Risk, Conflict, Mothers' Parenting, and Children's Adjustment in Low-Income, Mexican Immigrant, and Mexican American Families Author(s):

Larry E. Dumka, Mark W. Roosa and Kristina M. Jackson Reviewed work(s): Source: Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 59, No. 2 (May, 1997), pp. 309-323 Published by: National Council on Family Relations Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/353472 . Accessed: 07/08/2012 14:48
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LARRY DUMKA, E. MARK ROOSA, W. ANDKRISTINA JACKSON M. Arizona State University

Risk, Conflict, Mothers' Parenting,and Children's Adjustmentin Low-Income, Mexican Immigrant, and Mexican American Families

Structural equation modeling was used to test mothers' supportive parenting and inconsistent discipline practices as mediators of the effects of multiple risk factors and family conflict on children's conduct disorder and depression. Data were collected from 121 predominantly Spanishspeaking, low-income, Mexican immigrant and Mexican American families. Separate process models were tested for children's and mothers' reports. For children's reports, mothers' supportive parenting partially mediated the effects of family conflict on children's depression. For mothers' reports, inconsistent discipline practices fully mediated the influence of multiple riskfactors on children's depression and partially mediated the influence of multiple risk factors on children's conduct disorder. Only children's reports showed direct effects between family conflict and children's conduct disorder and depression. Higher levels of maternal acculturation were related to lower levels of inconsistent discipline practices and less depression in children.

Programfor PreventionResearch,ArizonaState University, P.O.Box 871108,Tempe,AZ 85287 (larry.dumka@asu.edu).

Key Words: acculturation, child adjustment, family conflict, Mexican Americans, parenting, reporter agreement.

Mexican Americans are the most rapidly growing ethnic group in the United States, particularly in the Southwest, and are overrepresented in lowincome categories (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1993). Yet there have been few studies of influences on parenting practices and children's adjustment in this population. As a result, there is little empirical basis for the development of preventive and therapeutic interventions for families of this ethnic group who are at risk or who have children with adjustment problems. Low-income, predominantly Spanish-speaking, Mexican immigrant and Mexican American families represent a particular developmental niche or context for children in the U.S. Developmental niche, conceptualized by Super and Harkness (1986), refers to children's immediate, culturally structured environments and the effects these environments have on children's development. Three components of developmental niches are physical and social settings, culturally influenced customs and interactions (e.g., childrearing practices), and individual characteristics of children and their caretakers (e.g., psychological characteristics). These components interact dynamically, can be in accord or discord, and are regulated by homeostatic mechanisms to maintain stability (Harkness & Super, 1995). The family, as a developmental niche, is also an open system that in-

Journal of Marriage and the Family 59 (May 1997): 309-323

309

310 teracts across its boundarywith its surrounding contexts.The family is influencedby these contexts and, at the same time, exerts an impacton them (Bronfenbrenner, 1989; Lerner,Castellino, & Terry,Villarruel, McKinney,1995). This study delineatessome of the processesoperating the in niches of childrenin low-income, developmental Mexicanimmipredominantly Spanish-speaking, grant and Mexican American families. More specifically, we wanted to determine whether mothers'parenting practicesmediatedthe effects of the risk factorsthat these families experience andfamilyconflicton children'sadjustment. Researchconductedmostly with groupsother than Mexican Americanshas identified various risk factors in children's and adolescents' contexts that increase the likelihood of adjustment problems(Hawkins,Catalano,& Miller, 1992). Certainly,one of the most salient of these risk factorsis povertyandthe accompanying financial strain on all family members (Anderson, Williams,McGee, & Silva, 1989; Costello, 1989; et Farrington al., 1990). However,it is the number of riskfactorsthata familyexperiences rather than any single risk factorlike povertythat best outcomes(Rutpredictschildren'sdevelopmental ter, 1990; Sameroff, Seifer, Zax, & Barocas, 1987).Familiesexperiencing multipleriskfactors low maternal education, (e.g., financialhardship, maternaldepression)or numerousnegative life events (e.g., serious injury or illness, job loss) tend to have childrenwith moreadjustment problems thanfamilies experiencing single risk faca tor (Compas, Howell, Phares, Williams, & Ledoux, 1989; Fergusson,Horwood,Gretton,& Shannon,1985). Of course,manyrisk factorsare also correlatesof low social class and thus are more likely to be presentin the environments of childrengrowing up in poverty than in middleclass families. Assessing multiple risk factors thus offers the advantage of accounting for in greatervariation the risk statusof families and the developmental outcomes of children, even withinsocial classes (Sameroff al., 1987). et At the same time, the impactof multiplerisk factorsand negativelife events on children'sadjustment appearsto depend, at least in part, on parents'reactionsto these conditions,particularly the degreeto which these conditionsresultin increasedfamily conflict (Brodyet al., 1994; Conger, Ge, Elder,Lorenz,& Simons, 1994; Enos & Handal,1986; Webster-Stratton, 1989) and compromiseparenting practices(Ge, Conger,Lorenz, & Simons, 1994; Patterson, DeBaryshe,& Ram-

