Cultural values and parental socialization of coping in Latine families

Adolescence is a critical developmental period characterized by common stressors such as academic pressures and changing peer relationships and family dynamics. In addition to these universal challenges, Latine youth often face unique stressors including acculturative stress, language barriers, and discrimination, which collectively can impact their well-being. Latine parents often pass on cultural messages such as familismo (loyalty to family) and respeto (obedience, deference to authority), which have been associated with better mental health. Further, parents’ socialization of coping (SOC) messages about how to manage or think about stressful situations may be critical for the development of Latine youths’ coping and well-being. Yet, in the literature, culturally specific approaches to parents’ SOC are scarce. Thus, towards theory building via grounded theory methods, the key aim focused on how Latine parents socialize youth to cope with social and academic stressors. The sample included a total of 23 majority Mexican-origin participants: 11 adolescents and 12 mothers. Mothers and adolescents each participated in a one-time, 1.5-hour semi-structured interview (Spanish or English). Participants shared their experiences in providing or receiving advice, respectively, regarding coping with social and academic stress. The cultural values of familism and respect consistently emerged in shaping parents’ coping advice. Results highlight the central role of fomentando confianza (building trust) as a foundational relational context enabling Latine parents to guide their adolescents in managing stressors. The proposed model revealed that parents provided advice through four main strategies: prioritizing relational harmony, reinforcing expectations, encouraging effort, and redefining agency. These findings offer new insights into the relational and cultural processes that may play an important role in supporting Latine youth well-being.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Human Dvlpmt & Family Studies

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Jimenez, Virnaliz

Contributors dc:contributor

• Tu, Kelly M.
• Hardesty, Jennifer
• Marchand, Aixa
• Stein, Gabriela L.

• Latine parenting
• grounded theory
• coping
• familism
• respect

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Virnaliz Jimenez

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132629

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132629