the relationship between parenting, acculturation, and adolescent academics in mexican-origin...

http://hjb.sagepub.com/Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences

http://hjb.sagepub.com/content/25/2/222The online version of this article can be found at:

DOI: 10.1177/0739986303025002005

2003 25: 222Hispanic Journal of Behavioral SciencesScott W. Plunkett and Mayra Y. Bámaca-Gómez

Immigrant Families in Los AngelesThe Relationship between Parenting, Acculturation, and Adolescent Academics in Mexican-Origin

Published by:

http://www.sagepublications.com

can be found at:Hispanic Journal of Behavioral SciencesAdditional services and information for

http://hjb.sagepub.com/cgi/alertsEmail Alerts:

http://hjb.sagepub.com/subscriptionsSubscriptions:

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navReprints:

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navPermissions:

http://hjb.sagepub.com/content/25/2/222.refs.htmlCitations:

What is This?

- May 1, 2003Version of Record >>

at CARLETON UNIV on June 28, 2014hjb.sagepub.comDownloaded from at CARLETON UNIV on June 28, 2014hjb.sagepub.comDownloaded from

http://hjb.sagepub.com/

http://hjb.sagepub.com/content/25/2/222

http://www.sagepublications.com

http://hjb.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts

http://hjb.sagepub.com/subscriptions

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

http://hjb.sagepub.com/content/25/2/222.refs.html

http://hjb.sagepub.com/content/25/2/222.full.pdf

http://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtml



10.1177/0739986303253629ARTICLEHispanic Journal of Behavioral SciencesPlunkett, Bámaca-Gómez / Parenting, Acculturation, Academics

The Relationship Between Parenting,Acculturation, and AdolescentAcademics in Mexican-OriginImmigrant Families in Los Angeles

Scott W. PlunkettCalifornia State University, Northridge

Mayra Y. Bámaca-GómezUniversity of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign

This study examines the relationship between gender, acculturation, parenting, and ado-lescents’ academic outcomes in Mexican-origin immigrant families. Self-report surveydata were collected from adolescents attending three high schools in Los Angeles. Corre-lation and multiple regression analyses were conducted on the 273 adolescents (M =15.5) whose parents were both born in Mexico. Girls reported higher academic motiva-tion and educational aspirations. Substantial support was found for the positive rela-tionship between mothers’ and fathers’ behaviors (ability to help, monitoring, support)and adolescents’ academic motivation. Substantial support was found for the relation-ship between mothers’and fathers’educational level, language spoken at home, and edu-cational aspirations. Generation status was not related to the academic outcomes.Implications for researchers, practitioners, school personnel, and policy makers arediscussed.

Keywords: acculturation; academic; adolescent; immigrant; Latino; Mexican;parenting

Latino youth, especially Mexican-origin youth, have been found to beespecially at risk of academic underachievement and high drop-out rates(Alva, 1995; Okagaki & Frensch, 1998). With a renewed interest in educa-tional reform, the need for finding ways to help youth who are at risk of aca-demic failure should be a high priority for educators, researchers, and policymakers (Wang & Haertel, 1995).

Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 25 No. 2, May 2003 222-239DOI: 10.1177/0739986303253629© 2003 Sage Publications

222

at CARLETON UNIV on June 28, 2014hjb.sagepub.comDownloaded from


Recent scholarly literature has advocated shifting from a focus on thesymptoms and vulnerabilities to the creation of models that emphasize thesuccessful adaptation (i.e., resiliency) of at-risk groups (Masten et al., 1995).More specifically, resiliency scholars attempt to understand and explain whysome members of at-risk populations are able to overcome adversities, chal-lenges, and stressors and to achieve successful adaptation (Masten &Coatsworth, 1998). One type of resiliency, educational resiliency, is definedas the potential of success in the academic arena despite environmental chal-lenges and adversities (Wang, Haertel, & Walberg, 1994). Discovering theantecedents of academic success for Latino youth is necessary to have abetter understanding of the kind of reforms and intervention programs thatpromote adaptive behaviors.

According to Garmezy (1991), family characteristics are one group ofprotective factors that can lead to educationally resilient youth. Scholars haveidentified several parenting variables that are related to academic outcomesin adolescents, such as parental support/warmth, parental monitoring, paren-tal involvement, and parental educational levels (Arellano & Padilla, 1996;Gutman & Midgley, 2000; Hubbard, 1999; Newman, Lohman, Newman,Myers, & Smith, 2000; Newman, Myers, Newman, Lohman, & Smith, 2000;O’Connor, 1997; Smokowski, Reynolds, & Bezruczko, 1999; Werner, 1993;Werner & Smith, 1982, 1992). Furthermore, some researchers (e.g., Okagaki& Frensch, 1998) have found that the effect of parenting on children’s aca-demic performance differs among ethnic groups. Hence, resiliency scholarswould be remiss in automatically generalizing the previous research findingson parenting and educationally resilient youth to members of different ethnicgroups. Therefore, this study will add to the growing body of literature exam-ining the relationship between parenting and adolescents’ academic out-comes in Mexican-origin families. The academic outcomes examined in thisstudy are academic motivation and future educational aspirations.

