Rosina M. Becerra

Support Networks for Adolescent Mothers

A comparative study of Hispanic and white adolescent mothers in California indicates that the persons most supportive of them were their mothers and their husbands or boy friends. It also shows differences in support networks of Hispanic mothers who speak English and those who speak Spanish.

PARTICIPATION OF MEXICAN AMERICAN FEMALE ADOLESCENTS IN A LONGITUDINAL PANEL SURVEY

The sources of systematic sample attrition are exam- ined for a community-based panel survey of 1,023 Mexican American and non-Hispanic white female adolescents, 874 (85.4%) of whom were reinterviewed after two years. There were few differences between Mexican Americans born in the United States and non-Hispanic whites, but Mexican Americans born in Mexico were distinctively different. The characteristics of the original interview shape the respondents concurrent attitude to- ward repeating the experience but do not affect directly subse- quent behavior. The results demonstrate that the validity of panel data may be problematic even when indicators of the survey con- tent do not appear to be associated directly with loss to follow-up. Attrition exerted a greater impact upon the external than internal validity of the panel data.

Ethnic-Sensitive Practice: Contradictions and Recommendations.

SUMMARY This article identifies some of the contradictions at the theoretical, attitudinal, and behavioral levels that are inherent in current approaches to ethnic-sensitive practice, including: (1) diversity and the history of the profession; (2) ethnicity as a credential; (3) the differential status of minority groups; and (4) the reliance on self-awareness. Recommendations are presented to stimulate thinking outside and beyond the box, such as redefining and expanding approaches to ethnic-sensitive practice; creating agency environments that support ethnic-sensitive practice; and expanding ethnic-sensitive practice to include a focus on the structures, institutions, and policies that are required for the sustained implementation of ethnic-sensitive practice.

In their own words: the life experiences of Mexican-American and white pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers.

The results of an ethnographic study of 32 Mexican-American and 17 White adolescents are presented. Fifty percent or more of the respondents in both groups experienced parental loss during their childhood years. Little information was provided by parents to the adolescents regarding menses and physical maturation. While parent-adolescent conflict arose in both samples, the conflict for the Mexican-American adolescents centered around choice of girlfriends and boyfriends while multiple sources of conflict existed between the White respondents and their parents. White respondents were more sexually active than the Mexican-American respondents, but the latter reported more stable relationships with the father of the baby. The experiences of the adolescents are both summarized and presented in their own words.

Latino Parents' and Adolescents' Perceptions of the Needs and Issues of Adolescents in Their Community.

Data from The Community Needs Assessment Survey were examined to understand the issues parents and adolescents felt were most important to address for the adolescents in their community. The sample of 1,784 Latino respondents consisted of 892 parent/adolescent dyads. Factor analyses found parents and adolescents identified and prioritized the same six factors: education and career planning, abuse and victimization, adolescent behavior problems, adolescent sexuality, socioeconomic stressors, and relationships. However, parent ratings for all factors were higher, indicating a higher level of concern. The article analyzes differences by age/generation (parents versus adolescents), by immigrant versus native status, and by type of dyad based on the latter (i.e., US born adolescent/US born parent, US born adolescent/immigrant parent, immigrant adolescent/immigrant parent). The authors discuss the complex interaction of these factors and the implications for practice and research.

The mental health-seeking behavior of Hispanic veterans.

Abstract Hispanic veterans, defined as veterans of Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Latin American descent, are an increasingly important segment of the general veteran population. They are experiencing a growth in population that roughly parallels the recent expansion of the Hispanic community as a whole, and most particularly its Mexican-American component. In fact, the October 16, 1978, issue of Time magazine, devoted to the Hispanic-American, estimated that Hispanics will soon number some 19,000,000 people by the early 1980s, constituting the largest single ethnic minority in the United States, surpassing even blacks. For some time it has been generally believed that veterans of Hispanic origin underutilize the health facilities operated by the Veterans Administration (VA)-or, alternately, that the VA underserves the Hispanic portion of its target population. Hispanic-Americans are thought to be particularly underserved in the area of mental health care. Because of this concern over the issue of underutilization, we sought to address the question of mental health-seeking behavior among Hispanic veterans in a more rigorous manner than had been attempted in the past. This study is based on a large survey undertaken in the Los Angeles area. While both physical and mental health data were collected, here we address ourselves primarily to the latter; i.e., the mental health-seeking behavior of Hispanic veterans.

Race ethnicity and nativity family structure socioeconomic status and welfare dependency.

There is major policy interest in knowing whether immigrants are more likely to depend on (as opposed to temporarily participate in) welfare compared to native-born persons. However, little systematic empirical research has directly addressed this question. Using longitudinal surveys from the California Work Pays Demonstration Project, a mothers chance of welfare dependency in a time interval is examined. In general, the results are not consistent with the perspective that foreign-born race and ethnic subgroups are more likely to depend on AFDC than are native-born race and ethnic subgroups. This finding holds true irrespective of whether socioeconomic and demographic characteristics are controlled.