Discrimination and Acculturation Stress: A Longitudinal Study of Children's Well-Being from Prenatal Development to 5 Years of Age

Abstract

Objective To examine whether cumulative family discrimination and acculturation stress (prenatally to 24-months postpartum) among Mexican-origin adolescent mothers and their mother-figures predicted children’s socio-emotional functioning and academic achievement at 5 years of age, and the role of maternal depressive symptoms and mother-child interactions in the association. Methods Mexican-origin families (N = 204) with an adolescent mother, a child, and a mother-figure participated in a 6-wave longitudinal study (2007 to 2013). Families were recruited and interviewed during the adolescent mothers’ pregnancy; adolescent mothers, mother-figures, and children were then assessed annually for the next 5 years using a combination of interview-based survey and observational methods. Maternal reports of children’s socio-emotional behaviors (measured using the Child Behavior Checklist) and children’s academic achievement (assessed with the Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement/Bateria III Woodcock-Muñoz) were used. Results Structural equation modeling revealed that greater cumulative family discrimination and acculturation stress from pregnancy to 24-months postpartum predicted higher adolescent mothers’ depressive symptoms, greater mother-child intrusive interactions, and less mother sensitivity at 36-months postpartum. Maternal depressive symptoms were positively related to children’s CBCL symptoms at 60-months postpartum. Greater cumulative discrimination and acculturation stressors directly predicted children’s lower Woodcock Johnson/Bateria test scores, after accounting for socio-economic status. Conclusions Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ and mother figures’ cumulative discrimination and acculturation stress from pregnancy through children’s second birthday predicted children’s socio-emotional and academic achievement at age 5. Overall, the findings underscore the cumulative impact of these stressors on well-being in a population with substantial public health significance.

Intergenerational Consequences: Women's Experiences of Discrimination in Pregnancy Predict Infant Social-Emotional Development at 6 Months and 1 Year

“…12 Another study found that among Mexican-origin families, cumulative discrimination experienced by adolescent mothers/mother figures from pregnancy through 24 months postpartum predicted poorer social-emotional development and academic achievement in children at 5 years. 21 A daily diary study with Mexican immigrant parents of 3 to 5 year old children also found that on days that parents experienced greater discrimination at the workplace, they reported more externalizing and internalizing behaviors as well as less positive behaviors in their children. 22 These findings support that there are intergenerational consequences of discrimination beyond birth outcomes.…”

Maternal depression in Latinas and child socioemotional development: A systematic review

“…Culture-specific stressors (e.g., discrimination, stressful life events, and acculturative stress) have predicted parental depression [36,37] and provide key sociocultural contexts in which to examine maternal and child health [38]. Acculturative stress, stemming from psychosocial adjustment to a host culture, may affect both immigrants and later generations who have simultaneously assimilated to a new culture and maintained cultural heritage [39].…”

Discrimination and Ethnic–Racial Identity: Understanding Direction of Effects Using Within‐ and Between‐Person Analyses

“…Specific to adolescent mothers, this may mean that prevention programs, which typically focus on supporting adolescent mothers' parenting processes (e.g., Easterbrooks, Kotake, Raskin, & Bumgamer, 2016;Jacobs et al, 2016), should also consider adolescent mothers' experiences that are not solely tied to their parenting status. Growing evidence suggests that parents' discrimination experiences impact parent-child interactions and children's developmental outcomes (Zeiders, Umaña-Taylor, Jahromi, Updegraff, & White, 2016). Thus, practitioners and family members should be aware that experiences of discrimination can pose significant risks to adolescent mothers, their ERI development, their parenting, and ultimately their young children's development.…”