Profiles of Parental Acculturation and Stress and Effects on Family Cohesion, Communication and Positive Parenting Among Hispanics

Introduction: Effective family-based interventions can improve family cohesion, communication, and positive parenting, which promote healthy development among youth. Many culturally-relevant, preventive interventions target acculturation and contextual stress and their effects on family communication processes and outcomes. The goal of the current study is to identify profiles of acculturation and contextual stress among parents and to test the effects of these profiles on family cohesion, family support, family communication, positive parenting, and parent relations with peers.

Method: Parents surveyed from an effectiveness trial evaluating a culturally-specific intervention, Familias Unidas, were included (n=744). First, profiles of acculturation and contextual stress were identified at baseline using the following indicators: Americanism, Hispanicism, Marital Stress, Immigration Stress, Economic Stress, Parental Stress, and Cultural Stress. Second, the effects of latent profile membership were tested on the outcomes of interest at the first follow-up after intervention. Outcomes included Family Cohesion, Family Support, Family Communication, Positive Parenting, and Parent Relations with Peer Group (reduced n= 695). Third, the effects of latent profile membership were tested after controlling for baseline levels the corresponding outcomes.

Results: A 5-class model was selected to describe profiles of acculturation and contextual stress among parents. Profiles included the following: (1) High Americanism, Low Stress (35% prevalence); (2) High Americanism, Family Stress (13%); (3) High Hispanicism, Marital Stress (27%); (4) High Hispanicism, Economic Stress (19%); and (5) Limited Orientation, High Stress (7%). After controlling for baseline levels of corresponding outcomes, latent profile membership was a significant predictor of Family Cohesion (p=.002), Family Support (p=.002), Family Communication (p<.001), and Positive Parenting (p=.003), but was not a predictor of Parent Relations with Peer Group (p >.05). Profiles with high Hispanicism and the profile with high Americanism and low stress showed the highest levels of Family Cohesion, Family Communication, and Parent Relations with Peer Group. In contrast, the profile with high Americanism and family stress showed the lowest level of Positive Parenting and the profile with limited cultural orientation showed the lowest level of Family Support.

Conclusion: Within-person patterns of acculturation and contextual stressors are an important predictor of family-based outcomes. Findings highlight the role of Hispanicism as a protective factor when facing marital or economic stressors, as well as the role of Americanism and limited cultural orientation as risk factors associated with poor family-related communication outcomes among Hispanic families.