A Parallel Process Model of Integration and Multidimensional Prosocial Behaviors in Recent Immigrant U.S. Latinx Adolescents

Abstract

With a growing population of Latinx youth immigrating to the United States, it is important to understand how Latinx youth adapt to mainstream U.S. culture. Given that the majority of research examining social development among recent immigrant adolescents has focused on negative adjustment outcomes, research examining positive social behaviors is needed to avoid deficit approaches to their development, gain a holistic understanding of youth development, and improve interventions with this population.This study examined the associations among trajectories in cultural integration and multiple prosocial behaviors among recent immigrant U.S. Latinx adolescents in Miami, Florida and Los Angeles, California. Adolescents ( N = 302; 53.3% males; M age = 14.51 years) completed measures of integration and prosocial behaviors across six time points. Latent growth curve models indicated that integration significantly increased, though this growth tapered off over time. The growth in prosocial behaviors depended on the specific form of helping assessed. While the growth in altruistic and compliant prosocial behaviors was stagnant, there was an increase in anonymous prosocial behaviors and a decrease in public and dire prosocial behaviors. Emotional behaviors did not linearly change, though slightly tapered off by the final time points. Parallel process latent growth curve model results indicated positive correlations between the slopes of cultural integration and most forms of prosocial behaviors. These findings highlight the positive role of cultural integration as an acculturative process for U.S. Latinx youth and the multidimensionality of prosocial behaviors.

Examining discrimination and familism values as longitudinal predictors of prosocial behaviors among recent immigrant adolescents

“…We again note that the latent growth curve models for prosocial behaviors with this data set have been previously established (see McGinley et al, 2020). In this study, the linear growth curve model provided the best fit to the data for all prosocial behaviors except for emotional prosocial behaviors.…”

“…Emotional prosocial behaviors include helping in emotionally evocative situations, and anonymous prosocial behaviors include helping when others do not know, such as donating. Previous research with the current data set has suggested that the development of these prosocial behaviors follows distinct trajectories across adolescence, further supporting the need to examine these unique forms (McGinley et al, 2020; see the Method for an overview of these changes across time).…”

“…In a prior study with the present data set, McGinley et al (2020) investigated the relations between acculturation and growth in prosocial behaviors. In the present study, we examined how discrimination and familism uniquely predicted prosocial behaviors at each timepoint while controlling for the latent growth processes established by McGinley et al (2020).…”

“…In a prior study with the present data set, McGinley et al (2020) investigated the relations between acculturation and growth in prosocial behaviors. In the present study, we examined how discrimination and familism uniquely predicted prosocial behaviors at each timepoint while controlling for the latent growth processes established by McGinley et al (2020). Thus, the present study extends the current literature by examining the role of both discrimination experiences and familism values as predictors of recent immigrant Latino/a adolescents' multidimensional prosocial behaviors, after accounting for latent growth processes in prosocial behaviors (see Figure 1).…”

“…The variance term for this quadratic growth was marginally significant. These latent growth curve models established by McGinley et al (2020) served as the initial latent growth curve models in the current analysis.…”