Introduction

The population of Latino youth in the United States is rapidly increasing, as 24 % of schoolchildren and 26.3 % of newborns are of Latino descent (Pew Hispanic Center 2012). Yet, there is little research on the risk and protective factors for this population, and research on risk and protective factors for other racial and ethnic groups may not be applicable to Latino youth, or more specifically, Latino youth of Mexican origin. As such, more research is needed for the development of effective prevention and intervention strategies. Negative life events (NLEs) represent a number of stressors that can be disruptive to psychological development, including being the victim of violence, family financial problems, parental mental illness, and other psychosocial stressors (Swearingen and Cohen 1985), with prior research indicating that males and females are equally likely to experience NLEs (e.g., Hatch and Dohrenwend 2007). NLEs have been extensively studied in various populations including youth (Franko et al. 2004) and Latinos (Rubens et al. 2013), and experiencing NLEs has been associated with a host of negative outcomes, including externalizing behaviors (Estrada-Martínez et al. 2013; King et al. 2008).

Latino youth residing in the United States face unique psychosocial stressors, including ethnic discrimination, acculturation concerns, and lower socioeconomic status (SES; Buchanan and Smokowski 2009; Wagner et al. 2010). These stressors commonly lead to NLEs, such as parental mental illness and financial stressors (Wadsworth et al. 2005), as well as parental alcohol problems and limited opportunities for parents to find jobs (Martinez et al. 2011). Furthermore, data suggest that youth residing in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to experience NLEs, such as witnessing neighborhood violence (Covey et al. 2013). Since 26.6 % of Latino youth live in poverty, many Latino youth are at an increased risk of experiencing NLEs (US Census Bureau 2010; Wadsworth et al. 2008). Families of Latino youth may also be at an increased risk for poverty due to limited job opportunities resulting from documentation status, discrimination, lower educational attainment, or language barriers (Morales et al. 2002). More specifically, Latino youth of Mexican origin may be more likely to experience NLEs, because their families are disproportionately represented among Latinos living in poverty (Pew Hispanic Center 2013).

The cumulative stress model supports the idea that multiple stressors can have a compounding negative effect on healthy development in children (Morales and Guerra 2006). Therefore, the more psychosocial stressors one experiences, the more likely he or she will be at-risk for externalizing problems and other difficulties (Beuhler and Gerard 2012; Oliva et al. 2009). Because of the strong relation between NLEs and delinquency (or behavior that can result in legal action; Katz et al. 2012; Zinzow et al. 2009), Latino youth experiencing high levels of NLEs may become more involved in delinquent activities (Rubens et al. 2013). However, the factors that may help to buffer the association between NLEs and delinquency are not fully known. High academic aspirations (i.e., plans to graduate high school and pursue higher education) are associated with lower rates of delinquency (Carroll et al. 2009). Students with high academic aspirations may be aware of the ways that delinquency can keep them from reaching their academic goals, which may deter engagement in delinquent behavior (Henry et al. 2012). Accordingly, the current study examined the moderating effects of academic aspirations on the association between NLEs and delinquency in a sample of Latino youth.

Negative Life Events and Delinquency

Exposure to NLEs is associated with a greater likelihood of developing externalizing behaviors, such as aggression, substance abuse, and delinquency (Estrada-Martínez et al. 2013; King et al. 2008). For example, a study by Estrada-Martínez et al. (2013) examined the moderating effects of family dynamics on neighborhood SES and delinquency in a sample of African-American, White, and Latino youth and found that youth who experienced high levels of family conflict displayed more violent behavior than those with low levels of family conflict. Latino youth experienced a disproportionately higher risk for violent behavior as a result of their family conflict when compared to African-American and White youth. This finding demonstrates the link between psychosocial stressors and externalizing behaviors and how particular stressors may be related to violent behaviors in Latino youth.

