Socioeconomic Status and Parenting in Ethnic Minority Families: Testing a Minority Family Stress Model

• Published in: Journal of family psychology 2013-12, Vol.27 (6), p.896-904
• Main Authors: Emmen, Rosanneke A. G., Malda, Maike, Mesman, Judi, van IJzendoorn, Marinus H., Prevoo, Mariëlle J. L., Yeniad, Nihal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acculturation; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Childrearing Practices; Couple and family; Distress; Ethnic Groups - ethnology; Ethnic Groups - psychology; Ethnic minorities; Ethnicity; Family; Family - ethnology; Family - psychology; Family stress; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Male; Minority & ethnic groups; Minority Groups; Minority Groups - psychology; Models, Psychological; Mothers; Netherlands - ethnology; Parenting; Parenting - ethnology; Parenting - psychology; Parents & parenting; Psychological Distress; Psychological Stress; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Racial and Ethnic Groups; Social Class; Social psychology; Socioeconomic factors; Socioeconomic Status; Stress; Stress, Psychological - ethnology; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Turkey - ethnology
• ISSN: 0893-3200; 1939-1293
• DOI: 10.1037/a0034693

According to the family stress model (Conger & Donnellan, 2007), low socioeconomic status (SES) predicts less-than-optimal parenting through family stress. Minority families generally come from lower SES backgrounds than majority families, and may experience additional stressors associated with their minority status, such as acculturation stress. The primary goal of this study was to test a minority family stress model with a general family stress pathway, as well as a pathway specific to ethnic minority families. The sample consisted of 107 Turkish-Dutch mothers and their 5- to 6-year-old children, and positive parenting was observed during a 7-min problem-solving task. In addition, mothers reported their daily hassles, psychological distress, and acculturation stress. The relation between SES and positive parenting was partially mediated by both general maternal psychological stress and maternal acculturation stress. Our study contributes to the argument that stressors specific to minority status should be considered in addition to more general demographic and family stressors in understanding parenting behavior in ethnic minority families.