Abstract
Guided by a culture-sensitive attachment framework (Keller, 2016), the purpose of the current study was to examine multigenerational homes as moderators on the associations among maternal depressive symptoms, maternal-child attachment, and child behavioral problems, between White and Latinx women. A subsample (n = 2,366) of The Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) – previously known as the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study – was used with three time points (at child ages 1-, 3-, and 5-years). Mothers reported their depressive symptoms at child age 1, mother-child attachment at child age 3, and child behavioral problems at child age 5. Home structure was assessed through the mothers’ responses at child ages 1 and 3. A path model was used to examine the associations among maternal depressive symptoms, mother-child attachment insecurity, and child behavioral problems, with comparisons among four groups: White non-multigenerational homes, White multigenerational homes, Latinx non-multigenerational homes, and Latinx multigenerational homes. Findings revealed that higher mother-child attachment insecurity at age 3 predicted higher internalizing behaviors at age 5, only among children in Latinx, non-multigenerational homes, but not among those in Latinx, multigenerational homes or White homes. This study revealed significant cultural and ethnical differences in household living arrangements and child wellbeing, with significant theoretical contributions to the understanding of cultural phenomena in attachment research and implications towards designing culturally sensitive intervention programs.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
Publicly available datasets were analyzed in this study. This data can be found at: Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, https://opr.princeton.edu/archive/.
References
Achenbach, T. M. (1992). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist 2–3 and 1992 Profile. University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
Andreassen, C., & Fletcher, P. (2007). Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B): Psychometric Report for the 2-Year Data Collection. Methodology Report. NCES 2007–084. National Center for Education Statistics.
Barnes, J., & Theule, J. (2019). Maternal depression and infant attachment security: A meta‐analysis. Infant Mental Health Journal, 40(6), 817–834. http:// doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21812
Bernard, K., Nissim, G., Vaccaro, S., Harris, J. L., & Lindhiem, O. (2018). Association between maternal depression and maternal sensitivity from birth to 12 months: A meta-analysis. Attachment & Human Development, 20(6), 578–599. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2018.1430839
Bimler, D., & Kirkland, J. (2002). Unifying versions and criterion sorts of the Attachment Q-Set with a spatial model. Canadian Journal of Infant Studies, 9(1), 2–18.
Bornstein, M. H., Putnick, D. L., Suwalsky, J. T. D., Venuti, P., de Falco, S., de Galperín, C. Z., Gini, M., & Tichovolsky, M. H. (2012). Emotional relationships in mothers and infants: Culture-common and community-specific characteristics of dyads from rural and metropolitan settings in Argentina, Italy, and the United States. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 43(2), 171–197. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022110388563
Bowen, N. K., & Guo, S. (2011). Structural equation modeling. Oxford University Press.
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Retrospect and prospect. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 52(4), 664–678. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.1982.tb01456.x
Brody, D. J., Pratt, L. A., & Hughes J. (2018) Prevalence of depression among adults aged 20 and over: United States, 2013–2016. (Report No. 303). National Center for Health Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db303.htm
Calzada, E. J., Fernandez, Y., & Cortes, D. E. (2010). Incorporating the cultural value of respeto into a framework of Latino parenting. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 16(1), 77. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016071
Carlone, C., & Milan, S. (2021). Maternal depression and child externalizing behaviors: the role of attachment across development in low-income families. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 49, 603-614. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-020-00747-z
Carlson, V. J., & Harwood, R. L. (2003). Attachment, culture, and the caregiving system: The cultural patterning of everyday experiences among Anglo and Puerto Rican mother-infant pairs. Infant Mental Health Journal, 24(1), 53–73. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.10043
Chen B. B. (2015). Commentary--culture and attachment during middle childhood. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2015(148), 93–98. https://doi.org/10.1002/cad.20096
Chen, C. Robins, R. W., Schofield, T. J., & Russell, D. W. (2021). Trajectories of familísmo, respéto, traditional gender attitudes, and parenting practices among Mexican‐origin families. Family Relations, 70(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12527
Derlan, C. L., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Updegraff, K. A., & Jahromi, L. B. (2018). Mother–grandmother and mother–father coparenting across time among Mexican-origin adolescent mothers and their families. Journal of Marriage and Family, 80(2), 349–366. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12462
Ding, Y., Xu, X., Wang, Z., Li, H., & Wang, W. (2014). The relation of infant attachment to attachment and cognitive and behavioural outcomes in early childhood. Early Human Development, 90(9), 459–464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2014.06.004
Diniz, E., Volling, B. L., & Koller, S. (2014). Social support moderates association between depression and maternal–fetal attachment among pregnant Brazilian adolescents. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 32(4), 400–411. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2014.910865
