Research

Over the next four years, the PPP team will follow 307 Latine youth (ages 10-15) in rural, farmworker, or agricultural families and their mothers. Our study objectives are to:

• learn how chronic life stressors impact the mental & physical health and substance use in youth across early and late adolescence
• identify protective and resilience factors that counteract negative health trajectories that result from chronic life stressors
• determine how differences in youth mobility status contribute to chronic life stressors and how protective factors buffer against poor health outcomes.

By addressing these aims, our findings will contribute to better understanding the challenges experienced by youth in rural, farmworker, or agricultural worker families, and the strengths they use to overcome these challenges.

Research Opportunities

We are currently accepting undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in working with us on the study for research credits. Please complete the research assistant application form here: https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5sEeuAFNTIC6mou

You can also email Dr. Ruiz, Public Health (ruiz46@purdue.edu) and Dr. Taylor, Human Development and Family Science (zetaylor@purdue.edu) with any questions.

Publications and Presentations

Presentations at Professional Conferences (postdocs underlined; graduate/undergraduate students italicized)

Taylor, Z. E., Carrizales, A., Herrera, F., Reyes, O., Escobedo, J., Santiago Burgos, G., & Ruiz, Y. (2023, April). The impact of COVID-19 on mental health and competence of Latinx youth from rural and migrant farmworker families in the Midwest. Paper presented at the Society of Research on Adolescence (SRA). Symposium title: Challenges and Flourishing in Migrant and Refugee Adolescents in the Mid-and Northwest U.S.

Carrizales, A., Taylor, Z. E., Carlo, G., & Ruiz, Y. (2023, April). Family ethnic socialization and prosocial behaviors among U.S. Latinx youth from migrant farmworker families: The mediating roles of ethnic affirmation and familism. Paper presented at the Society of Research on Adolescence (SRA). Symposium title: Challenges and Flourishing in Migrant and Refugee Adolescents in the Mid-and Northwest U.S. [chair].

Carrizales, A, Taylor, Z. E, Reyes, O., Santiago Burgos, G., Escobedo, J., Herrera, F., & Ruiz, Y. (2023, February). The spillover effect of mother-child relationships on Latinx adolescents’ aggressive behaviors: The mediating roles of adolescents’ anxiety and familism. Paper presented at the Society for Cross-Cultural Research (SCCR). San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Ruiz, Y., Carrizales, A., Santiago Burgos, G., Escobedo, J., Herrera, F., Reyes, O., & Taylor, Z. E. (2023, February) The association between multiple domains of connectedness and the physical, mental, and social health perceptions of Latino youth from migrant farmworkers families. Paper presented at the Society for Cross-Cultural Research (SCCR). San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Herrera, F., Taylor, Z. E., Mena-Meléndez, L., & Ruiz, Y. (2022, May). Relations of discrimination and school climate on academic efficacy in Latinx youth in farmworker families. Poster presented at the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Special Topic Meeting: Construction of the ‘Other’: Development, Consequences, and Applied Implications of Racism, Prejudice, and Discrimination, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.  

Reyes, O., Taylor, Z. E., Mena-Meléndez, L., & Ruiz, Y. (2022, May). Discrimination, social support, and internalizing symptoms in Latinx youth from agricultural families in the Midwest. Poster presented at the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Special Topic Meeting: Construction of the ‘Other’: Development, Consequences, and Applied Implications of Racism, Prejudice, and Discrimination, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.  

Publications from 2016 Pilot Data

Taylor, Z. E., Carrizales, A., Carlo, G., Herrera, F., Reyes, O., Escobedo, J., Burgos, G. S., Ruiz, Y. (2024). The impact of COVID-19 on mental health and well-being of Latine youth from rural and agricultural families in the Midwest. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, Volume 34, Issue 2, e2788. doi.org/10.1002/casp.2788

Taylor, Z. E., Ruiz, Y., Nair, N. & Mishra, A. A. (2022). Family support and mental health of Latinx children in migrant farmworker families. Applied Developmental Science, 26, 329-346. doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2020.1800466 [First published online 2020].

Ruiz, Y., Taylor, Z. E., & Cavin, R. (2021). Parent-adolescent communication as a protective factor against adolescent alcohol and tobacco use: Reported narratives from youth from Latinx farmworker families.  Journal of Adolescent Research, 36, 315-341. doi.org/10.1177/0743558420906084

Taylor, Z. E. & Ruiz, Y. (2019). Executive function, dispositional resilience, and cognitive engagement in Latinx children of migrant farmworkers. Children and Youth Services Review, 100, 57-63. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.02.025

Taylor, Z. E., Ruiz, Y., & Nair, N. (2019). A mixed-method examination of ego-resiliency, adjustment problems, and academic engagement in children of Latino migrant farmworkers. Social Development, 28, 200-217. doi:10.1111/sode.12328

Taylor, Z. E. & Ruiz, Y. (2017). Contextual stressors and the mental health outcomes of Latino children in rural migrant farmworker families in the Midwest. Journal of Rural Mental Health, 41, 284-298. doi.org/10.1037/rmh0000082