The Protective Role of Familism in the Lives of Latino Adolescents

Abstract

Familism, a Latino value that promotes loyalty, cohesiveness, and obedience within the family, predicts improved outcomes for Latino adolescents. However, few studies have tested whether familism serves a protective role when adolescents are facing stress. We examined whether familism predicted psychosocial outcomes in the context of stress, and whether familism moderated the relationship between peer discrimination, acculturative stress, and economic stress predicting these outcomes in a sample of 173 Latino adolescents. Familism was associated with fewer depressive symptoms and greater school attachment, but it did not moderate the relationship between any of the stressors and outcomes. Discrimination was associated with greater depressive symptoms, worse school attachment, and greater perceived barriers to college, but socioeconomic stress and acculturation stress did not uniquely predict these outcomes once taking into account discrimination. Thus, although familial culture values lead to improved outcomes in youth, they are unable to counter the detrimental effects of discrimination.

Familism through a developmental lens.

“…Attitudinal familism has also been associated with a greater sense of school belonging ( Stein, Gonzalez, Cupito, Kiang, & Supple, 2013), and a strong sense of school belonging has been predictive of higher grade point average (GPA) among Latino students ( Sánchez, Colón, & Esparza, 2005). Attitudinal familism may help adolescents develop psychosocial competencies allowing them to successfully create feelings of connectedness and solidarity in the school setting ( Knight & Carlo, 2012).…”

“…Although adolescent attitudinal familism was protective against the negative effects of discrimination on risk-taking behaviors at low levels of discrimination, it was not protective at high levels of discrimination ( Umaña-Taylor, Updegraff, & Gonzales-Backen, 2011). Similarly, attitudinal familism failed to buffer against peer discrimination in predicting depressive symptoms and psychological distress ( Ayón et al, 2010;Delgado et al, 2011;Stein et al, 2013). Moreover, daughters of mothers who report high levels of attitudinal familism perceived greater discrimination ( Delgado et al, 2011), and yet, discrimination results in an increase in Latino cultural values ( Berkel et al, 2010).…”

Parental attachment among Chinese, Italian, and Costa Rican adolescents: A cross-cultural study

“…Confucian beliefs emphasize the importance of parental control and filial piety (Hwang, 1999;Wu et al, 2002), and parent-child relationships are characterized by a unidirectional obligation of Chinese children towards their family and the seniors, where obedience and respect to parents are held as central values (Yeh & Bedford, 2004). Harmony, interdependence and ''respeto'' among family members are fundamental values also in Costa Rica (Stein, Gonzalez, Cupito, Kiang, & Supple, 2013). Different from China, freedom and autonomy are also cherished in this country, involving a focus on personal and family affairs, which have the priority over social welfare (Keller et al, 2004).…”

Five Personality Types Based on Big Five: A Latent Class Analysis

“…The "Latino Immigrant Paradox" (Alegría, et al, 2008, p. 359) posits that being an immigrant may serve as a protective factor against poor health outcomes despite the reality that immigrants are more likely than U.S. born residents to experience discrimination, to have low incomes and limited English proficiency, and to be uninsured (Hall & Farkas, 2008). Some studies suggest that family values such as familism and strong social support networks serve as protective factors for Latina/o populations (e.g., Stein, Gonzalez, Cupito, Kiang, & Supple, 2013) and may partially explain the Latina/o immigrant paradox. The protective factor of being an immigrant, however, may come with an expiration date since some studies also suggest that the longer immigrants reside in the U.S., the more their health deteriorates (Carter-Pokras, Zambrana, Yankelvich, Estrada, Castillo-Salgado, & Ortega, 2008).…”