The Role of Cultural Factors in the Development of Latino Preschoolers' Self-Regulation

• Published in: Child development perspectives 2012-09, Vol.6 (3), p.210-217
• Main Author: Li-Grining, Christine Pajunar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acculturation; Children; Children & youth; Cultural aspects; Cultural values; Emotions; Ethnicity; Familism; Individual differences; Latin American people; Latino; Low income families; Low income people; parenting; poverty; preschool age; Preschool children; Race; Regulation; self-regulation; Selfregulation; Socialization; Sociocultural factors
• ISSN: 1750-8592; 1750-8606
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-8606.2012.00255.x

This review summarizes the literature on factors that contribute to individual differences in Latino preschool‐aged children's self‐regulation, which is defined here as the ability to manage one's behavior, emotions, and attention, voluntarily and adaptively. Because Latino children are more likely to live in low‐income families, existing studies have embedded developmental models of Latino preschoolers' self‐regulation in socioeconomic contexts. However, scholars also highlight the importance of situating ethnic minority children's self‐regulation in sociocultural contexts. Existing studies have investigated both mean differences in children's self‐regulation by race and ethnicity and the moderating role of race and ethnic group. Also, extant research has begun examining mean differences in children's socioemotional adjustment by immigrant status. Still, the literature has not extensively studied the moderating roles of acculturation or cultural values such as familism in the socialization of Latino preschool‐aged children's self‐regulation. This article takes a first step toward identifying different types of interaction effects involving familism and acculturation, and concludes with recommendations for future research.