The goal of this study was to develop an attitudinal familism scale that can be used with relatively less acculturated Latinos and that assesses all relevant aspects of the construct. An 18-item scale composed of original items and adapted items from previous scales was tested on a sample of 124 Latino adults. An exploratory factor analysis revealed the following four factors, accounting for 51.23% of the total variance: Familial Support, Familial Interconnectedness, Familial Honor, and Subjugation of Self for Family. Cronbach's alpha for the scale was found to be .83. Validity analyses revealed significant negative correlations between some aspects of familism and acculturation scores and indicators of exposure to the U.S. culture, confirming previous findings on the subject.
Although a number of measures have been developed to assess parent-child attachments, validity data on middle-childhood measures are lacking. The present study tested attachment-based measures of parent-child relationships designed for the later middle-childhood years (9-12 years of age). Self-reports from children assessed perceptions of security and avoidant and preoccupied coping. Some children also completed a projective interview assessing attachment state of mind. Mothers and fathers reported their willingness to serve as an attachment figure and were rated for responsiveness. Data were collected from a cross-sectional sample of 3rd and 6th graders and their parents. A 2-year follow-up on the younger sample provided data on the stability of the measures. There were modest associations across the different measures and moderate to high stability. The attachment-based measures were also related to teacher ratings of children's school adaptation.
Although a link between attachment and peer relationships has been established, the mechanisms that account for this link have not been identified. The 1st goal of this study was to test emotion regulation as a mediator of this link in middle childhood. The 2nd goal was to examine how different aspects of emotion regulation relate to peer competence. Fifth graders completed self-report and semiprojective measures to index mother-child attachment, mothers reported on children's emotionality and coping strategies, and teachers reported on children's peer competence. Constructive coping was related to both attachment and peer competence, and mediated the association between attachment and peer competence, suggesting that emotion regulation is one of the mechanisms accounting for attachment-peer links. Constructive coping was more strongly associated with peer competence for children high on negative emotionality than for children low on negative emotionality. According to attachment theory, the quality of parent-child attachments has implications for the nature of children's interactions and relationships with people outside the family, including peers (Bowlby, 1973; Sroufe & Fleeson, 1986). Numerous studies have confirmed a link between parent-child attachment and the quality of peer relationships. Attachment security in mother-child relationships (and, in some studies, father-child relationships) has been related to traitlike patterns of behavior around peers such as tendencies to be aggressive or sociable
Investigated the antecedents, effects, and underlying characteristics of natural mentor relationships in a sample of 54 inner-city, Latina adolescent mothers. Women with mentors reported significantly lower levels of depression and anxiety than those without mentors despite similar levels of stress exposure and overall support resources. Young women with natural mentors were also more satisfied with their support resources and appeared better able to cope effectively with relationship problems. Finally, women with mentors recalled their childhood relationships with their mothers as more accepting. Mentor relationships appear to enhance young women's capacity to benefit from their support resources and offset the effects of relationship problems. Implications for future research and intervention strategies are discussed.
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