The Mediating Role of Home-School Dissonance in Linking Maternal Discrimination to Latin American-Origin Adolescent Academic Performance

Latin American-origin parents play an important role in supporting the formal education of their youth, but cultural, linguistic, and systemic barriers make parent involvement difficult. The aim of the present study was to examine how Latina mothers' experiences with discrimination were associated with short-term changes in their adolescent children's academic performance, directly and indirectly through mothers' appraisal of home-school dissonance. Data were drawn from an ongoing longitudinal study of 547 mother-youth dyads in suburban Atlanta. Results showed a significant indirect relationship between mothers' experiences of discrimination and declines in adolescents' grade point average by way of increased home-school dissonance. Thus, Latina mothers' discriminatory experiences may have spillover effects on adolescent academic achievement through increasing proximal barriers to parent involvement.