Parenting of young children by fathers in Mexico and the United States.

In the present study, the parenting practices and developmental expectations were examined in a sample of 96 fathers from Mexico and the United States, all with children from 1 to 5 years of age. The selection of fathers from both countries was controlled for the family's socioeconomic status (SES) and for the age and gender of their children. The Parent Behavior Checklist, a 100-item rating scale was used to measure parents' developmental expectations and their discipline and nurturing practices. According to the results, Mexican and U.S. fathers did not differ significantly in their developmental expectations or parenting practices. In both countries, fathers from lower SES families were less nurturing and used more frequent discipline than fathers from higher SES families.

Parenting practices and expectations among Mexican mothers with young children.

Parenting practices and developmental expectations were examined in a sample of 221 Mexican mothers with very young children living in Guadalajara, Jalisco. They completed a Spanish version of the Parent Behavior Checklist (PBC), a 100-item rating scale that measures parents' developmental expectations, discipline, and nurturing practices. The psychometric properties of the PBC for Mexican mothers, including test-retest reliabilities, were very similar to those found for mothers of young children in the United States. Younger Mexican mothers used more frequent discipline and less nurturing with their young children than older mothers did. Married mothers nurtured their children more than unmarried mothers; young, unmarried mothers nurtured their children the least. Lower nurturing scores were associated with lower education levels, and higher nurturing scores were associated with higher education levels. Mothers from higher socioeconomic levels held higher developmental expectations for their children, and they used less frequent discipline and more frequent nurturing practices than mothers from lower socioeconomic levels. These findings are consistent with those for mothers of young children in the United States.

Reflection-impulsivity in Mexican children: cross-cultural relationships.

Urban Mexican children aged 5 (n = 23) and 9 (n = 87) years were given the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT). The results indicate that the MFFT was a valid test of cognitive style for Mexican children. The younger children's MFFT performance was characterized as fast and inaccurate in relation to the older children's performance, which was slower and more accurate. Cross-cultural comparisons of Mexican MFFT scores with normative data from America, Japan, and Israel indicated that Mexican children were relatively impulsive in cognitive style in relation to children of other cultures. Potential factors contributing to these cross-cultural differences are discussed here.