Psychology Commons^™

Romantic Relationship Experiences From Late Adolescence To Young Adulthood: The Role Of Older Siblings In Mexican-Origin Families, Lorey A. Wheeler, Sarah E. Killoren, Shawn D. Whiteman, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Susan M. Mchale, Adriana J. Umana-Taylor

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Youth's experiences with romantic relationships during adolescence and young adulthood have far reaching implications for future relationships, health, and well-being; yet, although scholars have examined potential peer and parent influences, we know little about the role of siblings in youth's romantic relationships. Accordingly, this study examined the prospective longitudinal links between Mexican-origin older and younger siblings' romantic relationship experiences and variation by sibling structural and relationship characteristics (i.e., sibling age and gender similarity, younger siblings' modeling) and cultural values (i.e., younger siblings' familism values). Data from 246 Mexican-origin families with older (M = 20.65 years; SD = 1.57; 50% …

Family Influences On Mexican American Adolescents’ Romantic Relationships: Moderation By Gender And Culture, Fanita A. Tyrell, Lorey A. Wheeler, Nancy A. Gonzales, Larry Dumka, Roger Millsap

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

This study examined prospective associations between the family context and adolescents’ romantic relationships as moderated by adolescents’ gender and culture among Mexican American families (N = 189). Adolescents at Time 1 (early adolescence) were on average 12.29 years of age (SD = .50) and 54% female. Mothers and fathers reported on family structure and dynamics during early adolescence, and youth reported on their romantic relationship involvement and quality during middle and late adolescence. Results from path analyses indicated that family structure and dynamics (supportive parenting, consistent discipline, parent-adolescent, and interparental conflict) were associated with adolescents’ romantic involvement and …

Nebraskans Speak About Early Care And Education: Buffett Early Childhood Institute/Gallup Survey On Early Childhood Care And Education In Nebraska, Gallup, Inc.

Buffet Early Childhood Institute Reports and Publications

The Buffett Early Childhood Institute/Gallup Survey on Early Childhood Care and Education in Nebraska demonstrates that the vast majority of Nebraskans recognize the importance of high-quality early care and education. However, Nebraskans also report its lack of availability and affordability across the state. Most Nebraskans agree that the state should make early care and education a higher priority than it currently is today. Results from this study are based on questionnaires completed by more than 7,100 Nebraska residents. Gallup conducted the survey in English and Spanish via mail in late August through September 2015. The following represent key findings from …

Nutrition Education Resources In North Carolina–Based Head Start Preschool Programs: Administrator And Teacher Perceptions Of Availability And Use, Sarah Lisson, L. Suzanne Goodell, Dipti A. Dev, Kristi Wilkerson,, Archana V. Hegde, Virginia C. Stage

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Objective: The purpose of this study was to provide new insight into common barriers to the availability and use of nutrition education (NE) resources in Head Start preschool programs based on administrator and teacher perceptions.

Methods: In-depth, semistructured phone interviews (n = 63) were conducted with administrators (n = 31) and teachers (n = 32) from North Carolina–based Head Start programs. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed qualitatively using content analysis to identify common themes.

Results: Five emergent themes were identified within the areas of NE resource availability and use and barriers to NE resource availability and …

Mexican-Origin Parents’ Work Conditions And Adolescents’ Adjustment, Lorey A. Wheeler, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Ann Crouter

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Mexican-origin parents’ work experiences are a distal extra-familial context for adolescents’ adjustment. This two-wave multi-informant study examined the prospective mechanisms linking parents’ work conditions (i.e., self-direction, work pressure, workplace discrimination) to adolescents’ adjustment (i.e., educational expectations, depressive symptoms, risky behavior) across the transition to high school drawing on work socialization and spillover models. We examined the indirect effects of parental work conditions on adolescent adjustment through parents’ psychological functioning (i.e., depressive symptoms, role overload) and aspects of the parent-adolescent relationship (i.e., parental solicitation, parent-adolescent conflict), as well as moderation by adolescent gender. Participants were 246 predominantly immigrant, Mexican-origin, two-parent families …

Mexican-American Adolescents’ Gender-Typed Characteristics: The Role Of Sibling And Friend Characteristics, Norma J. Perez-Brena, Lorey A. Wheeler, Kimberly A. Updegraff, David R. Shaefer

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

This study examined the role of sibling and friend characteristics in Mexican-American youth’s gender-typed characteristics (i.e., attitudes, interests, and leisure activities) in early versus middle adolescence using a sibling design. Mexican-American 7th graders (M = 12.51 years; SD = .58) and their older siblings (M = 15.48 years; SD = 1.57) from 246 families participated in home interviews and a series of seven nightly phone calls. Results revealed that younger/early adolescent siblings reported more traditional gender role attitudes than their older/middle adolescent siblings and older brothers were more traditional in their attitudes than older sisters. When comparing siblings’ …

