Nativity as a Moderator of Familial and Nonfamilial Correlates of Latino/a Youth Prosocial Behaviors

Gender-Specific Patterns of Relations among Acculturative Stress, Family Processes, and Prosocial Behaviors in Latinx Youth

The present study was designed to examine the direct and indirect relations between acculturative stress and Latinx youth prosocial tendencies. In addition, we considered family conflict, parental support, and parental psychological control as explanatory mechanisms. Participants included 306 (53.8% female, Mage = 15.50, SD = .42; range = 14 to 18) Latinx adolescents and their parents (87.9% mothers). The majority of adolescents were born in the U.S. (n = 206, 68.0%; average time in U.S. = 10 years) and identified as a Mexican heritage group member (n = 248, 81.0%). Findings differed by youth gender and suggest that for boys, parental support (but not psychological control) serves as underlying mechanism in the effects of acculturative stress and family conflict on youth's prosocial behaviors. Contrastingly, for girls, parental support (but not psychological control) serves as underlying mechanism in the negative effects of family conflict (but not acculturative stress) on youth's prosocial behaviors. The findings are discussed in the context of the need for integrative theories that account for cultural, family and gender-related socialization mechanisms to better understand prosocial behaviors among Latinx youth.

Parenting and Chinese Adolescents' Multidimensional Prosocial Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Sympathy

In this study, the prediction of maternal and paternal parenting behaviors to 1527 (59.27% female, age ranged between 11 and 18 years old) Chinese adolescents' multidimensional prosocial behaviors, and the moderating role of adolescents' sympathy were examined. Data were collected in 2019. Adolescents reported their perceived parenting practices, their own sympathy and prosocial tendencies using online questionnaires. Results from path models in Mplus indicated care and autonomy granting of both parents were uniquely and positively associated with adolescents' various prosocial behaviors. Paternal control was also positively associated with adolescents' public prosocial behaviors. Further, adolescents' sympathy moderated the association between paternal autonomy granting to adolescents' altruistic prosocial behaviors, as well as between paternal control and adolescents' compliant and emotional prosocial behaviors. Our study contributed novel information regarding the roles of maternal and paternal parenting and sympathy in Chinese adolescents' diverse prosocial behaviors. Replications with longitudinal design are needed.

Deviant Peer Affiliation: A Newly Verified Mechanism by Which Violent Video Game Exposure Affect Aggressive and Prosocial Behavior

Past research has provided abundant evidence that violent video game exposure (VVGE) increases aggressive behavior and decreases prosocial behavior. So far, these effects have been explained mainly as resulting from changes in the existing knowledge structures of cognition, affect, or personality, such as desensitization to violence, empathy deficits, or impulsivity deficits. Following the extended General Aggression Model (GAM), the present research examined the role of deviant peer affiliation in VVGE's effects on aggressive and prosocial behavior. A total of 2,152 (46.4 percent male) Chinese children and adolescents completed a self-reported scale for VVGE, deviant peer affiliation, trait aggression, and prosocial behavior. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The results showed that deviant peer affiliation mediated the effects of VVGE, thus supporting the new paths of GAM and broadening the current understanding of the consequences of VVGE.

Familism Values, Family Assistance, and Prosocial Behaviors Among U.S. Latinx Adolescents

Among U.S. Mexican adolescents living in established immigrant communities, high familism values are positively associated with compliant, emotional, and dire prosocial behaviors via sociocognitive and cultural psychological mechanisms. Less is known about the behavioral mechanisms that may explain these associations, or about prosocial behaviors among U.S. Latinxs residing in emerging immigrant destinations. We examined the cross-sectional, intervening variable associations among familism values, family assistance behaviors, and culturally salient prosocial behaviors among 547 U.S. Latinx adolescents residing in an emerging immigrant destination (M age = 12.8 years; 55.4% girls). Familism values and family assistance behaviors promoted emotional and dire prosocial behaviors for boys and girls, and promoted compliant prosocial behaviors for boys only. Familism also had direct associations with all three prosocial behaviors for boys and girls. Family assistance behaviors may be a mechanism via which adolescents develop compliant, emotional, and dire prosocial behaviors.

Latinx Adolescents' Assets, Risks, and Developmental Pathways: A Decade in Review and Looking Ahead

I selectively review the last decade of theory and research on Latinx adolescents and emerging adults' development. After briefly reviewing the changing demographics of US Latinx families, I address: (1) asset-based theories of Latinx youth's development; (2) the literature on the educational pathways of US Latinx youth; (3) how close relationships, ethnic/racial (ERI) identity, and family, school, and community context promote or constrain Latinx youth's educational and positive development and provide examples of successful interventions to promote ERI and academic adjustment. I conclude with suggestions for scholarship in the next decade, including applying intersectional, interdisciplinary, biopsychosocial, and international lenses to studying Latinx youth, researching father involvement, and addressing between- and within-country of origin variations in Latinx youth's education and development.