Bills, babies, and (language) barriers: Associations among economic strain, parenting, and primary language during the newborn period

• Published date: 01 February 2022
• Author: Anthony Gómez,Leyla Karimli,Monique Holguin,Paul Chung,Peter Szilagyi,Adam Schickedanz
• Date: 01 February 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12587

RESEARCH

Bills, babies, and (language) barriers: Associations

among economic strain, parenting, and primary

language during the newborn period

Anthony G

omez

1

|Leyla Karimli

2

|Monique Holguin

3

|

Paul Chung

4,5

|Peter Szilagyi

5

|Adam Schickedanz

5

1

School of Social Welfare, University of

California–Berkeley, Berkeley,

California, USA

2

Department of Social Welfare, Luskin School

of Public Affairs, University of California–Los

Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

3

Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social

Work, University of Southern California,

Los Angeles, California, USA

4

Department of Health Systems Science,

Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of

Medicine, Pasadena, California, USA

5

Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen

School of Medicine, University of California,

Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

Correspondence

Anthony G

omez, School of Social Welfare at

the University of California–Berkeley,

120 Haviland Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

Email: anthonygomez@berkeley.edu

Funding information

Dr. Schickedanz’s time on this project was

funded by a grant from the National Center for

Advancing Translational Sciences (Grant

No. 5KL2TR001882) and the Eunice Kennedy

Shriver National Institute of Child Health and

Human Development (Grant

No. K23HD099308).

Abstract

Objective: The goal of this study was to examine associa-

tions among economic strain, parenting self-efficacy, par-

enting satisfaction, and parent primary language in a

universally low-income sample of parents with newborns.

Background: Previous research links increased economic

strain to lower levels of parenting self-efficacy and parent-

ing satisfaction among socioeconomically diverse parents

with older children. Little research has examined whether

primary language shapes the associations among economic

strain, parenting self-efficacy, and parenting satisfaction.

Method: Parents (n=194, M

age

=30.91) completed self-

report surveys measuring economic strain, parenting self-

efficacy, and parenting satisfaction. Parents’ethnic self-

identification and primary language were used to stratify

parents into three groups: Latinx Spanish speakers, Latinx

English speakers, and non-Latinx English speakers.

Results: Regression analyses revealed that economic strain

was negatively associated with both parenting self-efficacy

and parenting satisfaction. Further, the negative associa-

tion between economic strain and parenting self-efficacy

was stronger for Latinx Spanish speakers.

Conclusion: Economic strain may negatively influence par-

enting self-efficacy and parenting satisfaction during the

newborn period. Parents whose primary language is Span-

ish may be disproportionately affected by economic strain.

Implications: Parents of newborns may benefit from increased

economic supports in linguistically responsive pediatric care

and social service settings.

KEYWORDS

economic strain, infant, parenting satisfaction, parenting self-efficacy,

primary language

Received: 30 October 2020Revised: 4 April 2021Accepted: 20 May 2021

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12587

© 2021 National Council on Family Relations.

352 Family Relations. 2022;71:352–370.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare

INTRODUCTION

The negative associations among economic strain, parenting self-efficacy, and parenting satis-

faction have been well documented (Hurwich-Reiss & Watamura, 2019; Jackson &

Scheines, 2005; Scaramella et al., 2008). However, these relationships have yet to be replicated

among parents of newborns from low-income households, parents who must come to terms

with new financial responsibilities while meeting the sensitive needs of a newborn (Bartek, 2016;

Thompson, 2001). Parents of newborns are immediately thrust into their caregiving roles during

one of the most developmentally critical periods of a child’s life. The stress for parents with lim-

ited financial resources may be exacerbated by the increased medical, child care, and material

expenses that often accompany a newborn (Bartek, 2016). The resulting economic hardship and

strain may be associated with challenges in meeting newborns’needs and feelings of inefficacy,

guilt, and frustration as a parent (Lavee et al., 1996; Mistry et al., 2008; Pescud & Pettigrew, 2014).

Therefore, understanding the relationships among economic strain, parenting self-efficacy, and

parenting satisfaction during this critical time period may yield insight into the experiences of

parents with newborns from low-income households that may have parenting, financial, and

developmental implications many years onward.

Parents’primary language also may shape these relationships. In the United States, the

majority of pediatric and social services offered to parents of newborns are provided in English,

meaning parents whose primary language is not English may experience inequitable access to

economic and parenting resources. Primary Spanish speakers also may struggle to gain entree

to well-compensated employment and educational opportunities that can bolster their families’

incomes (Akbulut-Yuksel et al., 2011; Ay

on & Becerra, 2013; Vesely et al., 2015). Further, past

research notes Spanish-speaking parents experience language barriers when accessing social ser-

vices, pediatric care, and other parenting resources that can address their economic and caregiv-

ing needs (Ay

on & Becerra, 2013; Bai et al., 2011; DeCamp et al., 2013).

Given Latinx families in the United States are disproportionately represented among fami-

lies living in poverty (Jiang et al., 2015), understanding how primary language shapes the rela-

tionships among economic strain, parenting self-efficacy, and parenting satisfaction may have

implications for intervention research and social service provision tailored to populations who

do not speak English. The current study uses baseline data collected for a separate, ongoing

study to examine associations between economic strain, parenting self-efficacy, and parenting

satisfaction within a sample of low-income parents of newborns and infants receiving preventive

pediatric care in a safety net medical clinic in Los Angeles County. Using parents’self-reported

primary language, we also test whether this relationship is moderated by primary language.

PARENTING SELF-EFFICACY AND PARENTING SATISFACTION

Parenting self-efficacy and parenting satisfaction are key determinants of parenting behavior

and child development (Albanese et al., 2019; Jones & Prinz, 2005). Derived from Bandura’s

social cognitive theory, parenting self-efficacy refers to a parent’s perception of their capacity to

competently fulfill their child’s needs and foster optimal developmental outcomes. Parenting

self-efficacy is theorized to arise from an individual’s history of success and failure with parent-

ing tasks, feedback from their social environment, and modeling caregiving behaviors

(Bandura, 1999; Jones & Prinz, 2005). Bandura theorized parents with higher parenting self-

efficacy are more resilient when confronted with difficult parenting tasks and more likely to

engage in parenting behaviors that are conducive to resolving these challenges (Bandura, 1999).

Researchers have since found multiple associations between high parenting self-efficacy and

promotive parenting, emotional support, and improved socioemotional and academic outcomes

(Albanese et al., 2019; Jones & Prinz, 2005).

ECONOMIC STRAIN AND PARENTING353