Conflict resolution among field-independent and field-dependent Anglo-American and Mexican-American children and their mothers.

32 Anglo-American and Mexican-American boys and girls selected for their extreme field independence or dependence (Man-in-the Frame box, adapted from the rod-and-frame test) interacted with their mothers in 3 role plays designed to provoke conflict over issues of maternal authority and children's independence. The mother–child interactions were recorded, transcribed, and content analyzed. Anglo-American children more often than Mexican-American children entered and persisted in direct conflict with their mothers as indicated by a number of variables such as disagreement and justification of their own will. There was some tendency for Mexican-American mothers to ask fewer questions and to assert their own will more than Anglo-American mothers. Field independence among boys, but field dependence among girls, was associated with more assertive behaviors. Mothers of field-independent children used a somewhat more elaborate verbal code. The study supports hypothesized cultural differences in mother–child interaction patterns, but fails to support the presumed socialization antecedents of field dependence and the cross-sex generality of its correlates. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher accuracy in decoding nonverbal indicants of comprehension and noncomprehension in Anglo- and Mexican-American children.

Examined the degree to which Anglo- and Mexican-American 1st-grade teachers can accurately decode nonverbal indicants of comprehension and noncomprehension in young children. 16 teachers from each group viewed silent videotapes (visual cues only) of 3 groups of 1st graders—Anglo-American, proficient bilingual, and limited English-speaking Mexican-American—while the children listened to an easy or difficult lesson on animal habitats. There were 24 boys and 24 girls, and 16 Ss in each linguistic grouping. The Ss estimated the students' level of understanding on the basis of their nonverbal responses. Degree of accuracy was assessed by comparing Ss' ratings of comprehension with the children's actual posttest comprehension scores. No differences in decoding accuracy between S groups were found. Ss perceived boys as understanding more than girls, particularly in the Anglo-American and limited English-speaking groups. Training raters improved overall decoding accuracy. Slight cultural differences were found in children's nonverbal behavior, but it did not appear that the behavior was misinterpreted by either group of Ss. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of physical activity at home in Mexican-American and Anglo-American preschool children.

22 potential correlates of children's physical activity were examined. 201 Mexican-American and 146 Anglo-American families with 4-yr-old children were studied. Children's physical activity was directly observed in the evening at home on 4 visits for 1 hr each time. Anglo-American children and male children were found to be more active. Demographic variables explained 11% of the variance in children's physical activity. After adjusting for demographics, 3 children's variables and 6 social-family variables did not account for significantly more variance. Five environmental variables accounted for 11% additional variance. Variables observed concurrently with physical activity, such as time spent outdoors and prompts to be active, were highly associated with children's physical activity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preferences toward Mexican-American and Anglo-American psychotherapists.

94 Mexican-American and 93 Anglo-American community college students listened to 1 of 2 matched therapy audiotapes. Using the same dialogue, in one tape the therapist spoke fluent English with a slight Spanish accent; in the other tape he spoke fluent English with a standard American accent. The therapist was identified as being either a Mexican-American or Anglo-American professional or nonprofessional. Both ethnic groups attributed more skill, understanding, trustworthiness, and attractiveness to the Anglo-American professional and the Mexican-American nonprofessional. The Mexican-American professional was seen by both groups less favorably than was the Mexican-American nonprofessional. Mexican-Americans showed a more favorable attitude toward the usefulness of therapy than did Anglo-Americans. Implications for the delivery of psychological services to Mexican-Americans and other minorities are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of three field-dependence measures to the reading and math achievement of Anglo American and Mexican American children.

Previous studies relating field dependence to the superior academic achievement of Anglo-American children relative to Mexican-American children have relied exclusively on single-method approaches of measuring this cognitive style. The present study attempted to make a more comprehensive test of the relationship between field dependence and achievement by comparing members of both cultural groups on 3 commonly used measures of field dependence in order to determine the consistency of cross-cultural differences, intercorrelations, and predictive validity of these measures for Anglo-American and Mexican-American schoolchildren. 40 Mexican-American and 40 Anglo-American 1st–4th graders served as Ss and were administered the WISC Block Design subtest, the Children's Embedded Figures Test, and the portable rod-and-frame test. Results generally fail to support the assumptions that (a) Mexican-American children are more field dependent than Anglo-American children, (b) intercorrelations between the 3 field-dependence tests should be significant and comparable for members of both cultural groups, and (c) field dependence is of substantial importance to the school achievement of Anglo-American and Mexican-American children. The educational implications of the findings are discussed. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Viewing bilingual multicultural educational television: An empirical analysis of children's behaviors during television viewing.

