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Fathers’ and Mothers’ Perceptions of Their Children’s Psychosocial Behaviors in Mexican Immigrant Families

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Book cover Gender Roles in Immigrant Families

Part of the book series: Advances in Immigrant Family Research ((ADIMFAMRES))

Abstract

This study examines the differences between mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of their children’s psychosocial behaviors, whether parents’ perceptions vary as a function of children’s gender, and the influence of sociodemographic and social support variables on parents’ perceptions in two-parent Mexican immigrant families in the USA. Mothers and fathers from 79 families with a second- or third-grade child participated in the study. Mothers and fathers did not differ in their perceptions of children’s most of the positive (e.g., cooperative) and none of the negative (e.g., anxious) behaviors. Mothers rated children’s attentive behavior higher than fathers. Mothers and fathers perceived that sons were happier than daughters. Family and extra-familial support were associated with fathers’ perceptions of their children’s happy and cooperative behaviors, whereas none of the SES and support variables was associated with mothers’ perceptions of children’s positive behaviors. Family size and institutional support influenced fathers’ and mothers’ perceptions of their children’s anxious behavior.

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Acknowledgements 

This research was supported by the University of New Mexico Research Allocation Committee (RAC Grant #25206) and the College of Education at UNM Summer Research Fund. I extend my sincere gratitude to the participants in the study and Nieves Torres, Blanca Elia, and Susan Vasquez for their assistance in collecting the data. Also, I wish to thank Deborah Rifenbary for her comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Individual, Family and Community Education, University of New Mexico, Simpson Hall, MSC05 3040, Albuquerque, 87131, NM, USA

    Ziarat Hossain

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  1. Ziarat Hossain
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Correspondence to Ziarat Hossain .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Family Relations and Appli, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, N1G 2W1, Ontario, Canada

    Susan S. Chuang

  2. Department of Applied Psychology, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education,, New York University, Washington Square East, New York, 10003, USA

    Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda

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Hossain, Z. (2013). Fathers’ and Mothers’ Perceptions of Their Children’s Psychosocial Behaviors in Mexican Immigrant Families. In: Chuang, S., Tamis-LeMonda, C. (eds) Gender Roles in Immigrant Families. Advances in Immigrant Family Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6735-9_8

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