A Longitudinal Study of Cultural Adaptation among Mexican and Dominican Immigrant Women

Discrimination and Depressive Symptoms Among Mexican American Women: Exploring Multilevel Sociocultural Moderators

Relative to empirical studies on risk factors, less research has focused on culturally based protective factors that reduce the impact of discrimination on mental health. The current prospective study evaluated two potential moderators of the effect of discrimination on depressive symptoms among Mexican American women: individually held familism values and neighborhood cultural cohesion. Mexican-origin women in the United States (N = 322; mean age = 27.8 years; 86% born in Mexico) reported on frequency of discrimination, depressive symptoms, familism, and neighborhood cultural cohesion. Independent models evaluated familism and neighborhood cultural cohesion as moderators of the effect of discrimination on subsequent depressive symptoms. More frequent discrimination predicted higher subsequent depressive symptoms. High familism buffered the harmful effect of discrimination on depressive symptoms, such that more frequent discrimination was associated with higher subsequent depressive symptoms only for women who reported average and low familism. Neighborhood cultural cohesion did not buffer the effect of discrimination on depressive symptoms.

Within-dyad bidirectional relations among maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems from infancy through preschool

Although dyadic theory focuses on the impact of a mother's mental health on her own child and the impact of a child's mental health on their own mother, commonly used statistical approaches are incapable of distinguishing the desired within-dyad processes from between-dyad effects. Using autoregressive latent trajectory modeling with structured residuals, the current study evaluated within-dyad, bidirectional associations between maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems from child age 1-4.5 years among a sample of low-income, Mexican American women (N = 322, Mage = 27.8) and their children. Women reported on maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems during laboratory visits at child age 1, 1.5, 2, 3, and 4.5 years. Results provide novel evidence of child-driven bidirectional association between maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems at the within-dyad level as early as child age 1 year and within-person stability in child behavior problems emerging early in life.

Parental socialization profiles in Mexican-origin families: Considering cultural socialization and general parenting practices

OBJECTIVES

Recognizing that immigrant parents socialize their children in specific ways, the current study examines Mexican-origin families' parental socialization profiles using both parental cultural socialization and general parenting dimensions. We seek to understand how these dimensions interact to form culturally grounded parental socialization profiles in a sample of Mexican-origin parents and adolescents.

METHOD

There were 604 adolescents, 595 mothers, and 293 fathers within Mexican-origin families self-reporting on 2 cultural socialization dimensions (respeto, independence) and 4 general parenting dimensions (warmth, hostility, monitoring, reasoning). Adolescent outcomes were assessed 1 year later.

RESULTS

Latent profile analysis revealed eight parental socialization profiles representing distinct combinations of cultural socialization and parenting dimensions. Relative to other profiles, the Integrative-Authoritative profile (high on socialization toward respeto and independence; high on warmth, monitoring, and reasoning; and relatively low on hostility) was the most common parenting pattern and was also associated with more optimal adolescent outcomes.

CONCLUSION

Examining cultural socialization alongside general parenting dimensions can better capture parental socialization strategies among Mexican-origin parents. The various parental socialization profiles that characterize Mexican-origin parents have important implications for adolescent outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Depression among Mexican-origin mothers: Exploring the immigrant paradox

OBJECTIVES

Residential time in the United States appears to be a risk factor for mental health problems among Latinos, according to studies of the immigrant paradox, or a pattern of findings documenting better health for immigrants relative to U.S.-born Latinos. The present study used an acculturative stress model to examine the immigrant paradox with a sample of Mexican-origin mothers.

METHOD

Mothers [N = 175; age = 33.52 (10.75)], who were foreign- or U.S.-born, were categorized as more acculturated or less acculturated based on cluster analyses using demographic and language proficiency variables. The association between acculturative status and depressive symptoms approximately 9 months later was tested with two models: with both cultural stressors (i.e., perceived discrimination, acculturative stress) and cultural assets (i.e., familismo, ethnic identity) as mediators, and with the effects of cultural stressors moderated by cultural assets.

RESULTS

Data provide some support for the validity of the mediation model. Less acculturated mothers reported (a) a stronger ethnic identity, which appears to have protected them from later depression, and (b) stronger familismo, which increased risk for later depression. In addition, discrimination was negatively related to later depression.

CONCLUSIONS

We found support for the mediating role of cultural assets in the link between acculturation and depression, but some associations were in unexpected directions. These findings highlight the complexities of preserving core cultural characteristics among Mexican-origin mothers living in the United States, and the need to consider the context in which cultural processes unfold. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Acculturative stress is associated with trajectory of anxiety symptoms during pregnancy in Mexican-American women

Over half of pregnant women report anxiety symptoms and these symptoms may be precipitated by stressful experiences. Anxiety rates may be higher in Mexican-American women who experience sociocultural stressors, such as acculturation, acculturative stress and discrimination. However, the role of such stressors on the trajectory of anxiety symptoms across pregnancy is not yet known. Mexican-American women (n=151) completed surveys across pregnancy about acculturation, acculturative stress, perceived discrimination, and state anxiety. Multilevel modeling found that acculturation (Anglo orientation, b=0.050, SE=0.379, t (137.561)=0.134, p=0.894; Mexican orientation, b=0.775, SE=0.692, t (133.424)=1.121, p=0.264) and perceived discrimination (b=-1.259, SE=0.921, t (137.489)=-1.367, p=0.174) were not associated with the trajectory of anxiety symptoms. However, acculturative stress, even while controlling for perceived stress, was associated with high levels of anxiety symptoms that were elevated early in pregnancy (b=-0.045, SE=0.022, t (135.749)=-2, p=0.047). This work highlights the unique role of acculturative stress in risk for prenatal anxiety in early pregnancy.