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Acculturation and Aggression in Latino Adolescents: A Structural Model Focusing on Cultural Risk Factors and Assets

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Abstract

The specific aim of this investigation was to map cultural factors associated with aggressive behavior in Latino adolescents. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 481 foreign- and U.S.-born Latino adolescents living in North Carolina and Arizona. Structural Equation Modeling was used to validate a conceptual model linking adolescent and parent culture-of-origin and U.S. cultural involvement, acculturation conflicts, and perceived discrimination to family processes (familism and parent-adolescent conflict) and adolescent aggression. Parent-adolescent conflict was the strongest cultural risk factor followed by perceived discrimination. Familism and adolescent culture-of-origin involvement were key cultural assets associated with less aggressive behavior. Exploratory mediation analyses suggested that familism and parent-adolescent conflict mediated the effects of acculturation conflicts, parent and adolescent culture-of-origin involvement, and parent U.S. cultural involvement on adolescent aggression. Implications for prevention programming were discussed.

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Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank the Latino families who participated in this study. This study was supported by grants from the Center for Disease Control's National Injury Prevention Center (R49/CCR42172-02) and from the Centers for Disease Control's Office of the Director (1K01 CE000496-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 301 Pittsboro Street, CB 3550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3550, USA

    Paul R. Smokowski

  2. University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Martica L. Bacallao

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  1. Paul R. Smokowski
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  2. Martica L. Bacallao
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Correspondence to Paul R. Smokowski.

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Smokowski, P.R., Bacallao, M.L. Acculturation and Aggression in Latino Adolescents: A Structural Model Focusing on Cultural Risk Factors and Assets. J Abnorm Child Psychol 34, 657–671 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-006-9049-4

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