A lack of healthy coping behaviors and poor social modeling may partially explain why high levels of NLEs are associated with delinquency. Children and adolescents who have experienced NLEs are less likely to be provided with the social, financial, or emotional resources that are needed to develop healthy coping mechanisms for stressors later in their lives (King et al. 2008; Marmorstein et al. 2009). Therefore, NLEs can have long-term, negative consequences on the psychological development of youth. Additionally, youth exposed to NLEs, such as parental mental illness or substance abuse, may be at an increased risk for developing delinquent behaviors by modeling their parents’ behavior in addition to living in a stressful home environment (Hicks et al. 2009; Hussong et al. 2012).

The Role of Academic Aspirations

From a developmental perspective, the school context provides adolescents opportunities for setting and achieving goals. As high school progresses, adolescents begin to set goals for graduation and possibly further education. For an adolescent, the prospect of graduation can feel overwhelming and requires a solid plan with goals to achieve, including taking core classes and earning respectable grades. Therefore, a certain level of motivation and ability is necessary to create and accomplish the goals to graduate. In addition to earning a high school degree, setting the appropriate goals to graduate high school can have other benefits as well. Most relevant to the current study, goal-setting behavior has been suggested to deter delinquency (Carroll et al. 2009). Specifically, academic aspirations are associated with decreased levels of delinquency (Carroll et al. 2009). In a study of African-American and Latino 8th and 9th grade students, those who showed warning signs of dropping out of high school (i.e., poor performance on standardized tests, school suspensions, grade retention, failing a core subject, or poor school attendance) were more likely to show signs of delinquency and problem substance use during adolescence (Henry et al. 2012). Further, Latino youth who were interviewed about personal or peer experiences of dropping out of high school commonly cited delinquency as a negative consequence as a result of dropping out (Nesman 2007). There was also a relation between low academic aspirations and high levels of delinquency for both Latino and non-Latino students in the study (Nesman 2007).

Goals can create a locus of control and help to maintain self-efficacy after experiencing significant life stressors (Carroll et al. 2009; Williams and Bryan 2013). In this way, goal-setting behaviors may be a protective factor for youth experiencing high levels of NLEs and prevent negative outcomes, including delinquency. That is, high academic aspirations may buffer the impact of NLEs on delinquency. Students who plan to graduate high school and continue with higher education may actively avoid behaviors that could result in negative consequences that keep them from attaining their educational goals. In other words, individuals with high academic aspirations may be connected to a focus on the future and be less directed by negative influences in their lives (Caprara et al. 2008). Students with high academic aspirations may also be involved in a structured afterschool routine of completing homework assignments and are therefore distracted from becoming involved in delinquent behaviors and feeling the effects of their NLEs (Fleming et al. 2008). Latino youth, however, have one of the highest dropout rates in the country (Snyder and Dillow 2010), so increasing academic aspirations is particularly important for this population.

There are various types of NLEs youth may experience, and there is evidence to suggest that specific NLEs may be more related to certain outcomes than others (Bernert et al. 2007; Franko et al. 2004; Joiner and Rudd 2010; Kobus and Reyes 2000; Kraaij and De Wilde 2001). It may also be that academic aspirations have different effects on preventing delinquent behavior on students who experience certain types of NLEs (i.e., health, safety, family structure, financial, and social-related NLEs). Accordingly, the current study evaluated the influence of academic aspirations on the associations between various types of NLEs and delinquency.

For instance, students who experience mostly social-related NLEs may find a community in a school setting where they are able to establish healthy relationships with students and other staff. Academic engagement may provide a stable community (Shim and Finch 2014) and therefore prevent these students from seeking a community in other social settings, such as with peers who engage in delinquent activity.

Similarly, students who experience family-related NLEs may find validation from accomplishments in school (Shim and Finch 2014) and may view graduating high school as a means of creating a future that is more hopeful than their current family situation. By encouraging academic goal-setting, students with high levels of family-related NLEs may develop healthy relationships with teachers and like-minded peers (Barile et al. 2012) which protect them from turning to peers who engage in delinquency as their support system.

