Reconsidering the "acculturation gap" narrative through an analysis of parent-adolescent acculturation differences and youth problem behavior in Mexican American families
Year: 2016
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Using a sample of 193 Mexican American adolescents (M age at Wave 1 = 14) and three waves of data over two years, this study longitudinally examined the effects of parent-youth acculturation differences, relative to no differences, on parent-adolescent relationship quality and youth problem behavior.We examined parent-youth differences in overall acculturation, Mexican acculturation, and American acculturation.We differentiated between cases in which the adolescent was more acculturated than the parent and cases in which the parent was more acculturated than the adolescent.Adolescents were more commonly similar to their parents than different.Where differences existed, adolescents were not uniformly more American than their parents, no type of difference was associated with parent-adolescent relationship quality, and no type of difference in overall acculturation was associated with youth problem behavior.One type of difference by dimension (adolescent had less Mexican acculturation than mother) was associated with less risk of problem behavior.
Institution: University of California, Riverside
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2493544238