My program of research focuses on contextual aspects of neighborhoods—such as exposure to community violence and sexual harassment— and their influence on adolescents’ psychological and academic functioning. I use a resilience framework and strengths-based perspective to identify individual-, family-, neighborhood-, and cultural-level protective factors that can buffer adolescents from negative outcomes. My work focuses on Latino/a/x adolescents and their parents both in the U.S. and in Mexico, and increasingly, in the intersection of multiple marginalized identities. To study adolescent development, I use diverse methodological approaches, including cross-sectional and longitudinal statistical analyses, qualitative, and mixed-method approaches.

Representative Publications 

Mora, A. S., LoDuca, K. M., & Ceballo, R. (2023). Adolescents in the community: Extracurricular activities and sexual harassment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01812-8 

Mora, A. S., Muñoz-Velázquez, J., Alers-Rojas, F., Ceballo, R., & Cranford, J. A. (2023). Understanding Latina/o adolescents’ intersectional experiences of discrimination. Journal of Latinx Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000234

Ceballo, R., Alers-Rojas, F., Mora, A. S., & Cranford, J. A. (2022). Exposure to community violence: Toward a more expansive definition and approach to research. Child Development Perspectives, 16(2), 96–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12448

Mora, A. S., Greer, C. D., Hunter, J., & Gutierrez, L. (2022). Social work faculty attitudes towards diversity and oppression content in the MSW curricula. Social Work Education, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2022.2130233

Mora, A. S., Ceballo, R., & Cranford, J. (2022). Latino/a adolescents facing neighborhood dangers: An examination of community violence and gender-based harassment. American Journal of Community Psychology, 69(1–2), 18–32. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12556

Ceballo, R., Alers-Rojas, F., Montoro, J. P., & Mora, A. S. (2020). Contextual stressors and the role of religion and spirituality in the mental health of Latino/a immigrant parents and youth. In G. C. Nagayama Hall & E. R. Huang (Eds.), Mental and behavioral health of immigrants in the United States. Academic Press, Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816117-3.00007-5