Emotional Closeness in Mexican-Origin Adolescents’ Relationships with Mothers, Fathers, and Same-Sex Friends

Abstract

Research on the associations between parent-adolescent relationships and friendships among Latinos is limited. Drawing on developmental and ecological perspectives, we examined bidirectional associations between parental warmth and friendship intimacy with same-sex peers from early to late adolescence using a longitudinal cross-lag panel design. Parent-adolescent immigration status and adolescent gender were examined as moderators of these associations. Home interviews were conducted with 246 Mexican American adolescents (51% female) when they were in early (M = 12.55; SD = .60 years), middle (M = 14.64; SD = .59 years), and late adolescence (M = 17.67; SD = .57 years). Modest declines in paternal warmth were evident from early to late adolescence, but maternal warmth was high and stable across this time period. Girls’ intimacy with same-sex friends also was high and stable from early to late adolescence, but boys’ intimacy with same-sex friends increased over this time period. In general, findings revealed that adolescents’ perceptions of parents’ warmth in early adolescence were associated positively with friendship intimacy in middle adolescence, and friendship intimacy in middle adolescence was associated positively with parental warmth in late adolescence. Some associations were moderated by adolescent gender and parent-adolescent immigration status. For example, there was an association from maternal warmth in early adolescence to friendship intimacy in late adolescence only for immigrant youth. These findings suggest that among Mexican American adolescents, their relationships with their mothers, fathers, and same-sex friends are intertwined closely and that gender and immigration status shape some of these associations during adolescence.

The Specificity Principle in Acculturation Science

“…Among Vietnamese Australians (Rosenthal, Ranieri, & Klimidis, 1996) and Chinese university students in Canada (Tang & Dion, 1999), boys tend to be more similar than girls to their parents in terms of normative collectivism and traditionalism. Among Mexican American adolescents in the United States, perceptions of warmth from both mothers and fathers in early adolescence are related to later intimacy in friendships in girls, whereas only warmth from fathers is related in boys (Rodríguez, Perez-Brena, Updegraff, & Umaña-Taylor, 2014). Cultural messages may be delivered differently or interpreted differently based on gender.…”

Two Sides of a Story: Mothers’ and Adolescents’ Agreement on Child Disclosure in Immigrant and Native Families

“…Some associations, however, might Mother-Adolescent Agreement 20 be more pronounced for fathers, because their involvement with their children is less scripted than mothers' (Crouter et al 1999). These assumptions remain to be tested, however, because paternal warmth was found to decrease over time, whereas maternal warmth remained stable (Rodríguez et al 2013). Another possible avenue of research would be to test whether parent-adolescent agreement is higher in same-sex parent-child dyads than in opposite-sex dyads because of similar gender roles.…”

“…Furthermore, in a recent study, adolescents reported on maternal and paternal warmth over a 5-year period (Rodríguez et al 2013). The results indicated that paternal warmth was reported to decrease, whereas maternal warmth remained stable over time.…”

“…Such a design would allow Mother-Adolescent Agreement 19 researchers to test whether a decrease in language brokering relates to an increase in mother-adolescent agreement (in other words, whether the mother-adolescent relationship can change back), or whether lower levels of agreement remain low despite the fact that the potential source is eliminated. In a similar vein, important variables that could account for the reported associations, such as the maternal warmth of the motheradolescent relationship, have to be investigated in future research in terms of their roles in the processes suggested here (Rodríguez et al 2013).…”

Attachment to Significant Figures, Resilience, and Delinquency Among Adolescents in Orphanages in Jakarta

“…1994). Adolescents who get emotional support from their friends showed higher self-confidence, emotional regulation ability and more positive social abilities (Rodrı´guez, Perez-Brena, Updegraff, & Uman˜a-Taylor, 2014).…”