Tiyobista Maereg

Ms. Tiyobista Maereg

orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

1Year (2026-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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30 April 2026 in Behavioral Sciences
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
SBSunhye Bai
Sunhye Bai
DWDawn P. Witherspoon
Dawn P. Witherspoon
MIMiglena Y. Ivanova
Miglena Y. Ivanova
TMTiyobista Maereg
Tiyobista Maereg
CACarlos Freitas Almeida
Carlos Freitas Almeida
MBMayra Y. Bámaca
Mayra Y. Bámaca
To advance our understanding of the social and emotional development of minoritized youth in new destination areas, we examined whether same-day links between positive interactions with friends and mood vary by two contextual factors—(a) the racial–ethnic composition of adolescents’ close friends, and (b) the quality of parent–adolescent interactions—among Black and Latiné adolescents living in United States. Data were obtained from two daily diary studies, one of 36 Black adolescents (44% male; 11 to 17 years old; M = 13.65, SD = 2.29), and one of 21 Latiné adolescents (52% male; 11 to 14 years old; M = 12.76, SD = 1.00). Across 10 school days, youth completed afternoon reports of positive interactions with friends and bedtime reports of mood and positive parent–youth interactions; the race–ethnicity of the friend group were assessed at baseline. Multilevel models separated day-level from person-level effects and tested moderation by the racial–ethnic composition of friends and parent–youth interactions. For Black adolescents with few same-race friends (0 to 1 out of max 3), when youth reported more positive friend interactions, they reported lower positive mood. The opposite was true for Black youth with more same-race friends; when youth reported more positive friend interactions, they reported more positive mood at the end of the day. Among Black youth with higher mean levels of positive parent interactions, when youth reported more positive friend interactions, they reported lower negative mood. Results from the analysis of Latiné youth did not support study hypotheses. Findings extend cultural–ecological–transactional frameworks of development by showing that the short-term emotional yield of supportive interactions with friends hinges on contextual vulnerabilities and assets, such as peer group composition and family relationship quality, especially for Black youth.