This study used Lent's (2004) social cognitive model of well-being to examine the academic and life satisfaction of 460 Mexican American college students. A model demonstrated that positive affect, acculturation, college self-efficacy, college outcome expectations, and academic goals predicted academic satisfaction and life satisfaction. Specifically, positive affect had a significant positive relation to all variables measured in the model. Further, acculturation predicted college self-efficacy, college outcome expectations, and academic expectations, academic goals, academic satisfaction, and life satisfaction. College outcome expectations predicted academic satisfaction but not academic goals. Academic goals predicted academic satisfaction and life satisfaction while academic satisfaction predicted life satisfaction. Implications of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

There is limited research on the traditional Hispanic male and female gender roles of machismo and marianismo, respectively, in relation to negative cognitions and emotions. Given the vulnerability of Hispanics to negative cognitions and emotions, it is important to examine sociocultural correlates of emotional distress. Therefore, we examined associations of machismo and marianismo with negative cognitive-emotional factors (i.e., depression symptoms; cynical hostility; and trait anxiety and anger) in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Sociocultural Ancillary Study, a cross-sectional cohort study of sociocultural and psychosocial correlates of cardiometabolic health. Participants were aged 18–74 years and self-identified as Hispanic of Central American, Cuban, Dominican, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South American, and other Hispanic background (N = 4,426). Results revealed that specific components of machismo (traditional machismo) and marianismo (family and spiritual pillar dimensions) were associated with higher levels of negative cognitions and emotions after adjusting for socio-demographic factors (p < .05); these associations remained consistent across sex, Hispanic background group, and acculturation. Findings can inform mental health interventions and contribute to our understanding of the importance of gender role socialization in the context of self-reported negative cognitive-emotional factors in Hispanics.

This study examined the contributions of acculturation, problem-solving appraisal, and career decisionmaking self-efficacy on 105 Mexican American high school students' educational goals. A standard regression analysis indicated that Anglo-oriented acculturation and problem-solving appraisal accounted for significant variance in educational goals. Mexican-oriented acculturation and career decision-making self-efficacy did not contribute significant variance to students' educational goals. The regression model accounted for 19.5% of the variance in educational goals. Results of the structure coefficients for the predictor variables indicated that Anglo-oriented acculturation and career decision-making self-efficacy were the 2 most important predictors, followed by problem-solving appraisal and Mexican-oriented acculturation, respectively. Implications of the findings are discussed, and recommendations for interventions are provided for enhancing the educational and career development among Mexican American adolescents.

This article provides recommendations for conducting culturally competent qualitative research with Latino immigrants, a historically exploited group that represents more than half of all U.S. immigrants and is continuously growing. Limited research exists on Latino immigrants despite their large presence in the United States. The authors draw upon their qualitative research experiences to help researchers develop culturally competent awareness, knowledge, and skills in studying Latino immigrants. Recommendations are grounded by integrating Latino cultural values in the research process. Issues related to developing a research team, recruiting participants, using incentives, informed consent procedures, and language issues are addressed. Suggestions for developing interview protocols and conducting culturally competent in-person interviews are provided.

Through the use of the cultural-ecological-transactional theory of resilience, the present study seeks to determine if the cultural factors of familismo and ethnic identity have a protective effect and if bicultural stress has a risk effect on the positive psychological functioning of 191 Mexican American adolescents. Two hierarchical linear regressions were preformed to determine the direct and interaction effects of these factors on self-esteem and life satisfaction. Results indicate that familismo values and ethnic identity both significantly and positively predicted self-esteem and life satisfaction. Further, bicultural stress significantly and negatively predicted both self-esteem and life satisfaction. Additionally, there was a significant interaction effect between ethnic identity and bicultural stress on life satisfaction; however, the interaction was contrary to the hypothesis that high ethnic identity would protect against the effect of high levels of bicultural stress. Results are discussed within the cultural-ecological-transactional framework.