Journal of Marriage and the Family

sey, 1989). Parenting practices,in turn,influence children's adjustment. Supportiveparenting,for has been related to children's selfexample, esteem, compliance, and absence of aggression (Maccoby & Martin, 1983; Steinberg, Mounts, & Lamborn, Dombusch, 1991). Inconsistentdishas been linkedto conductproblems(Patcipline tersonet al., 1989;Wahler& Dumas,1987). A number of studies of groups other than have used structural MexicanAmericans equation to evaluatehow parenting modeling practicesmediatethe effects of variousrisk factorsand stressful events on children's adjustment.Lempers, and Clark-Lempers, Simons (1989), for example, of ruralWhitehigh school students, using reports found that parentalnurturance and inconsistent disciplinepartiallymediatedthe effects of family economic hardshipon adolescents' depression. That is, economic hardshipstill had a significant direct effect on adolescents'depressionafter accountingfor the indirectpathsthroughparenting practices.In anotherstudythatused reportsfrom ruralWhite parents,their seventh-grade children, and observers,the relationship between stressful life events experienced parentsand depressive by symptomsexperiencedby their seventh graders was mediated,for the most part,by parents'depressedmood and harshor inconsistent parenting (Ge et al., 1994). Studyingthe same sample,Conger et al. (1994) found that maritalconflict and financialconflict mediatedthe relaparent-child and tionshipbetweeneconomichardship parents' hostility. The effects of marital conflict and conflict on seventhgraders'internalparent-child izing and externalizing symptomswere transmitted through parents'hostility.Also, Fauber,Forehand,McCombs,and Wierson(1990) found that mediatedthe reparental rejectionor withdrawal betweenmarital conflictandbothinterlationship nalizing and externalizing symptoms. In sum, thereis growingevidencethatparenting practices functionas partialor full mediators the effects of of variousfamily risk factors,life stressors,and familyconflicton children'sadjustment. At the same time, these mediational processes in children'senvironments may vary, depending on family ethnicity(Roosa,Tein, Groppenbacher, Michaels, & Dumka, 1993). Investigatorshave noted some differencesin the parenting practices of ethnic minority groups, compared with the dominant cultureor otherminoritygroups(Alvy, 1988; Durrett,O'Bryant, & Pennebaker,1975; Elder, Eccles, Ardelt, & Lord, 1995). Although, some of these differencesmay reflectcultural dif-

Risk, Parenting, and Child Adjustment ferences in parenting values and styles (Hashima & Amato, 1994), many of the noted differences may be due to differences in socioeconomic status (see Hoff-Ginsberg & Tardiff, 1995). Minorities, particularly Latinos, are overrepresented in low-income categories (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1993). In addition to accounting for differences in socioeconomic status across ethnic groups, it is important to account for diversity within ethnic groups. For example, parenting practices within an immigrant ethnic group may vary depending on the parents' levels of acculturation. Acculturation refers to "the process whereby immigrants change their behavior and attitudes toward those of the host society" (Rogler, Cortes, & Malgady, 1991, p. 585) as a result of contact and interaction with the host society (Burnam, Telles, Karno, Hough, & Escobar, 1987). Thus, a parent's level of acculturation is also an index of the parent's degree of interaction with the majority culture. The higher the degree of interaction with the majority culture, the more likely the parenting beliefs and behavior have been influenced by the majority culture. It is important to note that immigrant generation status or length of residence in the U.S. are not the same as acculturation level. Although, in general, first generation immigrants should show lower levels of acculturation than subsequent generations, it is possible that some members of subsequent generations may maintain low acculturation levels if there is minimal contact with the majority culture. Assessing parents' levels of acculturation, therefore, is a way of accounting for diversity within the developmental niches of Mexican American children. Families with mothers who are highly acculturated provide a developmental niche for children that is different from that provided by families with mothers who have low levels of acculturation. Parents' acculturation levels also reflect the transactional influences across the boundary between the child's developmental niche (the family) and the family's proximal contexts, including the immediate neighborhood, parents' work settings, and local social networks. Higher parental acculturation may reflect a more advantageous fit between the family as a developmental niche and the majority culture. As a result, the probability of positive child adjustment may be increased. At the same time, the influence of the family's proximal contexts on the developmental niche are not automatic because families are active constructors of their own cultural set-

311 tings and not merely passive reflectors of the wider contexts around them (Gallimore, Weisner, Kaufman, & Bernheimer, 1989). Parents and siblings of Mexican origin, individually or together, may try to retain or reject their Mexican heritage, incorporate or reject U.S. culture, or become bicultural, that is, retain valued elements of their Mexican heritage and incorporate new U.S. beliefs and behaviors. There have been few studies of Mexican Americans that have investigated the relationship between parents' acculturation and parents' attitudes and practices. Furthermore, results of these studies are ambiguous (as is the case in research on acculturation and Mexican Americans' mental health; Rogler et al., 1991) because acculturation was measured in different ways or the acculturation level was confounded with socioeconomic status. For example, Buriel (1993), using generational status as the measure of acculturation, found that mothers of seventh graders who were third generation Mexican Americans had higher scores on two parenting attitude variables called "support"and "control" than mothers of first and second generation students. However, socioeconomic status was not controlled in these analyses; the socioeconomic status of third generation mothers was higher than that of first and second generation mothers. When the support and control variables later were combined into a parenting orientation factor called "concern," and socioeconomic status was controlled, generation was not a significant predictor of the concern orientation (Buriel, 1993). In another study, Cousins, Power, and Olvera-Ezzell (1993), using two factors, "functional integration" and "traditionality" that were derived from acculturation scales developed by Hazuda, Stem, and Haffner (1988), found that low traditionality (i.e., low levels of preserving Mexican heritage and traditional ideas regarding family structure), but not functional integration (with the majority culture), was related to directive parenting communication regarding food consumption in mostly Spanish-speaking, lowincome, Mexican American mothers of children who were 4-8 years old. In a study of the determinants of cognitive complexity in parents' conceptions of child development (i.e., perspectivism), Gutierrez, Sameroff, and Karrer (1988) found that acculturation level (measured by the multidimensional Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans; Cueller, Harris, & Jasso, 1980) was not related to perspectivism in low socioeconomic status mothers of preschoolers,

