RESUMEN
Family is an important context for the development of adaptive child coping. Further, both family and child coping can promote positive mental health. This study examines whether family coping predicts child coping over 1 year among Mexican-origin immigrant families. Participants included 104 families with a child aged 6-10 years (Mage = 8.39, 61% female) and at least 1 Mexican-origin parent. The majority of primary caregivers (Mage = 37.13) identified as female (97%), while 82% of secondary caregivers (Mage = 43.14) identified as male. Family income was 150% of the poverty line or below. Families completed video-recorded interaction tasks and family coping strategies were coded. Caregivers completed surveys on children's coping. Family problem solving was associated with child primary and secondary control coping concurrently and predicted less use of disengagement over time. Family reframing was linked to less disengagement concurrently, and predicted child secondary control coping over time. Family coping may promote adaptive child coping among immigrant families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Asunto(s)
Adaptación Psicológica , Emigrantes e Inmigrantes , Cuidadores , Niño , Familia , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
Low-income children of Mexican immigrants are at high risk for obesity. Drawing on a sample of 104 Mexican American children (Mage = 8.39 years; 61% female), this longitudinal study considered relations between food insecurity and chronic stress (ie, parent report and hair cortisol measurement) on body mass index (BMI) and examined whether stress moderated associations between food insecurity and BMI. Analyses revealed that undocumented status was associated with food insecurity and chronic stress but not when accounting for poverty. Food insecurity was only associated with higher BMI for children with the highest hair cortisol. Results suggest that chronic stress may impact body weight among food-insecure children.
Asunto(s)
Índice de Masa Corporal , Abastecimiento de Alimentos/estadística & datos numéricos , Obesidad/etnología , Pobreza/etnología , Estrés Psicológico/psicología , Niño , Femenino , Humanos , Estudios Longitudinales , Masculino , Americanos MexicanosRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Risk for obesity increases for Mexican-origin immigrants and their children upon arrival in the USA. Acculturative factors have been shown to play a role, but the significance and directionality of this relation may differ based on the method used to measure acculturation. METHOD: This study examines the cross-sectional relations between several measures of acculturation and child zBMI, as well as the 12-month longitudinal relations between these measures and child BMI (adjusted for age and gender), in a sample of 102 6- to 11-year-old, Mexican-origin youth. RESULTS: Cross-sectional results indicated that two measures, greater preference for English and higher Anglo Orientation, were positively associated cross-sectionally with higher zBMI (p = 0.002 and p = 0.011, respectively). Only English language preference remained significant in longitudinal analyses (p = 0.047). Parental duration of residence and the child's number of immigrant parents were not significantly associated with zBMI cross-sectionally or BMI longitudinally. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that language proxy measures of acculturation present similar findings to multidimensional measures when assessing child weight and support the idea that behavioral or emotional changes that accompany integration into US culture may contribute to obesity development.
Asunto(s)
Aculturación , Americanos Mexicanos/estadística & datos numéricos , Obesidad Infantil/etnología , Índice de Masa Corporal , Niño , Femenino , Humanos , Lenguaje , Estudios Longitudinales , Masculino , Factores de TiempoRESUMEN
Currently, 15 million Mexican and Central American individuals live in the United States, with this number projected to rise in the next few decades (Lesser & Batalova, 2017; Zong & Batalova, 2017). Research has begun to investigate the impact of the nation's immigration practices and policies on immigrant Latino/a families and youth. Current immigration policies can create vulnerabilities, including fear and mistrust, discrimination, limited access to services, parent-child separation, and poverty. These experiences increase risk for poor mental health outcomes and may exacerbate prior exposure to traumas in the home country (e.g., violence) and during migration (e.g., extortion). This paper reviews current immigration policies for arriving Mexican and Central American immigrants and links to mental health among documented and undocumented immigrant families and youth. A discussion of positive policies and resources that may mitigate the damaging impact of immigration-related stress is included. Finally, social justice implications for clinicians and researchers are discussed, with culturally sensitive interventions, advocacy, and dissemination of research and policy as primary recommendations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
Asunto(s)
Emigrantes e Inmigrantes/psicología , Emigración e Inmigración/legislación & jurisprudencia , Familia/psicología , Hispánicos o Latinos/psicología , Salud Mental , Adolescente , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Política Pública , Estados UnidosRESUMEN
Parents often underestimate their child's weight status, particularly when the child is overweight or obese. This study examined acculturation, stress, coping, and involuntary responses to stress and their relation to estimation of child's weight status among Mexican-origin immigrant families. Eighty-six families provided data on child's height and weight, caregiver's perception of their child's weight status, and caregiver's responses to acculturation, stress, and coping scales. Parents underestimated their child's weight status, particularly when the child was overweight or obese. Although acculturation and stress were not associated with accuracy, parents' responses to stress were linked to parent perceptions. Parents who reported more frequent use of involuntary engagement (e.g., rumination, physiological arousal) were more accurate. Future research, as well as healthcare providers, should consider how parents manage and respond to stress in order to fully understand the factors that explain weight perceptions among Mexican-origin immigrant parents.