MATERNAL ACCEPTANCE/REJECTION OF MEXICAN MIGRANT MOTHERS

This study examined correlates of maternal acceptance of preschool children in a sample of Mexican-American migrant farmworker mothers, including problems in life conditions (education, employment, relatives, friends, partner/spouse, children, health, housing, and finances) and social support (task, emotional, source, satisfaction, accessibility). One hundred Mexican-American mothers of preschoolers who participated in the Texas Migrant Council's Headstart Program were interviewed with regard to demographic information, social support, and problems in life conditions. The results supported the hypothesis that total social support accounts for more variation in maternal acceptance/rejection than problems in life conditions alone. Social support accounted for 75% of the variance in maternal acceptance/rejection of preschool children, and accessibility to support predicted the largest proportion of the variance. The results suggest that it is important to identify Mexican-American migrant farmworker mothers isolated from social support, since such isolation, in combination with problems in life conditions, places their children at higher risk for maternal rejection.     

Construction and maintenance of parent–child relationships: Bidirectional contributions from the perspective of parents

The purpose of the present study was to investigate parents' perspectives of parent and child contributions to the construction and maintenance of the parent–child relationship. Twenty‐four mothers and fathers, with a child between 4‐ to 7‐years‐old, completed an open‐ended interview in which they described their parent–child relationship and commented on how they and their child strengthen, damage, and repair the relationship. Findings indicated that parents described their parent–child relationship with relatively similar emphasis on elements of authority, companionship, and intimacy. Parents reported that they were most likely to strengthen the parent–child relationship by interacting with their child in the companionship domain, whereas their overuse of power or authority and non‐responsiveness temporarily created damage in the relationship. Parents reported that their children were most likely to strengthen the relationship by complying with parent requests and engaging in companionate interactions, whereas not complying or challenging parent directives created relational tension. Parents indicated that both they and their children were most likely to repair interactional errors by restoring intimacy (e.g. apology, communication, or affection). Results are discussed from a framework of multiple relationship domains consisting of the interplay of vertical and horizontal dimensions of power. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.