The proposed study will examine the utility of an ecological model as it related to normal adolescent social and emotional development within two minority groups. Blacks and Chinese- Americans. A three-year longitudinal design is employed with multiple measure assessment of the parental context, family environment, and adolescent development. Both parents and adolescents will be assessed. An ecological model stresses the importance of the family environment in influencing child developments. It also emphasizes that family functioning is influenced by the parental context. Two aspects of the parental context are examined: parents' social support networks and parents' work environments. Multivariate regression techniques and structural equation modeling will be utilized to examine the direct and indirect processes hypothesized to underly these relationships. The information generated from this study will provide us with a more comprehensive portrait of the context of development for "non- deviant" minority adolescents, which have been extremely understudied. The within-group longitudinal analyses, in particular, will yield important information of the implementation of culturally sensitive prevention efforts and public policy aimed and enhancing the well-being of minority youths and their families.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter