Faculty Sponsor, if applicable
Cecilia Torteya-Martinez
Project Abstract
Elevated social pressures to acculturate to mainstream U.S. culture have been shown to impact the functioning of ethnic minority and immigrant families (Gassman-Pines & Skinner, 2017). For example, parents with higher levels of acculturative stress (i.e., stress associated with adapting to a new culture) have reported higher levels of withdrawal, lower levels of warm parent-child interactions, and higher levels of hostility and aggression in their children. Past research has indicated that high parental psychological and behavioral control and low parental involvement predict increased externalizing problems among children and adolescents (Aunola & Nurmi, 2005). However, one notable gap in the literature is evaluating how these associations may be impacted by acculturative stress. The present study evaluates whether parenting and acculturative stress interact in the prediction of children’s externalizing problems. Participants were 77 Latino children and their mothers recruited from three Chicagoland Head Start Preschools. Women completed questionnaires about their parenting involvement and relational frustration, acculturation-related stress, and their children’s externalizing behaviors. Findings will further refine the field’s current understanding of acculturation stress and its impact on the parent-child relationship.
Type of Research
Junior Year Experiential Learning (JYEL), Undergraduate Student - Independent Study
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Presentation Year
May 2017