Tanya Nieri, PhD and Matt Grindal, MA Department of Sociology University of California at Riverside Acknowledgements: Data were collected as part of the Parents and Youth Study, funded by NIH, S. Coltrane & R. Parke, PIs, University of CA at Riverside Deconstructing the “acculturation gap” in Mexican American families

Background Acculturation: process of cultural change as a result of encounters with a new or mainstream culture Acculturation associated with higher risk of delinquency Effect often attributed to “acculturation gap” – parent-child differences in acculturation – that undermines family functioning Some research supports this conclusion, but current research is limited Acculturation differences not always measured Direction of differences often assumed (child more American) Nature and effects of other differences unexplored Any difference taken to indicate a “gap” Analyses do not reflect current theoretical understanding of acculturation as bidimensional

Research questions Using a categorical approach to acculturation measurement, what are the nature and extent of parent-child acculturation differences? How do the different patterns of parent-child acculturation relate to delinquent behavior?

Data Parents and Youth Study – study of fathering effects in European American and Mexican American families in CA and AZ 392 families: 1 Middle school child and both parents Recruited through the schools, screened for eligbility, then randomly selected 3 waves of interview surveys: 2004 (7 th grade), 2005, 2006

Sample 193 Mexican American families Youths 52% female Mean age: 13 years 27% foreign born 12% took survey in Spanish Moms Mean age: 37 years 69% foreign born 56% took survey in Spanish Mean time in US: 17 years Dads Mean age: 38 years 70% foreign born 58% took Survey in Spanish Mean time in US: 19 years

Measures Acculturation Mexican American Cultural Values Scale (Saenz & Knight, 2010) Mexican Acculturation subscale American Acculturation subscale Values range from items Total acculturation Categorical version formed thru crosstabulation of two subscales Mexican, American, Lo Bicultural, Hi Bicultural, Unidentified Measured separately for youth, mom, and dad

Measures Parent-child acculturation difference Categorical version formed thru crosstabulation of youth acculturation and parent (mom or dad) acculturation Parent-child match (reference group) Child more American than parent Parent more American than child Neither parent nor child more American (excluded from analysis) Parent acculturation UnidentifiedAmericanMexicanLo BiculturalHi Bicultural UnidentifiedMatchPar more AmNeither more Am Par more Am Child acculturation AmericanChild more AmMatchChild more Am MexicanNeither more Am Par more AmMatchPar more Am Lo Bicultural Child more AmPar more AmChild more AmMatchParent more Am Hi Bicultural Child more AmPar more AmChild more Am Match

Measures Delinquency Last month substance use, fighting, stealing, physically harm someone Dichotomous 45% report some delinquency at baseline

Measures Controls Age Gender (female reference group) Socioeconomic status – mother’s education Generation status – native-born parents vs. at least 1 foreign- born parent

Results: Acculturation Youth (N=193)Mother(N=193)Father (N=192) Number% % % LO BICULTURAL HI BICULTURAL AMERICAN MEXICAN Unidentified Note: %s may total to more than 100 due to rounding.

Results: Acculturation differences Mother-childFather-child Number% % Match (i.e., no difference) Parent more American than child Child more American than parent Neither parent nor child more Am 1111 Note: %s may total to more than 100 due to rounding.

Results: Delinquency Odds ratiosDad W1W2W3 Par more Am than child Child more Am than par Age Male gender Mother’s education Foreign-born parent Baseline delinquency na2.899**1.470 N186 Nagelkerke r

Results: Delinquency Odds ratiosMom W1W2W3 Par more Am than child Child more Am than par *.696 Age Male gender Mother’s education * Foreign-born parent Baseline delinquency na3.151***1.459 N186 Nagelkerke r

Results: Delinquency Results don’t change when we account for partial matches (eliminate hi vs. lo bicultural) we dichotomize match vs. any mismatch we drop generation status we control for potential mechanisms: family factors Results relative to traditional linear version of parent-child acculturation difference Mean is Parent more Am than child (i.e., negative difference) Absolute value of mean difference is small (.5) DAD: Effects (ns) in direction of protection for children more Am than par MOM: Effects (significant at p<.10) in direction of protection for children more Am than par

Discussion Patterns of individual acculturation run counter to the “acculturation gap” narrative No American-identified in sample Not due to sampling; Biculturalism is the norm and increasingly so Large numbers of biculturals – can/should distinguish between high and low bicultural Patterns of parent-child acculturation difference run counter to the “acculturation gap” narrative Most common parent-child pattern: match Not surprising given developmental stage; may change over time Parent-child differences, where present, not only in one direction Parent-child differences are small – not a “gap”

Discussion No effects of parent-child differences in delinquency Exception: Children more American than moms have lower odds of delinquency Both results counter the “acculturation gap” narrative Perhaps due to absence of American-identified in sample No differences big enough or too few in the expected direction (Child more Am than parent) Again, possibly developmental Perhaps due to delinquency measure Perhaps due to measuring acculturation in terms of values – mechanism of effect may be something other than cultural values Or…perhaps because parent-child differences are not as problematic in Mexican American families as prior lit would suggest

Conclusions No definitive proof, but this is a call to attention! Acculturation and parent-child acculturation differences in Mexican American families are more complex than past research would suggest Different operationalizations of acculturation=different pathways to delinquency (e.g., language and monitoring) Need to consider operationalization when hypothesizing and modeling Differences are not necessarily gaps – label is inaccurate and unnecessarily pathologizes family relationships Differences are different – need further exploration E.g., exceptional effect may signal whole different mechanism…access to/integration in American society “Gap” narrative is inaccurate and unnecessarily pathologizing; needs revision

Thanks for your attention. Tanya Nieri, Matthew Grindal,