Strategies To Support Parent Engagement During Home Visits In Early Head Start And Head Start, Lisa Knoche, Christine Marvin, Susan M. Sheridan

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

This study explores strategies used by early childhood professionals (ECPs) involved in a school readiness intervention to support parent engagement in young children’s learning. Thirty-two ECPs were recorded during home visits with young children and their families who were enrolled in Early Head Start and Head Start programming. Frequency of strategy use is reported, and strategy use is significantly correlated with rates of parent-ECP interactions during visits but not to parent-child interaction rates nor with overall quality ratings of parent-child engagement. ECPs’ overall success in promoting parent engagement was positively and significantly correlated with ECPs’ efforts to elicit parent observations …

Parent Engagement During Home Visits In Early Head Start And Head Start: Useful Strategies For Practitioners, Lisa Knoche, Christine Marvin, Susan M. Sheridan

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

This study explores strategies used by early childhood professionals (ECPs) involved in a school readiness intervention to support parent engagement in young children’s learning. In this study, we used video recordings to understand the ECP-parent interactions during Early Head Start and Head Start home visits. We coded the videos for the number of parent engagement strategies that were used by ECPs as well as the quality of parent engagement during visits, including the amount of parent-child interaction that took place during the visits. Findings have implications for the implementation of the Head Start Parent, Family and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework, …

Mexican American Adolescents’ Gender Role Attitude Development: The Role Of Adolescents’ Gender And Nativity And Parents’ Gender Role Attitudes, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Susan M. Mchale, Katharine H. Zeiders, Adriana J. Umana-Taylor, Norma J. Perez-Brena, Lorey A. Wheeler, Sue A. Rodriguez De Jesus

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Gender development has long term implications for education and career endeavors and family formation behaviors, but we know very little about the role of sociocultural factors in developmental and individual differences. In this study, we investigated one domain of gender development, gender role attitudes, in Mexican American adolescents (N = 246; 51% female), using four phases of longitudinal data across eight years. Data were collected when adolescents averaged 12.51 years (SD = 0.58), 14.64 years (SD = 0.59), 17.72 years (SD = 0.57), and 19.60 years of age (SD = 0.66). Mothers’ and fathers’ gender …

Mexican-Origin Parents’ Latent Occupational Profiles: Associations With Parent-Youth Relationships And Youth Aspirations, Lorey A. Wheeler, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Adriana Umana-Taylor, Jenn-Yun Tein

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

This study utilized an ecological, person-centered approach to identify subgroups of families who had similar profiles across multiple dimensions of Mexican-origin mothers’ and fathers’ occupational characteristics (i.e., self-direction, hazardous conditions, physical activity) and to relate these subgroups to families’ sociocultural characteristics and youth adjustment. The study included 160 dual-earner Mexican-origin families from the urban Southwest. Mothers’ and fathers’ objective work characteristics and families’ sociocultural characteristics were assessed when youth were in early to middle adolescence; adjustment was assessed during late adolescence and early adulthood for two offspring in each family. A latent profile analysis identified 3 profiles that evidenced distinct …

Relations Of Parenting Quality, Interparental Conflict, And Overnights With Mental Health Problems Of Children In Divorcing Families With High Legal Conflict, Irwin N. Sandler, Lorey A. Wheeler, Sanford L. Braver

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The current study examined the associations between child mental health problems and the quality of maternal and paternal parenting, and how these associations were moderated by three contextual factors, quality of parenting by the other parent, interparental conflict, and the number of overnights parents had with the child. Data for the current study come from a sample of divorcing families who are in high legal conflict over developing or maintaining a parenting plan following divorce. Analyses revealed that the associations between child mental health problems and positive maternal and paternal parenting were moderated by the quality of parenting provided by …

Mexican-Origin Youths’ Trajectories Of Depressive Symptoms: The Role Of Familism Values, Katharine H. Zeiders, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Adriana J. Umana-Taylor, Lorey A. Wheeler, Norma J. Perez-Brena, Sue A. Rodriguez

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Purpose—To describe Mexican-origin youths’ trajectories of depressive symptoms from early to late adolescence and examine the role of three aspects of familism values: supportive, obligation, and referent familism. Methods—Mexican-origin adolescents (N = 492) participated in home interviews and provided self-reports of depressive symptoms and cultural values at four assessments across an 8-year span. Using a cohort sequential design and accounting for the nesting within the 246 families (2 youth per family), we examined depressive symptoms from ages 12 to 22 years and the within-person, between-sibling, and between-family effects of familism values. Results—Mexican-origin males’ depressive symptoms decreased across …

