Self-Regulation and Economic Stress in Children of Hispanic Immigrants and Their Peers: Better Regulation at a Cost?

Research Findings: Although there is a well-established relationship between economic stress and children's self-regulation, few studies have examined this relationship in children of Hispanic immigrants (COHIs), a rapidly growing population. In a sample of preschool children (N = 165), we exam...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Early education and development 2016-10, Vol.27 (7), p.914-931
Main Authors: McFadyen-Ketchum, Lisa Schlueter, Hurwich-Reiss, Eliana, Stiles, Allison A., Mendoza, Marina M., Badanes, Lisa S., Dmitrieva, Julia, Watamura, Sarah Enos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child Caregivers
Comparative Analysis
Cultural Influences
Economic Factors
Economically Disadvantaged
Hispanic Americans
Hispanic students
Immigrants
Maximum Likelihood Statistics
Metabolism
Minority Group Students
Physiological psychology
Physiology
Predictor Variables
Preschool Children
Preschool teachers
Questionnaires
Self Control
Steroids
Stress response
Stress Variables
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Summary:Research Findings: Although there is a well-established relationship between economic stress and children's self-regulation, few studies have examined this relationship in children of Hispanic immigrants (COHIs), a rapidly growing population. In a sample of preschool children (N = 165), we examined whether economic stress predicted teacher evaluations of children's self-regulation, whether economic stress predicted children's physiological reactivity (via cortisol levels), and whether economic stress had a similar effect on self-regulation and children's cortisol for COHI versus nonimmigrant children. Greater economic stress was associated with poorer child self-regulation and heightened physiological reactivity across a challenging classroom task for the sample as a whole. However, when we examined children by group, greater economic stress was associated with poorer teacher-reported self-regulation for nonimmigrant children only. In contrast, greater economic stress was related to greater cortisol reactivity across a challenge task for COHIs but not for nonimmigrants. Practice or Policy: Results demonstrate the importance of considering physiological indices of self-regulation (heightened stress physiology), in addition to traditional external indices (teacher report), when assessing self-regulation or risk more generally among preschool samples that are diverse in terms of ethnicity, economic risk, and parents' nativity.
ISSN:1040-9289
1556-6935
DOI:10.1080/10409289.2015.1036345