Predictors of parenting among economically disadvantaged latina mothers: mediating and moderating factors

Structural equation modeling was used to examine the role of ecological risk factors, maternal psychological distress, and social network support on the parenting behaviors of 535 economically disadvantaged Latina mothers, who were surveyed for the Welfare Children, & Families: A Three City Study. We predicted that ecological risk would influence mothers' parenting through their psychological distress but that social support would buffer the effects of ecological risk on mothers' depressive symptoms. As predicted, ecological risk was associated with higher contemporaneous psychological distress, which, in turn, predicted lower positive parenting behaviors approximately 18 months later. Social network support buffered the impact of the ecological risk on mothers' symptoms of psychological distress and, thereby, also buffered its indirect effect on parenting behaviors.