Mexican American Parents Research Articles

Use of coping resources among African American and Latino parents of children with special needs: implication for interventions

African American and Mexican American children are disproportionately overrepresented among children with learning disabilities. Once identified as learning disabled or having special needs, children of color encounter more deleterious effects in comparison with their White counterparts. The purpose of this study was to take a strength-based approach to examine the coping resources of African American ( n = 149) and Mexican American ( n = 100) parents of children with special needs. The results from this study demonstrated that there were more similarities than there were differences between the two ethnic groups. This study's findings lend support to an increasing focus on family-centered strength-based approaches to enhancing policy and providing services to families. The implications of the findings may be used to improve the development and implementation of interventions to improve the healthy development of children with special needs.

The Social Ecology of Child Development in the Mexican American Population

This article explores the influence of contextual factors on the developmental outcomes of Mexican American children. The contextual structure of child development is conceptualized as a complex system of environments, including the socio-demographic, social service, academic, and parental home environments. Based on an extensive review of the current theoretical and empirical literature, we find that the disadvantaged social position of Mexican American children has detrimental implications for all other aspects of their environment, thus hindering their development. In addition, although Mexican American parents are highly competent in providing a nurturing and culturally-rich environment, there is a often a discontinuity between the home environment and both the academic and the social service environments.

Predictors of self-esteem for Mexican American and European American youths: a reexamination of the influence of parenting.

Decades of research with European American middle-class families have found significant relations between parenting behavior and child self-esteem. Similar research with minority and low-income families is rare. The present study examined the relation between parenting practices and child self-esteem among 70 Mexican American and 161 European American youths. The analyses consisted of regressing child self-esteem on parenting practices (acceptance, rejection, inconsistent discipline, and hostile control), ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and the interactions between ethnicity, SES, and parenting practices. Several main effects and interactions were significant; for each interaction, behavior of low-income or Mexican American parents had less influence on children's self-esteem than did similar behavior by middle-class or European American parents.

Community Language Resources in Dual Language Schooling

This ethnographic case study was concerned with the role of comniunity-based, minority-language resources in dual language schooling, and their influence on the use of Spanish by children from English-speaking and Spanish-speaking homes. Integrating theory from the fields of language planning, language revitalization, community participation, and funds of knowledge, the study triangulated data from participant observation in classrooms; interviews with educators, parents, and community members; and document and archival analysis. Examination of minority-language use at an established, highly regarded dual language school and of the shiftingpatterns oflanguage dominance in the Mexican American neighborhood surrounding it revealed that the minority-language resources most immediately available—held by fluent bilingual elders and recent immigrants from Mexico—were less likely to be incorporated into planned curriculum than the knowledge and experiences of majority-language parents and elite bilinguals. This finding is attributed to the social distance between educators and neighborhood families, the ambivalence of Mexican American parents and school staff toward the use of non-standard varieties of Spanish in schooling, and the need for greater awareness of processes oflanguage shift and loss. Implications for dual language practice and further research are discussed.

Constructions and Reconstructions: Latino Parents' Values for Children

There is a fair amount of support for the premise that parents construct their child-related values from the ethnic cultural models that are available to them. There are also indications that personal experiences play a role in the construction of values. However, this latter influence has not been well-researched. We reconstructed the child-related values of a sample of Mexican American and Puerto Rican parents of young children with disability to describe parent-held values and to examine the extent to which having a child with a disability impacted on these values. Analysis of parental ratings and of their narratives indicated substantial consistency across gender, civil status, and country of origin. Disability appeared to have a small and diffused impact on the values. Ratings differed significantly on the basis of the language of interview, and the definitions that parents offered also showed an effect of interaction with the Anglo American culture. However, an in-depth examination of these differences indicated that they were mostly restricted to labeling. The basic values of parents remained fairly consistent. This finding has substantial implications for research and practice. Equivalence of meaning should not be assumed across populations.

Parent Involvement: Influencing Factors and Implications

The involvement of Mexican American parents in their children's education was explored in a year-long case study of an elementary school in Texas. Interviews, document analysis, and observations of parent activities revealed that parent involvement was influenced by several factors, including language, parent cliques, parents' education, attitudes of the school staff, cultural influences, and family issues. Although the school staff addressed some of the issues, in general, teachers did not recognize the influence that these concerns had on parent involvement. The findings have implications for teachers that affect both the level and areas of Mexican American parent involvement. An understanding of these factors will provide ways to increase and improve parent involvement.

Immigrant and Native-born Mexican-American parents' involvement in a public school: a preliminary study.

Mexican-American parents of Texas elementary school students were surveyed to compare the types of school involvement in which immigrant and U.S.-born parents engage. Those completing the questionnaire included 246 mothers and 39 fathers born in Mexico as well as 95 mothers and 13 fathers born in the United States. More immigrant parents than U.S.-born parents indicated they helped their children with school work, attended school board meetings, volunteered at school, participated in parent-teacher conferences, went to school functions, served as room mother, engaged in school fundraising, and were present during parent advisory committee meetings.

