Bridging the acculturation gap: Parent-child relationship quality as a moderator in Mexican American families.

The authors examined the degree to which disparities in parent and child acculturation are linked to both family and child adjustment. With a sample of 1st- and 2nd-generation Mexican American children, acculturation and parent-child relationship quality at 5th grade, and parent-child conflict, child internalizing, and child externalizing at 7th grade were measured. Acculturation gaps with fathers were found to be related to later father-child conflict as well as internalizing and externalizing outcomes. Many of the associations between father-child acculturation gaps and outcomes were moderated by the child's report of the relationship quality between the child and his or her father. Father-child acculturation gaps were associated with negative outcomes only when children reported a poor relationship with their fathers. Mother-child acculturation gaps were not associated with mother-child conflict or adjustment indices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting self-efficacy and parenting practices over time in Mexican American families.

Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study used a longitudinal cross-lagged panel design and a structural equation modeling approach to evaluate parenting self-efficacy's reciprocal and causal associations with parents' positive control practices over time to predict adolescents' conduct problems. Data were obtained from teachers, mothers, and adolescents in 189 Mexican American families living in the southwest United States. After accounting for contemporaneous reciprocal relationships between parenting self-efficacy (PSE) and positive control, results indicated that parenting self-efficacy predicted future positive control practices rather than the reverse. PSE also showed direct effects on decreased adolescent conduct problems. PSE functioned in an antecedent causal role in relation to parents' positive control practices and adolescents' conduct problems in this sample. These results support the cross-cultural applicability of social cognitive theory to parenting in Mexican American families. An implication is that parenting interventions aimed at preventing adolescent conduct problems need to focus on elevating the PSE of Mexican American parents with low levels of PSE. In addition, future research should seek to specify the most effective strategies for enhancing PSE. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expanding the concept of acculturation in Mexican American rehabilitation psychology research and practice.

The acculturation process is increasingly being viewed as an important variable that provides a context for understanding Mexican American health disparities. Although rehabilitation psychologists have noted the importance of utilizing acculturation in research and practice, scholars continue to use out-dated conceptualizations and models of acculturation. Objectives: The authors provide a brief overview of current trends in acculturation theory and research. Limitations of current rehabilitation research and how acculturation theory can help explain Mexican American health outcomes are discussed. Finally, recommendations for rehabilitation research and practice are provided. Conclusions: The authors recommend that rehabilitation scholars develop and test theoretical models that incorporate multiple dimensions of acculturation in order to understand how it influences Mexican American health outcomes. Rehabilitation professionals should incorporate acculturation theory and culturally informed interventions into rehabilitation practice with Mexican Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural strengths as moderators of the relationship between acculturation to the mainstream U.S. Society and eating- and body-related concerns among Mexican American women.

This study explored whether 3 culturally relevant variables (i.e., ethnic identity, familism, and enculturation) operated as sources of strength for 209 Mexican American women by buffering the relationship between their acculturation to the mainstream U.S. society and eating- and body-related concerns. In an effort to capture the underlying dimensions of women’s eating- and body-related concerns, the authors used principal components analysis to identify 3 components: control concerns, restricted eating, and body dissatisfaction. As hypothesized, results from a series of hierarchical regressions suggested familism significantly buffered the links between acculturation to the mainstream U.S. society and all 3 eating- and body-related variables. However, enculturation did not moderate the associations, and ethnic identity moderated only the link between acculturation and restricted eating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of familism in the relation between parent–child discord and psychological distress among emerging adults of Mexican descent.

Although parent–child discord is a predictor of distress among emerging adults, little is known about this important link among Mexican-descent populations. This is an important gap, given Mexican Americans’ high risk for psychological distress and their expected high value placed on close family ties. This topic was studied in a sample of 392 college students from El Paso, TX (n = 193) and from Ciudad Juárez, México (n = 199). The authors tested a stress-appraisal model with self-report measures of familism, parent–child discord, threat appraisals of parent–child discord, and psychological distress. As predicted, threat appraisals partially mediated the relation between parent–child discord and psychological distress. Moreover, the relation between parent–child discord and threat appraisals was stronger at higher than at lower levels of familism. Study findings highlight the need to consider that, under certain conditions, familism may increase risk of distress among emerging adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent sibling relationships in Mexican American families: Exploring the role of familism.

