Mexican American adolescent couples' vulnerability for observed negativity and physical violence: Pregnancy and acculturation mismatch

Abstract

Stress and vulnerability for dating violence may be heightened among acculturating Mexican American (MA) adolescents, and MA adolescent parents, because of differing cultural values and norms within romantic relationships. We hypothesized, in a sample of MA heterosexual couples (N = 30, 15–17 years), that: 1) within‐couple level acculturation discrepancies, and pregnancy/parenting, would predict physical violence perpetration, and 2) that this association would have an indirect effect through couple‐level negativity during an observed dyadic video‐taped discussion of conflict. Using a path model we found that pregnant/parenting adolescents (B = .37, SE = .16, p = .002), and couples with greater acculturation mismatch resulted in greater couple negativity (B = .16, SE = .06, p = .01), which was associated with self‐reported physical violence perpetration (B = .41, SE = .22, p = .02; indirect effect, B = .15, SE = .07, p = .03). Within‐couple acculturation discrepancies and pregnancy/parenting may be a pathway to dating violence through poor communication skills around conflict for MA youth. Support services that strengthen communication skills, particularly for pregnant/parenting couples, are recommended.

Understanding the roles of masculinity and transnationality in family formation for a Mexican-American adolescent father

“…José-Luis' Mexican-American transnational background placed him in a unique location within Latino youth, making his experience different from those with a more static national connection. In areas with higher populations of transnational youth, practitioners should recognize the challenges youth face in navigating multiple contexts (Williams et al 2012;Williams and Rueda 2016). Although this study was limited to a single case, José-Luis' experiences of navigating multiple cultures can provide a starting point to better understanding these challenges.…”

“…Intersectionality recognizes that these experiences are all interconnected within a single individual (May 2015). Transnational adolescent fathers have unique experiences navigating the social norms and challenges of adolescent fathering (e.g., heightened probability of co-parental conflict; Williams and Rueda 2016) at the intersection of identities, social locations, and adolescent identity development (Brown and Larson 2009). Transnational adolescents must navigate identity development with cross-cultural expectations and intersecting family, gender, and cultural identities (de los Rios 2017; Sánchez and Machado-Casas 2009).…”

“…Much like a transnational identity, fatherhood is an important identity for many men and is also flexible across different contexts (Pasley et al 2014). Fatherhood is not a singular experience for all fathers and varies across multiple identities, including culture and age (Palkovitz and Hull 2018;Williams and Rueda 2016). Fathers' experiences might vary based on other experiences occurring at personal, interpersonal, and contextual levels (Palkovitz and Hull 2018).…”

“…This paucity of research on transnational adolescent fatherhood is troubling given that this population has a heightened potential for vulnerabilities given their multiple minoritized social locations (Palkovitz and Hull 2018). Mexican-American fathers might have unique stressors, including acculturation stress (Williams and Rueda 2016), that might sometimes occur as a result of differences in transnational experiences.…”

“…Although there is limited research from which to understand Mexican-American adolescent fatherhood (Parra-Cardona et al 2006;Williams and Rueda 2016), research on adult Mexican-American fatherhood lends some insight. Critiques of extant research have noted how these fathers are often stereotyped as being uninvolved, authoritarian, and irresponsible (Saracho and Spodek 2007).…”