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CFAC Projects

Adolescent Health and Mental Health Across Racial and Ethnic Groups in the United States

Project Goal: Examine adolescent health risk behaviors, including tobacco use, alcohol use and other drugs, and risky sexual behaviors across different racial and ethnic groups.

Selected Papers

Kim, Y-K., Yu, M., Conley, C.M., & Yang, M.Y. (2019). Peer victimization, feelings of sadness or hopelessness and sexual risk behaviors among high school youth in the United States: A gender-based approach. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health DOI: 10.1515/ijamh-2019-0139

Yu, M., Sacco, P., Choi, H., & Wintemberg, J. (2018). Identifying patterns of tobacco use among youth in the United States: Sociodemographic and tobacco related correlates. Addictive Behaviors, 79, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.11.034

Yu, M., Chavez, P.*, Olate, R., & Peters, C. (2017). Cigarette smoking status among Latino/Hispanic middle- and high-school students in the United States. Substance Use & Misuse, 52 (3), 303-312 doi: 10.1080/10826084.2016.1225763

Selected Presentations

Poudel, H., & Yu, M. (2020). Nonspecific psychological distress among Asian sub-groups in the United States: A social determinants of health approach. Annual meeting of Population Association of America, Washington, DC.

Kim, Y-K., Yu, M., Conley, C.M., & Yang, M. Peer victimization, depression, and sexual risk behaviors among high school youth in the United States. (2019). 23rd annual conference of Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR), San Francisco, CA.

Gulseven, Z., Carlo, G., Yu, M., & Maiya, S. (2019). Can prosocial moral traits and behaviors protect youth from substance use? 45th annual conference of the Association for Moral Education (AME), Seattle, WA.


Latino Youth Care Project

Project Goal: The project focuses on testing a model of social wellbeing and adjustment in U.S. Latino youth residing in the Northern Great Plains. We collected data from approximately 310 U.S. Latino caregivers and their adolescent on a wide range of ecological, stress, social cognitions and emotions, culture-related processes, and psychological and behavioral outcomes. Data analyses and manuscript writing is underway.

Selected Papers

Davis, A., Carlo, G., Streit, C., & Crockett, L. (2018). Considering economic stress and empathic traits in predicting prosocial behaviors among U.S. Latino adolescents. Social Development, 27(1), 58-72. doi:10.1111/sode.12249

Carlo, G., Crockett, L. J., Streit, C., & Cardenas, R. (2016). Rural Latino/a youth and parents on the Northern Great Plains: Preliminary findings from the Latino Youth Care Project (LYCP). In L. J. Crockett & G. Carlo (Eds.), Rural Ethnic Minority Youth and Families in the United States: Theory, Research, and Applications (pp. 165-183). New York: Springer.

Selected Presentations

Crockett, L., Streit, C., Carlo, G., & Hayes, R. (2017, April). Parents’ Cultural Values Predict Latino Adolescent Antisocial Behavior Through Youth Ethnic Identity and Familism. Poster presentation at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Austin, TX.

Carlo, G., & Streit, C. (July, 2017). Direct and indirect effects of familial and peer correlates of U.S. Latino youth prosocial behaviors. Poster presented at the European Congress of Psychology, Amsterdam, Holland.

Streit, C., Carlo, G., & Davis, A. (2017, April). Parenting, Familism, and Prosocial Behaviors in U.S. Latino Youth: The Moderating Role of Neighborhood Support. In D. Witherspoon (Chair). Parenting in context: Latino families varied parenting behaviors and adolescent outcomes in New Destination areas. Symposium paper presentation at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Austin, TX.


U.S. Latino Migrant Cattle Feedlot Workers and Their Families

Project Goal: Understanding Latino immigrant cattle feedlot workers’ health status, unique risk and protective factors, and specific occupational educational and training needs are imperative to addressing the health and safety risks within the cattle production industry and the long-term economic impacts of such problems. This project seeks to better understand Latino immigrant cattle feedlot workers and their families in two top cattle producing states, Nebraska and Kansas, through interviewing 250 workers. We propose a new Ecological Stress-based Model of Immigrant Health and Safety and will test the model’s properties with the information that is collected from the workers. Finally, we plan to develop, evaluate, and disseminate culturally and linguistically, industry-specific health and safety information for cattle feedlot workers.

Selected Papers

Athena K., R., Gustavo, C., Kathleen, G., Natalia, T., & Antonia, C. (2016). Stress, Depression, and Occupational Injury among Migrant Farmworkers in Nebraska. Safety, Vol 2, Iss 4, P 23 (2016), (4), 23. doi:10.3390/safety2040023

Selected Presentations

Coming soon!


Extensivity Project

Project Goal: Research designed to examine the development of prosocial behaviors towards in-group/out-group members across childhood.

Project Update Spring 2018

Pilot data has been collected and coding is underway.


Maternal Risk Factors in Early Childhood as Predictors of Parent-Adolescent Communication Styles in Early Adolescence

Project Goal: Examine the mediating role of self-regulation in the relations between mothers’ risk factors and the quality of parent-adolescent communication.

Selected Papers

Palermo, F., Ispa, J., Carlo, G., & Streit, C. (2018). Economic hardship during infancy and U.S. Latino preschoolers’ sociobehavioral health and academic readiness. Developmental Psychology, 54(5), 890-902. doi:10.1037/dev0000476

Ispa, J. M., Su-Russell, C., Palermo, F., & Carlo, G. (2017). The Interplay of Maternal Sensitivity and Toddler Engagement of Mother in Predicting Self-Regulation. Developmental Psychology, 53(3), 425-435.