Parenting and EducationalResiliency in Mexican-Origin Families

One area that is receiving increasing attention is the effect of Mexican-origin parents on the enhancement of academic success in their children. Ingeneral, ethnographic studies (Delgado-Gaitan, 1992) and survey studies(Henderson, 1997) have found that Mexican-origin parents place a high valueon education for their children and families. Yet, Okagaki, Frensch, andGordon (1995) found that the degree to which parents valued education didnot distinguish between low- and high-achieving Mexican-origin children. Itis possible that a high value of education may not be sufficient to produce

Plunkett, Bámaca-Gómez / Parenting, Acculturation, Academics 223



educationally resilient youth when (a) the parents are not tangible educationrole models (e.g., they have little or no education), (b) they are not perceivedas being able to help their youth with their education, (c) they do not monitortheir youth’s activities, and (d) they are not encouraging and supportive oftheir youth. Hence, this study will focus on the following four aspects ofparental influence on educational resiliency: parental education level, abilityto help, monitoring, and support.

Many Mexican-origin parents have received very little formal schooling,which can affect their children’s academic performance in a variety of ways.First, the less educated parents may be unfamiliar with how the educationalsystem operates, which results in less ability to provide academic support andto advocate for their youth’s academics (Romo & Falbo, 1996). Next, parentswho have less formal education may feel less confident in helping with actualschoolwork (Delgado-Gaitan, 1992). Also, less educated parents may haveless time to devote to helping their children succeed academically because ofworking more jobs than more educated parents. Also, these financiallystrapped parents may request that their children leave school to generateadditional family income. Finally, these parents may not be tangible rolemodels of the benefits of more education. Hence, it is not surprising that par-ent education attainment is related to academic achievement in immigrantfamilies (Fuligni, 1997), and more specifically to educational performance inMexican-origin high school students (Romo & Falbo, 1996) and Latino stu-dents in general (Blair, Blair, & Madamba, 1999). Hence, it is hypothesizedthat mothers’ and fathers’ educational attainment levels will be positivelyrelated to academic motivation and educational aspirations.

Another parenting variable that has the potential to influence Latino ado-lescents’ academic outcomes is the parents’ ability to help their youth aca-demically. Okagaki and Frensch (1998) found that parents of high achievers,as compared to low achievers, were more confident in their ability to help theirchildren do well in school. If adolescents believe their parents can help themacademically, then those beliefs are probably based on successful help in thepast. Hence, it is hypothesized that adolescents who perceive their mothersand fathers as having the ability to help with their education will report higheracademic motivation and educational aspirations.

Although some parents may try to help their youth succeed academicallyand to plan for postsecondary education, many parents may not be perceivedas having the ability to help. Ethnographic research on Mexican-origin fami-lies found that even though parents may try to actively help children withhomework, their help may not always be effective (Delgado-Gaitan, 1992).Furthermore, research has also found that, compared to parents from othergroups (e.g., White, Asian, Black), Mexican-origin parents report feeling

224 Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences



less confident in their ability to help their children succeed in school(Okagaki & Frensch, 1998). Even though many parents may not have theability to help, Arellano and Padilla (1996) found that perceived parental sup-port and encouragement can help protect Mexican-origin adolescents fromeducational risks. Parental support can help adolescents develop higher self-esteem and motivate adolescents to succeed academically. Hence, it ishypothesized that adolescents who report their parents engage in higher lev-els of support will also report higher academic motivation and educationalaspirations.

Parental monitoring has also been found to relate to academic outcomes,such as adolescents’ self-reported GPA (Jacobson & Crockett, 2000), actualGPA (Brown, Mounts, Lamborn, & Steinberg, 1993), and school functioning(Dornbusch, Ritter, Leiderman, Roberts, & Fraleigh, 1987). With higher lev-els of parental monitoring (especially monitoring of school-related activi-ties), the adolescents may engage in fewer behaviors that are nonconducive toacademic success (e.g., substance use, delinquent activities), and hence, theymay engage in more school-related activities. Also, when parents monitortheir adolescents’ schoolwork, school attendance, and other school-relatedactivities, adolescents may perceive their parents as having a higher value ofacademics. In a study of Mexican American families, Romo and Falbo(1996) found that adolescents who perceived their parents as “keeping an eyeon them” were more likely to succeed in school and not to drop out. Hence, itis hypothesized that adolescents who perceive their mothers and fathers asmonitoring their behaviors will report higher academic motivation and edu-cational aspirations.

Acculturation and EducationalResiliency in Mexican-Origin Families

A variety of acculturation variables can potentially be related to the educa-tional resilience of Mexican-origin youth. For example, the language spokenin the home has been found to relate to Latino children’s school performance(Garcia, 1992). In a study of immigrant families, Fuligni (1997) found thatadolescents for whom English was not the main language spoken in the hometended to score lower in English and math than their peers. This is not surpris-ing given that adolescents who are not as proficient in English may not be assuccessful in school. Also, parents who are not proficient in English may beless inclined to interact with the school system due to language barriers (e.g.,no translators available, unable to communicate with teachers, unable to readletters sent home, unable to understand the report cards). Also, these non-English-speaking parents may not have the ability to assist in many subjects




such as English, history, and so on. McLaughlin, Liljestrom, Lim, andMeyers (2002) found that parents and educators agreed that limited Englishproficiency of the parents can influence their children’s academic success.Hence, it is hypothesized that adolescents who report speaking more Englishand less Spanish at home will report higher academic outcomes than thosewho speak more Spanish and less English at home.

