Publications

Reports

• Perreira, K., Chapman, M., Potochnick, S., Ko, L., and T. Smith. (2008). Migration and Mental Health: Latino Youth and Parents Adapting to Life in the American South. Final Results. Carolina Population Center. 
• Chapman, M. and K. Perreira. (2007). Latino Immigrant Teens and Parents: What They Say about Their Lives. Preliminary Report. Carolina Population Center.

Published Works

• Chapman, M. and K. Perreira. (2005). The Well-Being of Immigrant Youth: A Model to Inform Practice. Families in Society, 86(1), 104-111.

All families must confront positive and negative influences when raising children. This challenge is greater for new immigrants who must negotiate the additional influences of culture, environment, and the incorporation of their family history into their life in a new country. This article summarizes findings regarding the well-being of Latino youth on domains important to functioning later in life, such as: mental health, substance use, school functioning, and early adult role-taking.  The summary is followed by a discussion of the psychosocial risks that threaten the successful adaptation of Latino youth in immigrant families and the protective factors that facilitate their adaptation. Last, a framework of practice guidelines and case applications is proposed to guide helping professionals in assessing the needs of Latino youth.

• Perreira, K., Chapman, M., G. Stein. (2006). "Becoming an American Parent: Overcoming Challenges and Finding Strength in a New Immigrant Latino Community" Journal of Family Issues, 27(10), 1383-1414.

One in five children living in the U.S is an immigrant or child of an immigrant. Through qualitative methods, this study identifies ways that Latino immigrant parents with adolescent children cope with their new environment and how that environment shapes their parenting practices.  Two primary themes emerge -- overcoming new challenges and finding new strengths.  Immigrant parents discussed the challenges of overcoming their fears of the unknown; navigating unfamiliar work, school, and neighborhood environments; encountering and confronting racism; and losing family connections and other forms of social capital.  In response to these challenges, immigrant parents discussed developing bicultural coping skills, increasing parent-child communication, empathizing with and respecting their adolescent children, and fostering social supports.  The results fit well with a risk and protective factor framework and provide a basis for improving policies and programs to support effective parenting in Latino immigrant families.

Conference Posters

• Title: Migration and Mental Health: Latino Youth and Parents Adapting to Life in the American South
  Authors: Krista Perreira, Mimi Chapman, Stephanie Potochnick, Linda Ko, and Tasia Smith
  Conference: Southern Demographic Association, Greenville, SC, Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 2008 
• Title: Latino Adolescent Migration, Health, and Adaptation.
  Authors: Krista Perreira and Stephanie Potochnick
  Conference: Family Research Consortium IV, New Orleans, Louisana, June 19 - 21, 2008
• Title: New Immigrant Parents' Beliefs about Adolescent Mental Health and Service Use: A Mixed Methods Study
  Authors: Mimi Chapman, Krista Perreira, and Gaby Livas-Stein
  Conference: Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, San Francisco, CA, January 2007
• Title: New Immigrant Parents' Understanding of Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Adolescence and their Service Use Patterns: Preliminary Findings from the Latino Adolescent Migration, Health, and Adaptation Project
  Authors: Mimi Chapman, Krista Perreira, and Gaby Livas-Stein
  Conference: Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, San Francisco, California, March 23 - March 26, 2006

LAMHA Summit Presentations

• Latino Adolescent Migration, Health, and Adaptation Project. Summit I. New Immigrant Parents' Understandings of Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Adolescence and Their Service Use Patterns. May 8, 2006.
• Latino Adolescent Migration, Health, and Adaptation Project. Summit II. What New Immigrant Teens Say About Their Lives. June 5, 2006.
• Latino Adolescent Migration, Health, and Adaptation Project. Summit III. Migration, Parental Depression, and Child Adustment among First-Generation Latino Immigrants, Part 1. September 14, 2006.
• Latino Adolescent Migration, Health, and Adaptation Project. Summit III. Migration, Parental Depression, and Child Adustment among First-Generation Latino Immigrants, Part 2. September 14, 2006.
• Latino Adolescent Migration, Health, and Adaptation Project. Summit IV. Parent and Adolescent Views of Family Presence of Mental Health Symptoms. December 04, 2006.