To address a significant gap in the literature on normative processes in minority families, the authors studied adolescents' sibling relationships in two-parent Mexican American families and explored connections between sibling relationship characteristics and familism. Participants were 246 adolescent Mexican American sibling pairs who participated in (a) home interviews during which adolescents described their sibling relationships and familism values and (b) a series of 7 nightly phone calls during which adolescents reported their daily activities, including time spent with siblings and family members. Siblings described their relationships as both intimate and conflictual, and daily activity data revealed that they spent an average of 17.2 hr per 7 days in shared activities. Sibling relationship qualities were linked to familism values and practices, and stronger patterns of association emerged for sisters than brothers. Discussion highlights the significance of studying the processes that underlie within-group variations among families of different cultural backgrounds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suggestions for psychologists working with Mexican American individuals and families in health care settings.

The number of Mexican Americans in the United States continues to grow at a rapid rate. As these numbers increase, so does the likelihood that Mexican Americans will eventually come into direct contact with the health care system. Mexican Americans with traditional Mexican attitudes, values, and behaviors encounter barriers as they attempt to access medical and rehabilitative care. Issues such as acculturation, language, family, interdependence, attitudes toward authority, and time orientation are some of the areas that may present challenges to rehabilitation staff. Psychologists working in health care facilities who have the cultural competence to intervene effectively with the Mexican American patient can play an important role in helping to remove some of these barriers. Specific suggestions for working with Mexican American patients are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

East meets West: Ethnic identity, acculturation, and conflict in Asian Indian families.

This study examined the influence of the family on adolescents' acculturation, ethnic identity achievement, and psychological functioning. One hundred eighty American-born Asian Indian adolescents and one of their immigrant parents completed questionnaires assessing their acculturation, ethnic identity, and family conflict. Adolescents also completed anxiety and self-esteem measures. The results showed that parents' and adolescents' ratings of their self-identification and ethnic identity were positively associated. Parents who had a separated or marginalized style of acculturation reported higher family conflict than those who had an integrated or assimilated acculturation style. Adolescents reported higher self-esteem, less anxiety, and less family conflict when there was no acculturation gap between them and their parents. The findings suggest that how parents relate to their natal, as well as to the host, culture has direct effects on adolescents' ethnic identity achievement and their psychological functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation of acculturation, problem-solving appraisal, and career decision-making self-efficacy to Mexican American high school students' educational goals.

This study examined the contributions of acculturation, problem-solving appraisal, and career decision-making self-efficacy on 105 Mexican American high school students' educational goals. A standard regression analysis indicated that Anglo-oriented acculturation and problem-solving appraisal accounted for significant variance in educational goals. Mexican-oriented acculturation and career decision-making self-efficacy did not contribute significant variance to students' educational goals. The regression model accounted for 19.5% of the variance in educational goals. Results of the structure coefficients for the predictor variables indicated that Anglo-oriented acculturation and career decision-making self-efficacy were the 2 most important predictors, followed by problem-solving appraisal and Mexican-oriented acculturation, respectively. Implications of the findings are discussed, and recommendations for interventions are provided for enhancing the educational and career development among Mexican American adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commands, competence, and cari?o: Maternal socialization practices in Mexican American families.

Early research on the socialization of Latino children has posited that mothers exercise authoritarian practices, compared with lateral reasoning (authoritative) strategies emphasized by Anglo mothers. This work aimed to categorize fixed types of parenting practices tied to the mother's personality rather than to culturally bounded contexts; it often ignored the emotional warmth or harshness present in compliance attempts and relied on interview questions rather than naturalistic observation. We built from ecocultural theory to observe daily home activities in which Mexican American mothers attempted to correct their young child's behavior or encourage completion of a task (compliance attempt). We observed 24 first- or second-generation mothers and their 4-year-old children and analyzed the activity contexts and multiple forms of 1,477 compliance attempts. Mothers typically led with direct verbal commands in their attempt to achieve compliance. Many blended commands with other compliance strategies, rather than repeating simple behaviors. Drawing on Crockenberg and Litman's (1990) differentiation of variable compliance strategies, we find that most mothers relied on low power-assertive methods, including verbal commands, rather than inductive strategies that involved reasoning. Few compliance episodes prompted high power-assertive or harsh strategies. The degree of reliance on verbal commands and the complexity of mothers' repertoires appear to be related to their education and acculturation levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of acculturation: Associations with health risk behaviors among college students from immigrant families.

