Abstract
Parenting has a significant impact on adolescent well-being, particularly subjective psychological well-being. This study investigated the relationship between parenting and adolescents’ subjective psychological well-being in fragile families and whether immigration background moderated these associations, using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW) Wave 6 (age 15). The main finding of this study showed that parental monitoring, nonviolent discipline, and parent–child closeness were positively associated with adolescents’ subjective psychological well-being. In contrast, harsh parenting and parenting stress were negatively associated with this outcome. Regression models with interactions indicated that immigration background exacerbated the associations of parental monitoring and parenting stress with adolescents’ subjective psychological well-being. These findings indicate that more policy efforts and parenting interventions are needed to strengthen the positive functioning of adolescents in fragile families. It is also recommended that these policies and interventions become more culturally sensitive in response to the unique challenges that immigrant families face.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abidin, R. R. (1992). The determinants of parenting behavior. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21(4), 407–412. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp2104_12
Altschul, I., & Lee, S. J. (2011). Direct and mediated effects of nativity and other indicators of acculturation on Hispanic mothers’ use of physical aggression. Child Maltreatment, 16(4), 262–274. https://doi.org/10.1177/107755951142152
Ayón, C., & García, S. J. (2019). Latino immigrant parents’ experiences with discrimination: Implications for parenting in a hostile immigration policy context. Journal of Family Issues, 40(6), 805–831. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X19827988
Balaguer, Á., Benítez, E., Fuente, J., & Osorio, A. (2022). Structural empirical model of personal positive youth development, parenting, and school climate. Psychology in the Schools, 59(3), 451–470. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22620
Barber, C. N., Ball, J., & Armistead, L. (2003). Parent-adolescent relationship and adolescent psychological functioning among African-American female adolescents: Self-esteem as a mediator. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 12(3), 361–374.
Bebiroglu, N., Geldhof, G. J., Pinderhughes, E. E., Phelps, E., & Lerner, R. M. (2013). From Family to Society: The Role of Perceived Parenting Behaviors in Promoting Youth Civic Engagement. Parenting, 13(3), 153–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2013.756352
Ben-Arieh, A. (2006). Is the study of the “state of our children” changing? Re-visiting after 5 years. Children and Youth Services Review, 28(7), 799–811. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2005.08.004
Ben-Arieh, A. (2008). The child indicators movement: Past, present, and future. Child Indicators Research, 1(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-007-9003-1
Ben-Arieh, A., Casas, F., Frønes, I., & Korbin, J. E. (2014). Multifaceted concept of child well-being. In Ben-Aryeh, A., Casas, F., Frønes, I., & Korbin, J. E. (Eds.), Handbook of child well-being: Theories, methods and policies in global perspective (pp. 1–27). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9063-8
Ben-Zur, H. (2003). Happy adolescents: The link between subjective well-being, internal resources, and parental factors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32(2), 67–79. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021864432505
Bender, H. L., Allen, J. P., McElhaney, K. B., Antonishak, J., Moore, C. M., Kelly, H. O., & Davis, S. M. (2007). Use of harsh physical discipline and developmental outcomes in adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 19(01). https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579407070125
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Harvard University Press.
Calzada, E. J., Basil, S., & Fernandez, Y. (2013). What Latina Mothers Think of Evidence-Based Parenting Practices: A Qualitative Study of Treatment Acceptability. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 20(3), 362–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2012.08.004
Casas, F., Bello, A., González, M., & Aligué, M. (2013). Children’s subjective well-being measured using a composite index: What impacts spanish first-year secondary education students’ subjective well-being? Child Indicators Research, 6(3), 433–460. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-013-9182-x
Cooper-Vince, C. E., Chan, P. T., Pincus, D. B., & Comer, J. S. (2014). Paternal autonomy restriction, neighborhood safety, and child anxiety trajectory in community youth. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35(4), 265–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2014.04.006
Crockett, L. J., Veed, G. J., & Russell, S. T. (2010). Do measures of parenting have the same meaning for European, Chinese, and Filipino American adolescents? Tests of measurement equivalence. In S. T. Russell, L. J. Crockett, & R. K. Chao (Eds.), Asian American parenting and parent–adolescent relationships (pp. 17–35). Springer Science + Business Media. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5728-3_2
Davidov, M. (2021). Cultural moderation of the effects of parenting: Answered and unanswered questions. Child Development Perspectives, 15(3), 189–195. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12422
Dou, K., Lin, X. Q., & Wang, Y. J. (2020). Negative parenting and risk-taking behaviors in Chinese adolescents: Testing a sequential mediation model in a three-wave longitudinal study. Children and Youth Services Review, 119, 105631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105631
