Latinx parent-child acculturative stress profiles and their relation to expressed emotion and academic achievement.

Objective: This study derived parent-child acculturative stress (AS) profiles to evaluate how dyadic AS relates to parental expressed emotion (EE) and academic achievement.

Method: A sample of 284 Latinx youth (M_age = 11.5 years; 55.6% female) and their parents completed The Acculturative Stress Measure, and AS profiles were obtained using latent profile analyses (LPA). Profiles were compared across two outcomes: child and parent reports of parental EE using the Brief Dyadic Scale of Expressed Emotion, which measures parental warmth, criticism, and emotional overinvolvement (EOI), and child standardized test scores.

Results: Four AS profiles emerged using LPA fit indices: high child-low parent (HCLP; 7.7%), low child-high parent (LCHP; 13.4%), moderate child-low parent (MCLP; 14.4%), and low child-low parent (LCLP; 64.4%). Youth and parents in profiles reporting higher AS reported higher EE, particularly EOI. Youth in profiles characterized by greater AS obtained lower test scores.

Conclusion: Parent and child dyads can experience different levels of AS. Higher dyadic AS was associated with worse perceived parental attitudes, as measured by EE, and lower academic achievement. Parental EE subscale differences varied based on the informant and their AS level. Findings underscore the importance of considering cultural factors and incorporating multiple family member experiences to meet the needs of Latinx families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).