312

Journalof Marriageand the Family

FIGURE 1. HYPOTHESIZED PROCESS MODEL OF MOTHERS' PARENTING PRACTICES AS MEDIATORS OF THE INFLUENCES OF MULTIPLE RISK AND FAMILY CONFLICT ON CHILDREN'S ADJUSTMENT

----------------------------------------I

11.II

^ Mothers'

II

Note: An alternativemodel is indicatedby the additionof broken lines. Child's gender was dummy-coded 1 for female, 2 for male.

whereas higher acculturation was related to greater perspectivism in mothers with high socioeconomic status. Thus, acculturation interacted with socioeconomic status to predict mothers' high perspective taking. In summary, evidence from research suggests that acculturation may influence some communication behavior of Mexican American mothers with low socioeconomic status and the perspectivism of Mexican American mothers with high socioeconomic status. However, there is little data on how acculturation affects key dimensions of parenting practices, such as support and inconsistent discipline. There are also no studies that we could locate that addressed the influences of mothers' acculturation levels on children's adjustment. To enhance research in this area, it is important that investigators incorporate comprehensive measures of acculturation and design studies that can evaluate the possible mechanisms by which acculturation may influence parenting and children's adjustment. This study extends previous research by testing a risk-stress process model (Roosa, Beals, Sandler, & Pillow, 1990; Webster-Stratton, 1990)

of influences in the developmental niches of children in low-income, Mexican immigrant and Mexican American families (Figure 1). We hypothesized that mothers' supportive parenting and inconsistent discipline would function as mediators of the effects of multiple risk factors and family conflict on children's depression and conduct disorder. In other words, we did not conceptualize children's adjustment as a direct function of the amount of risk or conflict experienced in the family, but rather as a function of the negative impact of multiple risks and family conflict on mothers' parenting (i.e., lowered maternal support and increased inconsistent discipline). Compromised maternal parenting, in turn, would contribute to greater adjustment problems in children. We evaluated the model shown in Figure 1 using data from both mothers and children. In addition, our model included the mother's acculturation level and the child's gender as background variables to account for the influence of these variables in the sample. Findings from previous research were not sufficiently consistent to formulate a directional hypothesis regarding the effects of maternal acculturation on maternal par-

Risk, Parenting, and Child Adjustment

313

enting and children's adjustment.However, we hypothesizedthat any influences of the level of of acculturation Mexican motherson children's would not be direct,but ratherwould adjustment be mediated throughparentingpractices. Also, boys' adjustmentand girls' adjustmenttend to differ, at least by mid-adolescence. Boys exhibit moreconductproblems,andgirls reportmoredepression(Congeret al., 1994; Eme, 1984). Thus, we expected significant direct relationshipsbetween children's gender and children's adjustment. (Child gender was dummy coded 1 = female, 2 = male.) METHOD Sample

pie could be classified as living below poverty level andhavinglow levels of acculturation.
Procedures

The sampleconsistedof 121 low-income,Mexican immigrantand Mexican Americanmothers andtheirfourth-grade children.Althoughwe collected datafrom fatherswheneverpossible, there were insufficientreportsfromMexicanAmerican fathers(due to fatherabsenceor unwillingnessto be interviewed) to test separatemodels for fathers.Fourthgraderswere targetedbecausethese were the youngestchildrenfrom whom we could obtain reliable self-reportson the survey items. The sample was drawnfrom a largersample of 167 families recruited a parent-training for interventionthrough schoolsin a largeSouthwesttwo in ern city (Dumka,Garza,Roosa, & Stoerzinger, press). The families not includedin this sample were those whose ethnicitywas otherthanMexican (e.g., AfricanAmerican, American, European Native American). Of the 121 mothers in the sample,94 (78%) were born in Mexico, and the same numberof motherschose to complete the interviewin Spanish.Seventy-oneof the targeted children(59%) also chose to completethe interview in Spanish.The two schools the childrenattended were in a communitywith high risk for children'smaladjustment to low income,pardue ents' low levels of education, high unemployment, and high crime rates (Michaels,Roosa, & Gensheimer, 1992; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1993). In this sample, the median age of the motherswas 32; median educationlevel of the motherswas 7 years;reported medianfamily income was $5,000-$10,000 per year. Eighty percent of the sample made less than $10,000 in 1992-1993. Seventy-three (60%) of the mothers were married lived with a partner. sum, the or In of the mothersand childrenin the sammajority

