To address these lacunae, we examined the links between fathers’ occupational conditions and family members’ adjustment in a sample of Mexican American, two-parent families with adolescent offspring. A hallmark of the ecological perspective is the notion that extrafamilial contextual conditions may have different consequences for individuals in different kinds of family environments. In Mexican American families, one source of variation in how larger social, political, and economic forces are translated into family dynamics has to do with parents’ acculturation, that is, the extent to which they have adopted the values, attitudes, language, and practices of the dominant culture (Garcia Coll et al., 1996; Gonzales, Knight, Morgan-Lopez, Saenz, & Sirolli, 2002; Rogler, Cortes, & Malady, 1991). Conceptualizing acculturation as a source of ecological variation across Mexican American families that might shape how family members interpret and react to fathers’ work circumstances, we explored parents’ acculturation as a moderator of the effects of fathers’ work conditions on family members’ well-being.

The literature has identified several occupational conditions as potentially problematic for working fathers and, by extension, their families. These include low wages (Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 1997; McLoyd, 1998; Parcel & Menaghan, 1994), long work hours (Crouter, Bumpus, Head, & McHale, 2001; Parcel & Menaghan), nonstandard shifts (Presser, 2003), work pressure (Crouter, Bumpus, Maguire, & McHale, 1999), racism in the workplace (Hughes & Dodge, 1997), and underemployment (Friedland & Price, 2003). In reviewing the literature on the implications of these occupational conditions for psychological adjustment, we focus on studies of Mexican Americans where possible, but because the literature is so scant, we also include studies of other groups. A second caveat is that most research has focused on employed adults as individuals; only a few studies have examined crossover, that is, the links between employees’ occupational conditions and spousal (e.g., Crouter et al., 1999) or offspring (e.g., Galambos, Sears, Almeida, & Kolaric, 1995) psychological well-being.

As is the case for most research in this area, Finch et al. (2000) used a general measure of discrimination in everyday life; few investigations have examined workplace discrimination. In an exception to that rule, Hughes and Dodge (1997) found that workplace discrimination was a more important predictor of African American mothers’ perceptions of job quality than many more commonly studied work dimensions, such as task variety and supervision. Hughes and Dodge did not link perceptions of workplace discrimination to depressive affect, but, given the literature linking general perceptions of discrimination to depressive symptoms (e.g., Kessler et al., 1999), this link is logical.

Consistent with our grounding in the ecology of human development, we were interested in whether the effects of fathers’ work conditions on family members varied as a function of how acculturated families were to the majority culture’s values, attitudes, language, and behavior. As noted above, in a community sample of Mexican-origin adults, Finch et al. (2000, p. 308) found that “higher levels of acculturation are associated with more detrimental effects of perceived discrimination on depression.” We extended this line of inquiry to examine the links between a variety of occupational stressors, including racism and discrimination in the workplace, and depressive symptoms in employed Mexican American fathers, their spouses, and their adolescent offspring.

The concept of acculturation is fraught with controversy. On the one hand, Hunt, Schneider, and Comer (2004) delivered a stinging critique of research on acculturation, arguing that the construct has been so poorly conceptualized and measured that it reflects ethnic stereotyping. Gonzales et al. (2002), on the other hand, concurred that the construct has often been oversimplified but argued that research on acculturation still has the promise to reveal important dimensions of Mexican American family life. Gonzales et al. (2002, p. 67) elaborated that what is needed are multidimensional measures of acculturation that go beyond superficial indicators, such as language use, to include “the major behavioral and attitudinal domains related to these processes.” Gonzales et al. also noted that acculturation has been treated too often as a simple main effect in models predicting Latino mental health; they urged researchers to develop more complex models that examine acculturation in concert with other important contextual and family process phenomena, an argument that guided our approach.

Because so much of the literature on acculturation has focused on main effects rather than interactions, however, there is little research available to guide our thinking about its possible role as a moderator. Indeed, an argument can be made for either low or high acculturation as a risk factor (see Rogler et al., 1991). On the one hand, being less acculturated may come with certain assets, and acculturation may bring certain risks. As Finch et al. (2000, p. 297) explained, “While the experience of immigration may lead to higher transitional stress and role strain, immigrants may have superior social and psychological resources and lower expectations for income and employment status.” Similarly, Mexican Americans in highly acculturated families may come to identify with the value system prevailing in the United States that emphasizes individualism and materialism (Triandis, 1995). To the extent that fathers are not successful on these terms because they earn low wages, encounter racism on the job, and so on, there may be stronger associations between fathers’ negative work conditions and family members’ depressive symptoms in highly acculturated than in less acculturated families. On the other hand, less acculturated families may be particularly vulnerable to fathers’ negative work conditions because fathers are accorded especially high status in these contexts, making the provider role a high-stakes venture. With little previous research to guide us, our analyses of the role of acculturation are exploratory.

