Familism, mother-daughter mutuality, and suicide attempts of adolescent Latinas.

National surveys in the U.S. reveal that Latina adolescents have higher rates of suicide attempts than females of other ethnic and racial groups. Past reports indicate that the suicide attempts among Latinas are lodged within family contexts in which sociocultural and individual experiences influence parental and adolescent behaviors. To better understand the parent-adolescent relations that explain the Latina suicidal phenomenon, we examined how the high value on family unity and support, as reflected by familism, and its effects on mother-daughter mutuality (i.e., reciprocal empathy and engagement) were evident in a group of adolescent Latinas with suicide attempts and a group of adolescent Latinas without suicide attempts. Drawing from data on 169 mother-daughter dyads recruited from Latino communities in a Northeastern metropolis and who self-identified as being of Latino origin or heritage, we considered how differences in familism between mothers and daughters influenced their sense of mutuality, the adolescents' internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and suicide attempts. Results show that gaps in familism (mothers scoring higher than their daughters on the scale) predicted less mother-daughter mutuality and more externalizing behaviors in the adolescents. Also, mother-daughter mutuality was negatively related to internalizing and externalizing behaviors which, in turn, predicted suicide attempts. Findings point to further research on family interactions that raise the risk for suicidality in Latino youth, particularly to including fathers and siblings in study designs. Clinical implications point to enhancing family and dyadic communication skills focusing mutuality while observing the cultural value of familism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of familism in stress and coping processes among African American and White dementia caregivers: Effects on mental and physical health.

Objective: To explore how familism, burden, and coping styles mediate the relationships between ethnicity and the mental and physical health of caregivers. Design: A probability sample of 65 White and 95 African Americans respondents caring for an older family member with dementia was used to test hypotheses from a sociocultural stress and coping model using path analysis. Main outcome measures: Measures of caregivers' health included subjective health, self-reported diseases, blood pressure, and heart rate. Mental health measures included self-reported depression and psychological symptoms. Results: Contrary to the hypothesis, familism had an adverse effect on outcomes and was related to low education levels rather than to African American ethnicity. A buffering effect of active coping between being African American and diastolic blood pressure was found even after controlling for levels of education. Conclusions: Findings supported a core stress and coping model in which more behavior problems of care recipients were associated with poorer mental health of caregivers via greater burden and more use of avoidant coping. Results also demonstrate that this core model can be extended to physical health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of familism in the relation between parent–child discord and psychological distress among emerging adults of Mexican descent.

Although parent–child discord is a predictor of distress among emerging adults, little is known about this important link among Mexican-descent populations. This is an important gap, given Mexican Americans’ high risk for psychological distress and their expected high value placed on close family ties. This topic was studied in a sample of 392 college students from El Paso, TX (n = 193) and from Ciudad Juárez, México (n = 199). The authors tested a stress-appraisal model with self-report measures of familism, parent–child discord, threat appraisals of parent–child discord, and psychological distress. As predicted, threat appraisals partially mediated the relation between parent–child discord and psychological distress. Moreover, the relation between parent–child discord and threat appraisals was stronger at higher than at lower levels of familism. Study findings highlight the need to consider that, under certain conditions, familism may increase risk of distress among emerging adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural strengths as moderators of the relationship between acculturation to the mainstream U.S. Society and eating- and body-related concerns among Mexican American women.

This study explored whether 3 culturally relevant variables (i.e., ethnic identity, familism, and enculturation) operated as sources of strength for 209 Mexican American women by buffering the relationship between their acculturation to the mainstream U.S. society and eating- and body-related concerns. In an effort to capture the underlying dimensions of women’s eating- and body-related concerns, the authors used principal components analysis to identify 3 components: control concerns, restricted eating, and body dissatisfaction. As hypothesized, results from a series of hierarchical regressions suggested familism significantly buffered the links between acculturation to the mainstream U.S. society and all 3 eating- and body-related variables. However, enculturation did not moderate the associations, and ethnic identity moderated only the link between acculturation and restricted eating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A test of the social development model during the transition to junior high with Mexican American adolescents.

Mexican American adolescents have higher rates of externalizing problems than their peers from other ethnic and racial groups. To begin the process of understanding factors related to externalizing problems in this population, this study used the social development model (SDM) and prospective data across the transition to junior high school from 750 diverse Mexican American families. In addition, the authors examined whether familism values provided a protective effect for relations within the model. Results showed that the SDM worked well for this sample. As expected, association with deviant peers was the primary predictor of externalizing behaviors. There was support for a protective effect in that adolescents with higher familism values had slower rates of increase in association with deviant peers from 5th to 7th grades than those with lower familism values. Future research needs to determine whether additional culturally appropriate modifications of the SDM would increase its usefulness for Mexican American adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent sibling relationships in Mexican American families: Exploring the role of familism.

To address a significant gap in the literature on normative processes in minority families, the authors studied adolescents' sibling relationships in two-parent Mexican American families and explored connections between sibling relationship characteristics and familism. Participants were 246 adolescent Mexican American sibling pairs who participated in (a) home interviews during which adolescents described their sibling relationships and familism values and (b) a series of 7 nightly phone calls during which adolescents reported their daily activities, including time spent with siblings and family members. Siblings described their relationships as both intimate and conflictual, and daily activity data revealed that they spent an average of 17.2 hr per 7 days in shared activities. Sibling relationship qualities were linked to familism values and practices, and stronger patterns of association emerged for sisters than brothers. Discussion highlights the significance of studying the processes that underlie within-group variations among families of different cultural backgrounds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)