Beliefs about Child-Rearing and Development in Spain and Peru. A Comparative Analysis for Adapting Parenting Support Programs

Abstract

Migrant families who settle in host cultures may find themselves in situations of vulnerability which hinder the exercise of their parental responsibilities. While there are many support programs targeted at these families, they are n ot always sensitive to the acculturation process. This article compares beliefs about child-rearing and development in Spain and Peru, with the aim of enabling interventions to be adapted to the cultural characteristics of Peruvian families living in Spain. To this end, 43 Spanish and 39 Peruvian professionals and parents participated in a Delphi process, in which they ranked issues corresponding to four topics: child and adolescent needs, functions of the family context, functions of the school context, and the value of childhood and adolescence for society. The results revealed many similarities and some differences between the cultural parenting knowledge of Spanish and Peruvian families. The implications of these results for adapting parenting support programs to migrant Peruvian families are discussed. Specifically, the article concludes that Peruvian families require special support in two areas: establishing rules and limits for children and parental involvement in the school, both of which are key aspects for promoting parenting practices which are better adapted to the families’ new cultural context.

Analyzing when parental warmth but without parental strictness leads to more adolescent empathy and self-concept: Evidence from Spanish homes

“…Parental warmth could be especially beneficial if the cultural context values the collective (e.g., the family), but with relationships between members that, despite having a different status (parents as adults vs. children and adolescents), tend to be more egalitarian and not so hierarchical, so the parental strict component (common in authoritative families) could be unnecessary or even detrimental since it could be perceived by the children as intrusive ( Martínez and Garcia, 2007 ; Climent-Galarza et al, 2022 ). Thus, the same family (e.g., authoritarian, authoritative and indulgent) could have a different impact on child development, maybe because of the children’s assessment of whether their family loves and appreciates them (family self-concept; Baumrind, 1996 ; Deater-Deckard et al, 1996 ; Martínez et al, 2021 ), or perhaps in part by parenting beliefs ( Ridao et al, 2021 ) which, in turn, are influenced by culture ( Rubin and Chung, 2006 ; Sanchez et al, 2020 ). As a previous parenting study noted ( Garcia et al, 2019 ), it seems that the three parenting stages (i.e., authoritarian, authoritative and indulgent) might coincide at the same time in different environments, context, and cultures, thus extending previous evidence on the traditional paradigm with only two stages (i.e., authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles).…”

Spanish Adaptation and Validation of the Child Adjustment and Parent Efficacy Scale

“…CAPES could be useful for professionals involved with parents in order to improve the positive exercise of parenting, or for those who have a high conflict [39] either in the educational or school context [40,41], or in a legal setting, for example in the judicial assessment of custody [42], in family mediation [43], in parenting coordination [44], in family court therapy [45], and in any other type of intervention in which the inter-parent relationship has to be improved. Future research could specifically study these applications.…”

Parental Beliefs about Childhood and Adolescence from a Longitudinal Perspective

“…Thus, parents with a better knowledge of child-rearing and development tend to feel more satisfied with their parenting, make more internal attributions of their parental achievements and employ more positive parenting practices, all of which have a positive impact on their children’s adjustment [ 10 , 11 ]. Secondly, parental beliefs are considered key components in family interventions, acting as natural resources or assets for promoting more optimal parenting styles in accordance with social and cultural contexts of origin [ 12 , 13 ].…”

“…Once established, this set of beliefs determines how mothers and fathers parent and play a key role in the family system and in the socialization of children and adolescents. It also offers parents an on-going, unconscious framework for both assessing their children’s behavior and providing them with stimulating, affectionate, restrictive and inductive interactions and development opportunities [ 13 , 40 ].…”