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Published on: July 10, 2017
Competence under challenge: exploring the protective influence of parental support and ethnic identity in Latino
Anthony D Ong1, Jean S Phinney, Jessica Dennis
1Department of Human Development, G77 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4401, USA. aong@nd.edu
Abstract:
This longitudinal study examined the protective influence of psychological and family factors on academic achievement in 123 Latino college (101 Mexican American, 14 Central American, 8 mixed Mexican/Central American) students. Three cultural resources--ethnic identity, family interdependence, and parental support--were hypothesized as protective factors that modify the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage in a positive direction. The pattern of findings suggests that Latino students with greater psychological and family resources evidence greater academic achievement. After covarying between-person differences in gender and generational status, both ethnic identity and parental support moderated the effects of low socioeconomic status on academic achievement.
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