Doe, S., LoBue, S., Hamaoui, A., Rezai, S., Henderson, C. E., & Mercado, R. (2017). Prevalence and predictors of positive screening for postpartum depression in minority parturients in the South Bronx. Archives of Women's Mental Health, 20, 291–295. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00737-016-0695-4
Enders, C. K., & Bandalos, D. L. (2001). The relative performance of full information maximum likelihood estimation for missing data in structural equation models. Structural Equation Modeling, 8, 430–457. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0803_5
Fearon, R. P., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van Ijzendoorn, M. H., Lapsley, A.-M., & Roisman, G. I. (2010). The significance of insecure attachment and disorganization in the development of children’s externalizing behavior: A meta-analytic study. Child Development, 81(2), 435–456. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01405.x
Field, T. (2010). Postpartum depression effects on early interactions, parenting, and safety practices: A review. Infant Behavior & Development, 33(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2009.10.005
Grau, J. M., Duran, P. A., Castellanos, P., Smith, E. N., Silberman, S. G., & Wood, L. E. (2015). Developmental outcomes of toddlers of young atina mothers: Cultural, family, and parenting factors. Infant Behavior & Development, 41, 113–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2015.08.001
Greenfield, E. A. (2011). Grandparent involvement and parenting stress among nonmarried mothers of young children. Social Service Review, 85(1), 135–157. https://doi.org/10.1086/658395
Guild, D. J. (2021). Attachment and affect between mothers with depression and their children: Longitudinal outcomes of child parent psychotherapy. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 49(5), 563–577. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-020-00681-0
Guintivano, J., Manuck, T., & Meltzer-Brody, S. (2018a). Predictors of postpartum depression: A comprehensive review of the last decade of evidence. Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, 61(3), 591–603. https://doi.org/10.1097/GRF.0000000000000368
Guintivano, J., Sullivan, P. F., Stuebe, A. M., Penders, T., Thorp, J., Rubinow, D. R., & Meltzer-Brody, S. (2018b). Adverse life events, psychiatric history, and biological predictors of postpartum depression in an ethnically diverse sample of postpartum women. Psychological Medicine, 48(7), 1190–1200. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291717002641
Huang, Z. J., Lewin, A., Mitchell, S. J., & Zhang, J. (2012). Variations in the relationship between maternal depression, maternal sensitivity, and child attachment by race/ethnicity and nativity: Findings from a nationally representative cohort study. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 16(1), 40–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-010-0716-2
Keene, J., & Batson, C. (2010). Under one roof: A review of research on intergenerational coresidence and multigenerational households in the United States. Sociology Compass, 4(8), 642–657. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2010.00306.x
Keller, H. (2016). Attachment. A pancultural need but a cultural construct. Current Opinion in Psychology, 8, 59–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.10.002
Kerns, K. A., Brumariu, L. E., & Seibert, A. (2011). Multi-method assessment of mother-child attachment: Links to parenting and child depressive symptoms in middle childhood. Attachment & Human Development, 13(4), 315–333. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2011.584398
Lang, K., Bovenschen, I., Gabler, S., Zimmermann, J., Nowacki, K., Kliewer, J., & Spangler, G. (2016). Foster children’s attachment security in the first year after placement: A longitudinal study of predictors. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 36, 269–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.12.019
Leahy-Warren, P., McCarthy, G., & Corcoran, P. (2012). First-time mothers: Social support, maternal parental self-efficacy and postnatal depression. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21(3–4), 388–397. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03701.x
Lecompte, V., & Rousseau, C. (2018). Determinants of child attachment in the years postpartum in a high-risk sample of immigrant women. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 20(5), 1166–1172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0662-9
Lefkovics, E., Rigó, J., Szita, B., Kecskeméti, A., Kovács, I., Talabér, J., Somogyvári, Z., Baji, I., & Szabó, L. (2018). Effect of maternal depression and anxiety on mother’s perception of child and the protective role of social support. Journal of Reproductive & Infant Psychology, 36(4), 434–448. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2018.1475726
Little, R. J. (1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83(404), 1198–1202. https://doi.org/10.2307/2290157
Lohaus, A., Rueth, J. E., & Vierhaus, M. (2020). Cross-informant discrepancies and their association with maternal depression, maternal parenting stress, and mother-child relationship. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29, 867–879. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01625-z
Lucero, N. B., Beckstrand, R. L., Callister, L. C., & Sanchez Birkhead, A. C. (2012). Prevalence of postpartum depression among Hispanic immigrant women. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 24(12), 726–734. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-7599.2012.00744.x
Mollborn, S., Fomby, P., & Dennis, J. A. (2011). Who matters for children’s early development? Race/ethnicity and extended household structures in the United States. Child Indicators Research, 4(3), 389–411. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-010-9090-2
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2017). Mplus: Statistical analysis with latent variables: User’s guide (version 8).
