Parallel ethnic identity development of Mexican-origin adolescents and mothers under the influence of neighborhood Latinx concentration and ethnic-racial diversity

• Main Authors: TSE, Hin Wing, YAN, Jinjin, SIM, Wei Xiang, ZHANG, Minyu, WEN, Wen, SONG, Jiaxiu, KIM, Su Yeong
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2024
• Subjects: Neighborhoods; ethnic identity; ethnic-racial diversity; adolescent-mother dyads; Mexican-origin; Multicultural Psychology; Race and Ethnicity
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3952
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Co-ethnic or ethnically-racially diverse neighborhoods can serve as safe andsupportive places for U.S. immigrant families to explore and develop clarityabout their ethnic identity. Although parents undergo concurrent changes inthe adaptation process with their children, existing research has predomi-nantly focused on adolescents, with fewer examination on adult parents’continued ethnic identity development; additionally, researchers also over-look the impact of neighborhood context on ethnic identity in parents. To fillthis gap, this registered study used a three-wave longitudinal dataset of 595Mexican-origin adolescents and their mothers in central Texas. Latent growthmodels were used to estimate how ethnic identity (i.e. exploration, centrality,and resolution) changed across time in mother – adolescent dyads. Ourfindings indicated some level of connectedness in the development of familymembers’ ethnic identities, particularly in terms of exploration. We also foundthat mothers’ ethnic identity development was shaped by their neighbor-hood contexts, with those residing in more diverse neighborhoods being lesslikely to explore their ethnic identities. Results inform prevention and inter-vention efforts to promote family collaboration and help immigrant familymembers develop a positive sense of ethnic identity in the adaptation process.