An ethnographic study using Roy’s adaptation model was conducted among 23 Mexican American families in Hidalgo County, Texas, from 1994 to 1998. The purpose was to characterize the family goals of survival, continuity, and growth from the parental perspective during early family formation. Parents affirmed that being healthy, being a united couple, having supportive parents, having a steady job, and having civic harmony were essential characteristics of family survival. Family continuity was characterized by mothers doing tasks inside the house, fathers doing tasks outside the house, and both parents performing toddler and early childhood tasks. Family growth was characterized by having shared communication, growing in togetherness, planning ahead, exerting joint effort, and helping the child become part of the family.
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