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Although the number of students who complete high school continues to rise, dramatic differences in school success remain across racial/ethnic groups. The current study addressed Hispanic adolescents' academic performance by investigating the relationships of parental involvement, culturally responsive teaching, sense of school belonging, and academic self-efficacy and academic performance. Participants were 478 (51.5% female) Hispanic 7th graders in the US-Mexico borderlands. Based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, a structural model was tested. Results showed that the proposed model was supported by demonstrating significant indirect effects of parental involvement, culturally responsive teaching, and sense of school belonging on academic performance. Furthermore, academic self-efficacy was found to mediate the relationships between parental involvement, culturally responsive teaching, and sense of school belonging and academic performance. The current study provides a useful psychoecological model to inform educators and psychologists who seek to meet the needs of Hispanic students.

Previous studies of college entrance and graduation have identified strong ethnic identity, cultural congruity, and low acculturative stress as protective factors for academic persistence among Latina/o college students. However, lacking in the literature is a more differentiated and complete understanding of the complex relationships between cultural and psychosocial factors that may lead to college success for students attending Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) of higher education. Proposing a structural equation model, we examined positive effects of ethnic identity, cultural congruity, and low acculturative stress on emotional wellbeing and GPA of Latina/o students attending HSIs. Further, we explored whether sense of belonging and academic self-efficacy mediate the relationships between the aforementioned cultural factors and emotional wellbeing and GPA. Participants were 289 Latina/o college students attending a Hispanic-Serving Institution in a Southwest city. Results showed that cultural factors, including low acculturative stress and strong ethnic identity, had significant positive effects on emotional wellbeing and GPA. However, the effects of cultural congruity were not substantiated. The mediating effects of sense of belonging and academic self-efficacy on cultural factors and college success outcomes were partially supported. Implications for improving adjustment among Latina/o college students attending Hispanic-Serving Institutions are discussed.

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Although the numbers of Arab American immigrant youth in schools is increasing, there is little understanding of their mental health and the sociocultural factors that might influence it. This study examined the relationship between 2 sociocultural factors (i.e., acculturative stress and religious practices) and internalizing symptoms in first- and second-generation Muslim Arab American adolescents. Adolescents (n = 88) ages 11 to 18 completed measures related to acculturative stress, religious practices, internalizing symptoms, and general demographic information. Results of multiple regression analyses found that acculturative stress significantly predicted internalizing symptoms. Gender was found to moderate this association. No differences in the reported acculturative stress and internalizing symptoms were found between youth of different generational status (i.e., first- vs. second-generation). Finally, adolescents' organizational religious practices, but not their private religious practices, were found to be associated with lower acculturative stress. Implications are discussed related to how school psychologists can provide culturally responsive services to this population. (PsycINFO Database Record