Longitudinal Course and Correlates of Parents' Differential Treatment of Siblings in Mexican‐Origin Families

• Author: Susan M. McHale,Adriana J. Umaña‐Taylor,Kimberly A. Updegraff,Jenny Padilla,Sue A. Rodríguez De Jesús
• Published date: 01 December 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12328
• Date: 01 December 2018

Longitudinal Course and Correlates of Parents’

Differential Treatment of Siblings in Mexican-Origin

Families

JENNY PADILLA*

SUSAN M. MCHALE*

SUE A. RODR



IGUEZ DE JES



US

†

KIMBERLY A. UPDEGRAFF

†

ADRIANA J. UMA

~

NA-TAYLOR

†

Parents’ differential treatment (PDT) is a common family dynamic that has been linked

to youth development and well-being, including adjustment problems and poor sibling

relationships. Much less is known, however, about the developmental course of PDT and

the conditions under which parents treat their children differently in adolescence and

young adulthood. This study examined longitudinal changes in mothers’ and fathers’ dif-

ferential warmth and conflict with their two offspring from early adolescence through

young adulthood and examined parents’ experiences of individual stress (depressive symp -

toms and role overload) and marital difficulties as time-varying correlates of (changes in)

PDT. We also tested crossover effects to determine whether mothers’ experiences of individ-

ual stress and marital difficulties were linked to fathers’ differential treatment, and vice

versa. Participants were mothers, fathers, and two siblings from 246 Mexican-origin fami-

lies who were interviewed in their homes on three occasions over 8 years. Multilevel model s

revealed that mothers’ and fathers’ differential conflict with their two children increased

until middle adolescence and then declined into young adulthood, but there were no

changes over time for parents’ differential warmth. In general, both mothers’ and fathers’

levels of differential treatment were exacerbated by their own experiences of individual

stress and marital difficulties and also by the experiences of their spouses. However, in

some cases, greater stress than usual was linked to less differential treatment than usual.

Keywords: Adolescence; Marital Relationships; Mexican-Origin Families; Parental

Differential Treatment; Siblings; Young Adulthood

Fam Proc 57:979–995, 2018

Parents’ differential treatment (PDT) is a common family dynamic that helps to explain

why siblings who grow up in the same family are often as different from one another

as they are from strangers (Plomin, 2011). A growing body of research has examined the

*The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.

†

Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jenny Padilla, The Pennsylvania State

University, 16 Henderson, University Park, PA 16802. E-mail: jzp170@psu.edu.

This research was supported by Grant R01-HD39666 from the National Institute of Child Health and

Human Development to Kimberly A. Updegraff (Principal Investigator) and Adriana J. Uma~

na-Taylor

(Co-Principal Investigators) and Grant R01-HD32336 from the National Institute of Child Health and

Human Development to Susan M. McHale and Ann C. Crouter (Co-Principal Investigators). We thank pro-

ject staff and graduate students who helped conduct this study and participating families for their time

and insight into their lives.

979

Family Process, Vol. 57, No. 4, 2018 ©2017 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12328

implications of PDT for youth development and adjustment and revealed that, although

youth’s perceptions of its meaning may moderate its effects (Kowal & Kramer, 1997;

McHale, Updegraff, Jackson-Newsom, Tucker, & Crouter, 2000), unequal, particularly

less favored treatment, is linked to adjustment problems as well as poorer sibling relation-

ships in adolescence (Conger & Conger, 1994; Richmond, Stocker, & Rienks, 2005). Much

less is known, however, about the conditions under which parents treat their children dif-

ferently in adolescence and into young adulthood. Some research suggests that PDT may

be more evident in families that face stressful circumstances (Crouter, McHa le, & Tucker,

1999). Although equal treatment of siblings is considered desirable, Henderson, Hethe r-

ington, Mekos, and Reiss (1996) argued that parents in challenging circumstances may

become less conscious about maintaining equal treatment. Given the established links

between PDT and youth adjustment, it is important to learn more about why parents treat

their children differently during this developmental period.

In addition to its focus on the adjustment correlates of PDT, most prior studies have

examined this family dynamic in childhood and adolescence, and longer-term longitudinal

research is rare. Further, although some longitudinal studies have linked PDT and adjust-

ment (Richmond et al., 2005; Solmeyer & McHale, 2015), to our knowledge, the develop-

mental trajectory of PDT is, as of yet, uncharted. Finally, most studies have investigated

European and European American families (e.g., Conger & Conger, 1994), and we know

less about this dynamic in other ethnic groups. Mexican Americans are one of the largest

and fastest growing ethnic minority groups in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau,

2016), and experience stressors common to other minority groups as well as unique chal-

lenges around their acculturation (Perez-Brena, Updegraff, & Uma ~

na-Taylor, 2015; Tel-

zer, 2010). Given changing U.S. demographics, it is important to understand the diversity

of experiences within ethnic groups that impact family dynamics like PDT (McLoyd,

1998).

Accordingly, grounded in a cultural–ecological perspective (Garc

ıa Coll et al., 1996) and

using an ethnic homogeneous design to illuminate sources of variation within a sociocul-

tural group, we first charted the development of PDT from early adolescence into young

adulthood using reports from two siblings from the same Mexican-origin families, focusing

on parents’ differential warmth and conflict, the most frequently studied domains of PDT.

Next, building on the small literature suggesting that Mexican-origin parents face a range

of challenging circumstances that may influence differential treatment, we assessed

indices of individual stress (i.e., depressive symptoms and role overload; Crouter et al.,

1999; Henderson et al., 1996), and an index of marital difficulties (i.e., parents’ marital

dissatisfaction), and examined their cross-time linkages with mothers’ and fathers’ differ-

ential treatment of two siblings from the same family. Further, drawing on family systems

concepts about the connections between family subsystems (Cox & Paley, 2003), we also

examined whether each parent’s individual stress and marital difficulties were linked to

his or her spouse’s differential treatment. Marital difficulties may be particularly salient

in Mexican-origin families given cultural values that emphasize tight bonds with family

members (Tsai, Telzer, Gonzales, & Fuligni, 2015; Updegraff & Uma~

na-Taylor, 2015).

Finally, we tested for potential moderating effects of sibling structure characteristics

(dyad age spacing, gender constellation) in these associations.

DEVELOPMENTAL COURSE OF PARENTS’ DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT

Parents’ differential treatment is one component of the nonshared family environment

and a factor in the development of sibling differences (Plomin, 2011), but we know very lit-

tle about its developmental course. A body of research shows that many environmental

influences make children within the same family more different rather than more similar

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