The association of adolescents' ethnic identification with their academic attitudes and achievement was examined among a sample of 589 ninth-grade students from Mexican, Chinese, and European backgrounds. Adolescents from all backgrounds chose a variety of ethnic labels to describe themselves, with those from Mexican, Chinese, and immigrant families incorporating more of their families' national origin and cultural background into their chosen ethnic labels. Nevertheless, the strength of adolescents' ethnic identification was more relevant to their academic adjustment than the specific labels that they chose, and it was most important for the extra motivation necessary for ethnic minority students to attain the same level of academic success as their European American peers.

This study examined associations among peer victimization, psychosocial problems, physical symptoms, and school functioning across the 1st year in middle school. An ethnically diverse sample of urban 6th graders (N=1,526) reported on their perceptions of peer victimization, psychosocial adjustment, and physical symptoms during fall and spring. Objective measures of school functioning (i.e., grade point average and absences) were also collected. In Model 1, peer victimization in the fall was associated with spring psychosocial maladjustment and physical symptoms, which in turn predicted poor spring school functioning. Model 2 suggested that psychosocial difficulties increase the risk of victimization, although physical symptoms did not predict victimization. No sex or ethnic group (African American, Asian, European American, and Latino) differences were found in the model structure or the strength of the path coefficients for either model, suggesting that the process is the same for boys and girls and students from different ethnic groups.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lisa Kiang, NPI-Center for Culture and Health, 760 Westwood Plaza, Box 62, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90024, e-mail: kiang@ucla.edu.Identity and Daily Well-Being 2 AbstractProtective effects of ethnic identity on individuals' daily psychological well-being were examined in a sample of 415 ninth grade adolescents from Mexican and Chinese backgrounds.Utilizing daily diary assessments and multilevel modeling, adolescents with a higher regard for their ethnic group were found to have greater levels of daily happiness and marginally less daily anxiety averaged over the two-week study period. Ethnic regard also moderated the daily association between normative stressful demands and happiness, as well as the association between stressful demands and happiness experienced one day after the original stressors occurred. Moderating effects were found even after controlling for self-esteem. Results point to the positive influence of ethnic identity in adolescents' daily lives. directly and indirectly affecting well-being by providing a buffer against stressful experiences. Ethnic Identity and Psychological Well-BeingTheoretical links between ethnic identity and well-being have long been established and have recently emphasized positive and protective consequences of identifying with and feeling connected to one's ethnic group (Cross, 1991;Cross, Parham, & Helms, 1998;Umana-Taylor, Diversi, & Fine, 2002). From the perspective of social identity theorists (e.g., Tajfel, 1981), ethnic identity can positively influence individuals' lives by providing a foundation from which they can draw when dealing with negative or stressful events. For example, since ethnic minority groups are often deemed inferior to the dominant group, stress associated with such stigma can negatively impact individuals who are in the ethnic minority (Cross & Phagen-Smith, 2001;Kim, 2001). In dealing with these stressors, individuals may react by asserting or strengthening their ethnic or group identity that, in turn, can create a sense of affiliation or support that buffers against threats to psychological well-being (Tajfel & Forgas, 2000;Phinney, 2003). A strong ethnic identity can thus be called upon to help individuals cope with stressful experiences thereby indirectly predicting well-being and adjustment (Phinney, 1990; Sellers, Identity and Daily Well-Being 4 Caldwell, Schmeelk-Cone, & Zimmerman, 2003). Indeed, one of the very functions of ethnic identity may be to serve as a buffer of psychological distress by providing a shield against negative or stressful circumstances (Cross et al., 1998;Mossakowski, 2003).Empirical work has supported these theoretical views by documenting positive associations between ethnic identity and well-being. Contrary to earlier research in which ethnic group status was considered a liability to self-concept and overall well-being (e. individuals' lives by predicting, for example, how happy or anxious they feel on a day-to-day level? Invest...

With a sample of 1,630 sixth-grade students from 77 classrooms, the authors used hierarchical linear modeling to examine how ethnicity within context and classroom social disorder influenced the association between peer victimization and social-psychological adjustment (loneliness and social anxiety). Victimized students in classrooms where many classmates shared their ethnicity reported feeling the most loneliness and social anxiety. Additionally, classroom-level social disorder served as a moderator such that the association between victimization and anxiety was stronger in classrooms with low social disorder. Both findings were interpreted as evidence that problem behavior deviating from what is perceived as normative in a particular context heightens maladjustment. The authors discuss implications for studying ethnicity and classroom behavioral norms as context variables in peer relations.

An important question for the acculturation of adolescents from immigrant families is whether they retain ethnic labels that refer to their national origin (e.g., Mexican, Chinese) or adopt labels that are dominant in American society (e.g., Latino, Asian American, American). Approximately 380 adolescents from Asian and Latin American immigrant families selected ethnic labels during each of the 4 years of high school (age span = 14.87-17.82 years). Results indicated no normative trend either toward or away from identifying most closely with pan-ethnic or American ethnic labels. Significant numbers of adolescents changed their ethnic labels from year to year, however and these changes were associated with fluctuations in adolescents' ethnic affirmation and exploration and proficiency in their heritage languages.