Culturally relevant stressors as moderators of intergenerational transmission of mother-adolescent executive function in Mexican immigrant families

Su Yeong Kim,Shanting Chen,Wen Wen,Maria M Arredondo,Belem G Lopez,Jinjin Yan,Ka I Ip,Jiaxiu Song,Minyu Zhang

doi:10.1186/s41235-021-00333-x

Su Yeong Kim, Shanting Chen + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-021-00333-x

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Abstract

The intergenerational transmission of executive function may be enhanced or interrupted by culturally salient environmental stressors that shape the practice of executive function in the family. Building upon past research, the current study tests whether culturally relevant stressors such as economic stress and foreigner stress have a direct effect on adolescent executive function, as well as whether they modify the intergenerational transmission of mother–child executive function (i.e., working memory, inhibitory control, and shifting) in low-income Mexican immigrant families. The sample consists of 179 Mexican American adolescents (Mage = 17.03 years; SDage = 0.83; 58% females) and their Mexico-born mothers (Mage = 43.25 years; SDage = 5.90). Results show that mothers’ perceived economic stress is associated with poor inhibitory control in adolescents. Low levels of mothers’ perceived foreigner stress related to a stronger association between mothers’ and adolescents’ working memory, while high levels of mothers’ perceived foreigner stress related to enhanced intergenerational transmission of poor shifting ability. Study findings demonstrate the prominence of perceived foreigner stress as a contextually relevant factor moderating the intergenerational transmission of mother–child executive function in low-income Mexican immigrant families.

Highlights

IntroductionExecutive function comprises a set of cognitive mechanisms necessary for holding information in one’s mind and manipulating it (i.e., working memory), controlling one’s attention to override external lures (i.e., inhibitory control), and flexibly switching (i.e., shifting) between tasks (Diamond, 2013)
Executive function comprises a set of cognitive mechanisms necessary for holding information in one’s mind and manipulating it, controlling one’s attention to override external lures, and flexibly switching between tasks (Diamond, 2013)
Our study extends prior research, which has mainly focused on early childhood and data from middle-class White samples (e.g., Deater-Deckard, 2014), by demonstrating the intergenerational transmission of executive function during late adolescence in a sample of low-income Mexican immigrant families

Summary

Introduction

Executive function comprises a set of cognitive mechanisms necessary for holding information in one’s mind and manipulating it (i.e., working memory), controlling one’s attention to override external lures (i.e., inhibitory control), and flexibly switching (i.e., shifting) between tasks (Diamond, 2013). Executive function is a set of foundational skills that are necessary for successful academic, behavioral, and socio-emotional development (Diamond, 2013). Mothers are influential in the development of children’s executive functioning skills (Kim et al, 2017). Deater-Deckard (2014) further contends that the intergenerational transmission of executive function from parent to child can be altered by contextual features of the home environment (e.g., low socioeconomic status, cultural factors, household chaos). For families with lower socioeconomic status, the overlap of cognitive aptitude in parent–child dyads is more sensitive to environmental factors (Tucker-Drob et al, 2013). We extend this research on the overlap of cognitive aptitude in low-income families, as moderated by environmental factors, to the intergenerational transmission of executive function in mother-adolescent dyads among low-income Mexican immigrant families

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