Poster #61 - The Intergenerational Transmission of Cultural Socialization and Cultural Orientation Across Three Generations of Mexican-Origin Families

• In Event: Poster Session 01

Abstract

Parenting behavior and practices (e.g., how parents socialize children) reflect parental alignment to values and goals and shaped largely by cultural background, relevant to Mexican American families in the United States (Fuller & Garcia Coll, 2010; Gonzales et al., 2002). Concurrent and corresponding changes in alignment to traditional cultural values and parenting practices across the acculturative process are documented among Hispanic/Latinx families in the United States (Calzada, Fernandez, & Cortes, 2010), suggesting that parenting values may change as individuals within the family unit acculturate. Much like parenting, cultural values and practices are transmitted from one generation to the next (Knight et al., 2011), a process known as cultural socialization (Calzada et al., 2011). Among Mexican origin families, maternal cultural socialization of her child (e.g., the degree to which mother is socializing her child to traditional Mexican American values) explained positive longitudinal effects of maternal alignment to cultural values on child alignment to cultural values (Knight et al., 2011). Among more recently immigrated Mexican-origin families in the United States, parental cultural socialization may be one mechanism underlying the maintenance of traditional cultural values in the next generation.

Across the process of immigration to the U.S., the current study proposes to examine intergenerational acculturative processes via mother-child cultural socialization among three generations of Mexican-origin families – maternal grandmothers (G1), mothers (G2), children (G3). Data was collected as part of an ongoing, prospective study of Mexican American mother-child dyads (original N = 322; see Table 1). G2 reported on her Mexican/Anglo cultural alignment at child age 4 years (ARSMA-II; Cuéllar et al., 1995), her cultural socialization of G3 at child age 4.5 years (CSLC; Calzada, 2007; Calzada et al., 2012), and G3’s Mexican/Anglo cultural alignment at child age 7.5 years. From May – September 2022, 77 (expected final N = 80) maternal grandmothers participated in data collection via phone survey. Maternal grandmothers (G1) reported on their cultural socialization of G2 using the CLSC.

A structural equation model will be evaluated in Mplus version 8 (Muthén & Muthén, 1998-2017; see Figure 1). Mplus uses all available values and maximum likelihood estimation among cases with missing data, an approach considered superior to pairwise or listwise deletion (Enders & Bandalos, 2001). Single-path mediation tests (i.e., G1 cultural socialization on G2 cultural socialization via G2 cultural orientation) will be evaluated by examining the statistical significance of the total indirect effect using bootstrap confidence intervals; if the 95% confidence interval does not include zero, the indirect path is statistically significant (MacKinnon et al., 2004). More traditional G1 cultural socialization of G2 (higher respect, lower independence) is hypothesized to predict lower G2 acculturation (higher Mexican orientation, lower Anglo orientation), which is expected to predict more traditional G2 cultural socialization of G3, and thus lower G3 acculturation. In sum, more traditional cultural socialization is hypothesized to explain the intergenerational transmission of traditional cultural alignment.

Authors

• Kenya Torres, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Emily Alvarez, Arizona State University

• Angela Gervassi-Saga, Arizona State University

• Paloma Ortiz, Arizona State University

• Michelle Valdez, Arizona State University

• Sarah Gianna Curci, Arizona State University

• Linda J. Luecken, Arizona State University