Sociocultural Stress and Warmth in Mexican Immigrant Mothers: The Protective Role of Family Obligation Values

Guided by the Family Stress Model, this study investigated the moderating role of a culturally resilient factor (i.e., family obligation values) in the associations between maternal sociocultural stress (i.e., cultural stress and economic stress) and maternal warmth across two waves. Participants included 595 mothers (Mage = 38.39, SD = 5.74) and adolescents (54% female, Mage = 12.41, SD = 0.97) as dyads in Central Texas, United States. The results showed that maternal family obligation values played a protective role in both concurrent and longitudinal associations between cultural stress and warmth and in the concurrent link between economic stress and warmth among Mexican immigrant mothers. The findings suggest that a culturally resilient factor may buffer the negative impact of sociocultural stress on maternal warmth both concurrently and longitudinally. The findings offer significant insights for developing intervention programs aimed at enhancing maternal warmth despite experiencing high sociocultural stress. By emphasizing the importance of promoting maternal warmth and highlighting the value of promoting a culturally resilient factor (i.e., family obligation values), these programs may empower Mexican immigrant mothers to maintain resilience in the context of stress.