Poster #174 - Parenting among Latino Immigrant Families: A Systematic Review of Risk and Resilience

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Integrative Statement

There is evidence of an immigrant paradox of resilience in the United States, such that immigrants are more likely to report better health, better educational achievement, and more hope for the future compared to U.S. born individuals (Garcia Coll & Marks, 2012; Gonzalez de Bustamante, 2012; Stoddard & Garcia, 2011). Immigrant Latino families face multiple barriers, such as lack of English fluency and low socioeconomic status, which may prevent parents from engagement in school readiness and school activities (Marcella & Howes, 2014; McWayne & Melzi, 2014). Yet these parents have high expectations for their children’s school success, and immigrant youth are more likely to participate in higher education than native born Latinos (Fuligni & Witkow, 2004). This study explores how research on the parenting practices of Latino immigrant families has changed, utilizing systematic review to examine published empirical research over a 30-year (1985- 2018) time span. Given theoretical changes over time, we hypothesized that earlier articles would be more likely to reflect a deficit view of Latinos and that more risk factors would be present in these articles. We also hypothesized that newer articles would be more likely to discuss differences within the Latino culture.
The articles were drawn from journals that focused on ethnic minority research, family studies, or child development. Articles published before 1985 and articles combining immigrant families with native born Latinos were not included. Articles were double coded, applying coder’s perspective as an essential part of the data analysis. Members of the research team provide a mixture of insider-outsider perspective, with immigrant, Mexican, and US-born researchers (Dwyer & Buckle, 2009). Differences between coders were resolved by consensus. Preliminary analyses of the 80 articles indicated changes in research direction and immigrant demographics over time. A bivariate correlation of education and year of study indicated that Latina mothers participating in later studies were more highly educated than participants in early studies (r = .46, p = .02). This may reflect a demographic trend. Later articles were more likely to acknowledge the heterogeneity of Latino culture by recognizing one or more sub-groups by name, acknowledging diversity among Latino families (t = 2.12; p = .04). The remainder of our research questions addressed risk and protective factors affecting Latino families (Table 1). The most often examined protective factors included family cohesiveness or familism, warmth or affection, supportive or responsive parenting, and high expectations of children. More recent articles discuss risks associated with migration to another country (e.g., poverty and language barriers). The most often examined risk factors were poverty, negative parenting, lack of English fluency, discrimination, lack of school readiness, and acculturation gap. Analyses did not reflect changes over time in a deficit approach to Latino parenting. Although deficit views of parenting practices still exist, researchers may have reached a better understanding of how many Latino parents communicate warmth and affection while still maintaining high standards of behavior.

Authors

• Sei Eun Kim, University of Arizona
  Presenting Author

• M. Angela Nievar, University of North Texas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Andrea Romero, University of Arizona
  Non-Presenting Author

• Arturo Enrique Orozco-Vargas, Universidad Autonomos del Estado de Mexico
  Non-Presenting Author

• Roberto Reyes, Messiah College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Matt Rodriguez, University of Maryland
  Non-Presenting Author