The generation status may also affect the ability of youth to succeed aca-demically. Youth who are foreign born, versus those who were native born,may not have the language skills or educational background to succeed aca-demically (Okagaki et al., 1995). Also, their parents may have less familiaritywith the U.S. school system, which can be an additional risk factor for aca-demic failure. On the other hand, recent immigrant families may have highereducational aspirations for their children based on the so-called Americandream, although those families who have been in the United States may beless optimistic based on perceived institutional barriers associated with beinga minority group (see Ogbu, 1986). Hence, no specific hypotheses are pro-posed on generational status.

Method

Procedures and Sample Descriptions

Self-report data were collected from approximately 1,200 9th- through12th-grade students from three high schools in Los Angeles, however thisstudy only looks at those 273 adolescents with two parents born in Mexico.The first school is composed of primarily Latino students from low socioeco-nomic status (SES). The second school is mostly Latino students, but the SESis more diverse. The third school is diverse (both ethnically and SES).

Administrators of the participating schools were contacted to gain permis-sion and make arrangements for data collection. Students were informedabout the study and provided with parental consent forms in both English andSpanish. The students who chose to participate in the study were required toreturn the signed parental consent forms and to sign adolescent participantassent forms. The self-report questionnaires were distributed during the Edu-cation, Career & Planning (ECP) classes at two schools and the health sci-ences class at the other school. Both of these classes are required courses, andmost of the students take these classes in ninth grade. Hence, the sample isweighted more heavily with ninth-grade students (i.e., 55%).

The total sample of 273 adolescents consisted of 58.4% girls and 41.6%boys with ages ranging from 14 to 20 (M = 15.5). The family form of the par-




ticipants was 74.0% two-parent biological families, 11.0% stepparent fami-lies, 12.9% single-parent families, as 0.4% adopted parents, and 1.7% otheror missing. Slightly more than half of the students were born in the UnitedStates (i.e., 59.3%). All the parents were born in Mexico.

Measurement

Adolescents’ academic motivation. Academic motivation was assessedwith five items measuring adolescent’s effort exerted in school, importanceof grades and education, extent of finishing homework on time, and likingschool. The response choice ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (stronglyagree). A Cronbach’s coefficient alpha of .71 was established for the five-item scale for the sample of Mexican-origin adolescents. Principal compo-nents factor analysis of the five items indicated a single factor with factorloadings ranging from .50 to .75 accounting for 47% of the variance.

Adolescents’ educational aspirations. Adolescents’ educational aspira-tions were measured by a single item asking the adolescents, “How mucheducation do you plan to get? Select the highest level of education that youdesire.” The response choices follow: 5 = “some high school,” 6 = “completehigh school or GED,” 7 = “complete high school and also obtain other train-ing, but not college (e.g., technical training, business school),” 8 = “some col-lege,” 9 = “complete college,” 10 = “some graduate work,” and 11 =“graduate degree, including M.D., M.A., Ph.D., J.D., etc.” The responses ofthe sample ranged from 5 to 11 (M = 9.2; SD = 1.8).

Parental education attainment. The level of parental education was askedfor both the mothers and fathers individually with the following question:“What is the highest educational level of your mother (or the person whofunctions as your mother most often)?” The response choices follow: 0 = “noeducation,” 1 = “some grade school,” 2 = “completed grade school,” 3 =“some middle or junior high school,” 4 = “completed middle or junior highschool,” 5 = “some high school,” 6 = “completed high school or GED,” 7 =“completed high school and also had other training, but not college (e.g.,technical training, business school),” 8 = “some college,” 9 = “completed col-lege,” 10 = “some graduate work,” and 11 = “graduate degree, includingM.D., M.A., Ph.D., J.D., etc.” The responses of the sample for the mothers’education ranged from 0 to 11 (M = 3.8; SD = 2.4) and for fathers’ educationranged from 1 to 9 (M = 4.0; SD = 2.6).




Parents’ability to help with academics. A scale was created to assess ado-lescents’perceptions of their parents’ability to assist them in their education.The five items of the scale are as follow: (a) “This parent knows how to helpme do well in my school work,” (b) “This parent has a great deal of knowl-edge about education,” (c) “This parent is the kind of person who could makeme feel very good if I followed his or her advice about studying and gettinggood grades,” (d) “If this parent wanted me to attain a certain level of educa-tion, then I would try to attain this level of education,” and (e) “This parenthas been important in helping me to make my educational plans.” Partici-pants were asked to respond to each item twice—once for mothers, stepmoth-ers, or other primary mother figure in the home and once for fathers,stepfathers, or other primary father figure in the home. Response choicesranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). Principal compo-nents factor analyses indicated a one-factor solution for the data on mothersand fathers. The factor analysis on the mothers’data resulted in an eigenvalueof 2.4 and accounted for 48% of the variance. The fathers’data resulted in aneigenvalue of 2.6 and accounted for 52% of the variance. The factor structurematrix loadings for both the mothers’and fathers’data ranged from .61 to .85.The responses for each scale were averaged resulting in a range of 1 (low abil-ity) to 4 (high ability). Using the present data, Cronbach’s alphas were .72 formothers’ ability and .76 for fathers’ ability.

