The Mediational Role of Anxiety and Familism in the Associations Between Mothers' and Fathers' Parenting Behaviors and U.S. Latine Youth' Aggression.

Abstract

Personal relationships research is increasingly addressing the impact of both mothers and fathers parenting behaviors on youth' development. This study addresses the relative dearth of research on the effects of fathers versus mothers on youth behavioral adjustment within U.S. Latine families and examined the relations among parental warmth/ harshness and youth' aggressive behaviors considering anxiety and familism as mediators, and whether associations differed by parent and youth gender. Data were from a sample of 307 U.S. Latine youth (51% boys; Mage = 12.21 years, 46.5% girls). Using a cross-sectional mediational path model, significant indirect associations between parental warmth/harshness and youth aggressive behaviors via anxiety (in both models) and familism (only in the fathers' model) were found. The findings highlight the deleterious effects of parental harshness on youth' social-emotional wellbeing and behaviors and advance understanding on unique associations between mothers' and fathers' behaviors and youth' aggressive behaviors.