Students who experience high levels of safety-related NLEs such as witnessing or being a victim of crime are more likely to report feeling a low sense of personal control (Kirk and Hardy 2012; McGee 2014). Therefore, students who experience safety NLEs may be motivated to create a tangible future in order to create a sense of control by setting academic goals. These goals may help them to avoid dangerous neighborhoods, and focus on attaining academic goals rather than the influence of peers who engage in delinquent behavior.

Students who experience financial-related NLEs may similarly desire a future different from their current situation by setting academic goals for graduating high school and attending college (Hopson and Lee 2011), knowing that there is more job security with higher levels of education. Students may be deterred from delinquent activity when they focus on goals that will provide future financial security, while delinquency may jeopardize job and college attainment.

Finally, students who have high levels of health-related NLEs may in turn experience a loss of control when they are informed of a new diagnosis (Ranchor et al. 2010) or about health symptoms that a friend, family member, or themselves may develop, or because of the physically limiting nature of an illness (Pinquart and Shen 2011). However, academic goals may help these students develop a sense of control after a family member, friend or themselves were diagnosed with a serious illness. Knowing the consequences of such illnesses, students with high levels of health-related NLEs may avoid delinquent behaviors which could jeopardize their own physical well-being. Instead, these students may focus on attainable goals that can provide them with a sense of future security.

Current Study

Extant literature indicates a strong relation between NLEs and delinquent activity in youth (Eitle and Turner 2002; Hoffman and Cerbone 1999; Maschi 2006). However, the factors that contribute to this association remain under researched and would be particularly valuable in preventing delinquent behavior in youth who are at an increased risk for experiencing NLEs. Accordingly, the current study examined the moderating effects of academic aspirations on the association between various NLEs and self-reported delinquency. Furthermore, this study extends the current literature by examining these effects in a population of Latino youth, primarily identifying of Mexican descent. Research is needed within this population, as Mexican–Americans are the largest population of Latino origin living in the United States (representing approximately two-thirds of the Latino population; Pew Hispanic Center 2013). High levels of NLEs were expected to be associated with high levels of delinquency. However, academic aspirations were expected to buffer this association, such that the association between NLEs and delinquency was expected to be weaker when academic aspirations were high when compared to when academic aspirations were low.

Methods

Participants

Participants were recruited during parent-teacher conferences in an academically-focused charter high school of a large Midwestern city during the fall of 2012. A table was set-up in the hallway during conferences, and caregivers who approached the table were provided with a brief overview of the study, types of questions that would be asked, and when the study would take place. Consent forms were also sent home with students if they were not consented during parent-teacher conferences. Caregivers who gave permission for their adolescent to participate signed a consent form. Students ages 18 and over were able to provide consent for themselves if they wished to participate. Consent forms were available in both English and Spanish to accommodate for the large number of caregivers whose native language was not English. Further, a school-sanctioned translator was available to help with further communication among parents and study staff.

Of the 207 students attending the school, 155 (77 %) had consent to participate, with 13 providing their own written informed consent and 142 having parental consent. The majority of consent forms returned (66 %) were in Spanish. Prior to completing the survey, all participants gave verbal assent, and 152 of the 155 (98 %) students actually participated on the day of data collection; three students were not present at school on the day of data collection.

The current study focused on the 144 (94.7 %) participants who self-identified as Hispanic/Latino on the demographics form of the survey. Of the 144 self-identifying Hispanic/Latino participants, 78 were male and 66 were female with a mean age of 16.25 years (SD = 1.46; range = 14–19 years). School records indicated that 95.4 % of the students in the school qualified for free or reduced lunch and that the majority of students (>90 %) report Mexican descent. Regarding language use at home, approximately 31.9 % of students spoke more Spanish than English, 31.3 % spoke both English and Spanish equally, and 10.4 % spoke only English. With friends, approximately 46.5 % of students spoke more English than Spanish, 29.9 % reported speaking both languages equally, and 16 % reported speaking only English. The majority of students (71.4 %) reported that they had lived in the United States for 10 years or longer, with 43.1 % reporting that they were born in the United States.

Measures

Demographics

Participants self-reported on ethnicity (including Hispanic/Latino or not Hispanic/Latino), age, gender, and time spent within the United States.

