Yetilu De Baessa

Children's development of ethnic perspective-taking ability (EPTA) was evaluated across 2 samples. It was hypothesized that the EPTA construct would be related to ethnic cognitions (e.g., ethnic knowledge, ethnic self-identification) and nonethnic cognition (i.e., social cognition) and that there would be variance in the EPTA construct distinct from a closely related form of social perspective-taking ability (SPTA). In Sample 1, 2nd- and 6th-grade Latino children (i.e., children of Mexican descent in the United States) were administered interview measures of EPTA and SPTA and a questionnaire assessment of ethnic knowledge. The participants in Sample 2 were Guatemalan Ladinos, who are Spanish-speaking children generally of European descent and who represent a numerical minority (10%) in the region (Quiché) of Guatemala sampled but whose culture tends to be dominant politically, economically, and linguistically. Ladinos from Grades 2-6 were administered EPTA and SPTA interviews as well as prejudice and ethnic self-identification measures. Collectively, results from these 2 samples provide support for the potential usefulness of this construct: EPTA was significantly associated with SPTA across both samples, even after variance associated with developmental level was controlled, and EPTA uniquely predicted ethnic knowledge and ethnic self-identification scores in the U.S. and Guatemalan samples, respectively.

This paper reports the physical growth and body composition from the first year of longitudinal study of 519 Guatemalan children, and their families, from a disadvantaged urban community consisting largely of refugees of the 1976 earthquake. Four cohorts are described, composed of children of 1,3,5, and 7 years at examination. The children are smaller, weigh less, and have reduced fat stores compared either to NCHS reference data or to upper SES Guatemalan children. Stature (or length) and head circumference deviate more from reference data than do triceps or upper arm muscle circumference. Greater deviations are found in the linear dimensions of males than of females. These children are the smallest yet described from Guatemala City, though they are slightly larger than available rural samples. This suggests a continuum of environmental effects acting upon the growth of children of differing socioeconomic levels.