Contextual Factors Study

This pilot study was designed to provide a data set for the development of new measures to assess acculturative status (i.e., degree of acculturation and enculturation on specific dimensions of beliefs) and context (i.e., parent and child reports of neighborhood quality with separate measures for reports of objective characteristics of the neighborhood, such as amount of graffiti, and reports of subjective feelings about the quality of the area, such as fear of crime).

We surveyed 192 mothers and children from an inner city community limiting our sample to Anglo and Mexican American families who represented over 80% of the students in the schools. Once measurement development is completed, this data set will be used to examine the combined and interactive effects of culture and context on children's adjustment.

Investigators:
Mark W. Roosa, Nancy Gonzales, George Knight, Delia Saenz, Jenn-Yun Tein, Kim Updegraff, Laura Hanish, Tim Ayers, Irwin Sandler, Laura Argys (U. of Colorado, Denver)