Su Yeong Kim’s Research on Mexican-Origin Families: Parenting and Adolescent Development Across Cultures

Dr. Su Yeong Kim’s Work on Cultural Influences in Parenting

Parenting across cultures involves more than setting rules and showing affection; it is also about how families pass on cultural values that shape identity, resilience, and achievement. In Mexican-origin families, parents balance the heritage values of respeto (obedience and respect toward elders) with U.S. cultural values of independence (self-expression and autonomy).

My colleagues and I sought to understand how cultural and general parenting practices combine to form parental socialization profiles and how these profiles shape adolescent behavior, academics, and psychological outcomes.

Published in Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology (2019) by Su Yeong Kim, Shanting Chen, Yang Hou, Katharine H Zeiders, Esther J Calzada, this study highlights how integrated approaches, where parents teach both respeto and independence while pairing warmth and guidance with low hostility, offer the most adaptive pathways for adolescents.

Su Yeong Kim’s Approach: Linking Values to Parenting Practices

We drew from 604 adolescents, 595 mothers, and 293 fathers in Mexican-origin families in Texas. Almost all parents were born in Mexico and had middle-school education on average. Families reported annual incomes between $20,000–$30,000, with adolescents aged 11–15, split evenly between boys and girls.

To capture both cultural socialization and general parenting dimensions, we used robust, validated measures:

Cultural dimensions:

• Socialization toward respeto (obedience, respect, manners)
• Socialization toward independence (self-expression, problem-solving)

General parenting practices:

• Warmth
• Hostility
• Monitoring (supervision and awareness)
• Inductive reasoning (providing explanations for rules)

We applied latent profile analysis, a statistical method that uncovers distinct parenting “profiles” by examining how cultural messages combine with warmth, control, and discipline. Adolescents were surveyed one year later on outcomes including delinquent behavior, school grades, and sense of life meaning.

What Su Yeong Kim’s Study Uncovered: Parenting Profiles and Adolescent Outcomes

1. Integrated–Authoritative Parenting Was Common and Adaptive: We found that the integrated–authoritative profile high in socialization toward both respect and independence, coupled with high warmth, strong monitoring, and low hostility was the most common parenting pattern across both mothers and fathers.

• Adolescents in these families reported lower delinquency.
• They earned slightly higher grades.
• They expressed a greater sense of life meaning, reflecting purpose and positive well-being.

This parenting style exemplifies a balance of cultural guidance with supportive parental practices, showing clear benefits for adolescent adjustment.

2. Moderately Integrated Profiles Varied in Their Effects: Not all balanced approaches yielded the same results.

• Moderately Integrated–Indulgent parents (moderate respeto/independence, high warmth but lower monitoring) still promoted positive outcomes like stronger life meaning, but not always higher grades.
• Moderately Integrated–No-Nonsense parents (moderate respeto/independence, high hostility alongside warmth and monitoring) showed mixed effects sometimes fostering resilience but also increasing stress within the family.

This demonstrates that how warmth, reasoning, and hostility are paired with cultural messages matters greatly in shaping outcomes.

3. Marginalized or Harsh Parenting Was Risky

At the other end of the spectrum, we discovered smaller groups of parents whose profiles combined low cultural socialization with high hostility and low support. Adolescents in these families tended to:

• Report higher delinquency
• Show lower grades
• Experience reduced sense of life meaning

This profile illustrates the risks when neither heritage nor mainstream cultural values are emphasized, and when parenting is characterized by more conflict than support.

Why This Study Matters: Practical and Policy Implications

Our findings underscore a key principle: culture cannot be separated from parenting. For immigrant families, parental practices are deeply tied to cultural values, and both together shape how adolescents navigate school, relationships, and identity.

Here are three takeaways for educators, practitioners, and policymakers:

1. Integrated Parenting Works Best: Supporting both respeto and independence, while maintaining warmth and guidance, aligns with bicultural socialization. This combination helps adolescents thrive in both cultural spheres, heritage and mainstream.
2. Cultural and General Practices Interact: Teaching children cultural pride is most effective when paired with warmth and reasoning. Hostility, even when paired with cultural guidance, tends to diminish positive outcomes.
3. Prevention and Support Programs Should Be Culturally Informed: Parenting programs serving Latino immigrant families should emphasize bicultural strengths. Encouraging parents to uphold respeto while also fostering independence could enhance school success and psychological well-being in adolescents.

Conclusion: Parenting as Cultural Bridge

This study moves beyond looking at parenting as “strict” or “lenient.” It shows that Mexican-origin parents develop nuanced socialization profiles that weave together cultural values and general parenting practices. Of these, integrated authoritative approaches emerge as particularly beneficial, paving the way for positive adolescent outcomes.

By appreciating these culturally grounded parenting strategies, we can better support immigrant families in raising adolescents who are well-adjusted, resilient, and prepared to succeed in two cultural worlds.

Read the full research:

This article is based on the research, Parental Socialization Profiles in Mexican-Origin Families: Considering Cultural Socialization and General Parenting Practices by Su Yeong Kim, Shanting Chen, Yang Hou, Katharine H Zeiders, Esther J Calzada, published in Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology (2019).