Mother-Child Adjustment in Arab Immigrants and Refugees

描述（由申请人提供）：青春期是外国出生的母亲及其子女的一个困难的发展过渡。典型的身份问题和同龄人的压力与这种发展过渡的外国父母的青少年生活在两种文化冲突的规范和价值观复杂。然而，人们对他们的调整知之甚少。关于外国出生的母亲的育儿方式或她们在青春期的压力对育儿的影响，人们所知更少。这些问题对阿拉伯穆斯林移民来说更严重，因为他们的文化与美国主流价值观明显不同。本纵向研究的阿拉伯穆斯林移民和难民的母亲和他们的孩子将调查压力，应对，社会支持，和亲子关系的双重角度的母亲和青年。在过渡到青春期早期和晚期的过程中，将研究母亲，家庭和儿童变量如何影响儿童心理社会适应的因果模型中的途径。研究目的是：1）确定母亲和儿童压力，应对和社会支持的因果模型中的基线关系;社会人口风险;母亲调整;亲子关系;以及青春期前和青春期早期阿拉伯青年的儿童心理社会适应，以及2）确定上述变量的路径的稳定性，以解释阿拉伯青年的适应，18和36个月后，在过渡到早期和晚期的青春期。当儿童处于青春期前或青春期早期时，将在基线时以及18个月和36个月后从608对母子中收集有关母亲、家庭和儿童变量的数据，以捕获向青春期后期的过渡。结构方程模型将用于建立潜在变量之间基线关系的模型，并检查模型预测18个月和36个月调整结果的能力。将通过评估潜变量随时间的系统变化、确定变化的可靠性并获得个体真实评分变化的经验贝叶斯（EB）估计值来评价模型稳定性。一个变化分数模型，结合EB估计，将确定如何在潜变量的变化与18个月和36个月的儿童调整的结果。从拟议的研究信息是必要的，以制定服务提供方案，为这一弱势群体的妇女和儿童，特别是要确定干预措施的相对价值，侧重于人与人之间/内在的动态与上下文/环境特征。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Adolescence is a difficult developmental transition for foreign-born mothers and their children. The typical identity issues and peer pressure associated with this developmental transition for adolescents of foreign parentage are complicated by living in two cultures with conflicting norms and values. Yet, little is known about their adjustment. Even less is known about the parenting of foreign-born mothers or the effects of their stress on parenting during adolescence. These issues are even greater for Arab Muslim immigrants because their culture is markedly different from dominant US values. This longitudinal study of Arab Muslim immigrant and refugee mothers and their children will investigate stress, coping, social support, and parent-child relationship from the dual perspective of mothers and youth. The pathways in a causal model of how maternal, family, and child variables affect child psychosocial adjustment will be examined during transition into early and late adolescence. Study aims are to: 1) determine the baseline relationships in a causal model of maternal and child stress, coping, and social support; socio-demographic risk; maternal adjustment; parent-child relationships; and child psychosocial adjustment for pre- and early adolescent Arab youth, and 2) determine the stability of the pathways of the above variables for explaining the adjustment of Arab youth, 18 and 36 months later during transitions into early and late adolescence. Data about maternal, family, and child variables will be collected from 608 mother-child dyads at baseline when the child is a pre- or early adolescent and at 18 and 36 months later to capture transition into later stages of adolescence. Structural equation modeling will be used to develop a model of the baseline relationships among the latent variables and examine the model's ability to predict adjustment outcomes at 18 and 36 months. Model stability will be evaluated by assessing systematic change in the latent variables over time, determining the reliability of the change, and obtaining empirical Bayes (EB) estimates of individual true score change. A change score model, incorporating EB estimates, will determine how changes in the latent variables are related to the 18- and 36-month child adjustment outcomes. Information from the proposed study is needed to develop service delivery programs for this vulnerable population of women and children, particularly to determine the relative value of interventions focused on inter/intrapersonal dynamics versus contextual/environmental features.