Paula Villar

Cohesion and Conflict: Family Influences on Adolescent Alcohol Use in Immigrant Latino Families

This study examines how cohesion and parent–child conflict relate to alcohol use among Mexican-heritage adolescents. The sample consists of 120 adolescents (14 to 18 years) participants from the Southwest sub-sample of the Latino Acculturation and Health Project. Lifetime and recent alcohol use and binge drinking were tested. Results from the logistic regressions identified high and low levels of family cohesion as a risk factor for alcohol use compared to medium levels of cohesion, and parent–child conflict predicted lifetime use and binge drinking. Low and high family cohesion levels appear to be especially problematic among Mexican adolescents who are trying to navigate two different cultural worlds. Although high family cohesion is often a characteristic of Mexican families, Mexican-heritage adolescents may view high family cohesion as a hindrance to their own independence. Unresolved conflict seems to be connected to childrens problem behaviors and alcohol misuse could be utilized by adolescents as a mechanism to reduce emotional distress caused by family tensions.

Immigrant advantage? Substance use among Latin American immigrant and native-born youth in Spain

This article reports the results of a descriptive study conducted with middle school and high school age youth residing in northwestern Spain. The main outcome of the study is to advance knowledge about the drug use attitudes and behaviors of immigrants versus native youth in a social context where Latin American immigrants share a common language and a set of core cultural norms with the host society. The research was conducted by a bi-national Spain–US research team as a preliminary study leading to the development of joint culturally appropriate prevention interventions for youth in the northern region of Galicia, Spain. Surveys were administered in Spring 2005 to 817 students in 7th to 10th grades in 10 urban, secondary schools with high immigrant enrollment. The sample included Spanish natives (two-thirds) and Latin American immigrants (one-third), mainly from Colombia, Argentina, and Venezuela. Multiple regression analyses predicted substance use intentions, and a composite variable measuring lifetime and last 30-day frequency and amount of alcohol, cigarette and marijuana use. Controlling for the fact that the immigrant students were generally older and performing less well academically than natives, and for other predictors, Latin American immigrant youth were less at risk than native youth on their intentions to use substances and on their reported actual substance use. In a mediational analysis, most of the key explanatory variables in youth substance use etiology failed to account for the immigrant versus native differences, including a range of risk and protective factors for substance use, substance use norms, strength of ethnic identity, and degree of social integration within native-born social networks. Differential access to drugs mediated the immigrant–native gap in substance use intentions but did not mediate differences in actual substance use.

Life Aspirations, Personality Traits and Subjective Well-being in a Spanish Sample

This study examines the relationships between intrinsic/extrinsic aspirations and subjective well–being (SWB; positive affect, negative affect, satisfaction with life) in a sample of 583 Spanish adults. Firstly, the results showed that high scores for SWB are related to high scores for intrinsic aspirations and, to a lesser extent, to low scores for extrinsic aspirations; it was also found that intrinsic aspirations are mainly related to positive indicators of well–being, whereas extrinsic aspirations are mainly associated with negative indicators. Secondly, the study also enabled exploration of the links between the domains of the Five–Factor Model and aspirations; thirdly, the results showed that intrinsic/extrinsic aspirations predict SWB beyond the Five Factors. The results demonstrate the importance of studying the content of human aspirations for understanding psychological health. Copyright

A cross-national study of preadolescent substance use: exploring differences between youth in Spain and Arizona.

This study aims to comparatively examine drug use in Arizona and Spain, in order to know if similarities and differences in drug use patterns justify the administration in Spain of U.S. prevention intervention programs. Data were obtained from independent samples of seventh-grade students recruited from urban public schools and surveyed in 1998: 4,035 ethnically diverse Arizona students (Latinos and non-Hispanic Whites), and 2,243 Spanish-White students. Comparisons using Odds ratios and Chi-square tests allowed assessment of differences in drug use rates between preadolescents in Arizona and Spain taking into account gender. Furthermore, ethnicity differences in preadolescent drug use and in psychosocial risk factors were explored using multivariate analysis (ANOVA and logistic regression). Our results showed similar trends in drug use between Arizona and Spain students, with gateway drugs already in use by early adolescents, and with higher rates of drug use among males than among females. However, cross-national differences in marijuana/cannabis use were noteworthy: Arizona preadolescents were over 25 times more likely to report marijuana/cannabis use than preadolescents from Spain. Moreover, when ethnic differences were considered, Latinos in Arizona reported higher marijuana/cannabis use compared with non-Latino students. Drug use patterns among Latino preadolescents, as well as the relevance of some risk factors among the diverse groups, were strongly influenced by their level of acculturation. Study limitations and the implications of our findings for early drug use prevention and future research are discussed.

Interactive effects of personality and separation as acculturation style on adolescent antisocial behaviour

The primary aim of this study was to assess the interaction between personality and acculturation variables in predicting antisocial behaviour among adolescent immigrants living in Spain. Previous studies have shown that the acculturation style referred to as separation (rejection of the host countrys culture, and a strong desire to preserve the culture of the country of origin) was strongly related to antisocial behaviour among immigrants. A further aim of this study was to examine if the relationship between separation and antisocial behaviour was moderated by personality variables, in particular impulsivity, sensation-seeking, and personal competence. Self-reported data of a sample of 750 adolescent immigrants living in Galicias and Madrids regions (Spain) were gathered using previously validated scales. The results revealed that both separation and personality variables were significantly related to antisocial behaviour. Moreover, hierarchical regression analysis with the interaction terms entered found significant moderating effects i.e., the relationship between separation and antisocial behaviour was significantly amplified when impulsivity or sensation-seeking were high. The results underscore the need to examine the effects of personality, acculturation, and the interaction between both on antisocial behaviour among adolescent immigrants.

