“Our Child Is Not Like Us:” Understanding Parent-Child Conflict Among U.S. Latino Families

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The literature on Latino families in the United States rarely has identified specific topics of parent-child conflict among families headed by parents who are immigrants or the children of immigrants. We used 16 focus groups and thematic analysis to identify seven salient topics of parent-child conflict in these families: activities of daily life, materialism, apparel, dating and sexuality, friendships, education, and use of the Spanish language. Most conflicts had normative characteristics stemming from youth's expanding autonomy; however, parents mostly framed them in terms of cultural discrepancies. Results suggest that in some Latino families, parent-child conflict might be best understood in terms of parallel dual frames of reference, that is, the contrasting cultural frames of reference parents and children use to evaluate one another. Results suggest that family life education programs that foster knowledge of youth development among Latino parents of immigrant background, as well as interventions that help parents and children identify and bridge their dual frames of reference could benefit Latino families experiencing significant parent-child conflict.Keywords: Latino families, parent-child conflict, acculturation "Our Child is Not Like Us:" Understanding Parent-Child Conflict Among U.S. Latino FamiliesLow-to-moderate levels of parent-child conflict are common among North American families (Laursen, Coy, & Collins, 1998), including ethnic minorities (Chung, Flook, & Fuligni, 2009;Fuligni, 2012). Parent-child conflict may result from maturational processes as well as from youth's violations of parental and societal expectations (see review by Laursen & Collins, 2009). Acculturation perspectives on parent-child conflict also suggest that among families headed by parents who are immigrants or the adult children of immigrants (i.e., parents of immigrant background, PIB) the dynamics of cultural adaptation often lead to discrepant dual frames of reference (i.e., parallel dual frames of reference; Qin, 2006) and acculturation gaps (Szapocznik & Kurtines, 1993). Some research suggests that such cultural discrepancies might become sources of parent-child conflict (Bámaca-Colbert & Gayles, 2010;Cervantes, Fisher, Córdova, & Napper, 2012;Szapocznik & Kurtines, 1993). Parent-child conflict is relevant to family science because it shapes parent-child relationships, parenting practices, family dynamics, and developmental outcomes (Prado et al., 2010;Santisteban, Coatsworth, Briones, Kurtines, & Szapocznik, 2012).In the present study, we sought to delineate salient topics of parent-child conflict among Latino families, as identified by PIB. We focused on Latino PIB because 82% of all adults of immigrant background in the United States are of Latino origin: 47% are foreign-born and 35% are the children of immigrants (Pew Hispanic Center, 2013). Moreover, half of all Latino children in the United States live with at least one foreign-born parent (Fry & Passel, 2009 the development of life education programs a...

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