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While different patterns of perceived parenting discrepancy among mother-adolescent dyads have been shown to be associated with adolescent internalizing symptoms, little is known about the pathway underlying such associations, particularly among immigrant families. The current study considered one culturally salient form of mother-adolescent communication, language brokering (i.e., adolescents translating and interpreting between host and heritage languages for mothers), in order to investigate its mediating role based on two waves of longitudinal data on Mexican-origin immigrant families. Wave 1 included 604 adolescents (54% female; Mage = 12.92, SD = 0.92) and 595 mothers (Mage = 38.89, SD = 5.74); Wave 2 was collected one year later with data from 483 adolescents. Perceived parenting discrepancy patterns at Wave 1 were captured by three profiles based on the levels of both mothers' and adolescents' perceived positive parenting (i.e., Mother High, Adolescent High, and Both High). Compared to the other two profiles, adolescents who reported much lower positive parenting than mothers at Wave 1 (i.e., Mother High) experienced more negative feelings about brokering at Wave 2, relating to more anxiety. Being in the Mother High (vs. Both High) group was also directly related to more depressive symptoms one year later. This study highlights the importance of considering culturally salient forms of communication, such as language brokering, when designing family-level interventions to reduce adolescents' internalizing symptoms by building agreement on high positive parenting among mother-adolescent dyads from immigrant families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mothers and adolescents often perceive parenting differently, but it is unclear how different profiles of mother-adolescent perceived parenting and developmental transitions of such profiles would influence adolescent academic performance longitudinally. The current study adopted a three-wave dataset of 604 Mexican-origin adolescents (54% female; Mwave1.age = 12.92 years) and 595 mothers. Adolescents who agreed on high levels of positive parenting with their mothers in early adolescence (i.e., the Both High group) and stayed in the Both High group demonstrated the best academic performance in late adolescence. However, adolescents who changed from the Both High group in early adolescence and ended with discrepancies in perceived parenting or an agreement on low positive parenting with mothers in late adolescence had the worst academic performance. The findings suggest the plasticity of mother-adolescent relationships during adolescence, which can be an intervention target to improve Mexican-origin adolescent academic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1970s, the term "colonias" (in English) has described low‐income, peri‐urban, and rural subdivisions north of the U.S.‐Mexico border. These communities are in arid and semi‐arid regions—now in a megadrought—and tend to have limited basic infrastructure, including community water service and sanitation. Recent scholarship has demonstrated how colonias residents experience unjust and inequitable dynamics that produce water insecurity in the Global North. In this review, we explain why U.S. colonias are an important example for theorizing water insecurity in the United States and beyond in the Global North. Tracing the history of water infrastructure development in U.S. colonias, we show how colonias are legally and socially defined by water insecurity. We draw on the published literature to discuss key factors that produce water insecurity in U.S. colonias: political exclusion, municipal underbounding, and failures in water quality monitoring. We show that water insecurity had led to negative outcomes—including poor water access, risks to physical health, and mental ill‐health—in U.S. colonias. We present four possible approaches to improving water security in U.S. colonias: (1) soft paths & social infrastructure for water delivery, (2) decentralized water treatment approaches, such as point‐of‐use, point‐of‐entry, and fit‐for‐purpose systems; (3) informality, including infrastructural, economic, and socio‐cultural innovations; and (4) political, policy, and law innovations and reforms. At the same time, we reflect seriously on how water security can be ethically achieved in partnership and aligning with the visions of U.S. colonias residents themselves. This article is categorized under:Human Water > Water GovernanceEngineering Water > Water, Health, and Sanitation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]