RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: The present study examined whether immigration stress was related to decreased capacities for psychophysiological stress regulation (as indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) and whether lower RSA, in turn, was related to decreased maternal sensitivity. The buffering effect of familism values was also evaluated, such that familism values were expected to minimize associations between immigration stress, RSA, and sensitivity. METHOD: Data were drawn from a longitudinal study of Mexican immigrant mothers (N = 277; Mage = 28 years). Mothers self-reported immigration stress and familism values, and mothers' resting RSA and sensitivity were assessed during laboratory visits. RESULTS: Higher immigration stress was associated with higher RSA (B = .15, SE = .07, p = .04) but was unrelated to maternal sensitivity. Moreover, links between more immigration stress and higher RSA were more pronounced among mothers who reported stronger familism values (B = .20, SE = .07, p = .003). CONCLUSIONS: The present study contributes to our understanding of the sequelae of immigration stress in Mexican immigrant mothers and the cultural resiliency factors that may alter its effects. In contrast to hypotheses, findings suggested that mothers who endorse more immigration stress may also exhibit higher RSA, and links may be more pronounced among those with strong familism values. Further research is needed to advance understanding of resiliency processes that promote family functioning in vulnerable populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
Assuntos
Emigrantes e Imigrantes , Americanos Mexicanos , Mães , Arritmia Sinusal Respiratória , Estresse Psicológico , Humanos , Feminino , Emigrantes e Imigrantes/psicologia , Adulto , Americanos Mexicanos/psicologia , Estresse Psicológico/etnologia , Estresse Psicológico/psicologia , Mães/psicologia , Estudos Longitudinais , Arritmia Sinusal Respiratória/fisiologia , México/etnologia , Adulto Jovem , Relações Mãe-Filho/etnologia , Sistema Nervoso Parassimpático/fisiologiaRESUMO
Early oral language development lays an essential foundation for academic and socioemotional competencies but is vulnerable to the impact of family stress. Despite robust evidence that family stress affects early oral language development in monolingual samples, little is known about whether the family stress processes affecting language acquisition are similar among dual language learners. Furthermore, although Mexican American families often face stressors related to their ethnic minority and immigrant status, no studies to date have tested whether exposure to sociocultural stressors may likewise have negative consequences for early language acquisition. The present study examined whether financial and sociocultural stressors were associated with maternal stress perception, parenting sensitivity, and child Spanish and English receptive vocabulary at child age 3 and 4.5 years. Participants included 322 low-income Mexican American mothers and their children followed from pregnancy through 4.5 years postnatal; most mothers preferred to speak Spanish (82%). Results of a path model indicated that links between family stress and child receptive vocabulary varied by language (Spanish or English) and stress type (financial or cultural). Specifically, Spanish acquisition was more closely related to the quality of mother-child interactions, whereas English acquisition was more susceptible to the direct impact of family stress. The consequences of family stress on children's vocabulary acquisition were evident earlier in development for Spanish than English, and appeared more pronounced for financial versus sociocultural stressors. Findings underscore a need to attend to the impact of poverty on children's Spanish and English language development in low-income, Mexican American children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Assuntos
Americanos Mexicanos , Vocabulário , Pré-Escolar , Minorias Étnicas e Raciais , Etnicidade , Humanos , Grupos Minoritários , Relações Mãe-FilhoRESUMO
This study sought to (a) replicate infant temperament profiles from predominantly White samples in a sample of low-income, predominantly first-generation Mexican-American families, (b) investigate associations between infant temperament profiles and toddler behavioral and physiological regulation, and (c) explore whether mothers' cultural orientation would moderate those associations. Mothers and infants (n = 322; 46% male) were assessed during pregnancy and at infant ages 9, 12, and 24 months. Latent profile analysis yielded three temperament profiles that were consistent with those from extant research. Compared to the high positive affect, well-regulated profile, the negative reactive, low regulated profile was associated with poorer behavioral and parasympathetic (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia) regulation, but associations depended on mothers' Mexican and Anglo cultural orientation.
Assuntos
Americanos Mexicanos , Temperamento , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Comportamento do Lactente , Masculino , Mães , Pobreza , GravidezRESUMO
Mothers and fathers are at elevated risk for developing depression during the first postnatal year, especially among families from marginalized communities. Although a number of studies demonstrate that exposure to maternal depressive symptoms can undermine infants' regulatory development, less is known about the extent to which paternal depressive symptoms may also contribute. The current study investigated whether maternal and paternal depressive symptoms were uniquely associated with infants' physiological regulation, and whether associations varied depending on infant sex. Participants included 90 low-income Mexican American families. Fathers and mothers self-reported their depressive symptoms when infants were 15 weeks old, and infants' resting parasympathetic activity (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) was assessed at 6 and 24 weeks. Results indicated that, after controlling for infant 6-week RSA and depressive symptoms in the other parent, paternal depressive symptoms were associated with lower 24-week RSA for both girls and boys, but maternal depressive symptoms were only associated with lower 24-week RSA for boys. Findings highlight a potential mechanism through which the consequences of parent depressive symptoms may reverberate across generations, and suggest that considerations of both infants' and parents' sex may lend insight into how best to intervene.
