Parenting of Siblings in Latinx Families: Sociocultural Correlates and Links to Sibling Relationships

• In Event: Poster Session 05
  In Poster Session: PS 05 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

The quality of siblings relationships has substantial implications for children’s well-being (Buist et al., 2013), highlighting a family dynamic that is often overlooked, specifically how parents are involved in and manage the relationships among their children (McHale et al., 2012). From a family systems perspective (Cox & Paley, 2003), parenting of the sibling dyad involves a triadic subsystem and includes practices and strategies that may foster positive sibling dynamics as well as mitigate or manage conflicts (McHale et al., 2001). Research on parenting of siblings has focused on European Americans (McHale et al., 2001), and little is known about these dynamics in ethnic-racial minority families. As such, this study examines parents’ role in their children’s sibling relationships in Latinx families. Strong values regarding the importance of family support and interdependence (Knight et al., 2010) coupled with high fertility rates (Martin et al., 2018) mean that how Latinx children get along with their sisters and brothers and their parents’ roles in these relationship dynamics are important to study in this cultural context. Grounded in cultural-ecological (García et al., 1996) and family systems frameworks (Cox & Paley, 2003), this study addressed two goals: (a) to examine the sociocultural (e.g., familism values, cultural orientations) correlates of Latinx mothers’ and fathers’ parenting of siblings; and (b) to investigate the associations between parenting of siblings and sibling relationship positivity and negativity.
Data came from the first phase of a study of 202 Latinx families (95% Mexican origin; 72% foreign-born parents) in a southwest metropolitan area, including mothers, fathers, 5th graders (i.e., older siblings), and their younger siblings (1st to 4th grade). Older siblings (55% female) were 10.63 years of age (SD = .39), and younger siblings (49% female) averaged 8.27 years of age (SD = 1.06). Mothers and fathers reported on their parenting of siblings, including guidance, involvement, and authoritarian control (McHale et al., 2001; Updegraff et al., 2016). Cronbach’s alphas ranged from .58 to .77. Parents also reported on sibling positivity and negativity (Stocker & Mchale, 1992; Stormshak et al., 1996). Cronbach’s alphas ranged from .82 to .91.
Study goals were examined using multiple regression. As shown in Table 1, when mothers reported higher Anglo orientations and familism values, they also reported more frequent use of positive guidance and involvement with siblings. For fathers, both Anglo and Latinx cultural orientations predicted higher levels of involvement. Addressing our second goal (see Table 2), when mothers reported higher levels of involvement, they also reported that their children had more positive relationships, whereas mothers’ authoritarian control was linked to higher sibling negativity. For fathers, frequent use of positive guidance predicted higher levels of sibling positivity, whereas authoritarian control with siblings was associated with less positive and more negative dynamics between siblings. Results from this study contribute insights into the ways that Latinx parents are involved in their children’s sibling relationships, how cultural factors may shape such involvement, and the potential benefits of sibling-focused parenting to relationships between sisters and brothers.

Authors

• Karina Cahill, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Kimberly Updegraff, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Susan McHale, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, Harvard University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mark E. Feinberg, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Non-Presenting Author