Presents a methodology for reliably observing and recording children's behaviors during television viewing. 385 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-grade Mexican-American, Puerto Rica, Cuban-American, and Anglo-American children viewed 2 Carrascolendas pilot programs, and their visual attention, facial expressions of mirth, verbal and nonverbal imitations, and program- and nonprogram-related verbalizations were measured. The relationships of these behaviors to each other, to perceptual-cognitive ability, to language used in the home, and to family socioeconomic and educational status; the stability of the behaviors over time and across programs; and the effects and interactions of ethnic group membership, grade level, and sex on behavior were examined. Findings of ethnic differences may be related to either (a) differential understanding of portions of the programs due to the language spoken, or (b) differential appeal of the material, (c) culturally determined differences in the degree, frequency, and pattern in which the behaviors studied are produced in each of the ethnic groups, or (d) cultural differences in the observers. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of adaptive assertiveness in Mexican and United States children.

Used a novel behavioral task, the assertiveness pull scale, and unobtrusive measures (e.g., number of questions asked of E) to assess the development of assertiveness of 154 boys and girls of 3 age groups (5-6, 7-9 and 10-12 yrs) in 4 populations. Urban middle-class Anglo-American children were significantly more assertive than semirural poor Anglo-American and Mexican-American children, who did not differ from each other but who were both significantly more assertive than rural poor Mexican children. Assertiveness increased with age for all groups, but at a slower rate among rural Mexican than among US children. No significant effects due to sex were observed. Results parallel population and age findings of previous studies of competitiveness. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental communication deviance and schizophrenia: A cross-cultural comparison of Mexican- and Anglo-Americans.

Levels of parental communication deviance (CD), as measured on the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), were compared among families of schizophrenic patients in two culturally distinct groups. Spanish-speaking Mexican-American parents of schizophrenics completed the TAT in their native language, and CD was coded from their stories by a Spanish-speaking rater. Mexican-American parents had levels of CD that were nearly identical to those of a carefully matched sample of English-speaking Anglo-American parents. Factor scores that measure distinct subtypes of CD also did not differ across groups. The data suggest that levels of CD, despite discriminating between parents of schizophrenics and nonschizophrenics, do not vary across different languages and cultures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of counselor technique on Mexican-American and Anglo-American self-disclosure and counselor perception.

A counseling analog study examined the effects of 3 interviewing techniques on 124 Mexican-American and Anglo-American undergraduates' willingness to self-disclose and perception of the counselor. The interviewing techniques manipulated were probing, disclosing, and reflecting. No differences across intervention techniques were found on the total scores of the disclosure questionnaire. Females disclosed less than males on the Body subscale of the disclosure questionnaire, but no ethnic differences in willingness to disclose were found. There were no differences in scores on the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI). Significantly more Ss in the probing than the reflecting condition indicated they would return for a 2nd interview. A positive correlation between willingness to disclose and scores on the BLRI was found. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Premorbid social competence construct generalizability across ethnic groups: Path analyses with two premorbid social competence components.

Studied the stability across ethnic groups of interrelations among 5 variables (education, age at 1st psychiatric hospitalization, current age, alcoholism symptom severity, and behavioral adjustment while hospitalized) using path analysis. 24 male Mexican Americans, mean age 39.8 yrs, and 24 male Anglo Americans, mean age 47.1 yrs, were studied. Behavioral adjustment was determined with the MACC Behavioral Adjustment Scale. Certain findings involving 4 variables were consistent with theoretical expectations for the Anglo-American group but were reversed in the Mexican-American group. Methodological and theoretical implications are presented. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child-rearing reports of White, Black, and Mexican-American families.

Compared child-rearing practices of 29 White, 30 Black, and 31 Mexican-American families with a 5-yr-old Head Start child. Results indicate that the techniques used to socialize children among the 3 cultural groups were similar; only their desired ends differed. Mexican-American parents were most consistent in their use of reward and punishment methods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of competitive behavior as a function of culture, age, and social comparison.

Observed the choice behavior of 868 dyads of 2nd-, 4th-, and 6th-grade children from 5 different cultural backgrounds (Mexican-American, Anglo-American, Japanese, Greek, and Belgian) in the maximizing difference game, an outcome interdependence task where individualistic and cooperative motives were placed in opposition to competitive ones. In 4 cultures, boys received either social comparison feedback or only information concerning their own cumulative scores. As predicted, the level of competitive responding increased as a function of age, social comparison information, and number of trials. Further, there were systematic cultural differences. A newly developed covariation analysis revealed that individual dyad variation accounted for more covariation than the main effects noted above. Hence, several types of within-dyad analyses were performed. Finally, cultures were classified in terms of the characteristic play by dyad members and the results compared with a classification developed by M. Mead (1937), in which she ordered the cooperative, competitive, and individualistic orientations of members of 13 "primitive" societies. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Competition and school achievement among Anglo-American and Mexican-American children.