Parental monitoring and support. Subscales from the Parent BehaviorScale (Peterson, Rollins, & Thomas, 1985) were used to assess parental mon-itoring (seven items) and support (four items). An item about monitoringhomework was added to the original monitoring subscale. Sample items areas follows: “This parent knows where I am after school” (monitoring) and“This parent seems to approve of me and the things I do” (support). Partici-pants were asked to respond to each item twice—once for mothers, stepmoth-ers, or other primary mother figure in the home and once for fathers,stepfathers, or other primary father figure in the home. Response choicesranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). The responses foreach item were averaged. The Cronbach’s alphas were .80 for mothers’moni-toring, .85 for fathers’ monitoring, .84 for mothers’ support, .88 for fathers’support.

Acculturation variables. Language spoken in the home was assessed withtwo open-ended questions asking the adolescents which languages theyspoke at home and which language was spoken most often in their home. Theadolescents’responses were coded with 0 (only Spanish spoken in the home),1 (mostly Spanish spoken in the home, but some English), 2 (both Spanish




and English are spoken in the home), 3 (mostly English spoken in the home,but some Spanish is spoken), and 4 (only English spoken in the home).

To assess the generation status, the adolescents were asked to report thecountry they were born in as well as each of their parents’ birth countries.Their responses were coded as follows: 1 (parent and the adolescent were for-eign born) and 2 (parents were both foreign born, but the adolescent was bornin United States). Families with at least one native born parent were elimi-nated because the focus of the study was on immigrant families from Mexico.

Analyses

Separate analyses were conducted for adolescents’perceptions of mothersand fathers. Hence, the sample sizes in the analyses will differ given thatsome adolescents did not answer questions about a mother or father figure(e.g., single-mother home). Because previous studies have found gender dif-ferences (Gillock & Reyes, 1999; Mau, Hitchcock, & Calvert, 1998) and agedifferences (e.g., 10th vs. 12th grade; Mau et al., 1998) regarding adoles-cents’ academic outcomes, these demographic variables were examined inthe analyses.

First, zero-order correlations were conducted to determine the bivariaterelationships between the variables. Then, multiple regression analyses wereused to determine (a) the contributions of the sets of predictor variables inexplaining the variance in the criterion variables and (b) the significance levelof specific beta coefficients within the models (Pedhazur, 1982). As a precau-tion against multicollinearity, tolerance tests were conducted using thedefault value of .10 as the low level for tolerance (Cohen & Cohen, 1983).The means and standard deviations of the variables are reported in Table 1 forthe data from the mothers’ subsample and the fathers’ subsample.

Results

Zero-Order Correlations

The zero-order correlations indicated that gender was significantly andpositively correlated to both academic outcomes indicating that girlsreported higher academic motivation and educational aspirations than boys(see Table 2). The language spoken at home was positively related to aca-demic motivation and educational aspirations. Hence, adolescents whoreported their families spoke more English in their home reported higher aca-demic motivation and educational aspirations. Generation status (i.e., first vs.




second generation) was not significantly correlated to either of the academicindicators. The mothers’ educational attainment was significantly and posi-tively related to adolescents’ academic motivation and educational aspira-tions; however, fathers’ educational attainment was only significantly andpositively related to educational aspirations. Adolescents’ perceptions thattheir mothers and fathers helped with academics were significantly and posi-tively related to academic motivation. In addition, fathers’academic help wassignificantly correlated with academic motivation. Adolescent reports ofmaternal and paternal monitoring were significantly and positively related toboth academic outcomes. Perceived maternal and paternal support were posi-tively and significantly related to academic motivation and educationalaspirations.

Multiple Regression Analyses

The variables that were significant in any of the correlations were enteredinto the multiple regression analyses. Hence, age and generation status werenot entered into any of the regression equations. Separate analyses were con-ducted for the data on adolescent reports of the mothers’ and fathers’ behav-iors and for each dependent variable.