Fathers’ occupational conditions and acculturation processes do not occur in a vacuum. Mothers’ involvement in paid work is a possible source of family economic support, as well as of strain, that should be taken into account. In our analyses, we controlled for the number of hours mothers were involved in paid work. We also controlled for gender because girls typically report higher levels of depressive symptoms than boys in adolescence (Ge, Conger, & Elder, 2001), mirroring the pattern for women versus men in adulthood (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1987). One of the values that shifts as families become acculturated has to do with notions about the appropriate roles for men and women (Leaper & Valin, 1996). Thus, in our analyses we examined whether our results reflected acculturation per se or a related but less culture-specific phenomenon, gender ideology.

In sum, this study addressed two questions:

• How are Mexican American fathers’ occupational conditions (i.e., income, work hours, nonstandard shifts, work pressure, workplace racism, and perceptions of underemployment) associated with fathers’, mothers’, and adolescent offspring’s depressive symptoms?
• Are the associations between fathers’ occupational conditions and family members’ adjustment moderated by acculturation?

We used multilevel models (MLM) to address these questions with data from four family members: mothers, fathers, and two adolescent offspring.

The percent of families in poverty was 18.3%, almost identical to the Census 2000 figure (18.6%) for Mexican American families with the same demographic characteristics from the same county. Median annual income for fathers was $30,000 (SD = $39,828), and median family income was $38,300 (SD = $44,156). Fathers averaged 47.99 work hours a week (SD = 12.54) including time at work and time spent at home on job-related activities. The average National Opinion Research Center (NORC) prestige rating of fathers’ occupations (see Nakao & Treas, 1994) was 35.96 (SD = 11.98), representing occupations such as machine operators, sales workers, and semi-skilled laborers. Two thirds of mothers were employed for pay. Parents had completed an average of 10 years of education (M = 10.15; SD = 3.68 for mothers, and M = 9.67; SD = 4.25 for fathers). Mean ages were 38.9 years for mothers (SD = 4.38) and 41.4 years for fathers (SD = 5.43). Most parents had been born outside the United States (76% of mothers and fathers); this subset of parents had lived in the United States an average of 12.3 (SD = 8.6) and 14.6 (SD = 8.5) years for mothers and fathers, respectively. Slightly more than 70% of interviews with parents were conducted in Spanish. Older offspring were 15.78 years of age on average (SD = 1.56); 51% were girls, 49% were born in the United States, and 81% conducted their interview in English. Younger offspring were 12.77 years of age on average (SD = .58); 51% were girls, 60% were born in the United States, and 84% conducted their interview in English.

Fathers’ occupational conditions Income was assessed by fathers’ reports of how much they earned annually before taxes and other deductions. Because income was positively skewed, a log linear transformation was performed. To assess work hours, weekly hours fathers spent at work and on job-related activities at home were summed. We asked fathers to report their typical work shift using eight choices: (a) day shift, for example, 8 or 9 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m.; (b) day shift primarily but also requires additional hours in the evening or on weekends; (c) afternoon/evening shift, for example, 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.; (d) night shift, for example, 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.; (e) rotating shift (works different shifts on a regular basis); (f) split shift, for example, hours in the morning and the evening; (g) routine travel, work involves being away at least several days a week; and (h) other. Because nonstandard shifts were fairly rare, we combined Options a and b into standard shift (n = 162) and the other options into nonstandard shift (n = 56). Work pressure was measured with the Work Pressure Scale from the Work Environment Scale (Moos, 1986; Moos & Moos, 1983). This 9-item scale assesses the degree to which work pressures and time demands characterize the participant’s job (e.g., “There is constant pressure to keep working”) on a scale from very true (1) to very untrue (5). Because this scale had not been validated in a Latino sample, psychometric analyses were conducted that revealed that six of the nine items loaded onto a single factor. The three remaining items did not load on one dimension and were omitted. All items were reverse coded and averaged to create a scale score, with higher scores indicating greater pressure (Cronbach’s α = .75 for English-speaking fathers, .72 for Spanish-speaking fathers). Racism in the workplace was measured by combining Hughes and Dodge’s (1997) measures of Institutional Discrimination and Interpersonal Prejudice in the Workplace, which were highly correlated (r = .46, p < .001), to form a single scale. This 12-item scale assesses the extent that fathers experience discrimination and bias in the workplace (e.g., “Mexicans/Mexican Americans get the least desirable assignments”). Items were rated from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree), with high scores reflecting high racism (α = .90 for English-speaking and .88 for Spanish-speaking fathers). Underemployment was measured using seven items created for this study to measure fathers’ perceptions about whether their jobs tap their full earning and skill potential (e.g., “Given my skills, education, and experience, I should be in a better job than my current job”). Fathers rated the items on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Items were averaged, with higher scores indicating higher perceived underemployment (α = .82 for English-speaking and .93 for Spanish-speaking fathers).

