Adriana Umaña-Taylor returned to her alma mater Monday to present a lecture about understanding context in regard to Latino youth development in the United States.
Her research has shown a connection between positive associations with ethnicity and lowered rates of depression, low self-esteem and engagement in risky behaviors.
Umaña-Taylor graduated from MU in 2001 with a Ph.D. in human development and family studies. Her lecture focused on research she began while writing her dissertation where she began to develop a model of ethnic identity development tailored specifically for Latino adolescents. She currently works as an assistant professor at Arizona State University.
Umaña-Taylor was introduced by Larry Ganong, professor and co-chairman of the department of human development and family studies.
“It feels good to see a member of your own family succeed,” Ganong said. “We’re proud to welcome Adriana, a part of our Mizzou family, back to her home.”
Umaña-Taylor began her speech with an acknowledgment of the struggles Latino youth in the U.S. face as an ethnic minority. This achievement gap presents increased incidence of issues with socialization and self-esteem, especially during adolescence.
“The foundation of our society is this idea of equality among groups,” Umaña-Taylor said. “However, we also see throughout the United States very significant disparity with access to resources and power that is based on race and ethnicity.”
Umaña-Taylor’s research focuses on Mexican-American youth, but she stressed the importance of recognizing Latinos as a varied population, not only ethnically but also racially.
“Despite all this diversity, Latinos are often represented as a monolithic group, which reinforces stereotypes that people have about individuals,” Umaña-Taylor said.
Umaña-Taylor said she based her research off the idea that young Latinos with a stronger, more positive sense of cultural identity would face less problems within their social circles and with their own mental health.
“We looked at 4 different indicators of adjustment — adolescents’ reports of their academic self-efficacy, adolescents’ reports of their social confidence with peers, and mothers’ and adolescents’ reports of depressive symptoms and externalizing behaviors,” Umaña-Taylor said. “Our findings are consistent with our hypotheses.”
As adolescents reported higher levels of exploration and resolution of their ethnic identity, they also report greater social confidence, higher levels of social confidence, less depressive symptomatology, and fewer externalizing behaviors, Umaña-Taylor said.
Umaña-Taylor warned that though her research has opened new areas of study, it is not conclusive. She said there is still much work to be done to improve the socialization of Latino youths.
“We’re not suggesting that positive ethnic identity leads to better adjustment, but what has been compelling about these findings is that we found the idea that positive ethnic identity is promotive with four very different indicators of adjustment,” Umaña-Taylor said. “I think this is telling and very important.”