In the regression analyses with academic motivation as the criterion vari-able, adolescent reports of their mothers’ and fathers’ abilities to help themwith their academics were significantly and positively related to academic


Table 1. Descriptive Statistics for the Independent and DependentVariables

Data on Mothers’ Data on Fathers’Subsample (n = 240) Subsample (n = 217)

Measure M SD M SD

Age 15.44 1.33 15.46 1.34Gendera .58 0.49 .58 0.49Language spoken at home 1.02 0.34 1.02 0.96Generation status 1.59 0.49 1.59 0.49Parents’ educational attainment 3.79 2.40 3.96 2.62Parents’ help with academics 3.03 0.58 2.89 0.69Parents’ monitoring 3.02 0.59 2.73 0.73Parents’ support 3.28 0.66 3.09 0.79Adolescents’ academic motivation 2.98 0.54 2.98 0.54Adolescents’ educational aspirations 9.19 1.77 9.19 1.77

a. Boys = 0; girls = 1.



motivation (see Table 3). In addition, mothers’ monitoring was significantlyand positively related to adolescents’ academic motivation. In the fathers’model, girls reported significantly higher academic motivation than boys.None of the other predictor variables were significantly related. The modelwith the mothers’ behaviors accounted for 21% of the variance in adoles-cents’ academic motivation, whereas the model with the fathers’ behaviorsaccounted for 14% of the variance in academic motivation.

In the next regression analyses, adolescent girls reported significantlyhigher educational aspirations than boys in the mothers’model (see Table 4).The language spoken at home was significantly correlated with the adoles-cents’educational aspiration in both models. Parents’educational attainmentwas significantly and positively related to adolescents’ educational aspira-tions in both models. None of the parenting behaviors were significantlyrelated in the multiple regression models. The model with the mothers’behaviors accounted for 14% of the variance in adolescents’ educationalaspirations, whereas the model with the fathers’behaviors accounted for 14%of the variance in educational aspirations.

Discussion and Implications

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship betweenparenting, acculturation, and academic outcomes in adolescents in Mexican-


Table 2. Zero-Order Correlations Between the Independent Variablesand the Academic Outcomes by Mothers’ and Fathers’Subsamples


Academic Educational Academic EducationalIndependent Variable Motivation Aspirations Motivation Aspirations

Age –.03 .10 –.03 .10Gendera .12* .16** .12* .18*Language spoken at home .11* .24** .11* .24**Generation status .03 .07 .03 .07Parents’ educational attainment .11* .18** .05 .12*Parents’ help with academics .36** .07 .32** .12*Parents’ monitoring .37** .13* .30** .12*Parents’ support .27** .27** .27** .18**

a. Boys = 0; girls = 1*p < .05. **p < .01.



origin immigrant families in the United States. Partial support was found forthe hypotheses that acculturation and parenting were related to academicmotivation and educational aspirations.


Table 3. Multiple Regression Analyses for Mothers’ and Fathers’ DataWith Adolescents’ Academic Motivation as the DependentVariable


Independent Variable β t β t

Gendera .11 1.78 .14 2.14*Language spoken at home .08 1.35 .11 1.61Parents’ educational attainment .06 0.97 –.01 –0.15Parents’ help with academics .22 3.01** .20 2.29*Parents’ monitoring .24 3.49** .12 1.42Parents’ support .04 0.54 .11 1.22

R2 = .21 R2 = .14F = 10.36** F = 6.61**

a. Boys = 0; girls = 1.*p < .05. **p < .01.

Table 4. Regression Analyses for Mothers’ and Fathers’ Data WithAdolescents’ Educational Aspirations as the DependentVariable


Independent Variable β t β t

Gendera .15 2.33* .12 1.78Language spoken at home .23 3.74** .27 4.09**Parents’ educational attainment .18 2.80** .14 1.98*Parents’ help with academics –.04 –0.36 –.01 –0.16Parents’ monitoring .07 0.89 –.04 –0.48Parents’ support .08 1.02 .10 1.14

R 2 = .14 R2 = .13F = 6.24** F = 5.06**

a. Boys = 0; girls = 1.*p < .05. **p < .01.



Gender and Adolescent Academic Outcomes

In the zero-order correlations, Mexican-origin girls from immigrant fami-lies reported significantly higher academic motivation and educational aspi-rations than boys. Studies with ethnically diverse adolescents (Hao &Bonstead-Bruns, 1998; Mau et al., 1998) and with Mexican-origin adoles-cents (Gillock & Reyes, 1999) have also found that, in general, boys havelower academic expectations than girls. Gillock and Reyes (1999) interpretedthis finding in relation to the differing experiences Mexican-origin adoles-cent boys and girls have at school and with their peers. Boys reported havingmore negative experiences at school (e.g., getting in trouble with teachers,being suspended) and experiencing higher levels of peer pressure to engagein deviant activities (e.g., drinking alcohol) than the girls, which in turn maystray boys from academics. Once gender was entered into the regressionanalyses with the other predictor variables, it was only related in two of thefour regression models with girls reporting greater motivation and educa-tional aspirations in the fathers’and mothers’data, respectively. It is probablethat the gender of the adolescent and the parenting behaviors interact in rela-tion to academic motivation. For example, Mexican-origin parents may par-ent girls differently in relation to academic outcomes. More research withlarger samples should be conducted that examines separate models forfemales and males.

Acculturation Variables andAdolescent Academic Outcomes

Generation status and language spoken at home are two acculturationvariables that are commonly used in research studies. In this study, only oneof the two variables (i.e., language spoken at home) was found to be signifi-cantly related to the two academic outcomes, even though both acculturationvariables were significantly correlated to each other. This finding highlightsthe importance of (a) clearly articulating how acculturation is measured ineach study and (b) being cautious when generalizing from one acculturationvariable to another when comparing findings from studies.

