Matching Items (5)
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Description
Biculturalism embodies the degree to which individuals adapt to living within two cultural systems and develop the ability to live effectively across those two cultures. It represents, therefore, a normative developmental task among members of immigrant and ethnic-racial minority groups, and has important implications for psychosocial adjustment. Despite a strong

Biculturalism embodies the degree to which individuals adapt to living within two cultural systems and develop the ability to live effectively across those two cultures. It represents, therefore, a normative developmental task among members of immigrant and ethnic-racial minority groups, and has important implications for psychosocial adjustment. Despite a strong theoretical focus on contextual influences in biculturalism scholarship, the ways in which proximal contexts shape its development are understudied. In my dissertation, I examine the mechanisms via which the family context might influence the development of bicultural competence among a socio-economically diverse sample of 749 U.S. Mexican-origin youths (30% Mexico-born) followed for 7 years (Mage = 10.44 to 17.38 years; Wave 1 to 4).

In study 1, I investigated how parents’ endorsements of values associated with both mainstream and heritage cultures relate to adolescents’ bicultural competence. Longitudinal growth model analyses revealed that parents’ endorsements of mainstream and heritage values simultaneously work to influence adolescents’ bicultural competence. By examining the effect of multiple and often competing familial contextual influences on adolescent bicultural competence development, this work provides insights on intergenerational cultural transmission and advances scholarship on the culturally bounded nature of human development.

In study 2, I offer a substantial extension to decades of family stress model research focused on how family environmental stressors may compromise parenting behaviors and youth development by testing a culturally informed family stress model. My model (a) incorporates family cultural and ecological stressors, (b) focuses on culturally salient parenting practices aimed to teach youth about the heritage culture (i.e., ethnic socialization), and (c) examines bicultural competence as a developmental outcome. Findings suggest that parents’ high exposure to ecological stressors do not compromise parental ethnic socialization or adolescent bicultural competence development. On the other hand, mothers’ exposures to enculturative stressors can disrupt maternal ethnic socialization, and in turn, undermine adolescents’ bicultural competence. By examining the influence of multiple family environmental stressors on culturally salient parenting practices, and their implications for adolescent bicultural competence development, this work provides insights on ethnic-racial minority and immigrant families’ adapting cultures and advances scholarship on the family stress model.
ContributorsSafa Pernett, Maria Dalal (Author) / White, Rebecca M. B. (Thesis advisor) / Knight, George P. (Committee member) / Updegraff, Kimberly A. (Committee member) / Wilkens, Natalie D. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description

The present study examined associations between depressive symptoms among mothers, fathers,<br/>and adolescents and considered whether different associations emerged by parent and adolescent<br/>gender. In addition, the combination of maternal and paternal depressive symptoms was<br/>examined in relation to adolescents’ depressive symptoms. Participants were 246 families of<br/>Mexican-origin in two-parent households who resided in

The present study examined associations between depressive symptoms among mothers, fathers,<br/>and adolescents and considered whether different associations emerged by parent and adolescent<br/>gender. In addition, the combination of maternal and paternal depressive symptoms was<br/>examined in relation to adolescents’ depressive symptoms. Participants were 246 families of<br/>Mexican-origin in two-parent households who resided in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Data<br/>were collected during home interviews at Time 1 and phone calls with adolescents at Time 2.<br/>Findings revealed concurrent bivariate associations between adolescents’ and mothers’ and<br/>fathers’ depressive symptoms. Further, mothers’ depressive symptoms predicted increases in<br/>adolescents’ symptoms two years later. However, there were no significant gender differences,<br/>and the combination of mothers’ and fathers’ depressive symptoms did not predict adolescents’<br/>depressive symptoms. These findings contribute to understanding the interrelations between<br/>Mexican-origin mothers’, fathers’, and adolescents’ depressive symptoms.

ContributorsMeneses, Lizbeth Danett (Author) / Updegraff, Kimberly (Thesis director) / White, Rebecca M. B. (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
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Description

The family stress model represents a common framework through which to examine the effects of environmental stressors on adolescent adjustment. The model suggests that economic and neighborhood stressors influence youth adjustment via disruptions to parenting. Incorporating integrative developmental theory, we examined the degree to which parents’ cultural value orientations mitigated

The family stress model represents a common framework through which to examine the effects of environmental stressors on adolescent adjustment. The model suggests that economic and neighborhood stressors influence youth adjustment via disruptions to parenting. Incorporating integrative developmental theory, we examined the degree to which parents’ cultural value orientations mitigated the effects of stressors on parenting disruptions and the degree to which environmental adversity qualified the effect of parenting on adolescent adjustment. We tested the hypothesized Integrative Family Stress Model longitudinally in a sample of mother-youth dyads (N = 749) and father-youth dyads (N = 467) from Mexican origin families, across three times points spanning early to middle adolescence. Providing the first longitudinal evidence of family stress mediated effects, mothers’ perceptions of economic pressure were associated with increases in adolescent externalizing symptoms five years later via intermediate increases in harsh parenting. The remaining findings supported the notion that integrative developmental theory can inform family stress model hypothesis testing that is culturally and contextually relevant for wide range of diverse families and youth. For example, fathers’ perceptions of economic pressure and neighborhood danger had important implications for adolescent internalizing, via reductions in paternal warmth, but only at certain levels of neighborhood adversity. Mothers’ familism value orientations mitigated the effects of economic pressure on maternal warmth, protecting their adolescents from experiencing developmental costs associated with environmental stressors. Results are discussed in terms of identifying how integrative developmental theory intersects with the family stress model to set diverse youth on different developmental pathways.

