Siblings’ Differential Treatment in Mexican American Families
2005/11/21 by Susan M. McHale, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Lilly Shanahan +2 · 129 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development #Cognitive Abilities and Testing #Developmental psychology #Differential (mechanical device) #Differential treatment #Ethnic group #Mexican americans #Perception #Psychology #Racial and Ethnic Identity Research #Social psychology #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00215.x
published in Journal of Marriage and the Family 67(5), 1259-1274 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2005/11/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/02
Abstract
We investigated the patterns and correlates of parents' differential treatment of adolescent siblings in 246 two-parent Mexican American families. In home interviews, siblings rated 7 domains of differential treatment (e.g., privileges, chores, warmth) as well as their adjustment and perceptions of parental acceptance and fairness, and both parents and adolescents reported on cultural dynamics. More gender-typed patterns of differential treatment were evident when parents were more oriented to Mexican than Anglo culture. The links between differential treatment and youth reports of adjustment, parental acceptance, and parental fairness were moderated by adolescents' familism values, particularly for older siblings: Differential treatment was linked more strongly to adjustment and parent-youth relationship problems when youth reported lower levels of familism.
Citations
Cited by
- Childhood socioeconomic position and later-life cognitive functioning in the U.S.: A critical review
- Sibling Relationships and Influences in Childhood and Adolescence
- Theoretical Perspectives on Sibling Relationships
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- Exploring Mothers' and Fathers' Relationships with Sons Versus Daughters: Links to Adolescent Adjustment in Mexican Immigrant Families. [europepmc]
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- Theoretical Perspectives on Sibling Relationships. [europepmc]
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- Children's Provision of Family Caregiving: Benefit or Burden? [europepmc]
- Sibling Caretaking Among Mexican American Youth: Conditions That Promote and Hinder Personal and School Success. [europepmc]
- Sibling Relationships and Influences in Childhood and Adolescence. [europepmc]
- Acculturative and enculturative stress, depressive symptoms, and maternal warmth: examining within-person relations among Mexican-origin adolescent mothers. [europepmc]
- What can we learn from the study of Mexican-origin families in the United States? [europepmc]
- Parents' Differential Treatment of Adolescent Siblings in African American Families. [europepmc]
- Familism Values, Family Time, and Mexican-Origin Young Adults' Depressive Symptoms. [europepmc]
- Parent-Youth Differences in Familism Values from Adolescence into Young Adulthood: Developmental Course and Links with Parent-Youth Conflict. [europepmc]
- The role of older siblings in the sexual and reproductive health of Mexican-origin young women in immigrant families. [europepmc]
- Siblings' Perceptions of Differential Treatment, Fairness, and Jealousy and Adolescent Adjustment: A Moderated Indirect Effects Model. [europepmc]
- Parental warmth and psychiatric disorders among Puerto Rican children in two different socio-cultural contexts. [europepmc]
- Revisiting gendered parenting of adolescents: understanding its effects on psychosocial development. [europepmc]
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