TY - JOUR
T1 - The mental health status of Latino children in the public child welfare system
T2 - A look at the role of generation and origin
AU - Ayón, Cecilia
AU - Krysik, Judy
AU - Gerdes, Karen
AU - Androff, David
AU - Becerra, David
AU - Gurrola, Maria
AU - Moya-Salas, Lorraine
AU - Segal, Elizabeth
PY - 2011/11
Y1 - 2011/11
N2 - As the number of Latino children in public child welfare continues to grow, it is necessary to understand how their mental health is faring. The paper examines emotional and behavioural needs among Latino children who had contact with the public child welfare system. The purpose of this longitudinal study was twofold: to examine the severity of emotional and behavioural problems, and to assess the predictive role of generation status and Latino origin. Latent growth models were completed using the National Survey on Children and Adolescent Well-Being. The predictive model for the externalizing CBCL scale revealed that generation status and Latino origin were significant predictors. At baseline, Puerto Rican children exhibited higher rates of externalizing problems compared with Mexican children. Over time children who were first/second generation tended to have lower scores compared with the third-plus generation children. Implications for practise are discussed.
AB - As the number of Latino children in public child welfare continues to grow, it is necessary to understand how their mental health is faring. The paper examines emotional and behavioural needs among Latino children who had contact with the public child welfare system. The purpose of this longitudinal study was twofold: to examine the severity of emotional and behavioural problems, and to assess the predictive role of generation status and Latino origin. Latent growth models were completed using the National Survey on Children and Adolescent Well-Being. The predictive model for the externalizing CBCL scale revealed that generation status and Latino origin were significant predictors. At baseline, Puerto Rican children exhibited higher rates of externalizing problems compared with Mexican children. Over time children who were first/second generation tended to have lower scores compared with the third-plus generation children. Implications for practise are discussed.
KW - Child welfare
KW - Emotional and behavioural problems
KW - Latino children
KW - Mental health
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-2206.2010.00751.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1365-2206.2010.00751.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80054872029
SN - 1356-7500
VL - 16
SP - 369
EP - 379
JO - Child and Family Social Work
JF - Child and Family Social Work
IS - 4
ER -