We recruitedfamilies using an intensive, multistep, multilevel process (see Dumka et al., in press). Parentsand childrenwere interviewedin theirhomes in theirpreferred languageusing lapand top computers were paid $25 (for one-parent families)for their families)or $35 (for two-parent After introductions the signing and participation. of informedconsents,the interviewers trainedrespondentshow to use the computersuntil each was comfortablewith the procedure.Interview questionswere displayedon the computerscreen at the same time they were read out loud by the interviewer.Respondentsentered their answers using the keypad, and their responses were not observable by the interviewer. This procedure counteractedresponse bias due to low literacy to levels andpermitted respondents keep theiranswers private.It also nearlyeliminateddatatranerrors. scription Measureswere first translated into Spanishto retainthe originalconcepts and be readableat a sixth-gradelevel and then were translatedback into English. Translationsand back translations were compared and revised until satisfactory translations were obtained. Finally, Mexican American bilingualteachersreviewedthe translations for appropriatenessfor the local culture (e.g., readinglevel, idioms),andtheirsuggestions wereincorporated the translations. into
Measures Mothers' acculturation. Mothers' levels of accul-

turationwere assessed using mothers'reportson the multidimensional Acculturation Rating Scale for MexicanAmericans(ARSMA;Cuellaret al., 1980). This measure consists of 20 multiplechoice items that employ a 5-point Likert response formatrangingfrom 1 (Mexican/Spanish) to 5 (Anglo/English). ARSMAevaluatesfour The dimensionsof acculturation: languagefamiliarity and usage, ethnic interaction,ethnic pride and connectionto Mexico. identity,and generational This multidimensionalrating scale was chosen because there appearsto be no strong empirical reason to use one dimension of acculturation (e.g., mothers' length of residence in the U.S., language use, generational status) over others, and the variousdimensionsoften are highly cor-

314 related. Using the ARSMA avoided potential multicollinearity problemsthat would have been likely had multiple indicators of acculturation been used. And it maintained reasonable a ratioof the number variables the number observaof to of tions in the structural equationmodelsin orderto preserve stability of results. The ARSMA has demonstrated internalconsistency (alpha= .88), test-retest valid(r reliability = .80), andconstruct ity (Cuellaret al., 1980). The Cronbach'salpha for the ARSMA in this study was .95. Mothers' ARSMAscores were correlated with mothers .92 bornin the U.S. and-.85 with mothers'choosing to completethe interviewin Spanish.
Family multiple risk. Our measure of risk was

Journal of Marriage and the Family Mothers' parenting practices. We assessed sup-

subscaleof portiveparenting usingthe acceptance separate children's and parents' forms of the Children's BehaviorInventory Reportof Parental (CRPBI;Schaefer,1965).Internal consistencyfor the acceptancesubscale was .72 for parents'reports and .67 for children'sreports.We assessed inconsistent discipline with separatechildren's and parents'forms of the eight-iteminconsistent discipline subscale of the CRPBI.In this study, internalconsistencyfor parents'reportsof inconsistent discipline was .68; for the children'sreports,the coefficientalphawas .69.
Children's adjustment. We obtained mothers' re-

composedof a count of 20 possible chronic,hisChronic torical, and currentrisk characteristics. risk characteristics includedmothers'ethnic minority status, mother never married,mother or partnerhad 8 or fewer years of education,high frequencyof moves. Historicalrisk was assessed by events that occurred duringthe lifetime of the child (e.g., financialtrouble,mother fourth-grade or partner ever jailed, mother or partner ever treatedor hospitalized for emotional problems, child ever separatedfrom parents).Currentrisk targeted conditions existing within the past 3 months(presenceof 4 or more children,serious illness in the family, low support child's edufor cation,mothers'depression). Multiplerisk scores wereobtained frommothers'reports only. We did not calculateinternal becausethis coconsistency efficient is not appropriate counts of whether for specificriskfactorswerepresentor not. Family conflict. We measured family conflict using a subscaleof the separate parents'andchildren's forms of the Childrenof Alcoholics LifeEventsSchedule(Roosa,Sandler, Gehring,Beals, & Cappo, 1988) and the General Life Events Schedule for Children (Sandler, Ramirez, & Reynolds,1986). The familyconflictsubscaleassesses conflict occurringin the past 3 months. Scoring is a simple count of events relating to conflict (e.g., mom and dad argued parent-parent in front of the child), parent-child conflict (e.g., dad hit the child), and parent-relativeconflict (e.g., mom or dad fought or argued with the child's relatives).Again, we did not calculatean internal consistency coefficient because this statisticis not appropriate scales using counts for of events. There was no overlapin items of the family multiplerisk scale and the family conflict stressscale.

ports of children'sconductdisorderwith the 23item conductdisordersubscale of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1978, 1983). Children'sreportsof child conduct disorderwere obtained with the Child Hostility Scale (Cook, 1986), a 23-item adaptation of the parent report of the CBCL. In this study,internalconsistencyfor children'sconduct disorderwas .91 for mothers'reportsand .82 for children'sreports.Mothers'reportsof children's depressionwere obtainedwith 19 items from the CBCL that were selected on the basis of expert factoranalysis.Internal ratingsand confirmatory for this depression subscale of the consistency CBCL was .89. Children'sreportsof their own depressive symptomatologywere obtainedwith the 27-itemChildren's (KoDepressionInventory vacs, 1981). Internalconsistency for the Children's DepressionInventoryfor this sample was .76. In summary, mothers'acculturation famiand lies' multiple risk status were measured using only mothers' reports,whereas family conflict, maternalparentingpractices,and children's adjustmentwere assessedseparately mothersand by children.We used meanitem scores for all scales except the measuresfor family multiplerisk and family conflict events, for which counts of endorseditems were used.For scales in whichmean item scores were used, respondents to answer had 80%or moreof the items of a scale to get a score for thatscale. For all measures, higherscoreson a given scale signify a greatermagnitudeof that construct (e.g., higherscoreson the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans indicated Previousstudieshave supgreateracculturation). portedthe cross-cultural equivalenceof the scales measuringfamily stress, children's depression, children'sconductdisorder, parenting acceptance,