Acculturation Acculturation was measured using the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans II (ARSMA-II), a 30-item scale adapted by Cuéllar, Arnold, and Maldonado (1995) from the original version (ARSMA-I; Cuéllar, Harris, & Jasso, 1980). The scale assesses cultural orientation toward Mexican and Anglo cultures through two subscales, the Anglo Orientation subscale and the Mexican Orientation subscale. Respondents used a scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely often or always) to indicate how applicable each item was during the past year (e.g., “I like to identify myself as a Mexican American,” “I speak Spanish,” “I associate with Anglos,” “My family cooks Mexican foods”). For the Mexican Orientation and Anglo Orientation subscales, alphas were above .70 for all family members in both English and Spanish. A single measure of acculturation was created by subtracting the Mexican Orientation Scale from the Anglo Orientation Scale as previous studies have done (e.g., Flores & O’Brien, 2002; Gamst et al., 2002). Parents’ acculturation scores were highly correlated with choosing to speak English in the home interviews (r = 0.82, p < .001; r = 0.80, p < .001, for mothers and fathers, respectively). Thus, in our analyses, we cannot disentangle acculturation and language use.

Depressive symptoms Fathers’, mothers’, and adolescents’ depressive symptoms were assessed using the 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) (Radloff, 1977). The CES-D has been used in previous research with Mexican American samples (e.g., Moscicki, Rae, Regier, & Locke, 1987). Respondents rated the items using a scale from 1 (rarely or none of the time) to 4 (most of the time) to describe the frequency of their experiences (e.g., “I had crying spells”) (all αs > .85 in English and Spanish).

Maternal employment Mothers reported whether they were employed and, if so, for how many hours per week. Because 73 mothers did not hold paid jobs, the work hours variable was not normally distributed. We therefore coded mothers’ work hours into three roughly equal categories (low: 0 – 9 hours; part time: 10 – 39 hours; full time: 40 or more hours per week).

Gender ideology To explore whether the acculturation findings could be explained by gender ideology, we adapted a measure by Hoffman and Kloska (1995) that originally consisted of two subscales, one focused on marriage and the other on childrearing. Psychometric analyses on this sample revealed that all but three items loaded on a single factor reflecting gender traditionality (sample item: “A husband’s job is more important than a wife’s”). We omitted the 3 items and treated the remaining 10 items as one scale (α = .90 and .86, for mothers and fathers, respectively.)

Table 1 Correlations of Fathers’ Occupational Conditions, Parents’ Acculturation, Fathers’ (F), Mothers’ (M), and Older (O) and Younger (Y) Offsprings’ Depressive Symptoms and Other Study Variables (N = 218 Familiesa)

The Level 1 unit of analysis was the individual family member and included dummy codes for family member (1 = mother, 2 = older sibling, 3 = younger sibling, 4 = father, the reference group) and gender (0 = female, 1 = male). The Level 2 unit of analysis was the family and included family-level characteristics, shared by the group, including mother’s work hours (0 = 9 hours or fewer per week; 1 = 10 – 39 hours per week; 2 = 40 or more hours per week, the reference group), the six occupational stressors, and acculturation. In the analyses focused on moderating effects, Level 2 also included the Acculturation × Stressor interaction terms. All models were specified with random intercepts only.

The first analysis focused on the six paternal occupational conditions as main effects. This analysis controlled for (a) father’s acculturation to examine the implications of work conditions holding constant cultural antecedents (e.g., facility in English and involvement in Anglo culture) of occupational choice, (b) mother’s involvement in paid employment to hold constant that source of possible economic support or strain, and (c) gender. Because father’s income was one of the occupational measures of substantive interest, including it in effect controlled for socioeconomic status.

