Parenting and Adolescent Self-Esteem in Latino Intact Families, Stepfather Families, and Single-Mother Families

This study examined the relationships between perceived parenting behaviors (i.e., support, monitoring, punitiveness, and psychological control) and youth self-esteem in Latinos from three different types of family structures. S elf-report data were collected from 807 Latino youth from three high schools in Los Angeles. Correlations, multiple regressions, and dominance analyses were used, and separate analyses were conducted for both the mothers' and fathers' behaviors across the three family forms (i.e., intact, single-mother families, and stepfather families). Three primary findings emerged. First, parental psychological control and support contributed more to Latino youth self-esteem than monitoring and punitiveness in all three family forms. Next, the perceived parenting behaviors accounted for more variance in self-esteem in the intact families than the single-mother or stepfather families. And third, the parenting behaviors by the stepfather accounted for the least amount of variance in self-esteem. Finally, implications for future research and programmatic efforts are presented.