Multi-Cultural Models of Adolescent Development

Although I am not currently engaged in research in the area, my interest in multi-cultural, contextual models of adolescent development goes back to graduate school and work with my graduate advisor, Ana Mari Cauce. This work began by broadly studying how the effect of parenting varies, depending upon the ethnic/cultural heritage of the family, as well as the environment in which they live. For example, as reported in Mason, Cauce, Gonzales, and Hiraga (1996), both parental behavioral and psychological control were found to have curvilinear effects upon problem behavior among a sample of African American adolescents, with the curvilinear effect stronger as peer problem behavior increased (see Fig 1) and the optimal level of control increasing with increases in peer problem behavior (see Fig 2).

A graph of the relationship between behavioral control and problem behavior. There are two U-shaped curves, both of which have the bottom of the curve associated with a moderate level of behavioral control. One curve is very steep and represents youth in a high risk environment. The second curve is shallow and represents youth in a low risk environment.

Subsequent work examined how identical parenting behaviors may be associated with different emotional or affective feelings for youth from different ethnic/cultural backgrounds. For example, what may lead one youth to feel "controlled", for another youth may be associated with a feeling of love and concern. In essence, the same parenting behaviors may have inherently different meanings in different cultures. We referred to these emotional feelings as the affective meaning of parenting behavior (Mason, Walker-Barnes, Tu, Simons, Martinez-Arrue, 2004). For example, among White adolescents, parental control through the use of guilt was found to be associated with relatively high feelings of being manipulated/controlled and relatively low feelings of being loved and cared for. Among African-American youth, the same parenting behavior was also associated with relatively high feelings of being manipulated/controlled; however, for these youth it was associated with relatively high feelings of being loved and cared for. In contrast, Hispanic youth found this type of parenting behavior to be associated with relatively lower feelings of being manipulated/controlled and feelings of being loved and cared for mid-way between that of African Americans and Whites.

As my interest in developmental epidemiology and biobehavioral informatics grew, my work in this area increasingly focused on collaborations with colleagues, including Seth Schwartz in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Miami on his research examining family and peer contextual factors influencing adolescent behavioral and identity development, as well as Dan Santisteban and Maite Mena in the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies on their work examining the development of at-risk behaviors in Hispanic youth. However, I am currently not involved in research in this area.

Representative Work

Schwartz, S.J., Unger, J.B., Zamboanga, B.L., Cordova, D., Mason, C.A., Huang, S., Baezconde-Garbanati, L., Lorenzo-Blanco, E.I., Des Rosiers, S., Soto, D.W., Villamar, J.A., Pattarroyo, M., Lizzi, K.M., and Szapocznik, J. (2015). Developmental trajectories of acculturation: Links with family functioning and mental health in recent-immigrant Hispanic adolescents. Child Development., 86(3), 726-748. DOI: doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12341

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/pdfs/mm6633a4.pdf

Schwartz, S.J., Mason, C.A., Pantin, H., Wang, W., Brown, C.H., Campo, A., and Szapocznik, J. (2009). Relationships of social context and identity to problem behavior among high-risk Hispanic adolescents. Youth and Society, 40, 541-570. DOI: doi.org/10.1177/0044118x08327506; PMID: 19412356.

Schwartz, S.J., Mason, C.A., Pantin, H., and Szapocznik, J. (2009). Longitudinal relationships between family functioning and identity development in Hispanic immigrant adolescents: Continuity and change. Journal of Early Adolescence, 29, 177-211. DOI: doi.org/10.1177/0272431608317605; PMID: 19756226.

Schwartz, S.J., Mason, C.A., Pantin, H., and Szapocznik, J. (2008). Effects of family functioning and identity confusion on substance use and sexual behavior in Hispanic immigrant early adolescents. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 8, 107-124. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/15283480801938440; PMID: 19750181.

Mena, M.P., Dillon, F.R., Mason, C.A., and Santisteban, D. (2008). Communication about sexually-related topics among Hispanic substance-abusing adolescents and their parents. Journal of Drug Issues, 38, 215-234. DOI: doi.org/10.1177/002204260803800110; PMID: 25411479.

Mason, C. A., Walker-Barnes, Tu, S., Simons, J., & Martinez-Arrue, R. (2004). Ethnic differences in the affective meaning of parental control behaviors. Journal of Primary Prevention, 25, 59-79. DOI: doi.org/10.1023/b:jopp.0000039939.83804.37

Walker-Barnes, C. J. & Mason, C. A. (2004). Delinquency and substance use among gang-involved youth: The moderating role of parenting practices. American Journal of Community Psychology,34, 235-250. DOI: doi.org/10.1007/s10464-004-7417-1; PMID: 15663209

Walker-Barnes, C. J. & Mason, C. A. (2001b). Ethnic differences in the effect of parenting upon gang involvement and gang delinquency: A longitudinal, HLM perspective. Child Development, 72, 1814-1831. DOI: doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00380; PMID: 11768147.

Walker-Barnes, C. J. & Mason, C. A. (2001a). Perceptions of risk factors for female gang involvement among African American and Hispanic women. Youth and Society, 32, 303-336. DOI: doi.org/10.1177/0044118x01032003002.

Mason, C. A., Cauce, A. M., Robinson, L. and Harper, G. (1999). Introduction: Adolescent risk behavior: Linking theory and action -- a community psychology agenda. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27, 107-110. DOI: doi.org/10.1023/a:1022856016147; PMID: 10425695.

Mason, C. A., Cauce, A. M., Gonzales, N., and Hiraga, Y. (1996). Neither too sweet nor too sour: Problem peers, maternal control, and problem behavior in African American adolescents. Child Development, 67, 2115-2130. DOI: doi.org/10.2307/1131613; PMID: 9022233.

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