Language Brokering, Autonomy, Parent-Child Bonding, Biculturalism, and Depression

This study examines the relationship between language brokering, parent-child bonding, perceived autonomy, biculturalism, and depression for Mexican American adolescents. It was hypothesized that adolescent language brokers who reported a strong parent-child bond and high levels of psychological autonomy, privilege, and responsibility would also report lower levels of depression. Unlike previous research with language brokers, no gender differences were found in language brokering activity. For girls ( n = 141) and boys ( n = 105), language brokering for more people is positively related to depression. For girls, responsibility moderates the relationship between language brokering in different places and depression, that is, girls who language broker in more places, and also receive more responsibilities, report less depression. For boys, parent-child bonding and biculturalism are negatively related to depression. Results are discussed in the context of immigrant Latino family socialization.