Negative Life Events

Negative life events were assessed using adolescent reports on Swearingen and Cohen’s (1985) Negative Life Events Questionnaire. The questionnaire included various psychosocial, financial, and relational stressors that could have a significant impact on a student’s life. Participants responded to 26 items indicating whether they had experienced the event within the past year (yes = 1, no = 0). The measure included items such as “saw crime/accident,” “someone in family was arrested,” and “breakup with boyfriend/girlfriend.” The total number of NLEs endorsed was summed across items, with higher scores indicating that an adolescent had experienced a greater number of NLEs. Further, there is evidence to suggest that specific NLEs may be more related to certain outcomes than others (Bernert et al. 2007; Franko et al. 2004; Joiner and Rudd 2010; Kobus and Reyes 2000; Kraaij and De Wilde 2001). Therefore, the 26 NLEs were separated into five different domains by the first author to evaluate their specific impact on levels of delinquency. The categories were then reviewed and agreed to be face valid by an independent reviewer. These groups included: safety (7 items; “Victim of crime/violent assault”, “Parent went to jail”), health, (3 items; “seriously sick or injured”, “serious sickness/injury of close friend”), family structure (8 items; “Parental separation”, “A new adult moved into the house”) financial (3 items; “Parent got a new job”, “Mother/father figure lost job”), and social (5 items; “Family moved”, “Death of a close friend”). Given that experiencing a NLE in one category does not necessarily put students at risk for experiencing another NLE in the same category, (i.e., “seriously sick or injured” and “serious sickness/injury of close friend”; Chen et al. 2011), internal consistencies were expected to be low to modest. Furthermore, internal consistencies were influenced by the dichotomous nature of responses, which reduces alpha values (Cohen et al. 2003). Nonetheless, internal consistencies and factor analyses were calculated to evaluate the five NLE domains. Internal consistencies of the five subscales ranged from .53 to .68 and all but two factor loadings (i.e., “New brother or sister” and “Family member died”) were higher than the recommended .3 cutoff for each of the subdomains (.45–.88; Tabachnick and Fidell 2011), providing some support for the specific domains.

Academic Aspirations

Research staff developed items to evaluate students’ post-graduation plans. For the purposes of this study, academic aspirations were measured by a single question in the survey, “What are your school plans?” Responses included: “(a) drop out of high school before graduation and not attain a degree, (b) drop out of high school before graduation and eventually get a GED, (c) graduate high school and get a job, (d) graduate high school and go to the military, (e) graduate high school and go to a 2 year college/technical school, (f) graduate high school and go to a 4 year college.” Students were asked to select one option that best suited their current academic goals. For the purpose of analysis, items were assigned point values from 1 to 6, with higher point values associated with higher academic aspirations.

Adolescent Delinquency

Self-reported delinquency was assessed using adolescent reports on Fergusson, Woodward, and Horwood’s (1999) delinquency items. Adolescents responded to fourteen questions about whether they had engaged in various antisocial and deviant behaviors within the past year (yes = 1, no = 0). Consistent with previous research (Coley and Medeiros 2007; Keijsers et al. 2010; Sullivan 2006), the measure included items such as shoplifting, property damage, drug use, and police contact. Delinquent behaviors endorsed were summed across items, with higher scores representing greater levels of delinquency. Due to dichotomous response options, internal consistency was not computed for the measure (Cohen et al. 2003).

Procedures

All procedures, surveys, and study forms were approved by the research team’s institutional review board and the school administration prior to data collection. Consent forms and surveys were translated into Spanish by a school-sanctioned translator and were then back-translated by an individual affiliated with the research team’s institutional research center. Data collection took place during a writing class during the school day. Students completed surveys during this time in their respective classrooms. School faculty were not present in the room during survey administration in order to increase confidentiality and participants’ accuracy in responding. Research staff emphasized that no names would be attached to data, and that all data would remain confidential. Students whose parents did not provide written consent were escorted out of the classroom by teachers. All students with consent also provided verbal assent to participate.

