Hispanic Immigrant Youth and Internalizing Behaviors: Examining the Links with Neighborhood Context

Abstract

Using longitudinal data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, this study examined links between Hispanic adolescent's internalizing behaviors and neighborhood characteristics. The sample included 1,040 (aged 9 to 17) Hispanic immigrant youth identified as first-, second- and third-generation. Results indicated that first-generation youth had significantly higher internalizing behaviors compared to third-generation adolescents, even after controlling for family characteristics and Wave 1 internalizing behavior scores. The results also showed that Hispanic youth living in neighborhoods that had higher residential stability had higher levels of internalizing behavior problems compared to first- and third-generation youth living in similar neighborhoods.

Keywords: Hispanics, immigrants, immigrant generation, minority youth, neighborhoods