Participants were 475 twins and their primary caregivers (mean age=8.48; Primary caregivers: 64% White, 36% Hispanic; 53.8% middle class or above). I found no main effects between parental cultural values and child cortisol outcomes and no main effects between parenting behaviors and child cortisol outcomes. However, when exploring the moderating role of race/ethnicity, it was found that, as compared to children of White primary caregivers, children of Hispanic primary caregivers who had higher levels of parental authoritarianism had steeper PM slopes, indicating more adaptive cortisol outcomes. This suggests that the adaptiveness of certain parenting behaviors may differ across racial/ethnic groups such that what is considered to be “good parenting” may not translate across differing racial/ethnic groups. Ultimately, further research should be conducted in order to further explore the impact of race/ethnicity in the outcomes of our children.
The transition from high school to college (TTC) is a critical period of change, the effects of which may be exacerbated for Latino students, who often face additional minority-specific stressors, such as ethnic/racial discrimination (ERD). Research has documented links between ERD and sleep outcomes in adolescents, but less is known regarding the longitudinal impacts of ERD experiences during unique risk periods (e.g., TTC). Further, despite the central role of family in Latino adolescents’ lives, less research has explored the protective role of family factors (e.g., familism, family support) in links between ERD and Latino students’ sleep health. Thus, this study examined: 1) longitudinal associations between peer- and adult-perpetrated ERD in high school and actigraphy-measured (e.g., duration, efficiency, midpoint) and subjective sleep (e.g., problems) during the first year of college among Latino adolescents, accounting for college ERD experiences, and 2) familism and family support as potential moderators of these associations. Participants were 209 Hispanic/Latino adolescents (Mage=18.10; 64.4% female; 84.7% Mexican descent; 67.9% first-generation students) assessed at two time points (i.e., last semester of high school and second semester of college). There were no longitudinal associations between high school ERD and college sleep. However, there were concurrent associations between ERD and sleep in college. Specifically, greater college peer- and adult-perpetrated ERD were associated with less duration and lower efficiency at the same time point. Further, more college adult-based ERD was additionally linked with greater sleep problems. There were no significant moderation findings; however, the interaction between high school adult-based ERD and family support predicting college sleep problems suggested that adolescents reporting low levels of adult ERD in conjunction with higher levels of family support had the fewest sleep problems. Study findings provide additional evidence that ERD from both adults and peers is associated with reduced sleep duration and quality among Latino college students and suggest that current cultural stressors may be particularly influential on sleep during major socio-contextual shifts. These findings can inform future programs (e.g., sleep interventions) that provide support for students experiencing race-based stressors, such as ERD, to promote Latino student health and well-being.
Background: Impulsivity is a strong, consistent risk factor for heavier drinking and internalizing symptoms. However, it is unclear whether certain facets of impulsivity (e.g., lack of premeditation and negative urgency) are differentially related to drinking quantity versus internalizing and whether drinking quantity and internalizing serve as mechanisms through which impulsive traits confer risk for negative alcohol consequences. Method: Data are from a longitudinal study of contextual influences on alcohol response in emerging adults (N = 448, Mage = 22.27, 43.5% female). Longitudinal path models in Mplus tested whether UPPS-P impulsivity facets at T1 were prospectively associated with drinking quantity and internalizing symptoms (T2), and whether T2 drinking and internalizing symptoms mediated effects of T1 impulsivity on T3 negative alcohol consequences. Separate models were tested for positive and negative urgency and sex and age were included as model covariates. Results: Consistent with study hypotheses, T1 lack of premeditation indirectly predicted T3 negative alcohol consequences through heavier T2 drinking, whereas T1 negative urgency indirectly predicted T3 negative alcohol consequences through higher T2 stress and depressive symptoms. Contrary to hypotheses, lack of perseverance was not related to drinking quantity and alcohol use was not prospectively related to alcohol consequences. Conclusions: The current study found that distinct impulsive traits were associated with drinking quantity and internalizing symptoms, both of which conferred risk for negative alcohol consequences. Findings underscore the importance of targeting drinking behavior as well as internalizing symptomology based on the presence of specific impulsive personality traits. Such personality-centered interventions have shown promise in prior research.