A family stress model investigation of bicultural competence among U.S. Mexican-origin youth.

We investigated the influence of parental exposure to family stressors on parents' ethnic socialization practices and adolescents' cultural competencies among U.S. Mexican-origin families. The sample included 749 U.S. Mexican-origin families followed for 5 years (two-parent families = 579; single-mother families = 170). At the first wave, mean age was 35.9 years for mothers, 38.1 years for fathers, and 10.42 years for youths (49% female). Most youths were U.S.-born (70.3%). Most parents were Mexico-born (74.3% to 79.9%). On average, Mexico-born parents had resided in the U.S. for 12.57 to 14.58 years. Both parents reported about 10 years of education. Annual family incomes ranged from less than $5,000 to more than $95,000. We conducted longitudinal structural equation analyses to test a culturally expanded Family Stress Model. Mothers' exposures to enculturative language stressors disrupted maternal ethnic socialization, and in turn, undermined adolescents' bicultural competence. This work advances understanding of the family processes that set into motion youth's bicultural competence development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).