2-107 - Parental Contribution to Internalizing Problems Among Hispanic/Latino Children and Adolescents

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Parental characteristics have been consistently identified as important predictors of child behavior problems, with evidence to suggest that the processes may differ across cultures. Given that Hispanic/Latinos (H/Ls) are the largest ethnic group in the United States, advancing our understanding of parental influence within this population may have important implications for policy and intervention.

This symposium seeks to examine parent contributions to child internalizing symptomatology in Hispanic/Latino samples. The first paper considers the extent to which apparent health disparities in Mexican American mothers may heighten risk for the development of behavior problems in a sample of low-income, Mexican American families. Findings indicate that maternal prenatal stress may exert negative cascades of influence that predispose risk for the development of internalizing problems. The second paper explores cross-ethnic differences in facets of harsh parenting and the relation of parenting to child worry levels in children at risk for anxiety development. While harsher parenting levels were greater for H/L than CA families, these behaviors were not significantly related to anxious worrying in H/L children. Paper three examines the influence of parental depressive symptoms on child anxiety and the extent to which culturally-relevant values are protective against deleterious influences of parent depression. Depressive symptoms were associated with child anxiety symptoms in H/L and not CA youth, but traditional and mainstream cultural values appeared to buffer against the maladaptive effects. These studies underscore the importance of considering parent contributions as related to internalizing outcomes across development in H/L populations.

Sub Unit

• Family Context & Processes

Chair

• Amanda Chiapa, Arizona State University

Discussant

• Nancy Guerra, University of Delaware

Individual Presentations

• Early Pathways Linking Prenatal Family Stress and Behavior Problems in a Mexican-American Sample - Presenting Author: Betty Lin, Arizona State University; Ida Anna Christina Johansdotter Rystad, Arizona State University; Emily Ross, Arizona State University; Keith A Crnic, Arizona State University; Nancy A Gonzales, Arizona State University; Linda J. Luecken, Arizona State University

• Differential Influence of Harsh Parenting on Child Worry Levels Across Hispanic/Latino and Caucasian Families - Presenting Author: Lindsay Holly, Arizona State University; Amanda Chiapa, Arizona State University; Armando A. Pina, Arizona State University

• The Role of Cultural Values on the Relation Between Parental Depression and Child Anxiety in Mexican Origin and Caucasian Families - Presenting Author: Amanda Chiapa, Arizona State University; Lindsay Holly, Arizona State University; Julia Gram Humphrey, Arizona State University; Armando A. Pina, Arizona State University