care providers and maintain hope for reunification with their biological family. Differences are present between children in family foster care, group care, and kinship care placements.

Poverty, Neighborhood Danger, Social Support, and the Individual Adaptation Among At-Risk Youth in Urban Areas

This article examines the relative contribution of measures of objective and subjective neighborhood danger and measures of social support from neighbors, teachers, parents, and friends on the individual adaptation of at-risk youth in two urban areas in the southeastern United States. In support of earlier research, the findings suggest that the adaptation of these youth is influenced more by the availability of social support, especially from parents, than from their reports and perceptions of neighborhood danger. Results are discussed in the context of a recent national public opinion poll about young adults at risk.

Profile of children investigated for sexual abuse : Association with psychopathology symptoms and services

Sexually abused children may have poor mental health because of their victimization as well as preexisting or co-occurring family problems. However, few studies consider psychopathology in relation to both abuse and other family experiences. This study uses data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) to create latent subgroups of 553 children investigated for sexual abuse. The study investigates childrens psychological symptoms and child welfare service (CWS) patterns to understand how childrens needs relate to mental health services. Analyses were conducted by child age: 3-7, 8-11, and 12-14. Factor mixture modeling and regression analyses were used. Results show meaningful subgroups of children that relate to different symptom patterns. Among 3- to 7-year-olds, behavioral symptoms are associated with caregiver domestic violence and mental illness. Among 8- to 11-year-olds, depressive symptoms are associated with severe abuse and multiple family problems, whereas posttraumatic stress is associated with chronic, unresolved abuse. Although many children received mental health services, services are not well matched to childrens needs--the substantiation status of the abuse explains services. Implications for CWS and mental health services are discussed.

The Well-Being of Immigrant Latino Youth: A Framework to Inform Practice

All families must confront positive and negative influences when raising children. This challenge is greater for new immigrants, who must negotiate the additional influences of culture and environment and incorporate their family history into their life in a new country. This article summarizes findings regarding the well-being of Latino youth on domains important to functioning later in life (e.g., mental health, substance use, school functioning, early adult role-taking). The summary is followed by a discussion of the psychosocial risks that threaten the successful adaptation of Latino youth in immigrant families and the protective factors that facilitate their adaptation. A framework of practice guidelines and case applications is proposed to guide helping professionals in assessing the needs of Latino youth.

Acculturation Risk and Protective Factors and Mental Health Symptoms in Immigrant Latino Adolescents

Abstract The aim of this investigation was to map factors that predicted internalizing, externalizing, social, and total behavioral problems in immigrant Latino adolescents. Interviews were conducted with 100 foreign-born Latino adolescents. Multiple regression analyses revealed two risk factors, perceived discrimination and parent-adolescent conflict, which were significant predictors of adolescent internalizing, externalizing, and total problems. Interaction terms indicated that adolescents who were highly involved in Latino culture and who experienced high parent-adolescent conflict were at risk for internalizing problems. Familism was a protective factor associated with lower levels of internalizing and total problems. However, the effect of familism was mediated by parent-adolescent conflict.

Unmet health and mental health need among adolescents: the roles of sexual minority status and child-parent connectedness.

Using a representative national sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) survey (N = 18,924), this article explores sexual minority status (SMS) and child-parent connectedness in relation to the unmet needs for health or mental health care among adolescents. Through the use of logistic regression models, data were analyzed to determine whether SMS and child-parent connectedness predict unmet health and mental health need. In addition, models tested whether child-parent connectedness, sex or gender, and race or ethnicity interact with SMS to predict unmet need. Results show that both SMS and child-parent connectedness predict unmet health and mental health need. Being a sexual minority youth (SMY) significantly increases the odds of having an unmet need for health or mental health care; female SMY have the highest odds of an unmet mental health need. Child-parent connectedness is a predictor of unmet need regardless of SMS. Youth with lower levels of child-parent connectedness have significantly higher odds of an unmet health or mental health need. Findings call for service providers to address the unmet needs of SMY both in terms of outreach to youth and parents and to communicate the importance of the parental role in helping teens access care.

Bullied youth: the impact of bullying through lesbian, gay, and bisexual name calling

Bullying is a common experience for many school-aged youth, but the majority of bullying research and intervention does not address the content of bullying behavior, particularly teasing. Understanding the various forms of bullying as well as the language used in bullying is important given that bullying can have persistent consequences, particularly for victims who are bullied through biased-based bullying, such as being called gay, lesbian, or queer. This study examines bullying experiences in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of 3,379 rural elementary-, middle-, and high-school youth. We use latent class analysis to establish clusters of bullying behaviors, including forms of biased-based bullying. The resulting classes are examined to ascertain if and how bullying by biased-based labeling is clustered with other forms of bullying behavior. This analysis identifies 3 classes of youth: youth who experience no bullying victimization, youth who experience social and emotional bullying, and youth who experience all forms of social and physical bullying, including being bullied by being called gay, lesbian, or queer. Youth in Classes 2 and 3 labeled their experiences as bullying. Results indicate that youth bullied by being called gay, lesbian, or queer are at a high risk of experiencing all forms of bullying behavior, highlighting the importance of increased support for this vulnerable group.

How images work: An analysis of a visual intervention used to facilitate a difficult conversation and promote understanding

This study centers on an intervention that uses visual methods to structure conversations among teachers about their undocumented Latino/Latina immigrant students living in the US. Given negative perceptions of undocumented immigrants and cultural misunderstandings, recent demographic shifts have challenged many communities, and presented issues especially relevant to majority-culture teachers who teach immigrant students. We describe an innovative intervention methodology that incorporates photographs with facilitated discussion using Visual Thinking Strategies to promote awareness, empathy, and understanding. This study uses qualitative data to identify the ways in which images function to facilitate difficult discussions; to determine the relationship between images, facilitated discussion, and attitude shifts; and to determine whether such attitude shifts are schema changes. Findings show images effectively engage participants in discussion, elicit openness and reflection, and increase empathy. Indications of schema change derive from participants’ descriptions of shifts in awareness, perspective-taking, attitude change, and more complex thinking about Latino/Latina immigrants.

The Role of School Context in Implementing a Statewide Anti-Bullying Policy and Protecting Students

Bullying is a significant problem in U.S. schools. Policies have been developed to reduce bullying, yet policy implementation by educators is an essential yet difficult and complex process. Few studies have investigated factors that act as barriers to or facilitators of bullying policy implementation and teacher protection of students. This study examined the influence of school context on educators’ capacity to implement a statewide bullying law and protect students from bullying following the enactment of the policy. Data were collected from 505 educators in 324 schools. School administrators tended to rate fidelity of policy implementation and teacher protection of students higher than teachers, education support professionals, and student service professionals. Policy implementation fidelity scores were higher in high schools than elementary schools. School size and the prevalence of student suspensions were inversely related to implementation fidelity. Higher levels of teacher protection were reported in elementary schools.