This article examines first-birth timing among Mexican women in the United States over two birth cohorts. Currently, Mexican women are one of a small group that maintains above-replacement fertility in the United States, contributing to both Mexican population growth and overall national population growth. Yet, the fertility timing of Mexican…

Latina adolescents experience depression and suicidal ideations in a disproportionate manner compared to their non-Latina counterparts. We investigate suicide and depressive symptoms among a state-wide sample (N = 650) of adolescent Latina girls with a focus on bullying as a predictor. Bullying rates are higher than previous studies have found for…

This study relies on qualitative methods to investigate Hispanic women's skin color perceptions. The primary goal is to identify the relevance of these perceptions on their beliefs about their own physical attractiveness. Thirty-four self-identified White-Hispanic women attending a large Hispanic Serving Institution in the southeastern United…

This case study examines the autobiographical writing and interviews of Lupe, an Indigenous Mexican immigrant, at multiple times in her life. The case study is contextualized within social, historical, psychological, and institutional spaces both in the United States and in Mexico. Consequently, Lupe's journey is an example of how stigmatization…

This study explored dimensions of a social phenomenon not often investigated among Mexican American college students, namely sexual harassment. Mexican American (n = 261) and non-Hispanic White female students (n = 111) from three southwestern universities responded to scales assessing experiences of sexually harassing behaviors, harassment…

This study used a person-centered approach to examine patterns of adjustment along psychological (i.e., depression, self-esteem, anxiety) and academic (i.e., academic motivation) domains in a sample (N = 338) of Mexican-origin female adolescents. Four adjustment profiles were identified. A "High Functioning" (n = 173) group, which exhibited high…

In this study, 69 Mexican American elementary school girls in Grades 3 through 6 (age 8-13 years) from an agricultural community were interviewed regarding their perceptions of the frequency of communication with their mothers about education and their interaction with their teachers. The authors examined how these variables were associated with…

Minorities are significantly underrepresented in the U.S. physician workforce. Female minorities wishing to become doctors face additional gender barriers, since women who enter college with the desire of becoming physicians are more likely than men to exit programs of undergraduate studies ("premed studies") that lead to medical school. To…

There has been limited research on the protective factors that help Latinas delay childbearing until adulthood. In-depth interviews were conducted with 65 pregnant Latina teenage and adult women in California who were about to have their first child. Lack of or inconsistent birth control use as teens was attributed to wanting or ambivalence toward…

This study details the development and validation of a Spanish language version of the Test Anxiety Inventory for Children and Adolescents (TAICA) for elementary and secondary students. In this study, the TAICA was adapted and administered to a sample of 197 students, 87 males and 110 females, aged 9 to 19 years, in Grades 4 to 12. Results of an…

Research has increasingly identified race as a salient characteristic that affects one's life experiences and psychological well-being. However, little is known about how skin color affects the emotional health of Latinos. The present study examined how skin color relates to the self-perceptions of immigrant (N = 26) and U.S.-born (N = 55) Latina…

Researchers have well established the association between discriminatory experiences, life chances, and mental health outcomes among Latino/as, especially among Mexican Americans. However, few studies have focused on the impact of stress or the moderating effects of low acculturation levels among recent immigrants, such as Dominicans. Using the…

The purpose of this study was to identify factors distinguishing Mexican American women living near the U.S.-Mexican border who are resilient to the experience of stress from those who are not. The study sample consisted of 418 participants ranging in age from 20 to 61 years. Data were gathered through a self-report survey instrument composed of…

This article reports the characteristics of Latino day laborers who have sex with female commercial sex workers (CSWs). A sample of 450 day laborers in Los Angeles was used. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the association of independent variables with the likelihood of having sex with a CSW. Overall, 26% of the 450 day…

Measurement of social stressors among Hispanic women is a growing and important area of study, particularly in terms of understanding explanatory mechanisms for health disparities. This study involved adaptation of the Hispanic Stress Inventory and the Latin American Stress Inventory to create a measure of social stressors specifically for both…