Obeldobel, C. A., & Kerns, K. A. (2021). A literature review of gratitude, parent–child relationships, and well-being in children. Developmental Review, 61, Article 100948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2021.100948
Pilkauskas, N. V., & Martinson, M. L. (2014). Three-generation family households in early childhood: Comparisons between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Demographic Research, 30, 1639–1652. https://doi.org/10.4054/demres.2014.30.60
Piontak, J. R. (2016). Household composition and maternal depression. Journal of Family Issues, 37(7), 947–969. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X14531678
Reichman, N. E., Teitler, J. O., Garfinkel, I., & McLanahan, S. S. (2001). Fragile Families: Sample and design. Children and Youth Services Review, 23, 303–326. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0190-7409(01)00141-4
Rico, B., Kreider, R. M., & Anderson, L. (2018). Growth in interracial and interethnic married-couple households. U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/07/interracial-marriages.html
Rodriguez-JenKins, J. (2014). Complex inequality: A contextual parenting framework for Latino infants. Children and Youth Services Review, 44, 317–327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.06.026
Sadruddin, A. F., Ponguta, L. A., Zonderman, A. L., Wiley, K. S., Grimshaw, A., & Panter-Brick, C. (2019). How do grandparents influence child health and development? A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 239, 112476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112476
Shelton, A. J., Wang, C. D., & Carbajal, I. (2020). Attachment and wellness among Latinx immigrants: Meaning in life, belonging, and hope as mediators. The Counseling Psychologist, 48(7), 986–1015. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000020934518
Sherman, L. J., Stupica, B., Dykas, M. J., Ramos-Marcuse, F., & Cassidy, J. (2013). The development of negative reactivity in irritable newborns as a function of attachment. Infant Behavior & Development, 36(1), 139–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2012.11.004
Slomian, J., Honvo, G., Emonts, P., Reginster, J. Y., & Bruyère, O. (2019). Consequences of maternal postpartum depression: A systematic review of maternal and infant outcomes. Women’s Health, 15, 1745506519844044. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745506519844044
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2021). Racial/ethnic differences in mental health service use among adults and adolescents (2015-2019). (Publication No. PEP21-07-01-002). Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/racialethnic-differences-mental-health-service-use
Thompson, R. A. (2021). Attachment networks and the future of attachment theory. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2021, 149–156. https://doi.org/10.1002/cad.20455
United States Census Bureau. (2018). Multigenerational Households: 2009–2011. (Report No. ACSBR/11-03). U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2012/acs/acsbr11-03.html
United States Census Bureau. (2020). Demographic Turning Points for the United States. (Report No. P25-1144). U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p25-1144.html
Venta, A., Walker, J., Bailey, C., Long, T., Mercado, A., & Colunga-Rodríguez, C. (2022). The importance of attachment to fathers in Latinx mental health. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 39(5), 1508–1528. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211059444
Vliegen, N., Casalin, S., & Luyten, P. (2014). The course of postpartum depression: A review of longitudinal studies. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 22(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.0000000000000013
Walters, E. E., Kessler, R. C., Nelson, R. C., & Mroczek, D. (2002). Scoring the World Health Organization’s Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short Form (CIDI-SF). For a copy of this memo please contact ffdata@princeton.edu.
Waters, E., & Deane, K. E. (1985). Defining and assessing individual differences in attachment relationships: Q-methodology and the organization of behavior in infancy and early childhood. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2), 41–65. https://doi.org/10.2307/3333826
Wu, Q. (2021). Trajectory of maternal postpartum depressive symptoms moderates the bidirectional associations between maternal intrusive parenting and infant fear. Journal of Affective Disorders, 292(1), 359–368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.05.099
Wu, Q., Radey, M., Han, S., Jalapa, K., Tawfiq, D., & McWey, L. M. (2023). Profiles of perceived resources among low-income, rural mothers: Prospective associations with maternal and child outcomes. Family Process. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12862
Zeegers, M. A. J., Colonnesi, C., Stams, G.-J.J.M., & Meins, E. (2017). Mind matters: A meta-analysis on parental mentalization and sensitivity as predictors of infant–parent attachment. Psychological Bulletin, 143(12), 1245–1272. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000114
Acknowledgements
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research appreciates the data provided by the Fragile Families Study, supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers R01HD036916, R01HD039135, and R01HD040421, as well as a consortium of private foundations. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
Written informed consent to participate in this study was obtained by the FFCWS research team.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Jalapa, K., Wu, Q., Tawfiq, D. et al. Multigenerational Homes Buffered Behavioral Problems among Children of Latinx but not White non-Latinx Mothers. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol 51, 1391–1405 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-023-01082-9
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-023-01082-9