About this poster

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Panel information
Panel 2. Cultural Processes

Abstract

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Background: The Latinx population in the United States has rapidly increased over the past several decades (Pew Research Center, 2022). Despite being one of the fastest-growing racial/ethnic minority groups, significant health inequities persist among the Latinx community (Fortuna et al., 2020). One sociocultural process that is important to consider in understanding health inequities among Latinx children and families is acculturation. Acculturation refers to the changes in cultural values, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and practices that occurs when two groups from differing cultural groups come into contact with each other (Berry, 2003). Prior research on acculturation and its relation to parenting behaviors and child wellbeing among Latinx families has been mixed. For example, one study found that Latinx mothers who are more acculturated were more likely to engage with more warmth and involvement (Calzada & Eyberg, 2002), whereas another study found that more acculturation was related to less positive parenting (Schmitz, 2005). Furthermore, researchers have found that higher acculturation levels in Latinx parents predicted internalizing and externalizing behaviors among their children, while other studies have found no association between acculturation and child behavior problems (McWhirter & Donovick, 2022). The inconsistent findings about the impact of acculturation may be due to conceptualization and measurement issues (Fox et al., 2017). More recently, person-centered approaches (e.g., latent class analysis) have been recommended for investigating acculturation because they do not assume a particular theoretical model allowing subgroups to emerge empirically, and they can identify subgroups among a heterogenous population based on individuals who share a similar identity (Schwartz & Zamboanga, 2008). It is important to examine how the process of acculturation unfolds among Latinx families and influences parenting practices and child outcomes, especially in countries like the United States where Latinx families may grow up in White-dominated cultures, and White supremacy is the developmental context in which Latinx youth are navigating (Moffitt & Rogers, 2022). Therefore, the current study uses a person-centered approach to examine profiles of acculturation and its association to parenting practices and child wellbeing among Latinx parents. No predictions were made about the number or types of profiles that would emerge; considering the mixed findings on acculturation and parenting and child wellbeing, no predictions were made on how the acculturation profiles relate to parenting and child wellbeing.

Methods: Using data from a national longitudinal study, the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a latent class analysis will be conducted in Mplus version 8.10; analyses are underway and will be completed by March 2024. Data from Year 1 and Year 3 of the study, when children were 1 and 3 years old, respectively, will be used including 1,333 Latinx parents (Mage=22.57; SD=12.43). Four acculturation indicators will be used to assess for acculturation profiles and its association to parenting and child wellbeing: language preference, cultural engagement, traditional gender role attitudes, and religious participation.

Conclusions/Implications: Findings from this study will contribute to the existing literature in understanding acculturation among Latinx parents using a person-centered approach and elucidate the relation between acculturation profiles with parenting and child wellbeing. Results will also inform family and parenting interventions to provide more culturally responsive strategies to promote positive parenting practices and in turn, foster positive emotional and behavioral wellbeing for their children. The phenomenon of acculturation occurs within systems of power and oppression in the United States, and thus more policies on how to support immigrated Latinx families and children amidst an anti-immigrant context will also be considered.

Author information

Author	Role
Julie K. Nguyen, University of South Carolina	Presenting author
Nana Ama Boateng, University of South Carolina, United States	Non-presenting author
Diamonde McCollum, University of South Carolina, United States	Non-presenting author
Nada Goodrum, University of South Carolina, United States	Non-presenting author

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