Risk, Parenting, and Child Adjustment

FIGURE 2. STANDARDIZED SOLUTION FOR THE PROCESS MODEL USING CHILDREN'S REPORTS OF FAMILY CONFLICT, PARENTING, AND CHILDREN'S ADJUSTMENT

315

X2(12,n = 114)= 18.91 (p = .09) BBI = .80 CFI = .89

Mothers'

-" ---

acculturation

Note: Only significant paths are shown. Broken lines representa significant path when an alternativemodel was tested. Child's genderwas dummy-coded1 for female, 2 for male.

*p<.05. **p<. l. ***p<.001.

and inconsistent discipline (Knight, Tein, Shell, & Roosa, 1992; Knight, Virden, Ocampo, & Roosa, 1994) and the cross-language equivalence of the scales measuring parenting acceptance and inconsistent discipline (Knight & Hill, in press).
ANALYSES

We tested the stress process model presented in Figure 1 using structural equation modeling (EQS; Bentler, 1989). Structural equation modeling is particularly suited to the testing of mediators because it permits the simultaneous estimation of direct and indirect paths, it estimates each path after the effects of all other paths are accounted for, and it provides fit indices that facilitate comparison of models. Two goodness-of-fit indices, the Bentler-Bonnet index (BBI) and the normed comparative fit index (CFI), are reported here. The comparitive fit index has been found to be less biased when small sample sizes are used (Marsh, Balla, & McDonald, 1988). Fit indices of .90 or above are considered a good fit.

The interpretation of the results of structural models can be biased when only one reporter's perspective is used to assess variables in structural models (Bank, Dishion, Skinner, & Patterson, 1990). One option for addressing this potential bias is to use multiple perspectives (e.g., mothers' and children's) as indicators of a single latent variable (Ge et al., 1994). However, the correlations between mothers' and children's reports of parenting behavior and children's adjustment frequently are weak (Achenbach, McConaughy, & Howell, 1987). Thus, it is inappropriate to use children's and parents' reports of these variables as indicators of a single latent variable because there often is little shared variance (Tein, Roosa, & Michaels, 1994). In fact, when parents' and children's reports have been used as indicators of a child adjustment latent variable, the children's own reports often have contributed the least (Patterson, 1986) or near least (Ge et al., 1994) to the latent variable. As an alternative, rather than aggregating scores across reporters, we tested separate models using moth-

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Journal of Marriage and the Family

TABLE1. ZERO-ORDER DEVIATIONS FOR CORRELATIONS, MEANS,ANDSTANDARD VARIABLES USED IN TESTING THERISKPROCESS MODEL

Variable 1. Family multiplerisk 2. Family conflict 3. Child's gender 4. Mothers' acculturation 5. Mothers' supportiveparenting 6. Mothers'inconsistentdiscipline 7. Children'sconduct disorder 8. Children'sdepression M Children'sreports SD Children'sreports M Mothers'reports SD Mothers'reports

3 .02 .15

4 -.10 .08 .04 .08-.15 -.08 -.17

5 -.13 .09 -.13 .05

6 .30 -.11 .05 -.20 .08 .19) .14 .17 2.08 .51 1.72 .42

7 .29 .09 .24 -.09 -.43 .29

8 .18 .04 .17 -.17 -.30 .25

.02 -.10 .12 .11 .07 .01

.08 -.25 -.07 .27 .42 5.44 3.96 3.31 3.35

.045 .08 .02 .19 -.01

-.13 -.35 2.63 .36 1.72 .36

5.03 2.03

1.53 .50

1.94 .86

1.41a .27 1.43c .33

.37b .22 1.37d .32

Note: Correlationsbelow the diagonal are for child reportsof variables,where applicable.Correlationsabove the diagonal are for mothers'reportsof variables.Coefficients greaterthan approximately.18 were significant (p < .05). Child's gender was dummy-coded1 for female, 2 for male. Due to missing data,n's range from 114 to 121. Coefficients in parentheses on the diagonal are correlationsbetween mothers' and children's reports. aRange1.00-2.22. bRange.04-1.11. 1.00-2.18. CRange dRange1.00-2.89

ers' and children's reports, as recommended by Tein et al. With this approach, the unique perspectives of multiple reporters are preserved, and the identification of consistent findings across models increases the confidence with which conclusions can be drawn. In addition, after testing the hypothesized model separately for mothers' and children's reports (Figure 1), we tested alternative models in which we added direct paths between mothers' acculturation levels and children's conduct disorder and depression and between family multiple risk and children's conduct disorder and depression. Testing the alternative models revealed whether there were significant direct effects of mothers' acculturation and family multiple risk on children's adjustment after accounting for the hypothesized indirect effects. The finding of direct effects for the distal variables would indicate the need to identify other possible mediators that might have been omitted in the current study.
RESULTS

