Relatively few studies have examined the construct of self-esteem among Mexican immigrant adolescents in the United States, and most studies have focused on the independent influence of variables as opposed to adopting an ecological perspective. The present study examined individual, familial, and societal predictors associated with the self-esteem of Mexican immigrant youth. This study also examined the moderator effects of bilingualism, family cohesion, and parent-adolescent conflict on the relationship between perceived societal discrimination and Mexican immigrant adolescents’ self-esteem. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted drawing data from Wave 2 of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS). The sample consisted of 575 Mexican immigrant adolescents. The results indicated that academic achievement, bilingualism, and family cohesion were positively associated with self-esteem, while parent-adolescent conflict and societal discrimination were negatively associated with self-esteem. Additionally, both bilingualism and parent-adolescent conflict moderated the relationship between perceived societal discrimination and self-esteem. The findings of this study suggest that in order to protect the self-esteem of Mexican immigrant adolescents, social work practitioners need to target individual, familial, and societal context factors associated with self-esteem. Specifically, family cohesion appears to be most salient to the self-esteem of Latino adolescents. Bilingualism also protects Mexican immigrant youth from the harmful effects of societal discrimination. It is also crucial to identify sources of parent-adolescent conflict among Mexican immigrant families and work to resolve them.

中文翻译：

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墨西哥移民青少年自尊的预测因素：通过生物心理社会视角对幸福感的检验

相对较少的研究考察了美国墨西哥移民青少年的自尊结构，大多数研究都集中在变量的独立影响上，而不是采用生态学视角。本研究调查了与墨西哥移民青年自尊相关的个人、家庭和社会预测因素。本研究还考察了双语、家庭凝聚力和父母与青少年冲突对感知社会歧视与墨西哥移民青少年自尊之间关系的调节作用。从移民儿童纵向研究 (CILS) 的第 2 波数据中进行分层线性回归分析。样本包括 575 名墨西哥移民青少年。结果表明，学业成绩、双语能力、家庭凝聚力与自尊呈正相关，而父母-青少年冲突和社会歧视与自尊呈负相关。此外，双语和父母与青少年的冲突都缓和了感知到的社会歧视与自尊之间的关系。这项研究的结果表明，为了保护墨西哥移民青少年的自尊，社会工作从业者需要针对与自尊相关的个人、家庭和社会背景因素。具体而言，家庭凝聚力似乎对拉丁裔青少年的自尊最为突出。双语还可以保护墨西哥移民青年免受社会歧视的有害影响。