The role of familism in the relation between parent-child discord and psychological distress among emerging adults of Mexican descent.

Although parent-child discord is a predictor of distress among emerging adults, little is known about this important link among Mexican-descent populations. This is an important gap, given Mexican Americans' high risk for psychological distress and their expected high value placed on close family ties. This topic was studied in a sample of 392 college students from El Paso, TX (n = 193) and from Ciudad Juárez, México (n = 199). The authors tested a stress-appraisal model with self-report measures of familism, parent-child discord, threat appraisals of parent-child discord, and psychological distress. As predicted, threat appraisals partially mediated the relation between parent-child discord and psychological distress. Moreover, the relation between parent-child discord and threat appraisals was stronger at higher than at lower levels of familism. Study findings highlight the need to consider that, under certain conditions, familism may increase risk of distress among emerging adults. 2010 APA, all rights reserved