Abstract
In this study, a person-environment fit model was used to understand the independent and combined roles of family and neighborhood characteristics on the adjustment of adults and children in a sample of 750 Mexican American families. Latent class analysis was used to identify six qualitatively distinct family types and three quantitatively distinct neighborhood types using socioeconomic and cultural indicators at each level. The results showed that members of single-parent Mexican American families may be particularly at-risk, members of the lowest-income immigrant families reported fewer adaptation problems if they lived in low-income neighborhoods dominated by immigrants, members of economically successful immigrant families may be more at-risk in integrated middle class neighborhoods than in low-income neighborhoods dominated by immigrants, and members of two-parent immigrant families appear to be rather resilient in most settings despite their low socioeconomic status.
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Acknowledgments
Work on this paper was supported, in part, by grant MH 68920 (Culture, context, and Mexican American mental health), grant T-32-MH18387 to support training in prevention research, and the Cowden Fellowship program of the School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University. The authors are thankful for the support of Marisela Torres, Jaimee Virgo, our Community Advisory Board and interviewers, and the families who participated in the study.
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Roosa, M.W., Weaver, S.R., White, R.M.B. et al. Family and Neighborhood Fit or Misfit and the Adaptation of Mexican Americans. Am J Community Psychol 44, 15–27 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-009-9246-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-009-9246-8