As previously stated, language spoken at home was related to both aca-demic outcomes in the correlations, indicating that adolescents who spokemore English and less Spanish in the home reported higher academic motiva-tion and educational aspirations. Mexican-origin youth who speak less Eng-lish or no English at home may be less proficient in English than those whospeak more English in the home. Less English proficiency can lead to frustra-tion in the academic arena, hence resulting in less academic motivation and




educational aspirations. In addition, adolescents from families that speak lessEnglish in the home may have parents with little or no English-speaking abil-ities. Language barriers often limit the involvement by Latino parents in theirchildren’s education (Curiel, 1991) and their ability communicate with theirchildren about schoolwork (McLaughlin et al., 2002).

When the language spoken at home was entered into the regression equa-tions, it was no longer significantly related to academic motivation. Oneexplanation for why the variable is no longer significant is that language spo-ken at home, parents’ educational attainment, and parenting (especially par-ents’ academic help) are all related. Hence, when these variables are enteredinto the regression equations together, some of the variables may no longer besignificant. The relationship between these variables should be examined.

Parents’ Educational Attainmentand Adolescent Academic Outcomes

Partial support was found for the relationship between parents’ educa-tional attainment and adolescent academic outcomes. In the correlations,mothers’ and fathers’ educational attainment levels were significantly andpositively related to educational aspirations, and mothers’educational attain-ment was significantly correlated to adolescents’academic motivation. How-ever, in the regression equations, mothers’ and fathers’ educationalattainment were only related to educational aspirations. One explanation forthis finding is that more educated parents may have a higher value ofpostsecondary education, and they may provide tangible education role mod-els for their offspring. In addition, adolescents from Mexican-origin immi-grant families with more educated parents may have more financial resourcesthan those with less educated parents. Hence, adolescents may perceive morefinancial resources to assist with post–high school education. Also, it is pos-sible that adolescents in homes with less educated parents and/or less finan-cial resources may feel a sense of responsibility to assist with family financesonce they finish high school; hence, they may have lower educationalaspirations.

Parenting Behaviors andAdolescent Academic Outcomes

Partial support was found for the hypotheses that the parenting behaviorsare related to academic outcomes in Mexican-origin youth. Specifically, theparenting behaviors were significantly correlated to academic motivationand educational aspirations (except that mothers’academic help was not sig-




nificantly related to academic motivation). Because the three parentingbehaviors are all significantly correlated to each other, it is not surprising thatthey were not all still significantly related to the outcomes in the regressionequations. It makes sense that parents who are perceived as helping theiryouth with academics probably also engage in monitoring and supportivebehaviors, and vice versa.

In the regression equations, adolescents who perceived their parents asable to help them academically also had higher academic motivation. Similarresults have been found in studies looking at Mexican-origin parents’ reportsof their own ability to help (Okagaki et al., 1995). According to Curiel(1991), many Latino parents do not feel that they can make a difference intheir youth’s education, often due to unsuccessful experiences in the educa-tional system or a lack of education. Hence, this lack of confidence by theparents may translate into a perceived lack of confidence by the adolescentsof their parents’ ability to help them academically (e.g., helping withhomework).

Parents’ ability to help with academics was not significantly related toeducational aspirations in the multiple regressions. One possible explanationis that if the Latino youth have high educational aspirations, above andbeyond their parents’ educational level, then they may not perceive their par-ents as being able to help them. This finding was partially supported in thedata. Specifically, additional correlation analyses between ability to help andeducational aspirations were conducted with the adolescents whose educa-tional aspirations were (a) higher than their parents’actual educational levelsand (b) adolescents with equal to or lower aspirations than their parents’actual educational levels. A negative correlation was found when the youthhad higher educational aspirations than the educational level of their parents,whereas a significant positive relationship was found when the youth hadequal or lower educational aspirations than their parents’ level of education.The relationship between parents’ ability to help and educational aspirationsmerits further research.

Both parental monitoring and support were related to the academic out-comes in the correlations. Hence, adolescents who perceive parents as moni-toring, encouraging, and supporting them may have higher self-esteem andself-efficacy. These internal evaluations have been found to help youth tosucceed academically (Arellano & Padilla, 1996). In the regressions, moth-ers’ monitoring was still significantly related to academic motivation.Mothers who monitor their youth can help keep them focused on academictasks and deter them away from maladaptive behaviors (Romo & Falbo,1996).




Suggestions for Future Research

Although the results add to the body of knowledge regarding parentingand acculturation factors that promote educational resiliency in Latino ado-lescents, several methodological issues should be noted. First, a conveniencesample of first- and second-generation Mexican-origin students at three pub-lic high schools in Los Angeles is not necessarily representative of all youthfrom immigrant Mexican-origin families. This is especially prevalent giventhat Los Angeles has a higher concentration of Mexican-origin youth thanmost localities in the United States. Next, this study used self-report ques-tionnaires to measure all the independent and dependent variables; hence,there is a risk of shared-method variance. Therefore, a more complete under-standing of parental influences on adolescents’ academic outcomes shouldinclude parents’ views in conjunction with adolescents’ views. Given thecross-sectional, correlational design, assertions of causality between the ado-lescent reports of the parenting variables and the academic outcomes must beinterpreted very cautiously. Therefore, longitudinal studies are recom-mended to more fully examine this important area. And finally, moreresearch needs to identify other possible factors that may encourage educa-tional resiliency in Latino youth in the United States (e.g., peer and teacherinfluences, intellectual level, self-esteem, and efficacy).

