Spiritual thriving is a vital dimension of positive family and youth development grounded in the lived experiences and cultural strengths of many families. Through the multi-year project, Spiritual Thriving in African American, Latino/Hispanic, and Low-Income Families: Reimagining Messages and Tools for Change, Search Institute is collaborating with families, community organizations, and faith communities to co-create messages and tools that reflect the realities and strengths of African American, Latino/Hispanic, and low-income families as they navigate life’s complex challenges. 

Spiritual Thriving Among Latina Mothers and Their Children

Spiritual thriving is a dynamic process that’s rooted in relationships, some of which may include connections with a higher power, God, or a sense of transcendence, as well as life experiences, and the practice of giving meaning to those experiences through traditions and rituals. For many Latina mothers, spirituality isn’t a separate part of life, but a steady source of strength woven into their everyday routines. It shapes their cultural identity, guides their parenting, and serves as a source of strength in difficult times. 

Supporting Latina mothers’ spiritual thriving offers a culturally resonant pathway to foster resilience, strengthen family bonds, and nurture children’s moral and spiritual development. For practitioners in faith- or community-based settings, centering spiritual thriving means recognizing it as a core developmental resource that reflects and honors the lived experiences of families, and integrates this understanding intentionally into their work to support positive youth development. To build meaningful and trusting relationships with Latina mothers and their children, it is essential to first understand the cultural strengths they carry and the barriers they may face.

Spirituality as a Dimension of Thriving 

Spirituality among Latina mothers is not limited to formal religiosity, and exists as a lived, communal, intergenerational experience. Culturally, many mothers are expected to pass down values, socialize moral lessons, and keep their families cultural heritage alive. This is reflected through the concept of marianismo, a cultural value rooted in traditional gender norms for Latina women which emphasize strong family obligation and spirituality. While marianismo can sometimes place significant pressure on women, certain aspects, such as spirituality, can serve as a strong source of identity and strength.

Considering these cultural norms and expectations, nurturing spiritual thriving in their children is a key priority for many Latina mothers. Elementary years are an ideal time for this, as children are developing social learning skills through interactions with teachers and peers at school. At the same time, they can deepen their spiritual understanding and values in community and faith-based settings like Sunday school or catechism where spiritual teachings are woven into social experiences. In this context, practitioners have a meaningful opportunity to engage with Latina mothers and their children during these formative years, fostering positive youth development broadly and social, emotional, and spiritual thriving specifically. Effectively supporting Latina mothers and their children requires a deep understanding of both the assets they bring and the obstacles in their path.

Why Spiritual Thriving Matters

Spiritual thriving can support Latina mothers and their children in multiple meaningful ways. For mothers, it can offer strength, purpose, and a sense of connection that helps them navigate daily challenges. When nurtured in their children, spirituality can reinforce emotional, moral, and relational growth. Together, these strengths contribute to greater family resilience and unity, helping families thrive. These benefits include:

• Promoting stronger emotional and physical wellbeing during times of stress, anxiety, or hardship 
• Helping mothers cope with adversity such as stigma and immigration-related stressors 
• Reinforcing children’s self-regulation and life skills, and supporting their emotional and behavioral development 
• Strengthening family bonds and parent-child relationships through cultural and spiritual rituals like prayer, storytelling, and religious celebrations 

Nurturing Spiritual Thriving 

When given a set of 20 actions representing different dimensions of spiritual thriving, Latina mothers of elementary-aged children prioritized a few key values as especially important to nurture in their children. These include: 1) putting family first and spending quality time together, 2) believing in a higher power or something greater than themselves, and 3) choosing to do what is good and right. When asked about how they incorporate these elements of spiritual thriving in their childrearing, mothers described nurturing these elements through storytelling, conversation, modeling behavior, and spending time together.

The commitment to family emerged as a key value among Latina mothers that they wish to instill in their children, in part, because of the ability for family to help one navigate life’s challenges. Ruby shared, 

…The purpose is to have a united family even if sometimes there are disagreements…if you stop and think that you have problems outside [of your family] and you have a united family, they can destroy you even less… And if we all fight together as a family, we can accomplish goals for a better quality of life.