Tested the hypothesis that the less competitive orientation of Mexican-American children is related to their lower school achievement. 230 Anglo-American and Mexican-American children attending kindergarten, Grades 1–2, 4, and 6 of a semirural low-income school were administered individual measures of competition, individualism, field independence, and school achievement (California Achievement Tests, Cooperative Primary Tests, and the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills). Results indicate significant effects of culture, sex, and age, but competition and individualism were not significantly correlated with each other and were not consistently related to field independence and school achievement. Results support the general conclusion that the less competitive social orientation of Mexican-American children as measured by experimental games is not necessarily a disadvantage with regard to school achievement. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of time perspective in three cultural groups: A cultural difference or an expectancy interpretation.

Administered T. J. Cottle and J. Peck's Lines Test to 120 10-12 and 14-17 yr old Anglo-American, Indian-American, and Mexican-American boys. Significant main effects for cultural group, age level, and Group * Age interactions support an expectancy interpretation of time perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of MMPI scores of Anglo- and Mexican-American psychiatric patients.

Reports MMPI profiles of 40 bilingual Mexican-American and 109 Anglo-American psychiatric patients. There were controls for the major variables of age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and presenting problem. With K -corrected T scores, Mexican-American Ss scored higher on the L and K scales and significantly lower on the Pd, Pt, and Ma scales. Anglo-American males scored higher than Mexican-American males on the Mf scale. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectations about counseling in relation to acculturation in Mexican-American and Anglo-American student samples.

A rationale for the role of client expectations in counseling theory and practice with Mexican Americans is set forth. The Expectations About Counseling-Brief form questionnaire (K. Washington and H. E. Tinsley, 1982) and the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans (I. Cuellar et al; see record 1981-27035-001) were administered to 213 Mexican-American and 137 Anglo-American subjects. Data from questionnaires were augmented through semi-structured interviews with each group. Levels of acculturation, gender, and previous experience with counseling were evaluated for their influence on expressed expectations in each ethnic group. Although no significant group effects were noted, expectations did significantly vary with acculturation categories. Implications of these results for counseling theory and practice with Mexican Americans are briefly discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent ratings of children's social skills: Longitudinal psychometric analyses of the Social Skills Rating System.

The assessment of children's social skills is an important task for school psychologists in both applied and research settings. The present study examines the psychometric properties of parent ratings of the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS), in kindergarten through third grades, testing for measurement differences between boys and girls, between African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic children, and across time from kindergarten through third grades. The analyses used a longitudinal sample of 4345 children from over 600 schools in 30 states to examine these questions using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. Results provide qualified support for the use of the SSRS for kindergarten through 3rd-grade students across these different populations. However, if scored according to the manual, these results indicate that the measure may not be assessing the same construct over time or for all ethnic groups. If corrections to the factor structure and scoring system are incorporated, these results provide a basis for using parent ratings of the SSRS to assess social skills and problem behaviors across time, ethnicity, and sex in early elementary school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative responses of Mexican Americans and Anglo-Americans to early goal setting in a public mental health clinic.

I compared Mexican-American and Anglo-American clients at a community mental health center to determine possible differences in response to a program of early goal setting in counseling. Differences in response were measured by assessing the number of kept, cancelled, and broken appointments. I hypothesized that (a) Mexican Americans would have a stronger negative response than Anglo-Americans, (b) shorter time frames for goal setting would result in greater negative response among all clients, and (c) sex differences in terms of response would exist among Mexican-American clients. None of these hypotheses was fully supported by the data. Overall, the research suggested that both ethnic groups respond similarly and positively to goal setting even when problems must be discussed and goals must be set very early in the counseling process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of behavior problems in Anglo-American and Mexican-American preschool children: A comparative study.

Compared the factor structure of a modified Behavior Problem Checklist for 208 Mexican-American (MA) and 208 Anglo-American 3–5 yr olds from low socioeconomic class families. Of the 5 factors extracted for each group, only the Anxiety-Withdrawal dimension exhibited strong cross-cultural similarity. Two other MA factors, Distractible-Hypoactive and Anxious-Negativism, were interpretable within the framework of MA culture. Results suggest that emergent classification systems should allow for cultural variation in symptom expression. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting knowledge: Experiential and sociodemographic factors in European American mothers of young children.

Knowledge of child rearing and child development is relevant to parenting and the well-being of children. Using a sociodemographically heterogeneous sample of 268 European American mothers of 2-year-olds, we assessed the state of mothers' parenting knowledge; compared parenting knowledge in groups of mothers who varied in terms of parenthood and social status; and identified principal sources of mothers' parenting knowledge in terms of social factors, parenting supports, and formal classes. On the whole, European American mothers demonstrated fair but less than complete basic parenting knowledge; age, education, and rated helpfulness of written materials each uniquely contributed to mothers' knowledge. Adult mothers scored higher than adolescent mothers, and mothers improved in their knowledge of parenting from their first to their second child (and were stable across time). No differences were found between mothers of girls and boys, mothers who varied in employment status, or birth and adoptive mothers. The implications of variation in parenting knowledge and its sources for parenting education and clinical interactions with parents are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)