Translational Issues in Psychological Science, Vol 11(4), Dec 2025, 392-402; doi:10.1037/tps0000470
Family separation due to migration commonly occurs because parents perceive migration as necessary for safety or economic opportunity. Many Latinx parents leave their children behind with hopes of future reunification. This can disrupt caregiver attachment relationships and increase the risk of mental health difficulties and feelings of parental alienation among youth. Currently, it is unknown whether adherence to traditional Mexican American gender roles (which portray fathers as authoritarian figures and mothers as obligated to the family) affects perceptions of alienation among Latinx children whose parents migrate before them. Using data from a large sample of Latinx young adults (n = 1,084), the current study investigated the impacts of traditional gender roles on the relationship between parental migration and perceived alienation. Participants reported whether their parents migrated to the United States before them and rated perceived alienation and belief in traditional gender roles. Traditional gender roles significantly moderated the relation between parental migration and perceived maternal alienation, such that participants whose parents migrated before them reported lower perceived maternal alienation with greater belief in traditional gender roles. This suggests traditional gender roles may buffer perceived maternal alienation in families separated by migration, perhaps because traditional views frame maternal migration as an act to care for the family. However, further research is needed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)