This study examined whether the widely reported positive relation between "authoritative" parenting and adolescent adjustment among middle class white American families was also present among Cuban Americans, and whether this relationship was moderated by various degrees of parents' acculturation, including biculturalism. A sample of 112 adolescents of Cuban origin who attended high schools in South Florida was included in the study, along with their mothers and fathers, for a total of 336 participants. Three different standardized measures were employed—the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ), the Bicultural Involvement Questionnaire (BIQ), and the Child Behavior Checklist/6-18 (CBCL/6-18)—as well as a Demographic Information Sheet (DIS). Scores from the PAQ and the BIQ were examined first to determine any relationship between parenting styles and parents' level of acculturation/biculturalism. Parenting styles and level of acculturation/biculturalism scores were later analyzed to predict adolescents' developmental outcomes as measured by the Total Competence and Total Problem scales of the CBCL/6-18. Multiple Regression Analyses revealed that no significant relationship was present between parenting styles and parents' level of acculturation/biculturalism, and that these two variables in turn did not significantly predict adolescents' developmental outcomes. Given that participants resided in an area with unique cultural characteristics as compared to the rest of the United States, the possibility of the acculturation/biculturalism variable masking the true effects of parenting styles was considered. Therefore, additional analyses were conducted without including the acculturation/biculturalism variable. In this case, results indicated that the positive correlates of authoritative parenting transcend the middle class white American culture and can be found in the population of Cuban Americans studied. According to these findings, as adolescents perceived their parents to be more authoritative, parents rated their adolescents as demonstrating higher levels of competence and lower levels of behavioral and emotional problems. In addition, as adolescents perceived their parents to be more authoritarian, parents found more behavioral and emotional problems in their children. Limitations in the study, and implications for future research and practice were also discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/176265 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Freeman-Gutierrez, Ileana M. |
| Contributors | Alexander, Charlene M. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | xiii, 180 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us--- |
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