PARENTING OF YOUNG-CHILDREN BY FATHERS IN MEXICO AND THE UNITED-STATES

In the present study, the parenting practices and developmental expect ations were examined in a sample of 96 fathers from Mexico and the Uni ted States, all with children from 1 to 5 years of age. The selection of fathers from both countries was controlled for the family's socioec onomic status (SES) and for the age and gender of their children. The Parent Behavior Checklist, a 100-item rating scale was used to measure parents' developmental expectations and their discipline and nurturin g practices. According to the results, Mexican and U.S. fathers did no t differ significantly in their developmental expectations or parentin g practices. In both countries, fathers from lower SES families were l ess nurturing and used more frequent discipline than fathers from high er SES families.