The correlation matrix used to evaluate the models is presented in Table 1. For a variable to be designated a mediator, the predictors (in this study, family multiple risk and family conflict events) must be significantly correlated with the

criterion measures (children's conduct disorder and children's depression) and the mediators (mothers' supportive parenting and inconsistent discipline). The mediators also need to be significantly related to the criterion measures (Baron & Kenny, 1986). For full mediation, the direct path between the predictor and the criterion must become nonsignificant in the presence of the indirect path. In the case of partial mediation, the direct path between predictor and criterion remains significant but is diminished in the presence of the indirect path. For children's reports, the preconditions for mediation were met in one instance-mothers' supportive parenting potentially mediated the relationship between family conflict and children's depression. The standardized solution for the test of the mediation model using children's reports is shown in Figure 2. The hypothesized model provided an adequate fit to the observed data, X2(12, n = 114) = 18.91, p = .09; BBI = .80; CFI = .89, predicting 14% of the variance in children's conduct disorder and 33% of the variance in children's depression. Family conflict had significant direct effects on children's conduct disorder and depression and on maternal supportive parenting. Maternal supportive parenting and inconsistent discipline were significantly related to children's depression. Thus, maternal supportive parenting

Risk, Parenting, and Child Adjustment

FIGURE STANDARDIZED 3. SOLUTION THEPROCESS FOR MODELUSINGMOTHERS' REPORTS OF FAMILY AND ADJUSTMENT CONFLICT, PARENTING, CHILDREN'S

317

X2(12,n = 117) = 16.58 (p= .17) BBI = .90 CFI = .97

Note: Only significant paths are shown. Broken lines representa significant path when an alternativemodel was tested. Child's gender was dummy-coded 1 for female, 2 for male.

*p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001.

servedas a partial mediator the relationship of betweenfamilyconflictandchildren'sdepression. Withregardto the background there variables, was a significant direct link between the child being a male and children's conduct disorder. Mothers'acculturation not significantly was related to maternal practices.The test of the parenting alternativemodel with direct paths from family to multiplerisk and mothers'acculturation children's conduct disorderand depressiondid not in yield a significantimprovement the fit of the model to the data, X2difference (4, n = 114) = 4.09. The addedpathbetweenmothers'acculturation levels and children'sdepressionwas signifiacculturation was cant, however;highermaternal relatedto lowerchild depression. For mothers' reports, the preconditions for mediation were met in two instances.Thatis, maternalinconsistent disciplinepotentiallymediated boththe relationship betweenfamilymultiplerisk and children'sconductdisorderand the relationship betweenfamily multiplerisk and children's in (see correlations Table 1). The standepression

dardizedsolution for the mediationmodel using mothers'reportsis presented Figure3. The hyin pothesizedmodel provideda very good fit to the observeddata,X2(12, n = 117) = 16.58,p = .17; BBI = .90; CFI = .97, accountingfor 27% of the variancein children'sconductdisorderand 15% of the variancein children'sdepression.Family multiplerisk contributed significantlyto maternal inconsistentdiscipline.Maternal inconsistentdiscipline and supportive parentingcontributed significantlyto both children'sconductdisorderand children'sdepression. Thus,mothers'inconsistent bedisciplinepartiallymediatedthe relationship tween familymultiplerisk andchildren'sconduct disorderand fully mediatedthe relationshipbetween family multiplerisk and children'sdepression. Familyconflictwas not significantly related to eitherof the maternal parenting practices. Regarding the backgroundvariables, being male was relatedto conductdisorder,and mothers' acculturation level was significantlyrelated to lower maternal inconsistent discipline.The test of the alternativemodel with direct paths from

318 to family multiplerisk andmothers'acculturation children's conduct disorderand depression did not produce a significant increase in the fit, X2
difference (4, n = 117) = 6.87. However, the

Journal of Marriage and the Family

addedpathbetweenfamilymultiplerisk andchildren'sconductdisorder significant. was DISCUSSION This study evaluatedfamily processes contributing to the development of children of lowMexiincome, predominantly Spanish-speaking, can immigrants and Mexican Americans. We specificallylooked at whethermaternal parenting practicesfunctionedas a mediatorof the effects of family multiplerisk factorsandfamily conflict on children'sdepression conductdisorder. and To account for diversity within the sample, we included multiple risk factors, the child's gender, and levels of mothers'acculturation predictors as or controlvariables. accountfor differencesin To perspectives, we tested separate models using children'sandmothers'reports. Both modelspredicted a moderate amount of variance in children'sadjustment. We found evidence to supportmaternalparin entingas a mediator threeinstances.First,children's reportsindicatedthat mothers'supportive parentingserved to partiallymediate the effects of family conflict on children'sdepression.Second, mothers' reportsshowed that mothers' inconsistentdiscipline partiallymediatedthe relationshipbetweenmultipleriskfactorsin the family and children's conduct disorder. Third, mothers'reportsindicatedthatmaternal inconsistentdisciplinefully mediatedthe effects of family multiplerisk on children'sdepression.These results areconsistentwith those of previousstudies, in Americans, which supmostlyof non-Mexican portiveparentingwas found to partiallymediate the relationship between various stressfulconditions and adolescents'depression(Fauberet al., 1990; Lemperset al., 1989; Roosa et al., 1993) and mothers' inconsistent discipline practices have been linked to children'sconduct disorder et (Patterson al., 1989; Wahler& Dumas, 1987) anddepressivesymptoms(Ge et al., 1994). Althoughthe instancesof maternalparenting practicesfunctioningas mediatorswere not evident acrossboth children'sand mothers'reports, resultsfromboth analysesindicatedthatmaternal role in children's parentingplayed an important in nichesrepresentadjustment the developmental ed by this sample.High levels of supportive par-

