Implications of Mexican-Origin Youth’s Work Experiences for Relationships With Fathers

Objective: To illuminate family implications of youth’s work, we examined longitudinal links between the work experiences of Mexican-origin youth in late adolescence and young adulthood and father-youth relationships. Method: Using data from 187 Mexican-origin youth and their employed fathers, we tested youth’s (52.4% female; Mage = 19.64, SD = 1.78) work hours and workplace discrimination as predictors of paternal acceptance two years later (Time 1 paternal acceptance controlled), and tested moderation by youth gender and maternal employment. Results: Multivariate multilevel models revealed a curvilinear association between youth workplace discrimination and father-reported acceptance. Moderation effects of youth gender and mother employment in linear links between youth work experiences and youth-reported acceptance also emerged. Work hours were stronger negative predictors of paternal acceptance for sons than daughters and youth with employed compared to nonemployed mothers. Workplace discrimination was a positive predictor of paternal acceptance of daughters but not sons.