title: The roles of respect for parental authority and parenting practices in parent-child conflict among African American, Latino, and European American families.
abstract: In this study, the authors examined whether parent-child conflict during the middle childhood years varied among families characterized as having different cultural traditions regarding issues of respect for parental authority and parenting practices. The sample included 133 African American, European American, and Latina girls (M age = 8.41 years) and their mothers. African American and Latina girls showed significantly more respect for parental authority than did European American girls. Furthermore, African American and Latina mothers reported significantly more intense arguments when respect was low than did European American mothers. Higher levels of discipline and better communication by mothers were both associated with reports of lower frequency of conflict; ethnicity did not moderate this association. Thus, respect for authority was most salient to group differences in conflict.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, School of Behavioral and Social Sciences, St. Edward's University, Austin, TX 78704, USA. saraa@admin.stedwards.edu
authors.forename: Sara Villanueva
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Dixon
authors.forename: Julia A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Graber
authors.forename: Jeanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brooks-Gunn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D001318:Authoritarianism; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000208:ethnology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology