Abstract
Children’s early socialization shapes their development and well-being. To date, research examining the socialization of preschool-aged Latine children remains limited, and primarily focused on immigrant, Spanish-speaking families. Given the heterogeneity in language(s) spoken, nativity, and education within Latine families, the present study used focus groups among 112 Latine families of children attending Head Start to understand and compare salient parenting beliefs, attitudes, and self-reported practices as they pertained to supporting their children’s development among both English- and Spanish-speaking caregivers. Results showed that English- and Spanish-speaking caregivers viewed their children’s bicultural socialization as critical to supporting their development. Caregivers actively socialized their children to be bicultural through an emphasis on two superordinate goals: fostering bilingualism and simultaneous transmission of heritage and US values. Although caregivers across groups shared many of the same beliefs, attitudes, and practices concerning bilingualism and transmission of values (respeto, egalitarian gender roles), differences were also found. Specifically, ethnic pride was more salient for caregivers in the English than Spanish groups, and the value of familismo was only discussed in the English groups. Additionally, caregivers in the English and Spanish focus groups described experiencing different language-related challenges that undermined their efforts to raise bicultural children. These findings can inform future efforts seeking to support low-income, Latine families reach the goals they have for their children from a culturally and contextually informed lens.
Highlights
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Comparisons between English and Spanish-speaking Latine families showed both aimed to raise bicultural children early on.
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Bicultural socialization was promoted by fostering bilingualism and by simultaneously instilling US and heritage values in children.
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Nuanced differences between language groups were found in the ways families fostered bilingualism and instilled values.
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Spanish and English-speaking caregivers encountered different language-related challenges in socializing their children to be bicultural.
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Materials Availability
All data materials and data are stored in secure files and cabinets belonging to Dr. Christine McWayne (the second author). Inquiries about access to these should be sent to her at christine.mcwayne@tufts.edu. This work is not pre-registered.
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Acknowledgements
We wish to gratefully acknowledge the participating Head Start programs, teachers, and families who made this research possible. We also thank our research team members for their dedication to this project.
Funding
This study was supported by an Administration for Children and Families (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) Head Start University English Language Learners Partnership Grant (#90YR0063) and an NICHD R03 grant (5R03HD50363-2) to the second and third authors.
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The IRB at Tufts University and New York University approved all data collection procedures and measures. All participating caregivers were provided with an informed consent form and agreed to participate in the study. Additionally, they also consented to have the findings derived from the data published.
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Ochoa, W., McWayne, C.M. & Melzi, G. Parenting while Latine: Bicultural Socialization Values and Practices in Support of Preschool Children’s Well-being. J Child Fam Stud 32, 3999–4014 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02711-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02711-z