Streit, C., Carlo, G., Ispa, J. M., & Palermo, F. (2017). Negative emotionality and discipline as long-term predictors of behavioral outcomes in African American and European American children. Developmental Psychology, 53(6), 1013-1026. doi:10.1037/dev0000306

Selected Presentations

Palermo, F., Carlo, G., & Ispa, J.M. (2017, April). Latino mothers’ mental health and children’s sociobehavioral and academic outcomes: The role of children’s emotion regulation. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Austin, TX.

Ispa, J. M., Su-Russell, C., & Im, J. (2016, October). Black boys and their mothers discuss their school/homework related disagreements.


Cross-Cultural Studies on Prosocial Behaviors

Project Goal: This compiles work conducted in various countries around the world designed to understand the correlates and changes in prosocial tendencies, including, empathy, moral reasoning, and prosocial behaviors.

Selected Papers

Gülseven, Z., Kumru, A., Carlo, G., Palermo, F., Selçuk, B., & Sayıl, M. (2018). The mediational roles of harsh and responsive parenting in the longitudinal relations between socioeconomic status and Turkish children’s emotional development. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 42(6), 563-573.

Van der Graaff, J., Branje, S., Carlo, G., Crocetti, E., & Koot, H. M. (2018). Prosocial Behavior in Adolescence: Gender Differences in Development and Links with Empathy. Journal Of Youth And Adolescence, 47(5), 1086-1099.

Carlo, G., Mestre, M. V., McGinley, M., Tur-Porcar, A., Samper, P., & Streit, C. (2013). The structure and correlates of a measure of prosocial moral reasoning in adolescents from Spain. European Journal Of Developmental Psychology, 10(2), 174-189. doi:10.1080/17405629.2012.762909

Selected Presentations

Rudy, D., Im, J., Song, H. & Carlo, G. (2017, April). Undergraduates’ Prosocial Behavior Toward Different Targets, and Contrasting Perceptions of Parental Warmth in Korea and the USA. Poster presentation at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Austin, TX.

Conejo, L., Carlo, G., Gulseven, Z., & Pierotti, S. L. (2016, September). Sociocognitive and Socioemotive Traits as Predictors of Prosocial Behavior in Late Adolescence: A Cross-Cultural Study. Poster presented at the Meeting of the European Adolescent Research Association, Chiclanas, Spain.

Gülseven, Z., Rudy, D., Carlo, G., Kumru, A., Selçuk, B., & Sayıl, M. (2017, April). Trajectories of Young Turkish Children’s Prosocial Behaviors: Type of Prosocial Behavior and Parenting as Moderators. Symposium paper presented at the Biennial Society for Research on Child Development Conference, Austin, Texas.


Health and Well Being in U.S. Ethnic and Racial Minority Youth and Families

Project Goal: Compendium of studies examining health and well being in U.S. ethnic and racial minority youth and families. Most of the studies focus on U.S. Latino/as and on prosocial development.

Selected Papers

Davis, A. N., Streit, C., Carlo, G., Schwartz, S. J., Szapocznik, J., Unger, J. B., & Baezconde-Garbanati, L. (n.d). Longitudinal Associations between Maternal Involvement, Cultural Orientations, and Prosocial Behaviors Among Recent Immigrant Latino Adolescents. Journal Of Youth And Adolescence, 47(2), 460-472.

Knight, G. P., Carlo, G., Streit, C., & White, R. M. (2017). A Model of Maternal and Paternal Ethnic Socialization of Mexican-American Adolescents’ Self-Views. Child Development, (6), 1885. doi:10.1111/cdev.12939

Streit, C., Carlo, G., Ispa, J. M., & Palermo, F. (2017). Negative emotionality and discipline as long-term predictors of behavioral outcomes in African American and European American children. Developmental Psychology, 53(6), 1013-1026. doi:10.1037/dev0000306

Selected Presentations

Coming soon!


Health and Well Being in Other Countries

Project Goal: Examine health issues and well being in other countries.

Selected Papers

Chun, J., Yu, M., Kim, J., & Kim, A. (2020). E-cigarette, cigarette, and dual use in Korean adolescents: A test of problem behavior theory. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2020.1712501

Wintemberg, J., Yu, M., & Karadag Caman, O. Health warnings, smoking rules and smoking status: A cross-national comparison of Turkey and the United States. Substance Use & Misuse 53 (6), 963-971. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2017.1387566.

Olate, R., Salas-Wright, C., Vaughn, M.G., & Yu, M. (2015). Preventing violence among gang-involved and high-risk youth in El Salvador: The role of self-control and school motivation, Deviant Behavior, 36 (4), 259-275 doi:10.1080/01639625.2014.924364

Selected Presentations

Manguvhewa, M., Florence, M., Yu, M., Koch, S., & Kamaloodien, K. (2020). Exploring factors associated with substance use among pregnant women in a Cape Town community. The 32nd International Congress of Psychology, Prague, Czech Republic.

Han, S., Rudy, D., & Yu, M. (2020). Parent-child communication, parental knowledge, and children’s delinquent behaviors in Korea. 2020 biennial meeting of Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA). San Diego, CA.

Wintemberg, J, & Yu, M. (2019). Smoking prevalence, smoking-attributable death, and tobacco control policy among low-and middle-income countries. 147th annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA), Philadelphia, PA.