Dow, H. D. (2011). An overview of stressors faced by immigrants and refugees: A guide for mental health practitioners. Home Health Care Management & Practice, 23(3), 210–217. https://doi.org/10.1177/1084822310390878
Dunst, C. J. (2022). Systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationships between the adequacy of family resources and parenting stress. International Journal of Health and Psychology Research, 10(1), 18–30. https://doi.org/10.37745/ijhpr.13/vol10no1pp.18-30
Elsaesser, C., Gorman-Smith, D., Henry, D., & Schoeny, M. (2020). The longitudinal relation between community violence exposure and academic engagement during adolescence: Exploring families’ protective role. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 35(17–18), 3264–3285. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517708404
Fischer, C., Harvey, E. A., & Driscoll, P. (2009). Parent-centered parenting values among Latino immigrant mothers. Journal of Family Studies, 15(3), 296–308. https://doi.org/10.5172/jfs.15.3.296
Flouri, E., & Midouhas, E. (2017). Environmental adversity and children’s early trajectories of problem behavior: The role of harsh parental discipline. Journal of Family Psychology, 31(2), 234–243. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000258
Gatenio Gabel, S., & Zhang, Y. (2017). Benefits of multidimensional measures of child well being in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(11), 1349. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14111349
Gershoff, E. T., Grogan-Kaylor, A., Lansford, J. E., Chang, L., Zelli, A., Deater-Deckard, K., & Dodge, K. A. (2010). Parent discipline practices in an international sample: Associations with child behaviors and moderation by perceived normativeness. Child Development, 81(2), 487–502. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01409.x
Ginsburg, G. S., & Schlossberg, M. C. (2002). Family-based treatment of childhood anxiety disorders. International Review of Psychiatry, 14(2), 143–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540260220132662
Gleeson, J. P., Hsieh, C., & Cryer-Coupet, Q. (2016). Social support, family competence, and informal kinship caregiver parenting stress: The mediating and moderating effects of family resources. Children and Youth Services Review, 67, 32–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.05.012
Grusec, J. E., Danyliuk, T., Kil, H., & O’Neill, D. (2017). Perspectives on parent discipline and child outcomes. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 41(4), 465–471. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025416681538
Helwig, C. C., To, S., Wang, Q., Liu, C., & Yang, S. (2014). Judgments and reasoning about parental discipline involving induction and psychological control in China and Canada. Child Development, 85, 1150–1167. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12183
Hoyt, L. T., Chase-Lansdale, P. L., McDade, T. W., & Adam, E. K. (2012). Positive youth, healthy adults: Does positive well-being in adolescence predict better perceived health and fewer risky health behaviors in young adulthood? Journal of Adolescent Health, 50(1), 66–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.05.002
Huang, X., & King, C. (2018). Food insecurity transitions and housing hardships: Are immigrant families more vulnerable? Journal of Urban Affairs, 40(8), 1146–1160. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2018.1468222
Jach, H. K., Sun, J., Loton, D., Chin, T.-C., & Waters, L. E. (2018). Strengths and subjective wellbeing in adolescence: Strength-based parenting and the moderating effect of mindset. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19, 567–586. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9841-y
Jiang, X. U., Huebner, E. S., & Hills, K. J. (2013). Parent attachment and early adolescents’ life satisfaction: The mediating effect of hope. Psychology in the Schools, 50(4), 340–352. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21680
Kern, M. L., Benson, L., Steinberg, E. A., & Steinberg, L. (2016). The EPOCH measure of adolescent well-being. Psychological Assessment, 28(5), 586–597. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000201
Kim, S. Y., Chen, Q., Wang, Y., Shen, Y., & Orozco-Lapray, D. (2013). Longitudinal linkages among parent–child acculturation discrepancy, parenting, parent–child sense of alienation, and adolescent adjustment in Chinese immigrant families. Developmental Psychology, 49(5), 900–912. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029169
Kim, S. Y., Schwartz, S. J., Perreira, K. M., & Juang, L. P. (2018). Culture’s influence on stressors, parental socialization, and developmental processes in the mental health of children of immigrants. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 14(1), 343–370. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050817-084925
King, V., Boyd, L. M., & Pragg, B. (2018). Parent-adolescent closeness, family belonging, and adolescent well-being across family structures. Journal of Family Issues, 39(7), 2007–2036. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X17739048
Kuckertz, J. M., Mitchell, C., & Wiggins, J. L. (2018). Parenting mediates the impact of maternal depression on child internalizing symptoms. Depression and Anxiety, 35(1), 89–97. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22688
Lavrič, M., & Naterer, A. (2020). The power of authoritative parenting: A cross-national study of effects of exposure to different parenting styles on life satisfaction. Children and Youth Services Review, 116, 105274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105274
