Many of the stressful life events and daily hassles of adolescence are similar for youths despite differences in cultural background or place of residence. However, adolescents from diverse cultural groups often encounter unique challenges that arise from the particular cultural-ecological niches they inhabit by virtue of their ethnic group membership and other context defining factors, such as their family's socioeconomic status, history of immigration, integration with mainstream and ethnic communities, and the location of their neighborhoods and schools.

For some adolescents, these factors combine to offer increased opportunities for development of competencies that enable them to become productive young adults. Too often, however, these interacting factors expose adolescents to chronic adversities and cumulative stressors that overwhelm their coping abilities.

This article reviews three ecological contexts that dramatically shape adolescents' social worlds and the type of stressors they will encounter in their daily lives: poverty and high-risk neighborhood environments; immigration and acculturation; and racism and discrimination.