In the present study, we examined a bidimensional model of acculturation (which includes both heritage and U.S. practices, values, and identifications) in relation to hazardous alcohol use, illicit drug use, unsafe sexual behavior, and impaired driving. A sample of 3,251 first- and second-generation immigrant students from 30 U.S. colleges and universities completed measures of behavioral acculturation; cultural values (individualism, collectivism, and self-construal); ethnic and U.S. identity; and patterns of alcohol and drug use, engagement in potentially unsafe sexual activities, and driving while (or riding with a driver who was) intoxicated. Results indicate that heritage practices and collectivist values were generally protective against health risk behaviors, with collectivist values most strongly and consistently protective. Nonetheless, heritage identifications were positively associated with sexual risk taking for Hispanics. U.S. practices, values, and identifications were not consistently related to risk behavior participation. Results are discussed in terms of bidimensional approaches to acculturation, the immigrant paradox, and implications for counseling practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mother–coparent relationship and youth adjustment: A study of African American single-mother families.

African American youth from single-mother homes are at increased risk for a range of adjustment difficulties. The family is a central context in which to study youth adjustment; however, much of the work on African American youth has focused on family conflict and maladjustment, with less attention to the supportive aspects of family relationships or their potential links with positive outcomes. This study examined the associations between conflictual and supportive aspects of the relationships that single mothers have with their nonmarital coparents and both positive and negative outcomes among 268 African American youth from single-mother homes. Findings revealed that mother–coparent support was associated with child competence, and mother–coparent conflict was associated with child maladjustment. In addition, positive parenting fully mediated these relations between mother–coparent relationship and child outcomes. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acculturative family distancing (AFD) and depression in Chinese American families.

Objective: Knowledge of acculturative processes and their impact on immigrant families remains quite limited. Acculturative family distancing (AFD) is the distancing that occurs between immigrant parents and their children and is caused by breakdowns in communication and cultural value differences. It is a more proximal and problem-focused formulation of the acculturation gap and is hypothesized to increase depression via family conflict. Method: Data were collected from 105 Chinese American high school students and their mothers. Rasch modeling was used to refine the AFD measure, and structural equation modeling was used to determine the effects of AFD on youth and maternal depression. Results: Findings indicate that greater AFD was associated with higher depressive symptoms and risk for clinical depression. Family conflict partially mediated this relation for youths, whereas for mothers, AFD directly increased risk for depression. Greater mother–child heritage enculturation discrepancies were associated with greater mother and child AFD. Mainstream acculturation discrepancies and language gaps between mothers and youths were not significantly associated with any of the primary outcome variables. Conclusions: Results highlight the need for better understanding of how AFD and other acculturation-gap phenomena affect immigrant mental health. They also underscore the need for prevention and intervention programs that target communication difficulties and intergenerational cultural value differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and health risk behaviors among Mexican American adolescents.

Utilizing the concept of race-based traumatic stress, this study tested whether posttraumatic stress symptoms explain the process by which perceived discrimination is related to health risk behaviors among Mexican American adolescents. One hundred ten participants were recruited from a large health maintenance organization in Northern California. Mediational analyses indicated that adolescents who perceived more discrimination reported worse posttraumatic stress symptoms, controlling for covariates. In turn, adolescents who experienced heightened posttraumatic stress symptoms reported more alcohol use, more other drug use, involvement in more fights, and more sexual partners. Perceived discrimination was also directly related to involvement in more fights. Results provide support for the notion of race-based traumatic stress, specifically, that perceived discrimination may be traumatizing for Mexican American adolescents. Counseling psychologists and counselors in schools and community settings should assess Mexican American adolescents for the effects of discrimination and provide appropriate interventions to reduce its negative emotional impact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental autonomy support and ethnic culture identification among second-generation immigrants.

