ABSTRACT
Research indicates that mothers of children with ID who receive familial support experience less stress than those who receive less support. Less is known about the relation of support to mothers' evaluation of parenting self-efficacy, particularly in Latino families. We examined the relationship of different types of family support to life satisfaction and parenting self-efficacy (PSE), and explored whether income and ethnicity moderated these relationships. Interviews with 84 Latino and 37 White participants revealed that partner emotional support predicted life satisfaction and PSE in both ethnic groups, with a stronger relationship evident for the PSE of Latino mothers. Income was not a significant moderator. These findings provide guidance for more effective family interventions targeted toward Latinos.
Subject(s)
Hispanic or Latino/ethnology , Intellectual Disability , Parenting/ethnology , Self Efficacy , Social Support , White People/ethnology , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Income , Mothers/psychology , Personal Satisfaction , United StatesABSTRACT
Adolescents' emotional engagement plays a critical role in promoting their academic performance as well as overall psychological wellbeing. As a part of a 3-year longitudinal study, this study drew upon self-determination theory to examine three psychological predictors of emotional engagement within specific learning contexts. Ninety-four, low socioeconomic status (SES), ninth grade students (49% male; 32 Blacks, 30 Whites, and 32 Latinos) rated the perceived fulfillment of their autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs and their emotional engagement in learning settings at multiple time points over a 1-week period. Hierarchical linear modeling showed that the students' ratings of their psychological-need fulfillment and of their emotional engagement fluctuated over time and across contexts. After accounting for student gender, race/ethnicity, and prior achievement, we found that the fulfillment of each type of psychological need in a particular learning context was related to emotional engagement in that context (i.e., within-student level). The fulfillment of students' need for autonomy also was related to their emotional engagement at the aggregated level (i.e., between-student level). These findings illustrate how the psychological affordances of particular learning settings are associated with emotional engagement within and between students from low SES backgrounds.
Subject(s)
Achievement , Ethnicity/psychology , Interpersonal Relations , Personal Autonomy , Schools/standards , Adaptation, Psychological , Adolescent , Adolescent Behavior/psychology , Educational Measurement , Environment , Female , Humans , Learning , Longitudinal Studies , Male , Personal Satisfaction , Predictive Value of Tests , Quality Control , Schools/trends , Students/psychology , United StatesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine how parents of children with intellectual disabilities view prenatal testing and pregnancy termination for their child's condition. METHOD: We interviewed 201 English-speaking or Spanish-speaking caregivers of children aged 2 to 10 years. Primary outcomes were being disinclined to undergo prenatal testing or pregnancy termination for the child's condition in a future pregnancy. RESULTS: While only 33% of the sample indicated they would not have prenatal testing, 75% were disinclined to terminate their pregnancy if their fetus was affected. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, Asians were significantly less likely than White participants to say they would forego prenatal testing (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.08, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.01-0.86, p = 0.037), while Latinos had lower odds of being disinclined to terminate (aOR = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.07-0.99, p = 0.048). Participants who felt that abortion for their child's condition should not be available were more likely to say they would forego prenatal testing (aOR = 5.10, 95% CI = 2.09-12.43, p < 0.001) and, not surprisingly, they were also at higher odds of being disinclined to terminate pregnancy for this condition (aOR = 13.63, 95% = CI 4.19-44.34, p < 0.001). Greater life satisfaction also was associated with being disinclined to terminate pregnancy (aOR = 3.40, 95% CI = 1.34-8.61, p = 0.010). CONCLUSION: Although many parents of children with intellectual disabilities believe they would desire information regarding their fetus in a future pregnancy, most feel they would not opt to terminate their pregnancy. As new tests for intellectual disabilities become available, determining what would be most useful to prospective parents should become a high priority.
Subject(s)
Abortion, Induced/psychology , Intellectual Disability/diagnosis , Patient Acceptance of Health Care , Prenatal Diagnosis/psychology , Adult , California , Caregivers , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Hispanic or Latino , Humans , Logistic Models , Male , Multivariate Analysis , Parents , Patient Acceptance of Health Care/ethnology , Pregnancy , Socioeconomic Factors , Surveys and Questionnaires , White PeopleABSTRACT
Little research has examined how low-income Asian American children are supported to achieve well in school. The authors used the notion of social capital to study higher versus lower achieving Chinese adolescents from low-income backgrounds. They found that families of higher-achieving adolescents built and used more effectively three kinds of social networks in lieu of direct parental involvement: (a) designating a helper in and outside the home for the child, (b) identifying peer models for the child to emulate, and (c) involving extended kin to guide the child jointly. These forms of social capital reflect Chinese cultural values applied to the challenges of immigrant adaptation.