As can be seen in Table 2, the dummy variables reflecting family member revealed that older and younger offspring reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than did fathers (the reference group), but mothers and fathers did not differ significantly. In addition, girls and women reported higher levels of depressive symptoms compared to boys and men. When mothers worked part time (i.e., 10 – 39 hours), family members reported more depressive symptoms than when mothers worked full time (≥40 hours, the reference group), but there was no difference in family members’ depressive symptoms when mothers worked very few hours (i.e., 0 – 9 hours) compared to full time. Two paternal work stressors were associated with depressive symptoms: The less income fathers earned and the more racism they reported on the job, the more depressive symptoms family members reported.

Table 2 Coefficients and Standard Errors for the Associations Between Fathers’ Occupational Conditions and Family Members’ Well-Being

In a follow-up analysis, we added Income × Family Member and Racism × Family Member interaction terms to test whether the significant associations were the same across family members. Both interactions were significant, F(3, 645) = 2.62, p = .05, F(3, 644) = 7.09, p < .001, for income and racism, respectively. Thus, we next examined the estimates for the four different family members. Income was a significant negative correlate of depressive symptoms for fathers, γ = −.19, SE = 0.05, t = −3.97, p < .001, mothers, γ = −0.11, SE = 0.05, t = −2.40, p < .05, and younger offspring, γ = −0.21, SE = 0.05, t = −4.41, p < .001, but not for older offspring, although that effect was in the same direction, γ = −0.07, SE = 0.05, t = −1.56, p = .12. We then compared these associations for pairs of family members. The links between fathers’ income and depressive symptoms were not significantly different for fathers, mothers, and younger offspring, but were significantly different for older offspring versus fathers, γ = 0.11, SE =0.06, t = 2.05, p < .05, and for older versus younger offspring, γ = 0.14, SE = 0.06, t = 2.45, p < .05. In other words, older offspring were the only family members not to report higher depressive symptoms in the face of lower paternal income, and in this they differed significantly from their fathers and younger siblings.

Fathers’ report of racism in the workplace was a significant and positive correlate of depressive symptoms for fathers, γ = 0.13, SE = 0.05, t = 2.43, p < .02, and mothers, γ = 0.23, SE = 0.05, t = 4.33, p < .001, but not for older, γ = 0.02, SE = 0.05, t = 0.40, ns, or younger offspring, γ = −0.06, SE = 0.05, t = −1.14, ns. Comparing estimates for pairs of family members, we found that this association did not differ for mothers versus fathers or older versus younger offspring, but that the association was significantly different for mothers versus older, γ = 0.21, SE = 0.07, t = 3.10, p < .01, and younger offspring, γ = 0.29, SE = 0.07, t = 4.32, p < .001, and for fathers versus younger offspring, γ = −0.19, SE = 0.07, t = −2.82, p < .01. The associations for fathers and older offspring were not different, γ = −0.11, SE = 0.07, t = −1.60, p = .11. In sum, when fathers reported more racism in the workplace, parents reported higher depressive symptoms but offspring did not, and this generational difference in association was significant for parents versus younger offspring and partially so for parents versus older offspring.

As a preliminary step, we explored different ways to operationalize acculturation. Conceptualizing acculturation as a family-level variable, we ran analyses using fathers’ and mothers’ individual acculturation scores as moderators of their own and other family members’ adjustment. We also treated acculturation as an individual-level variable by running analyses in which family members’ individual acculturation scores were included at Level 1. The strongest and most consistent results emerged when we treated mothers’ acculturation as a family-level moderator. We reran the models summarized in Table 2, substituting mothers’ acculturation for fathers’ acculturation, and examining each Occupational Condition × Acculturation interaction term individually. Then, we ran a final model that included controls, main effects, and the interactions that had emerged as significant on their own. We present findings from this final model because, with one minor exception, all interactions held up, and presenting them together is the most parsimonious approach.

Two significant interactions emerged: Income × Acculturation, γ = −.06, SE = 0.02, t = −2.40, p < .02, and Racism × Acculturation, γ = −0.08, SE = 0.02, t = −3.15, p < .01. The Underemployment × Acculturation interaction was significant when examined alone but became a nonsignificant trend in the full model, γ = 0.03, SE = 0.02, t = 1.76, p < .10. Because it depicted the same pattern as the Income × Acculturation interaction and was not significant in the full model, we did not explore it further, but we return to it in our discussion.

