Associations Among Familism, Language Preference, and Education in Mexican-American Mothers and Their Children

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Latino families who express a higher degree of familism are characterized by positive interpersonal familial relationships, high family unity, social support, interdependence in the completion of daily activities, and close proximity with extended family members. Retention of cultural values, such as familism, may be linked to positive health outcomes; however, little is known about how families retain culture of origin values in the face of acculturation pressures. The current study explores acculturation influences as indexed by language preference and household education on maternal and child familism. Mothers and children of Mexican descent (fourth grade students) (n = 219) completed measures of demographics, household education, language preference, and familism. Three hypotheses were examined. First, we predicted that lower household education would be correlated with higher familism scores. However, contrary to our prediction, a higher familism score was significantly associated with a higher level of household education (p < .05). Second, we predicted that higher child familism would be associated with the preference for speaking Spanish. Children who preferred to use both English and Spanish (p < .01) or English alone (p < .05) had higher familism scores than those who preferred Spanish. Third, we predicted that lower child familism scores would be associated with greater differences in mother and child language preferences. There were no significant differences in child familism based on differences between parent and child language. Protective influences of cultural maintenance deserve further attention in longitudinal studies and in relation to the physical and mental health of youth. J Dev Behav Pediatr 025: 34 -40, 2004. Index terms: Familism, language preference, Mexican-American.It is helpful for clinicians who work with families from different cultures to be aware of normative beliefs, values, attitudes, and practices that are commonly identified in a particular group. But it is also crucially important to recognize that there is often as much variation in beliefs and practices within groups as among different groups. Knowledge of such variability guards against stereotyping. This article describes differences in expression of a common traditional cultural value ( familism) within a group of Mexican-American families based on the level of acculturation and other sociodemographic factors. Results show that the relationships among these variables are complex and require further study. -Editor Familism is a construct that reflects the collectivistic nature of Latino culture, in other words, the orientation toward the welfare of the group. 1 Latino families who express a higher degree of familism are characterized by positive interpersonal familial relationships, high family unity, social support, interdependence in the completion of daily activities, and close proximity with extended family members. [2][3][4][5][6]

Social cohesion, social support, and health among Latinos in the United States

“…There appears to be something protective for broad mental health about maintaining Spanish language capacity, possibly indicative of wider social connections. A small study found that children who preferred to speak both English and Spanish had higher rates of familism than those who spoke Spanish only (Romero, Robinson, Haydel, Mendoza, & Killen, 2004). The positive mental health effect for those who think in English but maintain strong Spanish speaking capabilities requires further research.…”

Familism through a developmental lens.

“…However, only one of these studies examined the impact of these parenting practices on child behaviors via child familism values such that maternal attitudinal familism was directly and indirectly associated with child prosocial behavior partially through child familism values ( Calderón-Tena et al, 2011). One other article at this stage examined family contextual predictors finding that higher levels of parental education were associated with higher maternal familism, and also surprisingly, preference for English or bilingualism was also associated with higher child familism ( Romero, Robinson, Haydel, Mendoza, & Killen, 2004).…”

Does Familism Lead to Increased Parental Monitoring?: Protective factors for Coping with Risky Behaviors

“…Familism was measured with the Family Impact Scale; this scale was developed for diverse adolescents (Colon, 1998) and has demonstrated good reliability (α = .81) with a similar samples of Mexican heritage youth (Romero et al, 2004). There are two subscales for this measure (1) Family proximity -amount of time spent with family members; and (2) Parent Closeness -perception of closeness to parents.…”