Culture, Context, and Maternal Self-Efficacy in Latina Mothers

Abstract

Cultural and contextual variables were examined as potential influences of maternal self-efficacy in Latina mothers with infants, as part of a set of papers in this special issue (Le et al., 2008). The sample included 40 low-income women who met high-risk criteria for depression. Maternal self-efficacy, the main parenting variable, was a composite score of items from the Maternal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (MEQ; Teti & Gelfand, 1991). The main cultural variable was number of years living in the United States. Contextual variables included participants and their partners' yearly income, number of persons living in household, and maternal depressive symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted with the cultural variable entered first and the contextual variables entered second to determine if cultural processes were associated with maternal self-efficacy at 6 months and at 12 months postpartum, after adjusting for contextual factors. Results indicate that when the infant is 6 months old, a woman's ability to gain income predicts maternal self-efficacy levels. But when the infant is 12 months old, maternal depression is a more important contextual predictor of Latina mothers' ability to perceive themselves as competent parents.