Cambio en las escuelas: Mexican-American parent attitudes toward school health education.

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of Mexican-American (MA) parents of children toward school health education programs in South Texas. The Parent Attitude Scale (PAS) was developed and validated by American Cancer Society (ACS) staff and volunteer health educators. The validated survey was used to question randomly selected parents in the McAllen, Texas, school district regarding their attitudes toward school health education. Of 253 parents contacted, 235 (92.9%) parents were interviewed. Mann-Whitney U-Tests indicated that Mexican-American (MA) parents consider school health education to be more important than non-Mexican-American parents do. MA parents, overall, felt that it was more important that their child has good health habits and more important that their child's teacher provide support to them by teaching good health habits than non-MA parents. MA parents also felt that health was more important relative to other subjects at school than non-MA parents. The data indicate strong support for school health education efforts among MA parents in southern Texas. Such support may grow stronger with appropriate parent-recruitment efforts, including those by the ACS. Mexican-American parents may also represent an untapped resource for social and political support for school health programming.

IMMIGRANT AND NATIVE-BORN MEXICAN-AMERICAN PARENTS' INVOLVEMENT IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Mexican-American parents of Texas elementary school students were surveyed to compare the types of school involvement in which immigrant and U.S.-born parents engage. Those completing the questionnaire included 246 mothers and 39 fathers born in Mexico as well as 95 mothers and 13 fathers born in the United States. More immigrant parents than U.S.-born parents indicated they helped their children with school work, attended school board meetings, volunteered at school, participated in parent-teacher conferences, went to school functions, served as room mother, engaged in school fundraising, and were present during parent advisory committee meetings.

Maternal Generation from Mexico as a Predictor of Infants’ Language Development

The hypothesis that maternal generation from Mexico predicts infant receptive and expressive communication age at 22 months was investigated. Participants included 62 infants from Mexican American families who graduated from a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and 35 full-term infants also born to Mexican American parents. The results showed that infants born to mothers of recent generation from Mexico had lower language development scores than did infants born to mothers of later generation. Fathers’ education levels were also significant predictors of infants’22-month language outcome, although maternal generation from Mexico remained a stronger predictor of outcome than did paternal education level for expressive language and for receptive language for the NICU graduates. The results support theories that emphasize the importance of environmental context on child development.

Parental Perceptions of Child Development Among Low-Income Mexican American Families

Parents' perceptions of child development are influenced by complex interactions among cultural, social, and economic factors. Insights into how parents from culturally diverse societies perceive the development of their children might explain why different cultural groups foster or value the development of different skills in their children. In this study, we explored the perceptions of child development among low income Mexican American parents. A series of ethnographic interviews were conducted with eight Mexican American families who had preschool children. Qualitative data analyses yielded three main themes that were important to these parents: family attitudes and values, changes, and adaptations. For these parents, the development of social attributes in children, that will enable them to function within their own cultural group, was as important as the development of cognitive or motor skills. Service providers, such as school and mental health personnel, should take into account cultural differences in parents' perceptions of the importance of various developmental milestones for their children when suggesting interventions typically used by parents in the dominant culture.

Family ritual facilitates adaptation to parenthood.

An ethnographic study done in Hidalgo County, Texas, among 25 Mexican American first-time mothers and fathers documented the presence of an intergenerational family ritual that facilitated adaptation to parenthood in 24 of the 25 families. La cuarentena is a family ritual of 40 days duration postbirth with cultural prescriptions for maternal food and clothing and for paternal role reversal. La cuarentena instills parental responsibility, incorporates individuals into the family, and integrates the family during this critical life-event of first birth. A thorough understanding of la cuarentena will assist nurses to enhance adaptation to parenthood for Mexican American parents.

Latino parents' perception of their children's health status

Descriptive and multivariate analyses of the Hispanic health and nutrition examination survey were undertaken to describe Mexican American and Puerto Rican parents' perceptions of the health status of their young children, and to test a model of perceived health. Results suggest that ratings of poor health are substantially higher than reports for children from the general population and that the two ethnic groups differed from each other in the apparent basis for their ratings. Key predictors of health ratings for both populations were children's functional limitations, current and resolved medical conditions, and educational attainment of the head of household. Mexican-American ratings were also predicted by current and resolved developmental conditions, acculturation, and family income.

Association of Home Language with School Involvement among Mexican-American Parents

Mexican-American parents of children attending a K-6 public elementary school in Texas were surveyed to examine the association of parental use of language at home with the extent of the parents' involvement with the school. A sample of 403 parents represented 317 who spoke only Spanish at home, 33 who spoke both Spanish and English, and 53 parents who primarily spoke English at home. Parents who spoke English at home volunteered at school significantly more often than parents who spoke Spanish at home, and more often than parents who spoke both Spanish and English at home. Conversely, parents who spoke Spanish and English at home attended school board meetings more frequently than did parents who spoke only Spanish at home.

Intergenerational perceptions of English speaking and Spanish speaking Mexican-American grandparents.