Lee, S. J., & Altschul, I. (2015). Spanking of young children: Do immigrant and U.S.-born Hispanic parents differ? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 30(3), 475–498. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260514535098
Lee, W. K., & Joo, Y. S. (2020). Adolescent extracurricular activity participation: Associations with parenting stress, mother-adolescent closeness, and social skills. Children and Youth Services Review, 116, 105110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105110
Leidy, M. S., Guerra, N. G., & Toro, R. I. (2010). Positive parenting, family cohesion, and child social competence among immigrant Latino families. Journal of Family Psychology, 24(3), 252–260. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019407
León-Pérez, G., Richards, C., & Non, A. L. (2021). Precarious work and parenting stress among Mexican immigrant women in the United States. Journal of Marriage and Family, 83(3), 881–897. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12761
Lippold, M. A., & Jensen, T. M. (2017). Harnessing the strength of families to prevent social problems and promote adolescent well-being. Children and Youth Services Review, 79, 432–441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.06.066
Love, J. A., & Buriel, R. (2007). Language brokering, autonomy, parent-child bonding, biculturalism, and depression: A study of Mexican American adolescents from immigrant families. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 29(4), 472–491. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986307307229
Luk, J. W., King, K. M., McCarty, C. A., Vander Stoep, A., & McCauley, E. (2016). Measurement invariance testing of a three-factor model of parental warmth, psychological control, and knowledge across European and Asian/Pacific Islander American youth. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 7(2), 97–107. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000040
Mahoney, A., Donnelly, W. O., Boxer, P., & Lewis, T. (2003). Marital and severe parent-to-adolescent physical aggression in clinic-referred families: Mother and adolescent reports on co-occurrence and links to child behavior problems. Journal of Family Psychology, 17(1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.17.1.3
Maiya, S., Carlo, G., Gülseven, Z., & Crockett, L. (2020). Direct and indirect effects of parental involvement, deviant peer affiliation, and school connectedness on prosocial behaviors in U.S. Latino/a youth. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 37(10–11), 2898–2917. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407520941611.
Miao, S. W., Costigan, C. L., & MacDonald, S. W. S. (2018). Spillover of stress to Chinese Canadian immigrants’ parenting: Impact of acculturation and parent–child stressors. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 9(3), 190–199. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000105
Moilanen, K. L., Padilla-Walker, L. M., & Blaacker, D. R. (2018). Dimensions of short-term and long-term self-regulation in adolescence: Associations with maternal and paternal parenting and parent-child relationship quality. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47(7), 1409–1426. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0825-6
Moon, S. S., Kim, Y. J., & Parrish, D. (2020). Understanding the Linkages Between Parental Monitoring, School Academic Engagement, Substance Use, and Suicide Among Adolescents in U.S. Child & Youth Care Forum, 49(6), 953–968. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-020-09570-5
Moore, K. A., Lippman, L., & Brown, B. (2004). Indicators of child well-being: The promise for positive youth development. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 591(1), 125–145. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716203260103
Nunes, F., Mota, C. P., Ferreira, T., Schoon, I., & Matos, P. M. (2022). Parental meta-emotion, attachment to parents, and personal agency in adolescents. Journal of Family Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000947
Parkes, A., Sweeting, H., & Wight, D. (2015). Parenting stress and parent support among mothers with high and low education. Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43), 29(6), 907–918. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000129
Patrick, R. B., & Gibbs, J. C. (2012). Inductive discipline, parental expression of disappointed expectations, and moral identity in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(8), 973–983. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9698-7
Pettit, G. S., Laird, R. D., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Criss, M. M. (2001). Antecedents and behavior-problem outcomes of parental monitoring and psychological control in early adolescence. Child Development, 72(2), 583–598. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00298
Phinney, J. S., Ong, A., & Madden, T. (2000). Cultural values and intergenerational value discrepancies in immigrant and non-immigrant families. Child Development, 71(2), 528–539. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00162
Pinquart, M. (2017). Associations of parenting dimensions and styles with externalizing problems of children and adolescents: An updated meta-analysis. Developmental Psychology, 53(5), 873–932. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000295
Princeton University. (2020). About the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Princeton University. Retrieved August 5, 2021 from https://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/about
Raphael, J. L., Zhang, Y., Liu, H., & Giardino, A. P. (2010). Parenting stress in US families: Implications for paediatric healthcare utilization. Child: Care, Health & Development, 36(2), 216–224. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2214.2009.01052.x.
