Exploring the Relationship Between Ethnic Identity and Substance Abuse/Dependence Among Latino Youth

Journal of Hispanic Higher Education

2017

This study examined how presence of meaning in life, search for meaning in life, hope, gratitude, enculturation, and family influenced Hispanic/Latino college students' depression and subjective happiness. The first regression model showed that hope, presence of meaning in life, family, and search for meaning in life were related with depression. The second showed that gratitude and presence of meaning in life were related with subjective happiness. Findings and recommendations for counselors and higher education professionals are provided. Resumen Este estudio examinó cómo la presencia del sentido de vida, buscándole sentido a la vida, esperanza, gratitud, enculturación, y familia influencían la depresión y felicidad subjetiva en estudiantes universitarios hispanos/latinos. El primer modelo de regresión demostró que esperanza, presencia de sentido de vida, familia, y búsqueda del sentido de vida estaban relacionados con la depresión. La segunda demostró que gratitud y presencia del sentido de vida estaban relacionadas con la felicidad subjetiva. Hallazgos y recomendaciones para consejeros y profesionales de educación superior se proveen.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Positive Psychology, Cultural, and Family Factors on Hispanic/Latino College Students’ Depressive Symptoms and Subjective Happiness

Hinojosa

Journal of Hispanic Higher Education

2017

“…As a result, findings might not generalize to other institutions where Hispanic students are not the ethnic majority (Vela et al, 2015). Although we only included students who self-identified as Hispanic, Mexican, Latina/o, or Mexican American, results could serve as a framework to study other Latina/o sub-populations (Balkin, Flamez, & Smith, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive Psychology and Mexican American College Students’ Subjective Well-Being and Depression

Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences

Lenz

et al. 2016

Positive psychology is a useful framework to understand Mexican American college students' complete mental health. In the current study, we examined how presence of meaning in life, search for meaning in life, hope, mindfulness, and grit influenced 130 Mexican American college students' life satisfaction and depression. Within the first regression model, hope, mindfulness, and presence of meaning in life were positively related with life satisfaction. Within the second regression model, mindfulness and search for meaning in life were related with depression. Higher levels of mindfulness negatively predicted depressive symptoms, while higher levels of search for meaning in life were related with higher levels of depressive symptoms. A discussion regarding the importance of these findings and recommendations for future research are provided.

“…Researchers have explored Mexican American college students’ academic achievement (e.g., Aguayo, Ojeda, Herman, & Flores, 2011; Ojeda, Castillo, et al, 2014) and positive psychological functioning (Vela, Castro, et al, 2015). However, there is less research with Mexican American adolescents, particularly because of parental consent/student assent issues (Balkin, Flamez, & Smith, 2015). To the best of our knowledge, no study to date has used a positive psychology and family framework to understand Mexican American adolescents’ college-going beliefs.…”

Section: Purpose Of Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Using a Positive Psychology and Family Framework to Understand Mexican American Adolescents’ College-Going Beliefs

Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences

Lenz

Sparrow

et al. 2016

Positive psychology is a useful framework to understand Mexican American adolescents' academic experiences. We used a quantitative, predictive design to explore how presence of meaning in life, search for meaning in life, subjective happiness, hope, and family importance influenced 131 Mexican American adolescents' college-going beliefs. We used the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Subjective Happiness Scale, Hope Scale, Pan-Hispanic Familism Scale, and College-Going Self-Efficacy Scale to measure the aforementioned factors. Using multiple regression analysis, findings indicated that hope and familism were significant predictors of college-going beliefs. Higher levels of hope and familism positively predicted college-going beliefs. We provide a discussion regarding the importance of these findings as well as recommendations for future research.