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This chapter examines the impact of cultural adaptation styles on the mental health, health, and adjustment in Latino immigrant adolescents and adults. Drawing on theoretical frameworks combined with empirical research on acculturation and health behavior, the chapter explores mental health differences between foreign-born Latino immigrants and U.S.-born Latinos. It shows that higher levels of assimilation are associated with negative health behaviors and mental health difficulties for both Latino adolescents and adults, and that Latinos who have become more assimilated to the host culture display higher levels of alcohol and drug use. It also considers how acculturation relates to youth violence, dating violence, self-directed violence, internalizing problems such as depression and anxiety, and sexual behavior.

This chapter examines the impact of assimilation mechanisms on Latino immigrant families, with particular emphasis on how acute assimilation pressures prompt Latino adolescents and their parents to explore and adapt to the host culture. It begins with a discussion of assimilation theory and two interpersonal and institutional mechanisms that drive assimilation in daily life: monolingualism and discrimination. It then considers monolingualism and discrimination in Latino immigrants' specific transactions with others in schools, workplaces, and churches. It shows that monolingualism was a strong form of interpersonal and institutional discrimination against Spanish speakers, and that discrimination regulated belonging by enforcing conformity with U.S. norms, appearance, and behaviors.

This chapter observes the structure of one large urban school and the community in which it is located with the aim to have a better understanding on the influence of perceived school culture on Latino adolescents' motivation. Moral engagement, a term used in this chapter, uses an interdisciplinary concept of culture to ground a discussion of a unique form of school engagement. The chapter examines the significance of moral engagement in the context of the school by examining adolescent views about what constitutes an ideal school, aspirations, and academic activities. Through comparisons between various sociocultural contexts of school, students' cultural belief systems, and students' individual systems of meaning, the chapter is able to define the connection between school culture and student motivation as well as draw conclusions on ways the school culture can be adjusted to improve Latino students' motivation.