شیوه های فرزند پروری و گزارش دهی اضطراب دوران کودکی در مکزیک، مکزیک آمریکا، اروپا و خانواده های آمریکایی

Parenting practices reflecting over-control and lack of warmth and acceptance are associated with childhood anxiety in white non-Latino populations. In this study, we examined whether these parenting practices were related to childhood anxiety in Mexican-descent children. Mexican (M: n = 46), Mexican American (MA: n = 48), and European American (EA: n = 47) families discussed three ambiguous, potentially anxiety provoking situations. Transcribed discussions were coded for parenting practices reflecting control and lack of warmth and acceptance. Controlling practices were associated with more anxiety for the M and EA groups and with less anxiety for the MA group. The MA parents generated more verbalizations indicative of control than the M parents and more verbalizations indicative of lack of warmth and acceptance than the EA parents. Implications for our understanding of anxiety development in Latino children are discussed.

Current models of anxiety development in children emphasize contributions of biological and social environmental factors to the etiology and maintenance of anxiety (Chorpita & Barlow, 1998; Manassis & Bradley, 1994). In the social environmental area, contribution of family processes to anxiety development has been of recent interest to researchers (Dadds & Barrett, 1996; Ginsburg, Siqueland, Masia-Warner, & Hedtke, 2004; Rapee, 1997). In particular, a lack of parental acceptance and warmth along with control of children's behavior are two parenting approaches that have been consistently associated with clinical anxiety in children. This body of research, however, has been conducted almost exclusively with white non-Latino families placing minimal attention on the effects that cultural context may have on the influence of familial transactions on children's anxiety. Thus, whether anxiety models that take family processes into consideration apply to ethnic minorities including Latin Americans is not known. A focus on parenting practices and anxiety development in Latin Americans is important considering the large and growing number of Latin American children and adolescents in the U.S. (12.3 million: U.S. department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 2001) and that they are at risk for anxiety problems (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001). In addition, socio-cultural influences are likely to shape the manner in which parent child interactions give rise to or protect youth from anxiety development (Harre & Parrott, 1996; Kirmayer, Young, & Hayton, 1995). In an effort to increase our understanding of anxiety development in relation to family processes in a cultural context, this study examined the relationship between parenting practices and childhood anxiety in Mexican (M), Mexican American (MA), and European American (EA) families. When referring to M and MA families collectively, the referent Mexican-descent is used.