entingwere linkedto low levels of children'sdeand pression(accordingto both reporters) to low levels of child conduct disorder (according to mothers'reports).At the same time, high levels of inconsistent were relatedto high levparenting els of children'sdepression bothreporters for and to children's conduct disorderfor mothers' reports. These results are consistentwith previous studiesthat examinedthe influenceof supportive parenting and inconsistent discipline on children's adjustmentwith other ethnic groups of similar income status (Lempers et al., 1989; Roosaet al., 1993;Whitbeck al., 1991). et Another consistent finding across children's and mothers'reportsis thatmale childrenexperienced higher levels of conductdisorderthan female children.The lack of relationshipbetween gender and depression among children in the study may be due to the youngerage of the childrenin this sample.Moreconsistentrelationships betweenbeing female and depressionor internalizing symptomshave been found with older adolescents(Congeret al., 1994;Eme, 1984). A notablecontrastin the results across mothers' and children'sreportsconcernsthe influence of family conflicton mothers'parenting chiland dren's adjustment. with mothOverall,compared ers' reports,children'sreportsindicatedthat the effects of family conflict were more pervasive. Forexample,children'sreportsshowedthatfamily conflict was relatedto reducedsupportive parenting from mothers, whereas mothers' reports showed no significantrelationship betweenthese variables.Also, children'sreportsshowed a significant,direct relationshipbetween family conflict and children'sconductdisorderand depression, whereasmothers'reportsdid not. In other words,children'sreportsindicatedthatchildren's was affected by family conflict to a adjustment greater degreethanwas evidentfrommothers'reports.It seems thatchildrenmay have noticedand responded to events that mothers took in their strideanddid not notice. In addition,the relative amountsof variance accountedfor in children'sconductdisorderand children'sdepressionwere differentfor the two reporters.The model for children's reportspredicted more variance in children's depression, compared with mothers' reports (R2 = .33 vs. .15), whereasthe model for mothers'reportsaccountedfor more variancein children'sconduct disorder,comparedwith children'sreports(R2 = .27 vs. .14). This difference is likely due to reporter bias related to different perspectives.

Risk, Parenting, and Child Adjustment Mothers more readily may have noticed and reported their children's bothersome conduct than their children's typically less obtrusive depressive symptoms. Children, on the other hand, probably were more aware of their own experience of depressive symptoms and thus more likely to report them. Research indicates that parents' ratings of their children's internalizing behavior (depression and anxiety) are consistently lower than their children's ratings (Achenbach et al., 1987). Rather than indicating a problem in the results, this lack of agreement between mothers' and children's reports regarding family conflict and children's adjustment likely reflects unique experiences and constructions of the developmental niche. These constructions probably contribute unique variance to children's adjustment problems. Neither perspective can substitute for the other. Clearly, children's perceptions of family conflict were related to their experiences of their mothers' supportive parenting and contributed to their reports of their own adjustment. These results also reinforce the value of testing separate models for mothers' and children's reports because these differences would have been missed if only children's or mothers' reports had been used or if children's and mothers' reports had been aggregated. An implication of the differences in mothers' and children's reports is that mothers or children may be the preferred reporters, depending on the nature of the variable and the goals of the study (Kellam, 1990; Tein et al., 1994). It is possible that one or more additional variables not included in this study may have mediated or suppressed the relationship between mothers' reports of family conflict and parenting practices in this sample. For example, maternal depression has been shown to mediate the effects of stressful life events and economic hardship on parenting practices (Brody et al., 1994; Ge et al., 1994; Simons, Lorenz, Wu, & Conger, 1993). Maternal social support also has been shown to mediate or moderate these effects (Crnic & Greenberg, 1990; Siantz, 1990; Simons et al., 1993). Future research should evaluate the role of maternal depression and social support in the relationship among multiple risk factors, family conflict, and maternal parenting. The purpose of assessing maternal acculturation in this study was to account for diversity within the ethnic group. Two premises, derived from developmental-contextualist theory (Lerner et al., 1995; Trickett, Barone, & Buchanan,

