Development and Well-Being of Rural Latino Youth: Research Findings and Methodological Aspects

Abstract

Latino children and adolescents represent a growing share of the rural population across the United States. Nationally, the number of Latinos under age 20 in rural counties increased by 48 % between 2000 and 2012, while the number of rural non- Hispanic White and Black youth decreased by 12.9 % and 12.4 %, respectively (Johnson, Schaefer, Lichter, & Rogers, 2014 ). As a result of these trends, over one tenth of rural youth in the USA are now Latino (Johnson, 2012 ). Despite their increased presence in the US population, rural Latino youth remain largely invisible within the developmental literature. Our goal in this chapter is to provide a system- atic review of the current state of developmental knowledge about rural Latino youth. We open with a demographic overview of the rural Latino youth population. In the second section, we review the empirical literature on the development and well-being of rural Latino youth. We then discuss methodological challenges and strategies for developmental scholars working with this population. In closing, we provide suggestions for future research.