Implications

Despite the previously stated methodological issues, the results providesome possible implications for enhancing the educational resiliency ofLatino youth. Given the results of this study and previous studies, it is possi-ble that one way to increase Mexican-origin youth’s academic success andaspirations is to encourage increased English usage in the home. One waywould be to increase the opportunities for families to take English for speak-ers of other languages (ESOL) classes. This could be accomplished throughincreased public funding for free ESOL classes as well as increased classes inlocal community agencies and schools. Bilingual teachers, teacher assis-tants, and teacher liaisons may be helpful for youth from families that speaklittle or no English. In addition, schools that serve large numbers of Mexican-origin youth should translate report cards, letters to parents, signs at theschools, and so forth, to Spanish. These efforts will hopefully increase theinvolvement of Mexican-origin parents in their children’s education.

Next, the educational level of the parents was significantly related to theacademic outcomes of the adolescents. Parents with lower levels of education




may have less understanding of the educational system and less ability toguide youth to higher aspirations. One solution would be to try and increasethe opportunities for Latino parents to increase their education. Secondaryand higher education institutes can provide these opportunities for the par-ents. In addition, school professionals can help parents become familiar withthe educational system through offering adult education, having open housesin high school (which are very common in grade school but not in highschool), sponsoring college/vocational informational nights (with transla-tors), and by providing ESOL classes through the high schools. The ESOLclasses can be used to get parents involved in the school and to educate par-ents about the education system.

Given the relationships between the parents’ behaviors (especially par-ents’ ability to help with academics) and the academic outcomes (especiallyacademic motivation), school counselors, school social workers, and/or par-ent liaisons may want to devise strategies to increase effective parenting strat-egies. Numerous opportunities exist that teach parents how to help theiryouth academically (e.g., math nights). Also, school professionals canencourage parents to monitor their adolescents by having parents monitorcompletion of homework and attend school-sponsored activities.

In addition, teachers can create activities that compel the adolescents to goto their parents for assistance. For example, the teacher can require the ado-lescent to interview their parents about their family tree or about their jobs.These types of activities have the potential to allow parents to help their ado-lescents with their assignments. And finally, many parenting programs (e.g.,parent education classes) exist that assist parents in ways to become moresupportive of their youth.

References

Alva, A. S. (1995). Academic invulnerability among Mexican American students. In A. M.Padilla (Ed.), Hispanic psychology: Critical issues in theory and research (pp. 288-302).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Arellano, A. R., & Padilla, A. (1996). Academic invulnerability among a select group of Latinouniversity students. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 18, 485-507.

Blair, S. L., Blair, M. C. L., & Madamba, A. B. (1999). Racial/ethnic differences in high schoolstudents’academic performance: Understanding the interweave of social class and ethnicityin the family context. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 30, 539-555.

Brown, B. B., Mounts, N., Lamborn, S. D., & Steinberg, L. (1993). Parenting practices and peergroup affiliation in adolescence. Child Development, 64, 467-482.

Cohen, B. E., & Cohen, P. (1983). Applied multiple regression analysis for the behavioral sci-ences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.




Curiel, H. (1991). Strengthening family and school bonds in promoting Hispanic children’sschool performance. In M. Sotomayor (Ed.), Empowering Hispanic families: A critical issuefor the ’90s (pp. 76-95), Milwaukee, WI: Family Service America.

Delgado-Gaitan, C. (1992). School matters in the Mexican American home. American Educa-tional Research Journal, 29, 495-513.

Dornbusch, S., Ritter, P., Leiderman, P., Roberts, D., & Fraleigh, M. (1987). The relation ofparenting style to school performance. Child Development, 58, 1244-1257.

Fuligni, A. J. (1997). The academic achievement of adolescents from immigrant families: Theroles of family background, attitudes and behavior. Child Development, 68, 351-363.

Garcia, E. E. (1992). “Hispanic” children: Theoretical, empirical, and related policy issues. Edu-cational Psychology Review, 4(1), 69-93.

Garmezy, N. (1991). Resiliency and vulnerability to adverse developmental outcomes associ-ated with poverty. American Behavioral Scientist, 43(4), 416-460.

Gillock, K. L., & Reyes, O. (1999). Stress, support, and academic performance of urban, low-income, Mexican-American adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 28, 259-282.

Gutman, L. M., & Midgley, C. (2000). The role of protective factors in supporting the academicachievement of poor African American students during the middle school transition. Journalof Youth and Adolescence, 29(2), 223-248.

Hao, L., & Bonstead-Bruns, M. (1998). Parent-child differences in educational expectations andthe academic achievement of immigrant and native students. Sociology of Education, 71,175-198.