Autism Spectrum Disorders In Hispanics And Non-Hispanics, Virginia Chaidez, Robin L. Hansen, Irva Hertz-Picciotto

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Objectives: To compare differences in autism between Hispanics and non-Hispanics. We also examined the relationship between multiple language exposure and language function and scores of children. Methods: The Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) study is an ongoing population-based case-control study with children sampled (n = 1061) from three strata: those with autism (AU) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD); developmental delay (DD); or the general population (GP). Results: Non-Hispanic cases demonstrated higher cognitive composite scores for the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). There were significant associations between multiple language exposure and MSEL subscales for receptive …

Randomized Trial Of A Broad Preventive Intervention For Mexican American Adolescents, Nancy A. Gonzales, L. E. Dumka, R. E. Millsap, A. Gottschall, D. B. Mcclain, J. J. Wong, M. German, A. M. Mauricio, Lorey A. Wheeler, F. D. Carpentier, S. Y. Kim

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Objective—This randomized trial of a family-focused preventive intervention for Mexican American (MA) adolescents evaluated intervention effects on adolescent substance use, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and school discipline and grade records in 8th grade, one year after completion of the intervention. The study also examined hypothesized mediators and moderators of intervention effects. Method—Stratified by language of program delivery (English vs. Spanish), the trial included a sample of 516 MA adolescents (50.8% female; M =12.3 years, SD=.54) and at least one caregiver that were randomized to receive a low dosage control group workshop or the 9-week group intervention that included …

Mexican-Origin Youth's Cultural Orientations And Adjustment: Changes From Early To Late Adolescence, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Adriana J. Umana-Taylor, Susan M. Mchale, Lorey A. Wheeler, Norma Perez-Brena

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Drawing from developmental and cultural adaptation perspectives and using a longitudinal design, this study examined: (a) mean-level changes in Mexican-origin adolescents’ cultural orientations and adjustment from early to late adolescence; and (b) bidirectional associations between cultural orientations and adjustment using a cross-lag panel model. Participants included 246 Mexicanorigin, predominantly immigrant families that participated in home interviews and a series of nightly phone calls when target adolescents were 12 years and 18 years of age. Girls exhibited more pronounced declines in traditional gender role attitudes than did boys, and all youth declined in familism values, time spent with family, and involvement …

Work And Mexican American Parent-Adolescent Relationships: The Mediating Role Of Parent Well-Being, Lorey A. Wheeler, Kimberly A. Updegraff

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

This study of Mexican American two-parent families (N = 246) examined the role of parents’ well-being (i.e., depressive symptoms, role overload) as a potential mechanism through which parent occupational conditions (i.e., self-direction, hazardous conditions, physical activity, work pressure) are linked to parent-adolescent relationship qualities (i.e., warmth, conflict, disclosure). Depressive symptoms mediated the links between maternal and paternal work pressure and parentadolescent warmth, conflict, and disclosure. For mothers, depressive symptoms also mediated the links between self-direction and mother-adolescent warmth, conflict, and disclosure; for fathers, role overload mediated the links between work pressure and hazardous conditions with fatheradolescent warmth.

Parenting Self-Efficacy And Parenting Practices Over Time In Mexican American Families, Larry E. Dumka, Nancy A. Gonzales, Lorey A. Wheeler, Roger E. Millsap

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study used a longitudinal cross-lagged panel design and a structural equation modeling approach to evaluate parenting self-efficacy's reciprocal and causal associations with parents' positive control practices over time to predict adolescents' conduct problems. Data were obtained from teachers, mothers, and adolescents in 189 Mexican American families living in the southwest U.S. After accounting for contemporaneous reciprocal relationships between parenting self-efficacy (PSE) and positive control, results indicated that parenting self-efficacy predicted future positive control practices rather than the reverse. PSE also showed direct effects on decreased adolescent conduct problems. PSE functioned in an antecedent causal …

Exploring Mothers’ And Fathers’ Relationships With Sons Versus Daughters: Links To Adolescent Adjustment In Mexican Immigrant Families, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Melissa Y. Delgado, Lorey A. Wheeler

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Drawing on ecological and gender socialization perspectives, this study examined mothers’ and fathers’ relationships with young adolescents, exploring differences between mothers and fathers, for sons versus daughters, and as a function of parents’ division of paid labor. Mexican immigrant families (N = 162) participated in home interviews and seven nightly phone calls. Findings revealed that mothers reported higher levels of acceptance toward adolescents and greater knowledge of adolescents’ daily activities than did fathers, and mothers spent more time with daughters than with sons. Linkages between parent-adolescent relationship qualities and youth adjustment were moderated by adolescent gender and parents’ division …