Publication year
2018
Citation Title
Ethnic cultural features in organized activities: Relations to Latino adolescents' activity experiences and parental involvement.
Journal Name
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Activities
DOI
10.1007/s10964-018-0839-0
Summary
High-quality youth development programs are commonly seen as beneficial to youth, and youth can participate in programs that either attempt to be ethnically neutral or encompass and embrace certain aspects of their ethnicity. This study examined whether ethnic components of youth development programs influenced the way Latino youth felt about those activities and the extent to which their parents became involved. Results indicate that cultural factors are a significant consideration even for activities that do not revolve around culture.
Key Findings
Latino youth and their parents perceived lower than average ethnic cultural content in their activities (M = 1.79 and 1.96 respectively, range 0-4) but higher than average cultural respect (M = 2.89 and 2.78 respectively, range 0-4).
Youths' perception of cultural respect was positively associated with psychological engagement and negatively associated with perceived discrimination by leaders and peers; parents' perceptions of cultural respect and content were positively associated with instrumental support and connection with the activity.
Latino parents perceived more cultural content in activities compared to Latino youth. Both parents and youth perceived more cultural content when Latino youth were the majority of the youth participants in an activity.
Youths' perception of more cultural content in their activities was associated with more negative feelings toward the activity.
Implications for Military Professionals
When working with Latino youth in youth programs, develop cultural competence to be able to consistently show cultural respect
Emphasize cultural respect in order to facilitate parental involvement
Implications for Program Leaders
Educate youth program staff about Latino culture if they are part of the population served
Provide information to families ahead of time about cultural content and respect involved in the program
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to support programs that attempt to engage immigrant parents
Recommend training professionals who work with Latino youth to understand when cultural content is positively received and when it may not be
Methods
Interviews were conducted with youth and parents separately in the language of their choice; ninety-eight percent of youth and 45% of parents chose to be interviewed in English.
Each participant, youth and parent, were asked to rate their experiences regarding one youth activity, such as soccer or theater, on a scale 0 (never/strongly disagree) to 4 (always/strongly agree).
Topics addressed included perceptions of ethnic cultural features, cultural content, and cultural respect; youths' feelings about the activity, psychological engagement, and perceived discrimination; parental involvement in activities; and ethnic composition of other participants and staff in the activity.
Participants
Participants were 154 Latino youth (mean age 12.36 years, 59% female) recruited from four middle schools in an urban area for a larger study about youth development activities. Their parents also participated, though the number of parent participants was not provided.
Most students (84%) were born in the U.S. while most of their parents (64%) were born outside the U.S., mainly in Mexico (76% of foreign-born parents).
Average parent education was some high school, and family income averaged $25,000-$30,000.
The participants in this study were only those Latino youth who participated in activities, and differed from non-participants by having higher-income families and were more likely to be female.
Limitations
The study used a cross-sectional design, which limits the ability to determine causality.
The study only included Latino participants, therefore results may not generalize to other racial/ethnic groups.
The participants may have tried to answer in the way they thought the researchers wanted due to social desirability, which limits validity.
Avenues for Future Research
Repeat the study with a longitudinal design in order to understand whether positive experiences lead to perceptions of respect and cultural content
Consider how cultural content and respect lead to other outcomes for youth in programming, such as engagement in additional programming, social emotional learning outcomes, or academic outcomes
Examine whether negative feelings with increased cultural content is related to youths' naivete
Focus
Civilian
Target Population
Population Focus
Abstract
Cultural responsiveness is a key aspect of the quality of organized activities, yet has rarely been examined. Based on developmental theories and a theoretical framework for culturally responsive activities, the current study investigated the prevalence and correlates of two ethnic cultural features (i.e., ethnic cultural content & ethnic cultural respect) in organized activities. Using data from 154 Latino adolescents (Mage = 12.36, SD= .53; 59% Female) and parents, we examined associations between adolescent perceptions of both ethnic cultural features and their activity experiences; and associations between parent perceptions of both ethnic cultural features and parental involvement in the activity. Latino adolescents and parents in general perceived lower than average ethnic cultural content and moderate to high ethnic cultural respect in the reported activity. Both adolescents and parents were more likely to perceive ethnic cultural content and respect in activities where Latino youth were the numerical ethnic majority than in activities where Latino youth were the numerical ethnic minority. Latino adolescents’ perceptions of ethnic cultural respect were associated with more positive activity experiences, whereas their perceptions of ethnic cultural content were associated with more negative feelings. Latino parents’ perceptions of ethnic cultural content predicted higher involvement. To design culturally responsive activities, ethnic cultural features should be incorporated in a thoughtful, meaningful way that reflects both adolescents’ and parents’ perspectives.
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