Despite high levels of involvement on the part of Mexican American fathers, their style of parenting tends to be harsher than European American fathers (Parke et al., 2004). However, in Mexican culture authoritarian parenting is considered normative and a valued socialization mechanism (Parke & Buriel, 2006). Thus, authoritarian practices have more variable and often neutral effects on Mexican American children (Hill, Bush, & Roosa, 2003; Ispa et al., 2004; Lindahl & Malik, 1999); in contrast among European American families, authoritarian parenting is linked to poor child adjustment (Baumrind, 1991). In a study comparing Mexican, Mexican Immigrant, and Mexican American to Caucasian non-Hispanic fathers, Mexican Immigrant fathers and Mexican American fathers reported being more authoritarian than Mexican fathers and Caucasian Non-Hispanic fathers (Varela et al., 2004). However, there were no differences between groups in the use of authoritative parenting. In another study, Mexican American parents were more controlling than the Mexican parents and exhibited less warmth and acceptance than European American parents (Luis, Varela, & Moore, 2008). Nevertheless, Mexican American adolescents are relatively well adjusted even when reporting higher levels of parental harshness (Hill et al., 2003).
