How do some families successfully negotiate the linguistic, cultural, and psychological challenges of immigration, while others struggle to acculturate? This timely volume explores the complexities of immigrant family life in North America and analyzes the individual and contextual factors that influence health and well-being. Synthesizing cutting-edge research from a range of disciplines, the book addresses such key topics as child development, school achievement, and the cultural and religious contexts of parenting. It examines the interface between families and broader systems, including schools, social services, and intervention programs, and discusses how practices and policies might be improved to produce optimal outcomes for this large and diverse population.

Jennifer E. Lansford, PhD, is Research Scientist at the Duke University Center for Child and Family Policy. Her research focuses on the development of aggression and other behavior problems in youth, with an emphasis on how family and peer contexts contribute to or protect against these outcomes. Dr. Lansford examines how experiences with parents (e.g., discipline, physical abuse, divorce) and peers (e.g., rejection, friendships) affect the development of children's behavior problems, how influence operates in adolescent peer groups, and how cultural contexts moderate links between parents' discipline strategies and children's behavior problems.

Kirby Deater-Deckard, PhD, is Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in the Department of Psychology at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. In his research, he examines genetic and environmental influences on child and adolescent social-emotional and cognitive development, with particular emphasis on parenting and cultural influences. Dr. Deater-Deckard has published several papers, book chapters, and books in the areas of developmental psychology and child development. He is Joint Editor of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.


Marc H. Bornstein, PhD, is Senior Investigator and Head of Child and Family Research at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He was a Guggenheim Foundation Fellow and has received awards from the National Institutes of Health and the American Psychological Association, among others. Dr. Bornstein is coauthor of Development in Infancy, now in its fifth edition, as well as numerous other volumes. He is Editor Emeritus of Child Development and Founding Editor of Parenting: Science and Practice.

Introduction: Immigrant Families in Contemporary Society, Marc H. Bornstein, Kirby Deater-Deckard, and Jennifer E. Lansford

I. Foundations and Perspectives

1. Family Circumstances of Children in Immigrant Families: Looking to the Future of America, Donald J. Hernandez, Nancy A. Denton, and Suzanne E. Macartney

2. Health of Children in Immigrant Families, Fernando S. Mendoza, Joyce R. Javier, and Anthony E. Burgos

3. Ethnic Identity Development in Immigrant Families, Jean S. Phinney and Anthony D. Ong

4. Acculturation Strategies and Adaptation, John W. Berry

5. Immigrant Families in Sociology, Vappu Tyyskä

6. How Economists Have Studied the Immigrant Family, Neeraj Kaushal and Cordelia Reimers

II. Illustrations of Diversity in Family Processes

7. Knowledge of Child Development and Family Interactions among Immigrants to America: Perspectives from Developmental Science, Marc H. Bornstein and Linda R. Cote

8. A Multidisciplinary Perspective on the Development of Young Children in Immigrant Families, P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, Angela Valdovinos D'Angelo, and Natalia Palacios

9. Managing the Differences Within: Immigration and Early Education in the United States, Robert H. Bradley and Lorraine McKelvey

10. The Role of Preschool and After-School Policies in Improving the School Achievement of Children of Immigrants, Jane Waldfogel and Claudia Lahaie

11. Cultural and Religious Contexts of Parenting by Immigrant South Asian Muslim Mothers, Fariyal Ross-Sheriff, M. Taqi Tirmazi, and Tasanee R. Walsh

12. Immigration, Globalization, and the Chinese American Family, Bernard P. Wong

III. Immigrant Families in Social Contexts

13. Immigrant Families and the Educational Development of Their Children, Andrew J. Fuligni and Allison Sidle Fuligni

14. Work-Family Linkages in the Lives of Families of Mexican Origin, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Ann C. Crouter, Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, and Emily Cansler

15. Building Bridges: Strategies to Promote Academic and Psychological Resilience for Adolescents of Mexican Origin, Nancy A. Gonzales, Larry E. Dumka, Anne Marie Mauricio, and Miguelina Germán

16. The Role of the Law in Relationships within Immigrant Families: Traditional Parenting Practices in Conflict with American Concepts of Maltreatment, Doriane Lambelet Coleman

Closing Thoughts, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Marc H. Bornstein, and Jennifer E. Lansford

Afterword: Reflections on Research with Immigrant Families, Carola Suárez-Orozco