Abstract

Introduction: The present study aimed to evaluate associations between parent-child acculturation differences and sleep and weight outcomes in Latinx pre-adolescents aged 10-12 years. Parent and child stress were considered as possible mediators through which parent-child discordance in acculturation may negatively impact sleep quality and body fatness. Pre-adolescent resilience and ethnic pride were explored as possible personal strengths that may ameliorate the impact of this association. Method: Data from mothers, fathers, and pre-adolescents were collected on two occasions separated by one year. In our sample, only language-specific acculturation was significantly different between parents and children. Thus, parent-child language difference was a predictor in our analyses as planned and parent and child cultural-value specific acculturation were considered as separate predictors, rather than as a difference between them. A path analysis using structural equation modeling was used to address our research questions including mediation and moderation effects. Results: In initial models, mother-child language difference and acculturation scores did not significantly predict child health outcomes and stress did not emerge as a mediator. The most consistent predictors of child zBMI throughout models were child pubertal status and number of years parent has been living in the U.S. (t(123)=.04, p=.02). After adding child resilience and ethnic pride to analyses, mother-child language difference and child cultural value-specific acculturation score interacted with child resilience to predict child waist circumference and sleep duration (t(123)=2.13, p=.005; t(123)=-2.59, p=.02). Additionally, child cultural value-specific acculturation interacted with ethnic pride to predict zBMI at timepoint two (t(123)=2.53, p=03) and ethnic pride predicted child zBMI (t(123)=-1.89, p=.03). Conclusions: Understanding the individual contexts and strengths of any group of people can help promote better health and inform interventions. The current study aimed to speak to some of this nuance by including bidimensional measures of acculturation and focusing on cultural and individual strengths. Our results would suggest that ethnic pride and resilience are strengths that could make a difference for young Latinxs, despite the possible adverse implications of the acculturation experience.

Degree

PhD

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Psychology

Rights

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