School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA.
Dev Psychol. 2013 May;49(5):951-63. doi: 10.1037/a0028866. Epub 2012 Jun 11.
The current longitudinal study examined changes in Latino adolescents' (N = 323, M age = 15.31 years) self-esteem and depressive symptoms across the high school years. Differences in trajectories were examined by gender and perceived ethnic discrimination. Findings revealed that self-esteem increased across high school for both male adolescents and female adolescents. Depressive symptoms, however, showed differences by gender, with female adolescents reporting a decline in depressive symptoms across high school and male adolescents reporting no change. Perceived ethnic discrimination emerged as an important predictor of male adolescents' self-esteem in early high school and predicted changes in self-esteem growth for male adolescents and female adolescents across the high school years. Perceived ethnic discrimination also emerged as a significant predictor of adolescents' depressive symptoms in early high school but did not relate to changes in symptoms across time. Together, findings suggest that Latino adolescents experience positive changes in psychological adjustment across this developmental time. Experiences of ethnic discrimination, however, have the potential of placing adolescents at risk for maladjustment over time. These findings inform our understanding of Latino youth development and point to the importance of early high school years in youths' psychological functioning.
本纵向研究调查了拉丁裔青少年（N=323，平均年龄=15.31 岁）在整个高中阶段自尊和抑郁症状的变化。通过性别和感知到的种族歧视来检验轨迹的差异。研究结果表明，无论是男性青少年还是女性青少年，自尊在整个高中阶段都有所提高。然而，抑郁症状存在性别差异，女性青少年的抑郁症状在整个高中阶段呈下降趋势，而男性青少年则没有变化。感知到的种族歧视是男性青少年在高中早期自尊的一个重要预测因素，它预测了男性青少年和女性青少年在整个高中阶段自尊增长的变化。感知到的种族歧视也是青少年在高中早期抑郁症状的一个重要预测因素，但与症状随时间的变化无关。总的来说，这些发现表明，拉丁裔青少年在这一发展时期经历了心理适应的积极变化。然而，种族歧视的经历有可能使青少年随着时间的推移而适应不良。这些发现丰富了我们对拉丁裔青年发展的理解，并指出了青少年心理功能在高中早期的重要性。
