Abstract
Despite the prevalence of delinquency during adolescence and the influence of culture on parenting behaviors and adolescent outcomes, few studies have examined the association between parental warmth and adolescent delinquency cross-culturally. Thus, this study sought to identify cultural differences in the levels of delinquency and their associations with parental warmth. First, the levels of delinquency and the protective effect of parental warmth on delinquency were examined using a U.S. sample from the Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Next, the same two research questions were investigated using a Korean sample from the Korean Youth Panel Survey (KYPS). Finally, differences in such associations were examined between the samples from the U.S. and South Korea. The findings from the independent sample t-test revealed that the levels of delinquency were lower for Korean adolescents than American adolescents. The results from multiple regression also demonstrated the protective effect of parental warmth on delinquency for American adolescents. Further, parental warmth by country interaction suggested that the protective effect of parental warmth was statistically stronger for American adolescents than Korean adolescents. Implications of the findings suggested cultural differences in perceptions of parental warmth and its role in reducing adolescent delinquency.
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Acknowledgements
This study used U.S. data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter, S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by a grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. In addition, this study used Korean data from Korea Youth Panel Survey (KYPS) funded by the national government from South Korea. KYPS was directed by Kyeong-Sang Lee, Hee-Jin Lim, Sun-Young Ahn at the National Youth Policy Institute (NYPI). Special acknowledgement is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle and NYPI researchers for assistance in the original design.
Data Sharing and Declaration
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) data are available from Add Health website (https://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth) but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under contractual agreement for the current study, and only limited data are publicly available. Per request and with permission of Add Health, restricted data are available to use. Korea Youth Panel Survey (KYPS) data are available on the NYPI Youth and Children Data Archive (https://www.nypi.re.kr/archive) from request and with permission of National Youth Policy Institute.
Funding
This study was an analysis of secondary data, and no direct funding was received from Add Health (grant P01-HD31921) from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development or the national government from South Korea.
Author Contributions
H.Y. proposed the research questions, performed the statistical analyses, and drafted the manuscript; M.C. guided the data analysis and assisted in manuscript writing. Both authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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The research project involving human subjects was approved by the Human Subjects Committee at Florida State University.
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Yun, HJ., Cui, M. The Effects of Parental Warmth on Adolescent Delinquency in the United States and South Korea: a Cross-Cultural Perspective. J Youth Adolescence 49, 228–237 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01078-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01078-z