EFFECTS OF SCHOOL BELONGING ON INTERNALIZING SYMPTOM TRAJECTORIES AMONG LATINX YOUTH A Dissertation by OSCAR WIDALES-BENITEZ Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Cynthia Riccio Co-Chair of Committee, Sara Castro-Olivo Committee Members, Lisa Bowman-Perrott Robert W. Heffer, Jr. Oi-Man Kwok Head of Department, Shanna Hagan-Burke August 2019 School Psychology Copyright 2019: Oscar Widales-Benitez ABSTRACT Latinx and Latinx ELL youth are among the fastest growing student populations in the nation’s schools. Despite consistent efforts to address the achievement gap that exists between these youths and their non-Latinx and non-ELL counterparts, these youth continue to consistently underperform across academic areas. While most empirical work has focused on identifying the academic needs of these youth in an effort to address this underperformance, recent research has identified the unique social-emotional needs of these student populations. Using Growth Mixture Modeling (GMM), the current study explored trajectories of internalizing symptoms among two samples of Latinx and Latinx ELL students in an effort to develop a better understanding of the social-emotional well-being of these youths. Furthermore, the study explored the predictive ability of early school belonging on trajectory placement as well as the ability of these trajectories to predict future victimization. Consistent with results from previous studies working with broad student samples, results from the current study describe the presence of various internalizing problem trajectories among Latinx and Latinx ELL youth. Trends observed were consistent with those found in other literature exploring the development of internalizing problems among children and adolescents. School belonging was identified as being a significant predictor of internalizing symptom trajectory placement. Youth reporting elevated levels of school belonging were more likely to be placed in trajectories characterized by mild or decreasing levels of internalizing problems over time. Similarly, trajectories significantly identified youth who self-reported elevated levels of overt and relational victimization. Namely, youth belonging to trajectories characterized by increasing or consistently elevated levels of internalizing problems were more likely to report ii experiencing elevated levels of victimization. Implications for school based mental health services are discussed including approaches to increase school belonging among Latinx youth. iii DEDICATION Para mi mama, mi papa, y mi hermana que me han apoyado desde el principio y más cuando decidí irme a estudiar fuera de Laredo hace ya casi seis años. ¡Si se puede, y si se pudo! iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to my committee chair, Dr. Riccio, and my committee co-chair, Dr. Castro- Olivo. Your commitment to student success and advancement of knowledge in the field of school psychology is inspiring. Thank you to my committee members, Dr. Kwok, Dr. Heffer, and Dr. Bowman-Perrott, for your guidance and support throughout this entire process. I also want to thank my friends both those that I knew before graduate school and those that I met during this journey. Christine and Asha, you both were constant sources of support and inspiration. This journey would have been way more difficult if either of you had not been part of it. Danielle, it’s crazy how close we grew throughout this wild process! “Rapid cycling” at Bolt EaHo and Bricks & Scones will always be some of my favorite memories. Stephanie EA Mendez, thank you for making me laugh when it was the last thing on my mind. A part of my heart will always be in Laredo, Santa Barbara, College Station, and Los Angeles. v CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES Contributors This work was supported by a dissertation committee consisting of Dr. Cynthia Riccio, committee chair, Dr. Sara Castro-Olivo, committee co-chair, Dr. Oi-Man Kwok, and Dr. Lisa Bowman-Perrott from the Department of Educational Psychology as well as by Dr. Robert W. Heffer Jr. from the Department of Psychology. The data analyzed for Chapter IV was provided by Dr. Jan Hughes whose study was funded by the National Institute of Child and Human Development (Grant HD039367). Dr. Maria A. McCameron and Dr. Oi-Man Kwok provided guidance and support throughout the analysis of this data. All other work conducted for this dissertation was completed by the student independently. Funding Sources Graduate study was supported by the Pathways to the Doctorate Fellow of Texas A&M University. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION.................................................................................................................. iv ACNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ v CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES ............................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... x CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 Current Study ....................................................................................................... 2 Research question 1 ................................................................................... 3 Research question 2 ................................................................................... 3 Research question 3 ................................................................................... 4 Research question 4 ................................................................................... 4 Research question 5 ................................................................................... 4 Research question 6 ................................................................................... 4 Implications .......................................................................................................... 5 Definition of Terms .............................................................................................. 5 English Language Learner (ELL) .............................................................. 5 Hispanic/Latinx ........................................................................................ 6 Internalizing disorders .............................................................................. 6 School belonging ...................................................................................... 6 Peer victimization ..................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................... 7 English Language Learners .................................................................................. 7 Internalizing Problems .......................................................................................... 10 Latinx youth and internalizing problems ................................................... 12 Outcomes of internalizing problems .......................................................... 13 Trajectories of internalizing problems ....................................................... 14 School Belonging ................................................................................................. 15 Outcomes of school belonging .................................................................. 16 School belonging and internalizing problems ............................................ 17 School belonging and Latinx youth ........................................................... 18 vii Victimization ........................................................................................................ 21 Prevalence of peer victimization ............................................................... 22 Outcomes of peer victimization ................................................................. 23 Peer victimization and internalizing problems trajectories ......................... 24 CHAPTER III METHOD ................................................................................................. 26 Research Design ................................................................................................... 26 Participants ........................................................................................................... 26 Measures .............................................................................................................. 27 Demographic information ......................................................................... 27 Internalizing symptoms ............................................................................. 28 School belonging ...................................................................................... 29 Peer victimization ..................................................................................... 30 Procedures ...........................................................................................................