One trained member of the research staff was present in each room during the survey administration, with class sizes ranging from 9 to 24 students. Research staff read aloud survey items as students followed along and completed the survey. School staff provided the research team a list of students who may have problems understanding the survey in English. These students were offered a Spanish version of the items; only three students completed the survey in Spanish. The survey took approximately 30 min to complete. All participants were compensated with a $5.00 gift card.

Results

Data Analysis

Basic descriptive statistics were first evaluated to determine levels of NLEs, self-reported delinquency, and academic aspirations within the sample. Bivariate correlations were then calculated to evaluate associations between study variables. Coefficient r-values of .10 are considered small, r-values of .30 are considered medium, and r-values of .50 or greater are considered large effects (Cohen 1988).

Skewness and kurtosis values were not a concern for NLEs (skewness = .72, kurtosis = .36), academic aspirations (skewness = −.94, kurtosis = −.49), or delinquency (skewness = 1.02, kurtosis = .40). Therefore, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models were used to evaluate study hypotheses. Age, time in the US, and gender were considered as control variables in all models, as there is evidence to suggest that age, gender, and amount of time spent in the United States can influence levels of delinquency (Coie and Dodge 1998; Gfoerer and Tan 2003; Wong et al. 2013; Zheng and Cleveland 2013) .

An initial model in which delinquency was regressed on the total NLEs measure, academic aspirations and the control variables were estimated to establish unique first-order effects. The interaction term between NLEs and academic aspirations was then added to the model to determine if academic aspirations moderated the association between total NLEs and delinquency. A second set of regression models that examined the unique effects of the five NLE groups and academic aspirations on delinquency were then evaluated. All five NLE groups were entered into the model at once, along with the academic aspirations variable and control variables to determine first-order effects. The interaction terms between the NLE groups and academic aspirations were then added to the model simultaneously to determine if the influence of these NLE groups depended on academic aspirations.Footnote 1

All variables were standardized prior to conducting regression analyses in order to aid in the interpretation of interaction effects. Significant interactions were probed at high (+1 SD) and low (−1 SD) levels of academic aspirations to determine the nature of the interaction. Note that the current sample size had adequate power to detect medium to large, but not small, interaction effects (Aiken and West 1991).

Descriptive Statistics

Students reported having experienced between 0 and 24 NLEs in the past year (M = 7.90, SD = 5.04). Most students (96.5 %) experienced at least one NLE in the past year. The most frequently reported NLEs reported were “breakup with boyfriend/girlfriend”, (55.6 %), “saw crime/accident”, (54.9 %,) “loss of a close friend”, (50 %,) “someone in family was arrested”, (47.2 %), and “someone in family died” (46.5 %).

In terms of academic aspirations, most students reported goals consistent with high academic aspirations (M = 5.09, SD = 1.10). Students primarily indicated that they planned to “Graduate high school and go to a 4-year college” (41 %). This was followed by “Graduate high school and go to a 2-year college/technical school” (24.3 %). Students reported engaging in between 0 and 13 delinquent activities (M = 3.33, SD = 3.27). The delinquency item most frequently endorsed was “Used alcohol without your parent’s permission” (50 %). The delinquency item least endorsed was “Purposefully set fire to a building, a car, or other property, or tried to do so” (6.9 %).

See Table 1 for means, standard deviations, and correlations of all study variables. Correlation analyses indicated that students who had experienced high levels of NLEs were more likely to self-report high levels of delinquent behavior compared to students who experienced few or no NLEs. The one caveat to this association was that there was not a significant association between experiencing financial-related NLEs and delinquency. NLEs were not statistically associated with levels of academic aspirations (see Table 1). Students with high levels of academic aspirations reported low levels of delinquency.

Table 1 Descriptive statistics and correlations
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Males were more likely to self-report delinquent behaviors when compared to females. This is consistent with previous research that has found that males are more likely to exhibit delinquent behaviors, especially during adolescence (e.g. Church et al. 2012). There was also a small, positive association between proportion of time spent in the United States and delinquency, suggesting that students who lived longer in the United States were more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors. Students who lived longer in the United States were also more likely to report high levels of NLEs. Younger age was associated with higher levels of social NLEs.