We next ran models that included the Income × Acculturation × Family Member and Racism × Acculturation × Family Member interaction terms. These three-way interactions were not significant, meaning that the findings did not differ as a function of family member. We next used MLM to follow up the interactions.

The follow-up of the Income × Acculturation interaction revealed that the negative association between income and family members’ depressive symptoms was significant when mothers were more acculturated, γ = −0.22, SE = 0.03, t = −6.28, p < .001, but not when mothers were less acculturated, γ = −0.03, SE = 0.04, t = −0.84, ns. As can be seen in Figure 1, when mothers were more acculturated, the less income fathers earned, the more depressive symptoms family members reported. In contrast, when mothers were less acculturated, there was no association between paternal income and family members’ adjustment.

FIGURE 1 Family members’ depressive symptoms as a function of fathers’ income and maternal acculturation.

The follow-up of the Racism × Acculturation interaction revealed that the association was significant for families in which mothers were less acculturated, γ = 0.17, SE = 0.04, t = 3.89, p < .001, but not for families in which mothers were more acculturated, γ = 0.02, SE = 0.04, t = 0.61, ns. As can be seen in Figure 2, the more racism fathers in less acculturated families experienced on the job, the more depressive symptoms family members reported. This association was not apparent in families in which mothers reported higher levels of acculturation. In sum, mothers’ acculturation moderated the effects of fathers’ income and fathers’ reports of workplace racism on family members’ depressive symptoms, but the findings revealed important differences about how families that vary in terms of acculturation respond to contextual stressors: Highly acculturated families were vulnerable in the face of low income, whereas their less acculturated counter-parts were vulnerable when fathers experienced racism and discrimination on the job.

FIGURE 2 Family members’ depressive symptoms as a function of fathers’ perceived workplace racism and maternal acculturation.

Our results revealed that fathers’ income and reports of racism on the job were related to family members’ depressive symptoms. Furthermore, these associations differed in interesting and important ways as a function of mothers’ acculturation. In our concluding remarks, we review what we have learned about the connections between fathers’ occupational conditions and the well-being of fathers, mothers, and offspring in Mexican American families.

Our results support previous research showing income to be an important correlate of well-being (e.g., Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 1997). In the main effect analyses, fathers’ income was associated with higher depressive affect for fathers, mothers, and younger offspring. In the analyses in which we explored whether mothers’ acculturation moderated the association between fathers’ income and depressive affect, we found that this association was apparent in more acculturated families but not in less acculturated family contexts and that it applied across all four family members. Finch et al. (2000) reported that the link between employed adults’ incomes and their depressive symptoms was stronger when they reported being more acculturated. Our findings extend this idea beyond the employed individual to other family members, an illustration of the “long arm of the job” (Crouter & McHale, 2005).

Fathers’ perceptions of workplace racism and discrimination also emerged as a significant correlate. Interestingly, the effects of racism in the workplace varied as a function of acculturation, and this pattern held across family members. Fathers’ perceived racism was positively associated with depressive symptoms in less acculturated families, but this association was not significant in more acculturated families. As family researchers extend their research models to consider the experiences of more diverse populations, racism in the workplace is an important work dimension to include (Hughes & Dodge, 1997).

In response to Friedland and Price’s (2003) call for subjective measures of underemployment, we developed and included a measure of fathers’ perceptions of being underemployed. Underemployment did not emerge as a significant correlate in the analysis limited to main effects. On its own, the Underemployment × Acculturation interaction was significant, mirroring the pattern reflected in the Income × Acculturation analysis, but, in the final model, the Underemployment × Acculturation interaction became a nonsignificant trend. Fathers’ income and perceptions of underemployment were correlated, r = .42, p < .001, making it difficult for underemployment to emerge as a significant correlate, but the findings suggest what low wages may mean psychologically.

Our sample represented a broad swath of socioeconomic circumstances; it was not a high-risk sample. Thus, another angle on the acculturation findings offers a more positive interpretation: In more acculturated families, the higher fathers’ wages, the fewer depressive symptoms mothers, fathers, and offspring reported. Similarly, in less acculturated families, the less racism fathers reported on the job, the better adjusted family members were.

There are several possible explanations for why the link between income and depressive symptoms was significant when mothers were more, but not when they were less, acculturated. First, highly acculturated mothers and their families may embrace more materialistic, individualistic, majority-cultural values, making fathers’ income particularly important. Second, acculturation may reflect a frame of reference; rather than comparing their situation to those of recent Mexican immigrants, members of more acculturated families may compare their circumstances to those of other highly acculturated Mexican American families or to majority families and feel comparatively disadvantaged when fathers earn low wages. Finally, high acculturation may also mean that families have less access to traditional sources of instrumental and emotional support, such as extended family, making it more difficult to cope with challenging circumstances (Rogler et al., 1991).