Hispanics are facing a number of problems, such as poverty, hunger, and a high dropout rate at school. Health-care reform and changes in Medicaid and Medicare are bound to further challenge the resiliency of minority families. To strengthen families from within, relevant programming should be implemented. Information regarding the strengths and needs of Mexican-American grandparents was obtained in order to adapt existing grandparenting programs for this population. Mexican-American grandparents (n = 181), parents (n = 148), and grandchildren (n = 173) provided information on grandparent satisfaction, success, teaching, difficulty, frustration, and information needs. Multivariate analyses of variance found differences for English and Spanish speaking grandparents. Spanish speaking grandparents reported a greater need for information than English speaking grandparents, and more frustration when dealing with adolescents than with younger children. For the English speaking grandparents, all of the generations agreed that grandparents under the age of sixty-one experienced more frustration than their older counterparts, and those who spent more than five hours a month with their grandchildren were more effective in their role. Possible factors that account for the findings are discussed and recommendations for establishing a grandparent program are presented.

STRENGTHS AND EDUCATION NEEDS OF MEXICAN AMERICAN GRANDPARENTS

Information about the strengths and educational needs of Mexican American grandparents was obtained so as to adapt existing grandparenting programs for this population. Mexican American grandparents (n = 181), parents (n = 148), and grandchildren (n = l 73) provided information regarding grandparent satisfaction, success, teaching, difficulty, frustration, and information needs. Results revealed differences between English‐ and Spanish‐speaking grandparents. Spanish‐speaking grandparents reported a greater need for information than English‐speaking grandparents, and more frustration when dealing with adolescents than with younger children. With regard to English‐speaking grandparents, members of all three generations agreed that grandparents under the age of 61 experienced more frustration than their older counterparts, and grandparents who spent more than 5 hr a month with their grandchildren were more effective in their roles than those who spent less time. Possible factors that account for the findings are discussed, and recommendations for implementation of a grandparenting program are presented.

Predictors of Mexican American Mothers' and Fathers' Attitudes Toward Gender Equality

This study examinedfactors related to attitudes aboutgender-role equality in 50Mexican American married mothers and 33 Mexican American married fathers. Each parent completed the Attitudes Toward Gender Scale (a modified version of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale) and other attitude questionnaires. Mothers with communal values who were born in the United States, with higher levels of education, and who placed less value on competition were significantly more likely to have gender-egalitarian attitudes. Fathers who had higher levels of education and who placed less value on competition were significantly more likely to have gender-egalitarian attitudes. The results suggest that Mexican American parents tend to endorse egalitarian gender attitudes as they become more acculturated. Other factors such as language spoken, religion, income, and maternal employment did not significantly account for independent amounts of variance for either mothers' orfathers'gender-egalitarian attitudes.

Strategies for bilingual maintenance: Case studies of Mexican-origin families in Texas

This article examines strategies Mexican-American parents, grandparents, and other family members employ in their efforts to assist children to maintain and develop Spanish while developing their linguistic and academic abilities in English. We focus on three south Texas families, selected from a sample of forty families, who represent a range of possible home language maintenance strategies as well as different socioeconomic levels and modes of life. The three families include a rural family living on a south Texas ranch, a working class family living in an urban barrio, and an upper middle class professional family living in an ethnically mixed suburban neighborhood. Analysis of audiotapes of extensive home observations and a variety of proficiency measures indicated that children in all three families had achieved proficiency in English. However, only the children in the rural family had maintained native proficiency in Spanish. The maintenance of Spanish by the children in the rural family is attributable to several factors, among them the parents' insistence that the children use Spanish among themselves, the relative isolation of the ranch on which the family lived, and frequent visits to Mexico and contact with monolingual Spanish-speaking relatives.

The Relationship between Parental Education and School Involvement of Mexican-American Parents

The relationship between education and involvement in school among Mexican-American parents was examined. Self-reports were collected from 396 Mexican-American parents of children attending an elementary school in Texas. 136 parents with 12 or more years of education indicated they participated with fundraising and attended school-sponsored functions more than did 260 parents with eleven years of education and less. The latter parents reported serving as room mother, helping their children with homework, and attending parent-teacher conferences more than did parents with more education. Findings suggest parental education may be related to the types of school activities in which Mexican-American parents participate.

Parental Ethnic Socialization and Adolescent Coping With Problems Related to Ethnicity

This study investigated ethnic socialization by parents of minority group adolescents, the adolescents' ethnic identity and strategies for coping with stereotypes and discrimination, and the interrelationships among these and demographic variables. In-depth interviews were carried out with 60 American-born Japanese-American, African-American, and Mexican-American high-school students, aged 16 to 18 years, and one parent of each adolescent. There were significant ethnic group differences in parental ethnic socialization, with African-American parents more frequently reporting discussing prejudice with their child and Japanese-American and African-American parents emphasizing adaptation to society more than Mexican-American parents. Adolescent use of a proactive style of coping with stereotypes and discrimination was associated with higher self-esteem, and use of verbal retorts was related to lower self-esteem. Parental socialization did not have a strong relationship to adolescent outcomes.