Ragavan, M. I., Griffith, K., Bair-Merritt, M., Cabral, H. J., & Kistin, C. J. (2019). First-generation immigrant mothers report less spanking of 1-year-old children compared with mothers of other immigrant generations. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 23(4), 496–503. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-018-2660-5
Rees, G., & Dinisman, T. (2015). Comparing children’s experiences and evaluations of their lives in 11 different countries. Child Indicators Research, 8(1), 5–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-014-9291-1
Rodriguez, C. M. (2011). Association Between Independent Reports of Maternal Parenting Stress and Children’s Internalizing Symptomatology. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 20(5), 631–639. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-010-9438-8
Rodríguez-Meirinhos, A., Antolín-Suárez, L., Brenning, K., Vansteenkiste, M., & Oliva, A. (2020). A bright and a dark path to adolescents’ functioning: The role of need satisfaction and need frustration across gender, age, and socioeconomic status. Journal of Happiness Studies: An Interdisciplinary Forum on Subjective Well-Being, 21(1), 95–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-00072-9
Seligman, M. E. (2012). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Simon and Schuster.
Smith, A., Anne Dobbs, T., & Taylor, N. (2006). “No, we don’t get a say, children just suffer the consequences”: Children talk about family discipline. The International Journal of Children’s Rights, 14(2), 137–156. https://doi.org/10.1163/157181806777922694
StataCorp. (2017). Stata statistical software (Release 15). [Computer software].
Suárez-Orozco, C., Motti-Stefanidi, F., Marks, A., & Katsiaficas, D. (2018). An integrative risk and resilience model for understanding the adaptation of immigrant-origin children and youth. American Psychologist, 73(6), 781–796. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000265
Turunen, J. (2013). Family structure, gender, and adolescent emotional well-being. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 54(6), 476–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2013.810982
Van Leeuwen, K. G., & Vermulst, A. A. (2004). Some psychometric properties of the Ghent Parental Behavior Scale. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 20(4), 283–298. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759.20.4.283
Viruell-Fuentes, Miranda, P. Y., & Abdulrahim, S. (2012). More than culture: Structural racism, intersectionality theory, and immigrant health. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 75(12), 2099–2106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.12.037
Waldfogel, J., Craigie, T. A., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2010). Fragile families and child wellbeing. The Future of children, 87–112. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2010.0002.
Wang, J., Shi, X., Yang, Y., Zou, H., Zhang, W., & Xu, Q. (2019). The joint effect of paternal and maternal parenting behaviors on school engagement among Chinese adolescents: The mediating role of mastery goal. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1587. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01587
Wang, Q., Pomerantz, E. M., & Chen, H. (2007). The role of parents? Control in early adolescents? Psychological functioning: A longitudinal investigation in the United States and China. Child Development, 78(5), 1592–1610. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01085.x
Waters, L. E. (2015). Strength-based parenting and life satisfaction in teenagers. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 2(11). https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.211.1551
Waters, L., Loton, D. J., Grace, D., Jacques-Hamilton, R., & Zyphur, M. J. (2019). Observing change over time in strength-based parenting and subjective wellbeing for pre-teens and teens. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2273. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02273
Williams, D. T., Cheadle, J. E., & Goosby, B. J. (2015). Hard times and heart break: Linking economic hardship and relationship distress. Journal of Family Issues, 36(7), 924–950. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X13501666
Wu, S., Marsiglia, F. F., Ayers, S., Cutrín, O., & Vega-López, S. (2020). Familial acculturative stress and adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors in Latinx immigrant families of the Southwest. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 22(6), 1193–1199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-01084-5
Xiong, Y., Qin, X., Wang, Q., & Ren, P. (2021). Parental Involvement in Adolescents’ Learning and Academic Achievement: Cross-lagged Effect and Mediation of Academic Engagement. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50(9), 1811–1823. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01460-w
Xu, Y., Wang, X., Ahn, H., & Harrington, D. (2018). Predictors of non-U.S. born mothers’ parenting stress across early childhood in fragile families: A longitudinal analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 89, 62–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.04.012
Yu, J., Putnick, D. L., Hendricks, C., & Bornstein, M. H. (2019). Long-term effects of parenting and adolescent self-competence for the development of optimism and neuroticism. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(8), 1544–1554. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0980-9
Acknowledgements
Ning He received support from the New Writer’s Fellowship, Family Process Institute in the preparation of this manuscript. The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01-HD-36916) and a consortium of private foundations.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Conceptualization: Yiwei Zhang; Data Analysis: Ning He; Methodology: Ning He; Writing – original draft: Yiwei Zhang, Ning He; Writing – review & editing: Yiwei Zhang, Ning He, Yanfeng Xu. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this research.
Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals
This study is a secondary data analysis utilizing data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (public data) with no identifiers, which is not considered human subjects research and does not require Institutional Review Board review.
Informed Consent
This study used secondary data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (public data) with no identifiers. Informed consent was not applicable.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, Y., He, N. & Xu, Y. Parenting and Adolescents’ Subjective Psychological Well-Being: Does Immigration Background Matter?. Child Ind Res 16, 1709–1732 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-023-10033-1
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-023-10033-1