Fostering academic competence in Latinx youth: The role of cultural values and parenting behaviors

Abstract

Although high school completion rates for Latinx adolescents have improved, rural Latinx youth experience more barriers to academic success than their urban counterparts. Using a culturally informed model, we tested prospective associations between adolescents’ Wave 1 familism values (cultural values emphasizing the importance of family relationships and connections) and Wave 2 academic competencies in a sample of predominantly rural Latinx adolescents (N = 123) in the U.S. Midwest. We also examined whether youth-reports of mother’s and father’s warm parenting at Wave 1 and 2 moderated these associations. Familism values predicted higher self-reported school attachment and academic aspirations and expectations. Neither maternal nor paternal warmth predicted school attachment, academic aspirations, or academic expectations. Maternal warmth at Wave 2, but not at Wave 1, moderated the positive associations between familism and academic aspirations and expectations. These associations were more pronounced under circumstances of low maternal warmth. Paternal warmth did not significantly moderate the proposed associations predicting academic aspirations and expectations. Paternal warmth at Wave 1, but not at Wave 2, moderated the positive association between familism and school attachment. This association was stronger in the context of low paternal warmth. Results emphasize the joint roles of culture and parenting context for fostering academic competence in Latinx youth living in primarily rural regions of the Midwest during a critical developmental stage.