This research evaluates the properties of a measure of culturally linked values of Mexican Americans in early adolescence and adulthood. The items measure were derived from qualitative data provided by focus groups in which Mexican Americans’ (adolescents, mothers and fathers) perceptions of key values were discussed. The focus groups and a preliminary item refinement resulted in the fifty-item Mexican American Cultural Values Scales (identical for adolescents and adults) that includes nine value subscales. Analyses of data from two large previously published studies sampling Mexican American adolescents, mothers, and fathers provided evidence of the expected two correlated higher order factor structures, reliability, and construct validity of the subscales of the Mexican American Cultural Values Scales as indicators of values that are frequently associated with Mexican/Mexican American culture. The utility of this measure for use in longitudinal research, and in resolving some important theoretical questions regarding dual cultural adaptation, are discussed.

This study assessed the longitudinal process by which marital adjustment affects change in maternal warmth over time. Change in coparenting support was examined as the potential mechanism by which the marriage affects parenting. Self-report data were gathered from 148 married mothers of first-born 4th graders at 3 time points, over the transition to early adolescence. Path analyses supported the proposed hypothesis, indicating that marital adjustment leads to increased coparenting support, which then leads to increased maternal warmth. Two alternative models of the time-ordered direction of effects among the study variables were ruled out. This study has important implications for the development of parenting interventions targeting the promotion of maternal warmth.

Participation rates in parenting programs are typically low, severely limiting the public health significance of these interventions. We examined predictors of parenting program enrollment and retention in a sample of 325 divorced mothers. Predictors included intervention timing and maternal reports of child, parent, family, and sociocultural risk factors. In multivariate analyses, child maladjustment and family income-to-needs positively predicted enrollment, and higher maternal education and recruitment near the time of the divorce predicted retention. Findings have implications for the optimal timing of preventive parenting programs for divorcing families and point to the importance of examining predictors of enrollment and retention simultaneously.Parenting skills programs have proven to be effective in preventing the onset and escalation of child mental health and substance use problems (e.g., Lochman & van den Steenhoven, 2002). Unfortunately, most parents decline participation in preventive parenting programs (Heinrichs et al., 2005;. The effectiveness of a disseminated intervention is a function of both the program's effect size per participant and the target population's participation rate (Braver & Smith, 1996). When an intervention produces a large effect but has a small participation rate, its population impact is likely to be small, consequently providing little public health benefit. Although efficacy and participation contribute equally to population effectiveness, an abundance of research has been devoted to the former with little study of the latter. Thus, to increase the public health significance of preventive parenting programs, prevention scientists need to identify predictors of participation and develop and test theory-based strategies to increase participation.Two aspects of participation are particularly important to study. Predictors of enrollment are important to identify, because very little research has focused on this aspect of participation, despite the finding that only a minority of the targeted population enrolls in preventive parenting programs (Heinrichs et al., 2005;. Attention to predictors of retention is also important, because attendance level has been shown to mediate parenting program effects on parent and child outcomes (Brody et al., 2006;Reid et al., 2004).Maximizing enrollment and retention may be especially critical for families at risk for child maladjustment problems. Researchers have identified a variety of risk factors (e.g., poverty, early childhood aggression, parental psychopathology, rejecting parenting) that increase the likelihood that children will develop mental health and substance use problems (Mrazek & Haggerty, 1994). Recently, several researchers have found significant baseline risk by program interaction effects indicating that children at risk for later problems benefit more from NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript preventive parenting programs than those at low risk, with risk defined in a variety ...

To understand the role that Mexican origin parents play in their children’s academic success, this study used structural equation modeling to evaluate the associations of parents’ parenting practices (warmth, monitoring, harshness, and academic involvement) and cultural orientations (enculturation and acculturation) with their adolescents’ grades, classroom behavior, and association with peers who get into trouble at school. Data were obtained from teachers, mothers, fathers, and male and female adolescents in 560 Mexican origin families living in the southwest U.S. Results indicated that mothers’ and fathers’ parenting practices and cultural orientations were linked to adolescents’ academic outcomes. However, there were differences for boys and girls. Results are discussed in relation to parent and adolescent gender roles and implications for intervention.

No abstract