Regression Analyses

Regression models were used to evaluate the unique first-order and interaction effects of the total NLEs measure and academic aspirations on delinquency (see Table 2). Being male, low levels of academic aspirations, and high levels of NLEs were associated with high levels of delinquency in the first-order effects model. The interaction term between NLEs and academic aspirations was then added to the model; however, no significant interaction effect was evident.

Table 2 Regression models predicting delinquency
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A second series of regression models were then used to evaluate the influence of the five NLE groups (safety, health, family structure, social, and financial) and academic aspirations on delinquency; see Table 3). The first-order effects regression model revealed a significant relation between males and delinquency, low academic aspirations and delinquency, and high levels of safety-related NLEs and delinquency. Interaction terms between each of the five NLE groups and the academic aspirations variable were then added to the model simultaneously. The interaction terms between safety-related NLEs and aspirations and health-related NLEs and aspirations were significantly associated with delinquency (see Table 3).

Table 3 Regression models predicting delinquency by NLE group
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Simple slope analyses, at high and low values of academic aspirations, were conducted to further assess these moderating effects. Safety-related NLEs were positively associated with delinquency at low levels of academic aspirations (β = .65, p < .001), such that high levels of safety-related NLEs were associated with high levels of delinquency (see Fig. 1). In contrast, safety-related NLEs were unrelated to delinquency at high levels of academic aspirations (β = .09, p = .57), with delinquent behaviors consistently low at high levels of academic aspirations.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Association between safety-related NLEs and delinquency at high and low levels of academic aspirations

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As seen in Fig. 2, health-related NLEs were unrelated to delinquency at low levels of academic aspirations (β = −.24, p = .11), such that delinquent behaviors were consistently high when academic aspirations were low. In contrast, at high levels of academic aspirations, health-related NLEs were positively associated with delinquency (β = .42, p = .00) such that the lowest levels of delinquency occurred when levels of academic aspirations were high and levels of health-related NLEs were low.

Fig. 2
figure 2

Association between health-related NLEs and delinquency at high and low levels of academic aspirations

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Discussion

The current study contributes to the literature by examining associations between NLE groups and delinquency and by evaluating the moderating effects of academic aspirations on these associations in a sample of Latino adolescents predominantly of Mexican origin. Findings from this study are consistent with expectations and previous research (Halliday-Boykins and Graham 2001; Hartinger-Saunders et al. 2012), indicating a link between NLEs, particularly safety-related NLEs, and delinquency. Moreover, results suggest that academic aspirations can be a protective factor for Latino youth who experience certain types of NLEs. Specifically, associations between health- and safety-related NLEs and delinquency were moderated by academic aspirations.

High levels of NLEs were associated with high levels of delinquency, with safety-related NLEs most strongly related to delinquency. This is consistent with previous literature that supports the relation between safety-related NLEs, including being the victim of crime (Hartinger-Saunders et al. 2011) witnessing a crime (Hartinger-Saunders et al. 2012) and parental arrests (Farrington et al. 2001), and delinquency. Moreover, Latino youth who have experienced community violence are more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors (Peacock et al. 2003) and develop psychopathology, including externalizing disorders (Gudino et al. 2011).

Youth who experience safety-related NLEs are likely to experience additional stressors related to neighborhood and family violence, including financial problems, family discord, and parental legal problems (Farrington et al. 2001; Margolin et al. 2009). A reason why safety-related NLEs may be strongly linked to delinquency is because of the multiple stressors associated with safety-related NLEs, which increase the risk of developing maladaptive behaviors. This is consistent with the cumulative stress model, which suggests that multiple stressors will lead to more negative outcomes, thus increasing the risk for externalizing problems and delinquency (Morales and Guerra 2006). An additional potential reason why safety-related NLEs were most strongly related to delinquency could be because that these NLEs are the result of others’ delinquent behavior that individuals may have witnessed or experienced (i.e., “victim of victim of crime/violent assault; parent went to jail”). In this way, youth who have experienced safety NLEs have been modeled different delinquent behaviors and may therefore be more likely to repeat these behaviors. This would be consistent with social learning theory, which suggests that an individual’s behaviors can result from the actions he or she sees modeled by others, especially during adolescence (Brauer and De Coster 2015). Therefore, adolescent youth are more likely to model behaviors, particularly delinquent behaviors, exhibited by those around them.

