The influence of cultural orientation on associations between Puerto Rican adolescent mothers' parenting and toddler compliance and defiance.

OBJECTIVES: It is imperative that individual differences in the cultural contexts of adolescent mothers, whose parenting is often linked to poor child outcomes, be better understood, especially among Puerto Rican-origin mothers who experience high rates of poverty. Behaviors that mothers use to elicit compliance from their children are important to investigate, because children's ability to engage in regulated, compliant behavior has long-term consequences for their adjustment. This study tested whether mothers' orientation to both American and Latino cultures influenced the associations between such maternal behaviors and compliant and defiant child behaviors. METHOD: The sample included 123 young, Puerto Rican-origin mothers and their 24-month-old toddlers. Behaviors coded from a toy cleanup task measured maternal guidance and control and child compliance and defiance, and acculturation and enculturation were measured with a self-report questionnaire. RESULTS: Maternal guidance predicted more child compliance, with no significant variations by cultural orientation; however, mothers who were more enculturated had children who were more compliant. As predicted, mothers' more frequent use of control was related to more child defiance for mothers reporting high levels of acculturation, and not for less acculturated mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the hypothesis that individual differences in cultural orientation influence variations in associations between certain maternal and child behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record

Associations Between Maternal Control and Child Defiance Among Puerto Rican-Origin Adolescent Mothers and Their Toddlers: A Person-Centered Examination.

Parents use different forms of control to direct children toward their own demands and expectations; however, the literature on Latina parenting has demonstrated mixed findings on the influence of control on child outcomes (Halgunseth, Ispa, & Rudy, 2006). This study tested how maternal control relates to child dysregulated defiance within the cultural context experienced by Latina mother-child dyads. Participants included 122 adolescent mothers of Puerto Rican-origin and their toddlers. Highlighting the importance of ecologically-valid and culturally-sensitive methods of behavioral observation, mother and child behavior were observed during a clean-up task; mothers also reported on their levels of US acculturation and Puerto Rican enculturation. Using person-centered analyses, we identified groups of mothers by parenting behaviors (i.e., guidance, control, positive affect) and cultural orientation (i.e., acculturation, enculturation). Results revealed four sub-groups of mothers with distinct associations to child defiance: 1) enculturated/controlling, 2) bicultural/guiding, 3) bicultural/controlling, 4) acculturated/controlling. Toddlers of the mothers in the acculturated/controlling sub-group displayed greater defiance toward their mothers than those of mothers in the enculturated/controlling sub-group, even though the groups displayed similar levels of control behaviors and positive affect. Toddlers of the enculturated/controlling and the bicultural/guiding mothers displayed similar low levels of defiance, suggesting two different parenting approaches with favorable consequences for child behavior in adolescent mother and toddler dyads. Implications for culturally-informed research and tailored services for young Latina families are discussed.

Los padres usan diferentes estrategias de control para dirigir el comportamiento de sus hijos hacia sus expectativas y demandas. La literatura ha arrojado resultados contradictorios acerca de la influencia que el control tiene en el desarrollo de los niños latinos (Halgunseth, Ispa & Rudy, 2006). Este estudio investiga la asociación entre las formas de control materno y el desafío desregulado de los hijos, en el contexto cultural de las díadas madre-hijo/a latinas. Los participantes incluyeron 122 madres adolescentes de origen puertorriqueño y sus hijos/as de 24 meses. Con énfasis en la importancia de usar métodos ecológicamente válidos y sensibles al contexto cultural, se observó el comportamiento de madres e hijos durante una tarea de limpieza. Las madres también reportaron sus niveles de aculturación a la cultura americana y enculturación a la cultura portorriqueña. Usando análisis centrados en la persona, se identificaron grupos de madres de acuerdo a sus comportamientos de crianza (guíanza, control y afecto positivo) y orientatión cultural (aculturación y enculturación). Los resultados arrojaron cuatro sub-grupos de madres que demostraron asociaciones diferenciales con el nivel de desafío de los niños/as: 1) enculturación/control, 2) bicultural/guianza, 3) bicultural/control, 4) aculturación/control. Los niños de las madres del sub-grupo de aculturación/control respondieron con mayor nivel de desafío a sus madres que los niños del sub-grupo enculturación/control, aunque ambos sub-grupos demostraron niveles similares de control y afecto positivo. Los niños en los sub-grupos de enculturación/control y bicultural/guianza exhibieron niveles similares y bajos de desafío, lo que sugiere dos estilos de crianza diferentes con resultados positivos para el comportamiento de los niños de madres latinas jóvenes. Se discuten implicaciones para investigatión culturalmente informada y servicios adaptados para familias latinas jóvenes.

Developmental outcomes of toddlers of young Latina mothers: Cultural, family, and parenting factors.

Children of adolescent mothers are at risk for poor developmental outcomes. This study is among the first to examine how cultural, family, and parenting factors prospectively predict the cognitive and language development of children of young Latina mothers (N=170; Mage=17.9 years). Mothers were interviewed and observed interacting with their children at 18 months (W1). Children were tested at 18 (W1) and 24 (W2) months. Mothers' cultural orientation (W1) was related to aspects of the childrearing environment (W1), which in turn had implications for the children's development (W2). Specifically, a stronger orientation toward American culture was related to higher mother-reported engagement in parenting by their own mothers (grandmothers), which in turn predicted stronger gains in cognitive and expressive language functioning from W1 to W2. A stronger Latino orientation related to the display of more directiveness and greater mother-reported engagement by the children's biological fathers; directiveness, in turn, predicted fewer gains in cognitive functioning only when father engagement was low and did not predict expressive language development. Finally, mothers' display of more positive affect, a stronger American orientation, and higher grandmother engagement uniquely predicted gains in W2 expressive language functioning. Implications for intervention are discussed.