Mother–Child Relationships in U.S. Latinx Families in Middle Childhood: Opportunities and Challenges in the 21st Century

Abstract

The 21st century has brought unique opportunities and challenges for parents, and this is particularly true for Latinx families, whose children comprise more than one-fourth of the school-age population in the U.S. today. Taking an ecological and strengths-based approach, the current study examined the role of mothers’ cultural assets (familism values, family cohesion) and challenges (economic hardship, ethnic–race-based discrimination) on children’s educational adjustment in middle childhood, as well as the indirect role of mother–child warmth and conflict in these associations. The sample included 173 Latinx mothers and their middle childhood offspring (i.e., 5th graders and younger sisters/brothers in the 1st through 4th grade). Mothers participated in home visits and phone interviews and teachers provided ratings of children’s educational adjustment (academic and socioemotional competence, aggressive/oppositional behaviors). Findings revealed family cohesion was indirectly linked to children’s educational adjustment via mother–child warmth and conflict, particularly for younger siblings. Discussion focuses on the culturally based strengths of Latinx families and highlights potential implications for family-based prevention in middle childhood.

Parenting of siblings in Latinx families during middle childhood.

“…Further, being situated in school settings with families in similar economic circumstances may have supported families’ success in accessing safety nets (e.g., free/reduced lunch, state-sponsored health insurance) and made hardship less salient as a challenge to sibling-focused parenting. Indeed, prior work with this sample revealed that economic hardship was not linked to children’s school outcomes via mother–child warmth and conflict (Updegraff et al, 2022). Future work should examine the varied and interactive effects of stressors on sibling-focused parenting, as individual and economic stressors likely co-occur with stressors associated with parents’ minority and immigrant status (Ayón & García, 2019).…”

“…Participants were Latinx parental caregivers in 262 families with siblings in middle childhood recruited from elementary schools in the southwest (Updegraff et al, 2022). Data came from the baseline phase of a three-cohort study (C1-2018; C2-2019; C3-2021) designed to test the effectiveness of a family-based program.…”

Hispanic adolescents’ internalizing symptoms and positive family functioning: A bidirectional examination of associations over time.

“…Second, the research focused on examining adolescent gender and the association between positive family functioning and internalizing symptoms is limited (Co ´rdova et al, 2014). In the broader examination of gender, family functioning, and adjustment among Hispanic families, linkages between family functioning and adjustment may depend on gender (Updegraff et al, 2022). For example, parental warmth in Puerto Rican families was found to have a greater protective effect against childhood major depressive disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder for girls than boys (Santesteban-Echarri et al, 2017).…”