Although Mexican-origin youth with first-generation immigrant parents are relatively good at retaining their heritage language of Spanish, limited research has been conducted on their Spanish language development during adolescence. From three-wave longitudinal data across six years (N_wave1 = 604, M_age.wave1 = 12.91, 54% female), distinct groups of adolescents with consistently high, improved, declined, and consistently low Spanish proficiencies were identified. Family relationship quality was more predictive of adolescents’ Spanish proficiency than family language environment. The benefits of Spanish proficiency were consistent across adolescents’ ethnic identity, resilience, and life meaning. More research and practical attention to parent–adolescent relationships is needed to capitalize on the continued plasticity of adolescents’ Spanish language development and to promote consequent positive outcomes.

尽管父母为第一代移民的墨西哥裔青年相对较好地保留了他们的西班牙语这一传统语言，但对其青春期西班牙语语言发展的研究却很有限。来自六年的三波纵向数据（N _wave1  = 604，M _age.wave1 = 12.91，54% 为女性），确定了不同的青少年群体，他们的西班牙语水平一直很高、提高、下降和一直很低。家庭关系质量比家庭语言环境更能预测青少年的西班牙语水平。精通西班牙语的好处在青少年的种族认同、适应力和生活意义方面是一致的。需要对父母与青少年的关系进行更多的研究和实际关注，以利用青少年西班牙语发展的持续可塑性，并促进随之而来的积极成果。