In contrast to the findings for income, and contradicting the findings of Finch et al. (2000) for global discrimination, the positive association between racism on the job and family members’ depressive symptoms was apparent in less but not in more acculturated family environments. One might conjecture that this pattern reflects the fact that less acculturated individuals might be exposed to higher levels of racism on the job, but, in this sample, as can be seen in Table 2, workplace racism and acculturation were correlated positively but at a very modest level; racism was reported across the range of acculturation levels. Another explanation is that less acculturated parents in this sample were more likely to be Spanish speaking and relative newcomers to U.S. culture. Although they may have experienced economic strain before migrating to the United States, racism in the workplace is likely to have been a new and unwelcome experience. In addition, racism targets the very culture with which less acculturated individuals identify, making this experience especially hurtful. The fact that different occupational stressors emerged as significant correlates of adjustment in more versus less acculturated families suggests that acculturation may entail complex trade-offs for families. As Gonzales et al. (2002) suggest, it may be more fruitful for researchers to treat acculturation as a moderator rather than to assume that it has monolithic positive or negative effects.

Future research would benefit from longitudinal designs in which one asks, for example, whether family members in households in which fathers earn low incomes become increasingly depressed as they become more acculturated or whether improved work conditions predict increased well-being over time. The correlational design also constrained our ability to make causal explanations. Although the findings are consistent with a causal scenario in which fathers’ occupational conditions lead family members to feel more depressed, in the case of racism and underemployment, it is possible that the causal arrow operates the other way: Fathers who score high on depressive symptoms, or whose wives and children are more depressed, may make more negative attributions about their jobs than others do. Similarly, our findings do not provide insights about the mechanisms through which fathers’ occupational conditions are linked to mothers’ and adolescents’ depressive symptoms, an important direction for future research.

The nature of our sample did not allow us to disentangle parents’ acculturation, generational status, and language use because over 75% of the parents had been born in Mexico and almost as many chose to be interviewed in Spanish. It will be important in future research to pay attention to generational status and language use, including the roles they play in shaping parents’ interpretations of their work and family experiences. A related criticism is that our findings would be more compelling if we knew how fathers’ occupational stressors were linked to family members’ adjustment for families living in Mexico and could compare those dynamics with those reported here. Our findings are the first to examine the correlates of fathers’ occupational stressors and depressive symptoms in four family members, including adolescent offspring. They await replication in larger samples that include better representation of second- and third-generation Mexican American parents. Despite the fact that many of the parents in this sample were recent immigrants to the United States, however, acculturation emerged as a significant and interesting moderator of the association between father’s work circumstances (i.e., income, racism) and family members’ depressive symptoms.

In sum, this investigation provided compelling evidence that Mexican American fathers’ wages and reports of racism in the workplace were related to family members’ psychological adjustment, and, further, that these associations varied as a function of mothers’ acculturation. Extrapolating from our findings, effective policies targeted at reducing workplace discrimination and maximizing workers’ abilities to find jobs commensurate with their training and experience may have positive effects that reverberate beyond the workplace.

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (R01HD39666) to K.U., principal investigator, and by the Cowden Endowment to the Department of Family and Human Development, Arizona State University. The authors are grateful to their collaborators, including Susan McHale, Devon Hageman, Sarah Killoren, Ji-Yeon Kim, Nancy Gonzalez, Jennifer Kennedy, Roger Millsap, Mark Roosa, Lilly Shanahan, Shawna Thayer, and Lorey Wheeler; to the dedicated families who participated in the project; and to Osborn, Mesa, and Gilbert (AZ) School Districts and to Willis Junior High School, Supai and Ingleside Middle Schools, and St. Catherine of Siena, St. Gregory, St. Francis Xavier, St. Mary-Basha, and Sr. John Bosco Schools.

Ann C. Crouter, Social Science Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, 601 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802 (Email: ac1/at/psu.edu).

Kelly D. Davis, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, S 113 Henderson Building, University Park, PA 16802.

Kimberly Updegraff, Department of Family and Human Development, Box 872502, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2502.

Melissa Delgado, Department of Family and Human Development, Box 872502, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2502.

Melissa Fortner, Department of Psychology, Hazelrigg 115, Transylvania University, Lexington, KY 40508.