Immigrant Parents’ Acculturative Stress, Parenting Practices, and their Preschoolers’ Prosocial Development

• In Event: Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Topic - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Abstract

Children from immigrant families often transition into their formal educational settings equipped with culturally-bound social competencies acquired through interactions with family members (García Coll et al., 1996). At home, prosocial behaviors are often fostered by warm and responsive caregiving styles (Eisenberg et al., 2006). However, immigrant parents’ experiences with acculturative stress have been associated with greater internalizing problems among their young children, through the use of less warm, and more harsh and controlling parenting styles (Calzada et al., 2019). This study examines how immigrant parents’ acculturative stress may be linked with their preschoolers’ prosocial behavior, and tests the mediating role of caregiving practices.

Participants in this study included 40 first- through second-generation immigrant mothers (77.5% Latina) of Head Start preschoolers between the ages of 3- to 5-years-old. Head Start centers were located in low-income and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Chicago. Demographic characteristics of parents and children are listed in Table 1. Mothers reported on their experiences with acculturative stress and their parenting practices, while teachers completed surveys on their students’ prosocial behavior. Mothers indicated how often they experienced specific types of acculturative stress, including the pressure to acculturate (α = .86), the pressure against acculturation (α = .63), English fluency stress (α = .91), and native language fluency stress (α = .79). Mothers also responded to questions regarding their use of warm and supportive (α = .78), and hostile (α = .78) parenting practices. Preschoolers’ prosocial actions (α = .90) were examined by how likely children exhibited sharing, cooperating, comforting, and helping behaviors. Lastly, children’s prosocial tendencies (α = .96) were captured by their tendencies to behave prosocially with various motivations.

Based on multivariate models, standardized regression estimates and confidence intervals are listed in Table 2. All analyses included children’s age as a covariate. Results indicated that parents’ pressure against acculturation and native language fluency stress were both associated with fewer children’s prosocial actions and tendencies. In addition, parents’ pressure to acculturate, pressure against acculturation, and native language fluency stress were negatively linked with the use of warm and supportive parenting practices. Lastly, more warm and supportive caregiving was associated with greater children’s prosocial tendencies, only when controlling for native language fluency stress. Neither warm and supportive, nor hostile parenting practices mediated linkages between parents’ acculturative stress and children’s prosocial behavior.

Results suggest that the prosocial development of preschoolers from immigrant families may be related to mothers’ experiences with acculturative stress, particularly pressures to preserve their cultural beliefs, practices, and language. Findings from this study highlight the importance of considering contextual factors related to culture when examining prosocial development among young children from immigrant families, and underscore the importance of understanding the multidimensionality of acculturative stress. Future research should examine how mothers’ feelings of separation from their countries of origin may affect parent-child interactions, including parental involvement (Pastorelli et al., 2016) and socialization techniques (Calderón-Tena et al., 2011). Implications for research and programs that support immigrant families will be discussed further.

Authors

• Zahra Naqi, Loyola University Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Maria Radulescu, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Daniela Ugalde, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christine Pajunar Li-Grining, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author