Family and child coping among Mexican-origin immigrant families: Links to academic competence

• In Event: 1-132 - Supportive home and classroom contexts as protective factors for Latino children’s academic outcomes

Integrative Statement

Family plays a primary role in the development of healthy coping and academic competence for Latino youth. Family coping is conceptualized as strategies and behaviors used by the family to maintain or strengthen the family, maintain emotional stability and well-being of family members, use family and community resources to manage situations, and make efforts to problem-solve family hardships (McCubbin, McCubbin, Thompson, & Thompson, 1998). Coping together as a family may be an important way Mexican-origin families socialize adaptive coping among children. Coping socialization experiences within the family have been found to influence child coping in a variety of contexts (Zimmer-Gembeck & Locke, 2007). Family problem solving predicts the development of a sense of mastery or ability to cope with negative life events among adolescents (Conger et al., 2009). Family support is also linked to Mexican American adolescents’ individual support seeking coping (Cavanaugh et al., 2017). Thus, family coping may be an important family process for promoting adaptive child coping. In turn, child coping is a critical resource for children as they navigate social and academic contexts (Zimmer-Gembeck & Locke, 2007). In particular, child primary control coping (e.g., problem solving, emotional expression) and child secondary control coping (e.g., cognitive restructuring, positive thinking) have been linked to better social-emotional and academic functioning (Zimmer-Gembeck & Skinner, 2011).

This longitudinal study utilized observational methods to assess family coping strategies. Participants were 104 Mexican-origin immigrant families with a child between the ages of 6-10 (Mage = 8.39; 61% female). Parents reported an average monthly income of $1,806.53 at Time 1. At each of three time-points, spaced six months apart, families completed a set of audio- and video-recorded observational interaction tasks involving hypothetical problem situations relevant to low-income immigrant families and appropriate for discussion with young children, in which families were asked to discuss how they would manage or respond to the situation. Following observational tasks, questionnaire measures were administered verbally. Parents reported on child coping using the Responses to Stress Questionnaire (RSQ; Connor-Smith et al., 2000) and child school competence using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001). Observational data were coded using a modified version of the global-coding method called the Family Interaction Macro-coding System (FIMS; Kaugars et al., 2011)

Longitudinal regression analyses showed that observed family reframing, family problem solving, and seeking social support from relatives predicted adaptive coping among children. Mediation analyses conducted with PROCESS (Hayes, 2017) showed that child primary control coping significantly mediated the effects of family reframing (indirect effect = .10, SE = .06, 95% CI lower to upper = .01 to .27) and family problem solving (indirect effect = .08, SE = .04, 95% CI lower to upper = .02 to .19) on academic competence. Child secondary control coping also significantly mediated the effect of family problem solving on academic competence (indirect effect = .05, SE = .04, 95% CI lower to upper = .001 to .17). Results suggest that family coping supports the development of adaptive child coping, which in turn promotes academic competence.

Authors

• Catherine DeCarlo Santiago, Loyola University Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Anna M. Ros, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Yvita Bustos, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sarah Jolie, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author