1. How are Latino children of immigrants' first and second language competences related to their emotional and behavioral well-being concurrently in kindergarten?
2. What are the contributions of child, home, and school factors to emotional and behavioral well-being after considering first and second language competences?
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The proportion of Spanish speakers in the classroom was associated with Spanish competence (r = .28, p < .01) and negatively associated with English competence (r = – .20, p < .01).
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Factors in school, such as teaching experience, kindergarten transition practices, and proportion of Spanish speaking children in the classroom, did not contribute beyond the linguistic predictors.
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Individual poverty was negatively associated with English competence. Spanish and English competences accounted for moderate to large portions of variance in all dimensions of well-being.
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The contributions of child, home, and school variables to well-being were much smaller than language competence, and in most cases, not significant.
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Their findings suggest that dual language competence is critically associated with the emotional and behavioral well-being and school functioning of Latino children of immigrants.
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Language competence variables were the strongest predictors in their models. The contributions of child, home, and school variables to well-being was minimal and, in most cases, non- significant after considering language competence.
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The effect of language competence was moderate to large for each of the five dimensions of well-being considered in the study.
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In each of their models, language competences were the strongest predictors of well-being.
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In the present study, children’s dual language competences (in both Spanish and English) were closely linked to their interpersonal, intrapersonal, and affective strengths.
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Both Spanish and English competence were associated with school functioning.
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Non-verbal IQ was associated with Spanish competence, English competence, and each of the dimensions of well-being with the exception of affective strengths.
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Of the considered home factors, maternal education was associated English competence, intrapersonal strengths, connection to family, and school functioning.