Barrios and burbs: residential context and health-risk behaviors among Angeleno adolescents.
The increasing size of the Latino immigrant population in the United States underscores the need for a more complete understanding of the role that social context plays in influencing the health of immigrants and their children. This analysis explores the possibility that residential location influences the health-risk behaviors of Latino youth in Los Angeles County, California. The data come from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey. We apply multivariate, multilevel Rasch models to two scales of adolescent health-risk behaviors (substance use and delinquency). The findings suggest that residence in Census tracts characterized by above-county-average levels of Latinos and above-county-average levels of poverty is associated with increased odds of health-risk behaviors for Latino adolescents, particularly for those born in the United States. The findings lend support to the contention, put forth in the segmented assimilation literature, that disadvantaged urban contexts increase the risk that U.S.-born children of immigrants will experience downward assimilation.
Frank
Reanne
R
Ohio State University, Department of Sociology, Columbus 43210, USA. frank.219@osu.edu
Cerdá
Magdalena
M
Rendón
Maria
M
D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D019352:Censuses; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015141:Los Angeles / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011158:Population Growth; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000145:classification*; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012931:Social Environment; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D018881:Suburban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data