The research compared the acculturation of two ethnic groups residing in Oklahoma as a function of their cultural background, permanent status, and other pre-and postmigratory factors. Four groups, Southeast Asian refugees, Hispanic immigrants, Southeast Asian sojourners, and Hispanic sojourners were administered the Multicultural Acculturation Scale. The Hispanic immigrants tended to be more assimilated than the Southeast Asian immigrants, who tended to maintain a strong ethnic orientation. Both Hispanic and Southeast Asian sojourners were biculturally oriented. All groups were more assimilated in their work and place of residence than in their friendships, daily activities, and self-identification. Ethnic networks seemed to play an important role in reducing assimilation. Hispanic sojourners seemed to be most satisfactorily adapted, and Southeast Asian immigrants, least so. For all groups, biculturalism appeared to be the most satisfactory form of acculturation, followed by assimilation and then separation.

Measures of loneliness and relevant personality and interpersonal constructs were administered to college students from the United States mainland (n = 259) and from Puerto Rico (n = 332). The purposes were to (a) assess cross-cultural variability in previously reported correlates of loneliness and (b) determine the relative contributions of such predictors to the experience of loneliness for each sample. The Puerto Rico sample reported greater loneliness, and most personality and interpersonal variables yielded differences between the groups. However, the correlates of loneliness appeared to be quite similar for both samples. Factor analyses of loneliness correlates yielded interpretable factors that preserved the ability of the original variables to predict loneliness. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that culture influences the specific values observed for personality and related measures, whereas the fundamental organization of personality remains stable across cultures. Cultural factors are discussed as possible explanations for the few group differences found with respect to predictors of loneliness.

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IntroductionThis study aimed to investigate (a) the immediate and long-term changes in youth offending rates among 138 neighborhoods within a large metropolitan area in the context of COVID-19 and (b) the extent to which the socioeconomic composition of the neighborhoods accounted for variations of the changes.MethodsDiscontinuous growth models were applied to demonstrate the changes in offenses against a person, property offenses, and drug-related offenses one-year prior to, at (March 2020), and one-year following the pandemic.ResultsAt the onset of the pandemic, we registered an immediate reduction in offenses against a person and property offenses but not in drug-related offenses. There was a steeper declining trend for property offenses one-year following the pandemic as compared with that one-year prior to the pandemic. The neighborhood concentration of affluence and poverty was not related to the immediate reduction in any type of delinquency.DiscussionWe conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic not only had an abrupt but also an enduring impact on youth delinquency.

This study aimed to (a) reliably obtain intermittency periods (i.e., time gaps between incarcerations) using days as the unit of time and (b) investigate the effects of mental health needs assessed during the first incarceration on the hazard of subsequent reincarcerations among justice-involved youth (JIY). The multiyear administrative data from Harris County, TX, contained 28,255 JIY who were followed up until 18 years of age. There was a progressive shortening of the time gaps between incarcerations over time. Results of conditional Cox models revealed that mental health needs had sustained, though weakened, effects on future intermittency periods. An increased reincarceration risk (shorter intermittent intervals between incarcerations) was associated with higher self-reported ratings of Alcohol/Drug Use and Angry-Irritable. A decreased reincarceration risk (longer intermittent intervals between incarcerations) was associated with higher self-reported ratings of Depression/Anxiety and Somatic Complaints. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.