319
1996), are relevant to discussing the effects of acculturation. The first premise is that higher acculturation levels are a product of greater interaction between members of a child's developmental niche (e.g., mothers) and representatives of the host or majority society. The second premise is that success in an adopted society (e.g., economic success, children's adjustment) depends on an adequate fit between the individual and the demands of the majority culture. In this study, mothers' reports showed that higher maternal acculturation was related to a decrease in maternal inconsistent discipline (i.e., greater consistency in discipline). It could be that, as the more highly acculturated mothers had more exposure to low-income parents of non-Mexican origin, they tended to adopt the more directive and restrictive parenting practices of these parents (Hoff-Ginsberg & Tardif, 1995). This explanation indicates how families' immediate contexts might influence mothers' parenting directly. It is also possible that mothers who had more interaction with the majority culture became more aware of the forces working against their children's success in their adopted, low-income, urban environments (e.g., violence, drug activity, discrimination, threat of school failure). Mothers' increased consistency in discipline may have been a protective initiative. (In fact, greater maternal consistency in discipline was related to reduced levels of child conduct disorder and depression.) This explanation illustrates how the families may not have been passive reflectors of their contexts but active constructors of their children's developmental niches. Children's reports showed a significant direct relationship between mothers' acculturation and reduced depression in children. Increased maternal acculturation may have reduced stressors on the children. For example, mothers with greater fluency in English may have relieved acculturative stress associated with the child having to function as an interpreterfor the parent and representatives of the majority culture (Szapocznik & Kurtines, 1980). Mothers who had more interaction with the majority culture may have taken more initiative to facilitate their children's adjustment at school or to encourage their children to socialize with more acculturated peers or with peers of the majority culture, both inside and outside the home. More highly acculturated mothers also may have enhanced their children's ability to cope with stressors by modeling more active, problem-focused coping strategies and by seeking

320

Journal of Marriage and the Family

out resourcesto help theirchildrensucceed (e.g., in specialprograms schools, counseling,involvementin boys' andgirls' clubs). of Overall,the magnitude the effects of mothers' acculturation mothers'inconsistentdiscion pline and children'sdepressionwas modest.One possible reasonis thatthe majorityof mothersin this sample had low levels of acculturation, and thus there was attenuated variationin acculturation level. Also, the samplewas uniformlylow in socioeconomicstatus.Gutierrez al. (1988), for et example, found no variationin the relationship betweenacculturation mothers'perspectivism and influences on child developmentwith regarding mothers of low socioeconomic status, whereas these researchers find a differencewith mothdid ers of high socioeconomicstatus. Anotherreason for the modest effects of acculturationmay be that mothers' acculturation alonemay not be the most influential cultural predictor of parentingpractices and children's adlevels of otherpeople justment.The acculturation who performparentingfunctions (e.g., fathers, extendedfamily members)and of older siblings also may influence maternalparentingand children's adjustment.There is some evidence that the discrepancy the acculturation in levels of parents and their childrenmay contribute parentto child conflict and conduct problemsin children (Szapocznik & Kurtines, 1980; Vega, Gil, & Warheit, Zimmerman, Apospori,1993). Althoughthe two significanteffects of mothers' acculturation the structural in equationmodels were modest, examination the correlations of between mothers' acculturationand other variables for both mothers' and children's reports accultura(Table 1) suggeststhathighermaternal tion was relatedto morepositivematernal parenting practices and children's adjustment.Higher maternal acculturation may be a marker a thus of higherlevel of adaptivefit betweenthe child and the family environment(i.e., the developmental niche of the child; Super& Harkness,1986) and between the family and the immediateenvironment of the host society. We recommend futhat ture studies use largersamples with more variation in acculturationand socioeconomic levels and incorporate measuresthat assess the discrepancies in acculturation betweenparentsand children and between family membersand their social environments. The resultsof this studyhave severalimplications for preventiveand therapeutic interventions with similar families. First, the enhancementof

consistent discipline and supportive parenting to practicesholds promise for contributing children'smentalhealthin low-income,predominantly Spanish-speaking, Mexican immigrant and Mexican American families. Interventionprograms might particularlyemphasize increasing consistentdisciplinepracticesas a way to reduce children's adjustment problems.Second, the results indicate that interventionistsshould assess family conflict particularlyfrom the children's perspectiveand workto reducethis conflict from the children'sperspective.Third,facilitatingmaternalacculturation, examplethroughEnglish for mother-school inlanguageclasses andincreasing teraction,also may help reduce the incidence of children'sdepression. This study represents initial step in underan the relationships betweenfamilymultiple standing risk status, family conflict, mothers' parenting, and children'sadjustment low-income, Mexiin can immigrant,and Mexican Americanfamilies. Analyseswere conducted only on datafrommothers andchildren. Futurestudiesneedto obtainsufficient data from fathersto augmentour understanding of parenting processes in this group. Tests were performed cross-sectional on data,and thus the directionof influencebetween variables cannotbe determined conclusively.Longitudinal data are needed to determinecausal processes. The dataalso were limitedto children a restrictin ed age range. Future studies should focus on a broaderage range of children,particularly older children who aremorelikely to show higherlevels of symptomatology. Futurestudiesalso shouldassess a widerrangeof family conflict(e.g., parentchildconflictovermoney,siblingconflict,andcoconflict) and measureconflict intensity parenting so researchers identifythe conflictthatis most can influential children'sdevelopment this poputo in lation. Finally, additionalindividual,family, and contextual variables(e.g., parents'depressionand social support)need to be includedin futureresearchin orderto expand our knowledge of the processes at work in Mexican immigrant and MexicanAmerican families.
NOTE Workon this studywas fundedin partby the National Institutefor MentalHealthGrant2-P50-MH39246-06 to supporta PreventiveIntervention ResearchCenter andthe RuthandRay CowdenFellowship.The authors contributions the studymade to gratefully acknowledge for by Peggy Pefiaand thankErnestFairchild his work on the graphics.

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