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Adolescent Language Brokering in Diverse Contexts: Associations with Parenting and Parent–Youth Relationships in a New Immigrant Destination Area

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Abstract

In the US, children in immigrant families have a longstanding history of language brokering for their parents. Scholars have surmised that youth’s role in language brokering may influence the nature of parenting practices and parent–child relationships that are important to the positive adjustment of adolescent youth. Research findings in this regard, however, have been mixed. Drawing from the family stress model and the concept of adolescent helpfulness, the present study examined how language brokering across different contexts—school, community, and home—was associated with indicators of parental support and parental behavioral control. The sample included 118 (53 % female) primarily Mexican- and Central American-origin 7th, 9th, and 11th grade children in Latino immigrant families living in suburban Atlanta, an important new immigrant destination. The results from structural equation models indicated that language brokering at home—translations for items such as bills, credit card statements, and insurance forms—was associated with less parental decision-making authority, lower levels of parental knowledge, and less parent–child closeness. Language brokering pertinent to school and community contexts, on the other hand, was not associated with variations in parenting. The adverse consequences for parenting conferred by youth translating insurance forms and family financial bills may stem from the excessive cognitive demands placed on youth in these situations, as well as the elevated power that youth gain in relationship to their immigrant parents. For the country’s rapidly growing population of youth being raised by immigrant Latino parents, it is important to consider that youth’s role as language broker at home may affect closeness in the parent–child relationship as well as the degree to which parents are able to maintain authority over youth’s behaviors.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a Research Initiation Grant from Georgia State University to the first author. We would like to thank the parents and youth who participated in surveys for this research, as well as personnel in the Cobb County School District, including the International Welcome Center, for helping to facilitate access to study participants.

Author contributions

K.M.R. conceived of the study, oversaw data collection, conducted statistical analyses, and drafted the manuscript. S.F.L. contributed to the interpretation of findings and made substantive contributions to the manuscript draft, particularly for the Discussion section. S.R.G. conducted analyses for the measurement models, troubleshooting for model fit statistics and made substantive contributions to the manuscript draft. T.D.L. designed plans for using the three-form survey design and application of structural equation modeling for analyses of data; he also contributed to the manuscript draft. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Prevention and Community Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Avenue, Suite 300, Washington, DC, 20052, USA

    Kathleen M. Roche

  2. Department of Psychology, The George Washington University, 2125 G Street NW, Washington, DC, 20052, USA

    Sharon F. Lambert

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Mason F. Lord Building Center Tower, Suite 4200, 5200 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA

    Sharon R. Ghazarian

  4. Institute for Measurement, Methodology, Analysis and Policy, Lubbock, TX, USA

    Todd D. Little

  5. Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership, Texas Tech University, Box 41071, Lubbock, TX, 79409-41071, USA

    Todd D. Little

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  1. Kathleen M. Roche
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Correspondence to Kathleen M. Roche.

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Roche, K.M., Lambert, S.F., Ghazarian, S.R. et al. Adolescent Language Brokering in Diverse Contexts: Associations with Parenting and Parent–Youth Relationships in a New Immigrant Destination Area. J Youth Adolescence 44, 77–89 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0154-3

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