A study was performed over 120 families located in the marginal areas of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. Mothers whose age averaged 32 years old responded to a scale of family performance and childrearing stress; their children were measured throughout cognitive development. This study was aimed to evaluate significant differences with regards to cognitive development, child-rearing stress and family environment among the three types of family. The families were classified based on a measurement of family environment with a cluster analysis. Consequently, the results indicate the following: a) Three different types of environment, which were labeled as disciplined, in harmony and without direction; b) the environment without direction becomes associated to a negative perception of the child and motherhood restrictions, resulting with the lowest average of cognitive development, thus; c) the cohesive environment becomes associated with a lower level of stress in the mother induced by child-rearing and with the highest records of cognitive development.
Cognitive development; Family performance; Child-rearing stress; Urban poverty