Born and raised in the United States, children of immigrants often face conflict over whether to endorse the norms and traditions of the family's country of origin (the natal culture) or those of mainstream U.S. society (the host culture). The authors hypothesized that when immigrant parents allow children to make their own choices concerning their cultural identity, their children will be more likely to internalize the natal culture and will experience greater well-being. Ninety-nine college-aged 2nd-generation immigrants rated their well-being, perceptions of their mother's and father's autonomy support, and their endorsement of both natal and U.S. cultures. Results demonstrated that paternal, but not maternal, autonomy support predicted greater well-being and greater endorsement of the natal culture and that immersion in the natal culture predicted some indices of well-being. Several explanations for the possibly greater significance of paternal versus maternal autonomy support in the context of immigrant families are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological distress, acculturation, and mental health-seeking attitudes among people of African descent in the United States: A preliminary investigation.

This article investigates the relationship between psychological distress, acculturation, and help-seeking attitudes among people of African descent (N = 130). Psychological distress was measured using the Global Severity Index from the Brief Symptom Inventory (L. R. Derogatis & N. Melisaratos, 1983), acculturation was measured using the Measurement of Acculturation Strategies for People of African Descent (E. M. Obasi, 2005), and help-seeking attitudes were measured using the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help scale (E. H. Fischer & J. I. Turner, 1970). Overall, as psychological distress increased, attitudes toward seeking professional psychological services became more negative. The negative relationship between psychological distress and confidence in therapist was significantly stronger for participants who expressed a cultural maintenance of traditional beliefs. Future directions for this body of research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Economic pressure in African American families: A replication and extension of the family stress model.

This study of 422 two-caregiver African American families, each with a 10-11-year-old focal child (54% girls), evaluated the applicability of the family stress model of economic hardship for understanding economic influences on child development in this population. The findings generally replicated earlier research with European American families. The results showed that economic hardship positively relates to economic pressure in families. Economic pressure was related to the emotional distress of caregivers, which in turn was associated with problems in the caregiver relationship. These problems were related to disrupted parenting practices, which predicted lower positive child adjustment and higher internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The results provide significant support for the family stress model of economic hardship and its generalizability to diverse populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Daily family conflict and emotional distress among adolescents from Latin American, Asian, and European backgrounds.

The authors employed a daily diary method to assess daily frequencies of interparental and parent–adolescent conflict over a 2-week period and their implications for emotional distress across the high school years in a longitudinal sample of 415 adolescents from Latin American, Asian, and European backgrounds. Although family conflict remained fairly infrequent among all ethnic backgrounds across the high school years, its impact on emotional distress was significant across ethnicity and gender. In addition, parent–adolescent conflict significantly mediated the association between interparental conflict and emotional distress. These associations were observed at both the individual and the daily levels, providing evidence for both the chronic and episodic implications of family conflict for adolescents’ emotional adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent-school involvement and school performance: Mediated pathways among socioeconomically comparable African American and Euro-American families.

Children's academic and social competencies were examined as mediators to explain the often positive relation between parent-school involvement and achievement. Ethnic variations in the relation between parent-school involvement and early achievement and the mediated pathways were examined. Because much of the comparative research confounds ethnicity with socioeconomic status, the relations were examined among socioeconomically comparable samples of African American and Euro-American kindergarten children and their mothers. For reading achievement, academic skills mediated the relation between involvement and achievement for African Americans and Euro-Americans. For math achievement, the underlying process differed across ethnic groups. For African Americans, academic skills mediated the relation between school involvement and math performance. For Euro-Americans, social competence mediated the impact of home involvement on school achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family lives and friendships: The perspectives of children in step-, single-parent, and nonstep families.

Children's reports on their experiences in different family settings (stepfamilies, single-parent families, and intact families), their contact with friends, and the quality of their friendships were studied with data from 238 children drawn from a community sample. A particular focus was on children's confiding and communication: children's recall of communication about family transitions and their current communication about stepfamily issues with family and friends. Friends were found to be key confidants. The relations between children's family lives (confiding, parent–child relationships, family activities, involvement in parental conflict, and communication about stepfamily issues) and their friendships were investigated and found to be linked to biological relatedness and family setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)