A longitudinal study of ethnic discrimination, ethnic-racial identity, gender, and educational values among Latina/o early adolescents

This study addresses conflicting findings regarding gender differences in the moderating role of ethnic private regard in the longitudinal association between school ethnic discrimination and educational values among Latina/o early adolescents. Participants included 689 Latina/o early adolescents in middle school (Mage = 12.06, SD = .98 at Time 1; Mage = 12.66, SD = 1.00 at Time 2). Two waves of data were collected approximately eight months apart. Ethnic private regard moderated the association between school ethnic discrimination at time 1 and educational values at time 2 only among Latino male early adolescents, such that the negative association between school ethnic discrimination and educational values existed only for males with high ethnic private regard. Implications highlight the need to enhance teachers’ cultural competency in working with Latino male students.