Literature Review of Parenting Practices in Latinx Families
Author:
Nicole Fernandez ’25Co-Authors:
Faculty Mentor(s):
Jasmine Mena, Department of PsychologyFunding Source:
Psychology Emerging Scientist Fellowship AwardAbstract
Parenting practices are strongly influenced by contextual factors and cultural values, especially among Latinx families in the United States. This literature review investigated how Latinx parenting is influenced by cultural values such as familismo and respeto, gender norms derived from marianismo and machismo, and larger sociopolitical factors such as immigration status and socioeconomic tensions. This review integrated findings from 31 peer-reviewed studies, analyzed through NVivo coding, to identify key themes in Latinx parenting research. The findings revealed that Latinx parents integrate warmth and discipline in a practice known as protective parenting; however, issues such as deportation and acculturative stress show an impact on family dynamics and parent-child interactions. In addition, parental expectations, particularly those surrounding masculinity and academic aspirations, play an important role in determining child development.