Examining the Moderating Effects of Attachment and Multigenerational Households in the Relationship Between Parenting Stress and Child Behavior Outcomes in Latiné Children

The Latiné population in the United States continues to be one of the largest and rapidly-growing groups, with a reported 20% increase of the U.S. Latiné population in 2021. A national survey indicated that parenting stress was among the top concerns for the Latiné population living in the U.S. (APA, 2016). Parenting stress can come from the balancing act of parent’s perceptions of their role and the access to the available resources to fulfill their role. The significant structural disadvantages experienced by Latiné families can also exacerbate parenting stress in this population. Recently, studies have highlighted the effects parenting stress has on child behaviors, with an emphasis on the negative impact it has to child internalizing and externalizing behavior outcomes (Suh & Luthar, 2020; McWhirter & Donovick, 2021; Rothenberg et al., 2022; Rothenberg et al., 2023). Given that Latiné children make up 25% of U.S. children under the age of 18, it is important to address the needs of this population. The family stress model (Conger et al., 2000) and Keller (2016)’s culturally-sensitive attachment framework provide a foundation to examine protective factors in Latiné families that can buffer the relationship between parenting stress and child behavior outcomes. Using longitudinal data from the Future of Families & Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), the current study aimed to determine whether attachment and living in a multigenerational household (MGH) would buffer the relation between parenting stress and child behavior outcomes. Using a hierarchical regression, parenting stress was not a significant predictor for child internalizing and externalizing behavior outcomes. Attachment and living in a MGH did not buffer the hypothesized relation between parenting stress and child internalizing and externalizing behavior outcomes. In examining a three-way interaction, living in a MGH did not moderate the hypothesized moderating effect of attachment on the relation between parenting stress and child internalizing and externalizing behavior outcomes. Although significant findings were not acquired, this study has implications for culturally-relevant parenting interventions and serves as an overall contribution to the culturally-sensitive research on attachment and influences of living in a MGH in Latiné families.