Influence of Resilience, Acculturation, and Goals on Externalizing Behavior of At-risk Hispanic Adolescents
Abstract
Hispanic adolescents are an important demographic to study due to their growing number and the unique vulnerabilities they face during this developmental period. Research has shown that resilience, acculturation, and goal orientation can affect the behaviors Hispanic adolescents engage in during this time. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of resilience, acculturation, and goal orientation with externalizing behavior in a sample of Hispanic adolescents living in an at-risk environment, defined by low socioeconomic status. Additionally, the Importance of Goals Scale, a measure that has only been used with English-speaking students in Australia, was translated into Spanish for use with this group. This study used a hierarchical regression to examine the effect of these variables on the variance of externalizing behavior. Results indicate that endorsing a social image goal orientation is positively related to externalizing behavior and that resilience is negatively related to externalizing behavior. Surprisingly, an academic image goal orientation was not significantly related to externalizing behavior, nor were any of the acculturative types. However, the marginalized types trended toward a positive relationship with externalizing behavior. Implications for future research and for interventions to help increase successful life outcomes for Hispanic adolescents are reviewed.
Subject Area
Educational psychology|Developmental psychology
Recommended Citation
Genao-Harding, Teresa Ann, "Influence of Resilience, Acculturation, and Goals on Externalizing Behavior of At-risk Hispanic Adolescents" (2018). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI10842848.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI10842848