Assuntos
Depressão Pós-Parto , Depressão , Pai , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Masculino , Americanos Mexicanos , MãesRESUMO
Clinically meaningful behavior problems are thought to be present beginning in the early toddler years, yet few studies have investigated correlates of behavior problems assessed before age 2 years. The current study investigated the direct and interactive contributions of early infant and caregiver characteristics thought to play an important role in the ontogeny of behavior problems. Specifically, the study examined: (a) the links between infant temperamental reactivity and toddler behavioral symptoms, (b) whether maternal sensitivity moderated associations between temperamental reactivity and behavioral symptoms, (c) whether variability in temperamental reactivity was explained by exposure to maternal stressful life events (SLEs) in utero, and (d) whether child sex moderated these pathways. Data were collected from 322 low-income, Mexican American families. Mother reports of SLEs were obtained between 23 and 40 weeks gestation; temperamental negativity and surgency at 6 weeks and 12 months; and internalizing and externalizing behaviors at 18 months. Maternal sensitivity during structured mother-infant interaction tasks at a 12-month visit was assessed by objective raters. Results indicated that significant paths linked maternal prenatal SLEs with 6-week negativity, 6-week negativity with 12-month negativity, and 12-month negativity with 18-month behavioral symptoms. Sex-specific effects were also observed. Maternal SLEs were directly associated with internalizing behaviors for girls only. Surgency and maternal sensitivity moderated the associations of negativity with subsequent externalizing behaviors for girls only. Results suggest that ecological stressors associated with sociodemographic risk factors such as low-income and ethnic minority status begin to exert cascades of influence on children's developmental outcomes even before birth. (PsycINFO Database Record
Assuntos
Emoções , Americanos Mexicanos/psicologia , Pobreza , Comportamento Problema , Adolescente , Adulto , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Masculino , Comportamento Materno , Modelos Estatísticos , Relações Mãe-Filho , Fatores Sexuais , Temperamento , Adulto JovemRESUMO
The early postpartum period lays important groundwork for later self-regulation as infants' dispositional traits interact with caregivers' co-regulatory behaviors to produce the earliest forms of self-regulation. Although emerging literature suggests that fetal exposure to maternal stress may be integral in determining child self-regulatory capacity, the complex pathways that characterize these early developmental processes remain unclear. The current study considers these complex, transactional processes in a low income, Mexican American sample. Data were collected from 295 Mexican American infants and their mothers during prenatal, 6- and 12-week postpartum home interviews. Mother reports of stress were obtained prenatally, and mother reports of infant temperament were obtained at 6 weeks. Observer ratings of maternal sensitivity and infant regulatory behaviors were obtained at the 6- and 12-week time points. Study results indicate that prenatal stress predicts higher levels of infant negativity and surgency, both of which directly or interactively predict later engagement in regulatory behaviors. Unexpectedly, prenatal stress also predicted more engagement in orienting, but not self-comforting behaviors. Advancing understandings about the nature of these developmental pathways may have significant implications for targets of early intervention in this high risk population.
Assuntos
Mães/psicologia , Gravidez/psicologia , Efeitos Tardios da Exposição Pré-Natal/psicologia , Estresse Psicológico/psicologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Desenvolvimento Infantil , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Comportamento do Lactente/psicologia , Recém-Nascido , Estudos Longitudinais , Americanos Mexicanos , Estudos Prospectivos , Fatores Socioeconômicos , Temperamento , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Maternal exposure to significant prenatal stress can negatively affect infant neurobiological development and increase the risk for developmental and health disturbances. These effects may be pronounced in low SES and ethnic minority families. We explored prenatal partner support as a buffer of the impact of prenatal stress on cortisol reactivity of infants born to low-income Mexican American women. Women (N=220; age 18-42; 84% Spanish-speaking; 89% foreign born; modal family income $10,000-$15,000) reported on economic stress and satisfaction with spousal/partner support during the prenatal period (26-38 weeks gestation), and infant salivary cortisol reactivity to mildly challenging mother-infant interaction tasks was assessed at women's homes at six weeks postpartum. Multilevel models estimated the interactive effect of prenatal stress and partner support on cortisol reactivity, controlling for covariates and potential confounds. Infants born to mothers who reported high prenatal stress and low partner support exhibited higher cortisol reactivity relative to those whose mothers reported high support or low stress. The effects did not appear to operate through birth outcomes. For low-income Mexican American women, partner support may buffer the impact of prenatal stress on infant cortisol reactivity, potentially promoting more adaptive infant health and development.