Spirituality and religiosity represent an important part of Latina mothers’ parenting, often incorporated into their daily routines. Ruby described how she teaches her daughter through conversation and modeling. She shared,

…We are nothing without God's support…. I am normally educating her in my religion… I [take] her to the doctrine. She prepares in one classroom, I in another. We go to that every Sunday…and I teach her from the first moment in the morning that God, thanks to God, we woke up and God gives us strength to go to school, to do our daily homework.

In line with core values of instilling strong morality in their children, Tina shared about a conversation she had with her son,  

…I said the world will…be better to you if you are a better person. And he's like, I don't understand that. I say, you will. I said, choose doing something good [rather] than doing something bad…[If] he chooses to do good, and if I can instill [in] him in making the right decisions…he'll go far…because he's choosing to do good.  

Beyond asking mothers about the kinds of values they hope to instill in their children and the ways in which they do so, we were also interested in understanding why. Many Latina mothers expressed that prioritizing these elements of spiritual thriving were to help support their child’s mental health. For example, Mia shared,

…I'm trying to teach her if she's sad that she can always pray to God and ask him for guidance or to take the sadness away…because I've been learning that myself… I'll tell her, I'm learning too. But, I mean, it's never too late to learn…you can always depend on God. He always finds a way for us. 

Other mothers, like Gaby, strongly value their children becoming good people in society, and focusing on doing right by helping others. When talking about her son, she explained,

I want him to learn to help other people…For example, I sometimes try to help someone and one day he said to me, “Why did you do that, mommy?”… He should be a good person, not get into trouble, or he should help others, not just himself. In other words, he should learn that he is not just himself.

Barriers to Spiritual Thriving 

For the mothers we interviewed, nurturing their child's spiritual thriving was a daily practice from centering family in everyday interactions, to modeling faith through prayer and church attendance, and teaching their children to choose kindness and do what is right. They were intentional about creating a spiritually grounded family and home. Despite their efforts, many mothers carried the feeling of wanting to do more. They expressed how balancing multiple priorities in work and family kept them from nurturing their children’s spiritual thriving to the extent they had envisioned. Ruby explained,

…We work from Monday to Friday and on Saturday we go to mass in the afternoon, on Sunday we go to doctrine…Between shopping and cooking, we don't have time left.

Beyond time, another barrier mothers spoke about was a lack of knowledge. Mothers didn’t always feel they could prioritize their desired elements of thriving because they simply didn’t know how. Carmen explained,

…I talk about faith and everything every day, but it's a little bit difficult for me to dedicate time to reading it…I mean, I always [tell] them, "There is faith and connection," [and] talk about God, [and] what it means to us but I don't feel like it's the same as someone who really knows. And we haven't been going to church for a long time. We've been… away from church for about two years.

Mia expressed wanted to teach her daughter to help others and volunteer, but also felt she didn’t exactly know how, particularly when hoping to involve her entire family, including her youngest children:

… I don't know honestly, I'll try. I've seen some [volunteering] things… but I want to find something…that we can all do as a family… even [the] little ones…

Latina mothers prioritize nurturing spiritual thriving in their children by centering family, faith, and strong moral values. Their daily practices, grounded in meaningful conversation and consistent modeling, reflect deep commitment to these principles. At the same time, they also face real challenges, such as limited time and uncertainty about how to fully support their children’s spiritual growth. Understanding these strengths and barriers is essential for creating meaningful and trusting partnerships with Latina mothers and their children.

Supporting Latina Mothers’ Spiritual Thriving

With these sentiments in mind, supporting spiritual thriving among Latina mothers and their children begins not immediately with new tools, but with deeper listening and relationship-building.

Practitioners can:

• Start by recognizing how spirituality may already live in these families as a source of strength, culture, and connection embedded in daily life
• Build trust through genuine relationships, creating space for families to share
• Co-create supports that align with families values and routines 
• Help mothers build on their existing strengths without adding pressure or extra demands

Search Institute continues to explore how to support spiritual thriving through its ongoing work with families, faith communities, and community organizations, which is supported by a grant from the Lilly Endowment.

Learn more about the Spiritual Thriving in African American, Latino/Hispanic, and Low-Income Families project.

Briana López is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS) program at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research examines how families, schools, and other social contexts influence the academic and socioemotional well-being of youth throughout K–12 schooling. A central focus of her scholarship is identifying strengths-based mechanisms that promote positive developmental outcomes in the face of sociocultural and structural stressors, including marginalization tied to race/ethnicity, language, and socioeconomic status. Briana is one of Search Institute's 2025 Summer Scholars.