Acculturation Stress and Bullying Among Immigrant Youths in Spain

Few bullying studies focus on immigrant youths or acculturation stress as a risk factor for bullying and being bullied. Employing a sample of 1,157 foreign-born secondary students in Spain, we found that acculturation stress was widely experienced, although the average level of stress was moderate. Five percent of the sample reported being bully-victims; that is, simultaneously being a perpetrator and victim of bullying. Another 5% reported only victimization experience, and 12% reported only perpetration experience. Multinomial logistic regression results showed that acculturation stress was associated with increased odds of being a bully-victim but not with the odds of being just a victim or the odds of being just a perpetrator. The findings highlight areas for future research exploring the chronology of perpetration and victimization for bully-victims, whether bullies of immigrant youths are immigrants or natives, and relations between sources of acculturation stress and forms of bullying.

Away from Home: Paradoxes of Parenting for Mexican Immigrant Adults:

This study explores immigrant parents’ experiences of raising children in the United States, using data from the Immigrant Parent Project, a larger study of immigrant parents from 6 nations. The authors conducted face-to-face qualitative interviews with 1 parent and 1 adolescent child from 30 families with at least 1 immigrant parent from Mexico. Findings suggest that parents experience several paradoxes related to freedom and control, American culture and Mexican culture, the provider and servant roles, and dreams of the future. Prior studies have typically examined immigrant parents’ effects on child outcomes. This study fills the research gap related to parents’ own experiences and outcomes and informs practitioners of Mexican immigrant parents’ unique parenting objectives.

Assessing the Stability of Psychopathic Traits: Adolescent Outcomes in a Six-Year Follow-Up

Previous research has shown the relevance of psychopathic traits as predictors of severe and persistent antisocial behavior. Given that personality traits refer to developmental constructs, the main purposes of this study were to analyze the stability of psychopathic traits from childhood to adolescence, and to examine differential outcomes derived from distinctive pathways of stability and change. Data was collected in a Spanish sample of 138 children aged 6-11 at the onset of the study (T1), and 12-17 in the subsequent follow-up conducted 6 years later (T2). The stability of psychopathic traits was assessed in terms of differential continuity (rank-order), absolute stability (mean-level) and individual-level change (Reliable Change Index). Results confirmed that psychopathic traits remained moderately to highly stable from childhood to adolescence (p < .001). There were, however, some differences depending on the informant (parents vs. teachers) and the particular assessment method used (rank order vs. mean-level and RCI). A stable high and an increasing developmental pattern of psychopathic traits were related with severe adolescent behavioral and psychosocial problems (ŋ² = .10-.36). These results support the usefulness of youth psychopathic personality as a developmental construct, and highlight its relevance as a predictor of long-lasting maladjustment, with relevant implications in terms of prevention and treatment.

Intervención sobre problemas de conducta tempranos como prevención indicada del consumo de drogas: siete años de seguimiento

The aim of this study is to evaluate the long-term effects of a manualised program which intervenes on children with early-onset conduct problems, their families and teachers. The program evaluation involved 14 primary schools which were randomly assigned to the intervention (45 participating families) and control (30 families) conditions during 2007-2008. After a screening process which identified children with significant conduct problems both at home with their family and at school, the program was implemented in eight schools. Seven years later, 58 families (37 from the intervention group and 21 from the control group), with characteristics equivalent to those of the studys entire initial group, were contacted again. With measures administered to the children and their parents, comparisons through multivariate analyses of variance between intervention and control groups supported the programs efficacy in reducing both conduct problems and relations with antisocial peers. Furthermore, the program fostered social and communication skills. As regards drug use, the intervention group showed less favourable attitudes towards drugs, lower intention of drug use, lower frequency of tobacco use and lower intensity of alcohol use. These results support the usefulness of multicomponent programs for conduct problems as a way to prevent, in the long term, unfavourable developmental trajectories, where drug use is a key element.

Developmental Trajectories of Youth Conduct Problems: Testing Later Development and Related Outcomes in a 12-Year Period

Developmental heterogeneity of youth conduct problems has been widely assumed, leading to the identification of distinctive groups at particular risk of more serious problems later in development. The present study intends to expand the main results of a prior study focused on identifying developmental trajectories of conduct problems (Stable-low, Stable-high, and Decreasing), by analyzing their developmental course and related outcomes during middle/late adolescence and early adulthood. Two follow-up studies were conducted 10 and 12 years after the initial study with 115 and 122 youths respectively (mean = 17.29 and 19.18). Overall results underline that the Early-onset persistent group showed the highest risk-profile; the Childhood-limited group revealed a moderate level of later maladjustment; and the Adolescence-onset group, currently identified, showed a significant peak of risk particularly in middle/late adolescence. These findings provide a more comprehensive representation of youth conduct problems, and open new means of discussion in terms of preventive intervention.