Further, higher academic aspirations were associated with lower levels of delinquency. This is consistent with previous literature that supports this association (Carroll et al. 2009; Henry et al. 2012). More importantly, academic aspirations played a particular role in the associations between health-related and safety-related NLEs and delinquency. With regard to safety-related NLEs, the highest levels of delinquency occurred when academic aspirations were low and safety-related NLEs were high. With regard to health-related NLEs, the lowest levels of delinquency occurred when health-related NLEs were low and academic aspirations were high.

There are many possible reasons why academic aspirations moderated safety-related and health-related NLEs and delinquency. For students who experience safety-related NLEs, academic aspirations may create a sense of control and predictable future (Carroll et al. 2009; Williams and Bryan 2013). This may be particularly important for students who have unstable home environments or who have been the victim of crime or violence. Additionally, focusing on academic goals may also help students to avoid affiliation with delinquent peers. Students who experience health-related NLEs may find that aspirations create a sense of stability for the future (Carroll et al. 2009; Williams and Bryan 2013). These students may invest more time in academic goals rather than in delinquent activities, which may make their future more unpredictable. They may also avoid delinquent behaviors that could jeopardize their health, such as substance use and physical fights.

Academic aspirations did not moderate the relationships between financial-related, family structure-related, and social-related NLEs and delinquency. Academic aspirations may not have moderated the relationship between these NLEs and delinquency because academic aspirations do not create the same sense of control as they do for students who experience safety and health-related NLEs. Students who experience financial-related NLEs may not have the resources to pay for college, so academic aspirations may not be meaningful and protective against delinquency. Attaining a job directly after high school may appear more beneficial to these students rather than paying for college.

Students who experience family structure-related NLEs may be attracted to groups of delinquent peers as social support after experiencing family structure-related NLEs. Furthermore, due to the nature of these NLEs (e.g., “parental separation”, “a new adult moved into the house”, “someone in family died”) students may have difficulty trusting adults, and therefore may not develop positive relationships with teachers and school staff who encourage students to attain high academic aspirations. Instead, students who experience these NLEs may turn to delinquent peers for support.

Finally, students with high levels of social-related NLEs may not have a stable source of social support, and therefore be less likely to develop strong relationships with teachers who encourage applying to college. Another reason may be that these students feel rejected (e.g., “death of a close friend,” “breakup with boyfriend/girlfriend”), or have been rejected by peers, and may become involved with delinquent peers who may feel isolated as well (Laird et al. 2001). Further research examining other potential moderators (e.g., peer relationships) for these NLEs is warranted.

Limitations

Results of the current study must be viewed in the context of its limitations. The measures used in this study have not been specifically validated in Latino samples. Items on the Negative Life Events Questionnaire may not be as relevant to Latino youth as they are to Caucasian youth born in the United States. Additionally, the NLE domains have not been previously specified using the current study’s measure of NLEs. There are also many culturally-specific NLEs, such as discrimination, not assessed with the current measures. Thus, more research examining NLE domains specific to various populations is needed. It may also be that academic aspirations are a moderator for culturally-specific NLEs rather than the types of NLEs evaluated in the current study. Further study using culturally-validated measures in examining these associations would be beneficial. Furthermore, Latino youth are a heterogeneous population, representing various countries. Additional research on academic aspirations as a protective factor may consider the impact of similar and different cultural values of individual countries represented among Latino youth living in the United States, in addition to the cultural values of Latino youth who identify as Mexican–American. Additionally, there are other factors that influence goal-setting, both related to the Latino culture, such as acculturation and assimilation, and more general, such as personality and level of motivation. These factors could be the focus of further study on academic aspirations.

