The family stress model represents a common framework through which to examine the effects of environmental stressors on adolescent adjustment. The model suggests that economic and neighborhood stressors influence youth adjustment via disruptions to parenting. Incorporating integrative developmental theory, we examined the degree to which parents’ cultural value orientations mitigated the effects of stressors on parenting disruptions and the degree to which environmental adversity qualified the effect of parenting on adolescent adjustment. We tested the hypothesized Integrative Family Stress Model longitudinally in a sample of mother-youth dyads (N = 749) and father-youth dyads (N = 467) from Mexican origin families, across three times points spanning early to middle adolescence. Providing the first longitudinal evidence of family stress mediated effects, mothers’ perceptions of economic pressure were associated with increases in adolescent externalizing symptoms five years later via intermediate increases in harsh parenting. The remaining findings supported the notion that integrative developmental theory can inform family stress model hypothesis testing that is culturally and contextually relevant for wide range of diverse families and youth. For example, fathers’ perceptions of economic pressure and neighborhood danger had important implications for adolescent internalizing, via reductions in paternal warmth, but only at certain levels of neighborhood adversity. Mothers’ familism value orientations mitigated the effects of economic pressure on maternal warmth, protecting their adolescents from experiencing developmental costs associated with environmental stressors. Results are discussed in terms of identifying how integrative developmental theory intersects with the family stress model to set diverse youth on different developmental pathways.

Family stress theory can explain associations between contextual stressors and parenting. However, the theory has not been tested among Mexican Americans or expanded to include cultural-contextual risks. This study examined associations between neighborhood, economic, and acculturative stressors and parenting behaviors in a sample of 570 two-parent Mexican American families. Results support the negative impact of economic stress on parenting through parental depressive symptoms. Neighborhood stress influenced fathers' depressive symptoms and parenting, but not mothers'. The effects of acculturative stress were inconsistent. Results suggest that contextual stressors common to Mexican American families impact parenting behaviors through parental depression. KeywordsCulture; Economic hardship; Mexican American; Neighborhood; Parenting Ethnic minority groups are disproportionately exposed to a myriad of contextual stressors, including poverty, poor quality neighborhoods, and cultural stressors. For instance, almost 22% of Latinos live below the federal poverty level compared to less than 9% of non-Latino Whites (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). Many Latinos live in low quality neighborhoods (Moore & Pinderhughes, 1993). Additionally, over 70% of Latinos speak a language other than English at home (U.S. Census, 2000), and many of these do not speak English well (Shin & Bruno, 2003). Consequently, a large proportion of Latinos may face stressors associated with acculturation processes (e.g., pressures to know/use English), in addition to the stress associated with poverty and disadvantaged neighborhood conditions. This study focused on Mexican Americans, who are the largest ethnic group among U.S. immigrants and represent about two-thirds of U.S. Latinos (Ramirez & de la Cruz, 2003). Epidemiologically, Mexican Americans are at an increased risk for negative developmental outcomes, which may, in part, be due to their exposure to poverty, poor quality neighborhoods, and cultural stressors (Adler et al., 1994;Bhui et al., 2005).Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rebecca M. B. White, School of Health Management and Policy P.O. Box 874506 Tempe, AZ 85287-4506, rebecca.white@asu.edu. This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the journal. It is not the copy of record. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptSeveral individual characteristics and proximal processes, including parental psychological distress and parenting, have been investigated as mediators of the relations between contextual risks and negative outcomes in children and families. Parenting behaviors are critical shapers of child development (Colder, Mott, Levy, & Flay, 2000;Kilgore, Snyder, & Lentz, 2000) and there is abundant evidence linking parental psychopathology to impairments in parenting behaviors (Jones, Forehand, Brody, & Armistead, 2003). Specific implications of parental psychological distress include the inability to be warm and consistent,...

Child socialization and development are, in part, products of adapting cultural systems. These systems evolve from the combined influence of collective history and current environmental affordances. They permeate family systems, shaping child development via numerous mechanisms, including structures and roles; values, beliefs, and goals; and parenting-to name a few. Recent growth in the study of child development among racial, ethnic, and cultural minority groups, which has been supported by important cultural-developmental theoretical advances, sheds essential light on the ways in which adapting cultural systems permeate child socialization and development in all families. Across this scholarship, there are numerous examples of the effectiveness of adapting cultural systems for promoting developmental competencies. There are also examples, however, in which adapting cultural systems either fail to promote developmental competencies or undermine the development of competencies. To address these theoretical and empirical tensions, we advance a set of propositions. Together, the propositions situate the developmental consequences of adapting cultural systems within multiple scientific traditions, including psychological, ecological, family systems, developmental, and biological perspectives. These propositions can support scientific inquiries aimed at identifying both the benefits and costs of adaptive cultures for development among diverse groups. (PsycINFO Database Record

The current study examined how parental ethnic socialization informed adolescents’ ethnic identity development and, in turn, youths’ psychosocial functioning (i.e., mental health, social competence, academic efficacy, externalizing behaviors) among 749 Mexican-origin families. In addition, school ethnic composition was examined as a moderator of these associations. Findings indicated that mothers’ and fathers’ ethnic socialization were significant longitudinal predictors of adolescents’ ethnic identity, although fathers’ ethnic socialization interacted significantly with youths’ school ethnic composition in 5th grade to influence ethnic identity in 7th grade. Furthermore, adolescents’ ethnic identity was significantly associated with increased academic self-efficacy and social competence, and decreased depressive symptoms and externalizing behaviors. Findings support theoretical predictions regarding the central role parents play in Mexican-origin adolescents’ normative developmental processes and adjustment and, importantly, underscore the need to consider variability that is introduced into these processes by features of the social context such as school ethnic composition.

Elections present unique opportunities to study how sociopolitical events influence individual processes. The current study examined 286 young adults' mood and diurnal cortisol responses to the 2016 U.S. presidential election in real-time: two days before the election, election night, and two days after the election of Donald Trump, with the goal of understanding whether (and the extent to which) the election influenced young adults' affective and biological states. Utilizing piecewise trajectory analyses, we observed high, and increasing, negative affect leading up to the election across all participants. Young adults who had negative perceptions of Trump's ability to fulfill the role of president and/or were part of a non-dominant social group (i.e., women, ethnic/racial minority young adults) reported increased signs of stress before the election and on election night. After the election, we observed a general "recovery" in self-reported mood; however, diurnal cortisol indicators suggested that there was an increase in biological stress among some groups. Overall, findings underscore the role of macro-level factors in individuals' health and well-being via more proximal attitudes and physiological functioning.