ContributorsWhite, Rebecca M. B. (Author) / Liu, Yu (Author) / Nair, Rajni (Author) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Author) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05-01
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Description

To begin accounting for cultural and contextual factors related to child rearing among Mexican American parents we examined whether parents' Mexican American cultural values and perceptions of neighborhood danger influenced patterns of parenting behavior in two-parent Mexican-origin families living in the U. S. To avoid forcing Mexican American parents into

To begin accounting for cultural and contextual factors related to child rearing among Mexican American parents we examined whether parents' Mexican American cultural values and perceptions of neighborhood danger influenced patterns of parenting behavior in two-parent Mexican-origin families living in the U. S. To avoid forcing Mexican American parents into a predefined model of parenting styles, we used latent profile analysis to identify unique patterns of responsiveness and demandingness among mothers and fathers. Analyses were conducted using parent self-reports on parenting and replicated with youth reports on mothers' and fathers' parenting. Across reporters, most mothers and fathers exhibited a pattern of responsiveness and demandingness consistent with authoritative parenting. A small portion of parents exhibited a pattern of less-involved parenting. None of the patterns were indicative of authoritarianism. There was a modicum of evidence for no nonsense parenting among fathers. Both neighborhood danger and parents' cultural values were associated with the likelihood of employing one style of parenting over another. The value of using person-centered analytical techniques to examine parenting among Mexican Americans is discussed.

ContributorsWhite, Rebecca M. B. (Author) / Zeiders, Katharine (Author) / Gonzales, Nancy (Author) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Author) / Roosa, Mark (Author) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2013-09-05
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Description
Neighborhoods are important aspects of the adolescent and family ecology. Cultural developmental perspectives posit that neighborhood environments contain both promoting and inhibiting characteristics for ethnic-racial minoritized populations (García Coll et al., 1996). Historically, neighborhood researchers have approached Latino neighborhoods from a deficit perspective. Thus, there is limited research about how

Neighborhoods are important aspects of the adolescent and family ecology. Cultural developmental perspectives posit that neighborhood environments contain both promoting and inhibiting characteristics for ethnic-racial minoritized populations (García Coll et al., 1996). Historically, neighborhood researchers have approached Latino neighborhoods from a deficit perspective. Thus, there is limited research about how Latino neighborhoods support Latino youth development and family processes. In my dissertation, I examine both the promoting and inhibiting aspects of Latino identified neighborhoods for adolescent development.

In study 1, I prospectively examined a model in which Mexican-origin parents’ perceptions of social and cultural resources in neighborhoods may support parents to engage in higher levels of cultural socialization and, in turn, promote adolescents’ ethnic-racial identity (ERI). Findings suggest neighborhood social and cultural cohesion in late childhood promoted middle adolescents’ ERI affirmation via intermediate increases in maternal cultural socialization. Similar patterns were observed for ERI resolution, but only for adolescents whose mothers were born in the United States. Findings have critical implications for how neighborhoods support parents’ cultural socialization practices and adolescents’ ERI.

In study 2, I used a convergent mixed methods research design to compare and contrast researchers’ neighborhood assessments collected using systematic social observations (e.g., physical disorder, sociocultural symbols) with adolescents’ qualitative neighborhood assessments collected by semi-structured interviews with Mexican-origin adolescents. Using quantitative methods, I found that researchers observed varying degrees of physical disorder, physical decay, street safety, and sociocultural symbols across adolescents’ neighborhood environments. Using qualitative methods, I found that adolescents observed these same neighborhood features about half the time, but also that they often layered additional meaning on top of distinct neighborhood features. Using mixed methods I found that, in the context of high spatial concordance, there was a high degree of overlap between researchers and adolescents in terms of agreement on the presence of physical disorder, physical decay, street safety, and sociocultural symbols. Lastly, adolescents often expanded upon these neighborhood environmental features, especially with references to positive and negative affect and resources. Overall, findings from study 2 underscore the importance using mixed methods to address the shared and unique aspects of researchers’ objectivity and adolescents’ phenomenology.
ContributorsPasco, Michelle Christine (Author) / White, Rebecca M. B. (Thesis advisor) / Seaton, Eleanor (Committee member) / Updegraff, Kimberly (Committee member) / Iida, Masumi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020