Further, the delinquency scale used in the current study included behaviors ranging from substance abuse to physical violence with the intent to seriously hurt or kill someone. Some delinquent acts are more serious than others and future research could examine the association of certain NLEs with more serious delinquent acts. Another limitation of this study is the use of data from a single time point. As such, causal associations cannot be drawn. Future research should examine the long-term effects of NLEs and academic aspirations on delinquency in order to better understand risk factors and interventions for youth who experience certain NLEs. Another limitation is that this study only uses a single item to assess for academic aspirations. Additional data on students’ aspirations may be needed in order to form stronger conclusions on the moderating effects of academic aspirations on NLEs.

The academically-focused charter school in the current study may attract students who hold high academic aspirations. Over 40 % of students in the sample stated that they planned to attend a 2 or 4-year college, and no students reported that they planned to drop out of high school. This contrasts with national statistics on Latino high school completion and dropout rates (18 % do not graduate high school or subsequently obtain their G.E.D.; Cataldi et al. 2009). Therefore, the results of this study may not be generalizable to all Latino youth; aspirations reported by students in the current study may be much higher compared to national averages of high school completion in Latino youth. Likewise, academic aspirations are different from actual academic attainment. The effects of the study may not be as large because the study only examines the former.

Accordingly, goal-setting is a multi-faceted concept and involves an individual’s ability and willingness to set and achieve goals in various settings including at home, in social settings and at school. The ability to set a goal may be very different from the skills necessary to follow through with achieving the goal. Some areas of goal-setting that distinguish goals that are set from goals that are actually achieved are self-efficacy and motivation (Caraway et al. 2003), self-regulation and personal interest and values invested in achieving specific goals (Eccles and Wigfield 2002). Therefore, future research could examine the impact of high school graduation as a moderator of the link between specific NLEs and delinquency. Further, this research could examine the peer impact of an individual’s motivation to follow through with academic goals and ultimately graduate from high school.

Implications and Future Directions

Findings indicate that Latino youth who experience health- and safety-related NLEs may benefit from interventions that encourage academic goal-setting for delinquency prevention. Interventions could target students who experience these NLEs and assess their level of academic aspirations. When academic aspirations are low, interventions may use social support from teachers and work toward improving the relationships between teachers and students (Brewster and Bowen 2004). Interventions may also support students in setting smaller goals that lead to graduation (Morisano et al. 2010). For Latino students in particular, academic assistance (i.e., tutoring and mentoring, as well as afterschool programming) can prevent high school drop-out (Behnke et al. 2010). Interventions may also aim to reduce the effects of traumatic stress resulting from experiencing NLEs. Traumatic stress may have effects on academic performance (Dyregrov 2004). Therapeutic techniques such as Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) have been shown to be effective in decreasing symptoms of traumatic stress and increasing ways to cope with the effects of the trauma (Black et al. 2012). Programs targeting students’ academic aspirations may consider evaluating the use of components of TF-CBT such as cognitive coping techniques, relaxation exercises, and processing reminders of the trauma.

One important area for future research in this line of work, from a prevention and intervention perspective, is examining additional factors that contribute to having high academic aspirations. Factors, such as family SES (Davis-Kean 2005; Morrissey et al. 2014) or the family’s importance of education (Spera et al. 2009), may contribute to academic aspirations and these factors may be important to consider in understanding mechanisms by which academic aspirations offset delinquency. In particular, parental involvement in their students’ education may be important in increasing aspirations. For Latino youth, parental involvement is especially helpful when it includes discussions about future goals and parental engagement in school volunteer opportunities (Ceballo et al. 2014). Future research could also examine the effects of a person’s perception of a NLE on delinquency. Some NLEs are more impactful than others, and therefore one NLE may have a more serious impact on an individual than another (e.g., “victim of crime/violence/assault” vs. “new brother or sister”). Additionally, research examining the exact role of peer delinquency on the association between NLEs and delinquency, and whether academic aspirations can prevent the influence of delinquent peer affiliation, is an important next step for this line of research.