(PS6-1) Academic Socialization and Mental Health in Latinx Families

Latinx families place a high value on education (Perreira et al., 2006) and view educational opportunities as a pathway to social mobility (Hanna & Ortega, 2016). Latinx parents communicate the value of their children’s academic success through academic socialization messages. In this study, academic socialization messages were measured using three subscales: effort, future, and teach (Bempechat et al., 1999). Despite a desire for greater educational attainment, Latinx immigrants face systemic barriers navigating the education and employment system in the U.S. (Hanna & Ortega, 2016). As such, academic socialization has been linked to higher academic achievement among youth from marginalized communities at the cost of their mental health, particularly leading to greater internalizing symptoms (Doan et al., 2022). Future research is needed to better understand the predictors of academic socialization messages and their impact on youth mental health symptomatology. 175 Latinx mother-adolescent dyads were recruited from two middle schools in a semi-rural community in North Carolina (M_age = 12.89, 52% female) to complete surveys. The first aim of this study was to examine maternal predictors (racial-ethnic discrimination, foreigner-based discrimination, and familism) of parental academic socialization message (effort, future, teach), while controlling for mother’s length of schooling and years in the U.S. Multiple regression analyses revealed that maternal familism values were linked to effort messages (mother-reported: β = .30, p </em>< .01; youth-reported: β = .16, p </em>< .05). Foreigner-based discrimination was linked to both mother-reported future (β = .14, p</em> < .05) and teach (β = .20, p </em>< .05) messages. The second aim of this study was to examine the association between academic socialization messages and youth mental health (internalizing and externalizing symptoms), while controlling for youth age and gender. Regression analyses revealed that youth-reported teach messages were linked to lower levels of youth externalizing symptoms (β = -1.07, p </em>< .05). This study is novel in documenting the mental health benefits (lower externalizing symptoms) associated with academic socialization (teach messages). Specifically, when parents engage in teaching their children by providing them with homework support, this may help youth feel supported and thus results in decreased externalizing symptoms (aggressive, hyperactivity, and noncompliant behaviors). Contrary to hypotheses, academic socialization messages were not significantly related to internalizing symptoms, and it may be that there are moderating factors that need to be considered as to when academic socialization poses a risk to mental health in Latinx youth. By further understanding academic socialization, we can identify how to better support parents as they navigate systemic stressors (e.g., foreigner-based discrimination) as well as identifying how academic socialization components can be leveraged in mental health treatment for Latinx families to promote resilience.