Henderson, W. R. (1997). Educational and occupational aspirations and expectations amongparents of middle school students of Mexican descent: Family resources for academic devel-opment and mathematics learning. In R. D. Taylor & M. C. Wang (Eds.), Social and emo-tional adjustment and family relations in ethnic minority families (pp. 99-132). Mahwah, NJ:Lawrence Erlbaum.

Hubbard, L. (1999). College aspirations among low-income African American high school stu-dents: Gendered strategies for success. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 30(3), 363-383.

Jacobson, K. C., & Crockett, L. J. (2000). Parental monitoring and adolescent adjustment: Anecological perspective. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 10, 65-97.

Masten, A. S., & Coatsworth, J. D. (1998). The development of competence in favorable andunfavorable environments: Lessons from research on successful children. American Psy-chologist, 53, 205-220.

Masten, A. S., Coatsworth, J. D., Neemann, J., Gest, S. D., Tellegen, A., & Garmezy, N. (1995).The structure and coherence of competence from childhood through adolescence. ChildDevelopment, 66, 1635-1659.

Mau, W., Hitchcock, R., & Calvert, C. (1998). High school students’career plans: The influenceof other’s expectations. Professional School Counseling, 2, 161-166.

McLaughlin, H. J., Liljestrom, A., Lim, J. H., & Meyers, D. (2002). LEARN: A communitystudy about Latino immigrants and education. Education and Urban Society, 34(2), 212-232.

Newman, B. M., Lohman, B. J., Newman, P. R., Myers, M. C., & Smith, V. L. (2000). Experi-ences of urban youth navigating the transition to ninth grade. Youth & Society, 31, 387-416.

Newman, B. M., Myers, M. C., Newman, P. R., Lohman, B. J., & Smith, V. L. (2000). The transi-tion to high school for academically promising, urban, low-income African American youth.Adolescence, 35(137), 45-66.




O’Connor, C. (1997). Dispositions toward (collective) struggle and educational resilience in theinner city: A case analysis of six African-American high school students. American Educa-tional Research Journal, 34, 593-629.

Ogbu, J. U. (1986). The consequences of the American caste system. In U. Neisser (Ed.), Theschool achievement of minority children: New perspectives (pp. 19-56). Hillsdale, NJ: Law-rence Erlbaum.

Okagaki, L., & Frensch, P. A. (1998). Parental support for Mexican American children’s schoolachievement. In H. I. McCubbin, E. A. Thompson, A. I. Thompson, & J. E. Fromer (Eds.),Resilience in Native American and immigrant families (pp. 325-342). Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage.

Okagaki, L., Frensch, P. A., & Gordon, E. W. (1995). Encouraging school achievement in Mexi-can American children. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 17, 160-179.

Pedhazur, E. J. (1982). Multiple regression in behavioral research: Explanation and prediction.New York: Hartcourt Brace College.

Peterson, G. W., Rollins, B. C., & Thomas, D. L. (1985). Parental influence and adolescent con-formity: Compliance and internalization. Youth & Society, 16, 397-420.

Romo, H. D., & Falbo, T. (1996). Latino high school graduation: Defying the odds. Austin: Uni-versity of Texas Press.

Smokowski, P. R., Reynolds, A. J., & Bezruczko, N. (1999). Resilience and protective factors inadolescence: An autobiographical perspective from disadvantage youth. Journal of SchoolPsychology, 37(4), 425-448.

Wang, M. C., & Haertel, G. D. (1995). Educational resilience. In M. C. Wang, M. C. Reynolds, &H. J. Walberg (Eds.), Handbook of special and remedial education: Research and practice(2nd ed., pp. 159-200). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.

Wang, M. C., Haertel, G. D., & Walberg, H. J. (1994). Educational resilience in inner cities. InM. C. Wang & E. W. Gordon (Eds.), Educational resilience in inner-city America: Chal-lenges and Prospects (pp. 45-72). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Werner, E. E. (1993). Risk, resilience, and recovery: Perspectives from the Kauai LongitudinalStudy. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 503-515.

Werner, E. E., & Smith, R. (1982). Vulnerability but invincible: A longitudinal study of resilientchildren and youth. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Werner, E. E., & Smith, R. (1992). Overcoming the odds: High risk students from birth to adult-hood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Scott W. Plunkett graduated with a Ph.D. in human environmental sciences fromOklahoma State University. He is currently an assistant professor in the Family and Con-sumer Sciences Department at California State University, Northridge. Previous workexperience includes high school teaching and community counseling. His research inter-ests include (a) examining factors that contribute to adolescent resiliency in multicul-tural communities and (b) evaluating family life education programs.

Mayra Y. Bámaca-Gómez graduated from California State University, Northridge with aB.A. in psychology. Currently, she is a graduate student in human and community devel-opment at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Her research interestsinclude adolescent development among ethnically diverse populations and the influenceof contextual factors, parent-adolescent relationships and their influence on develop-ment, and resiliency among Latino adolescents and their families.




the relationship between parenting, acculturation, and adolescent academics in mexican-origin...

Documents