Abstract
Although parental academic socialization may be a product of culture, ethnic/racial minority status may play a significant role, above and beyond the impact of culture, in shaping parental academic socialization and its implications for youth adjustments. This study examined Korean youth living in South Korea (N = 524, Mage = 14.98, SD = 1.45, 50.1% female), China (N = 267, Mage = 15.24, SD = 1.66, 58.9% female), and the U.S. (N = 408, Mage = 14.76, SD = 1.91, 47.3% female) who share the same heritage culture but have different social positions (majority or minority). Korean youth as an ethnic/racial minority in the U.S. or China reported higher parental academic socialization than those in South Korea, supporting a significant role of social positions in how parents practice academic socialization. This study also found that the distinct practices of academic socialization function differently in youth adjustment. Parental commitment to education, parental involvement, and autonomy support were positively associated with youth’s school engagement, but achievement-oriented psychological control was associated with more depressive symptoms and antisocial behaviors. These associations did not differ across the three samples. Some nuanced differences also emerged. Parental commitment to education was associated with higher grades in Korean Chinese (but not Korean American) youth, and achievement-oriented psychological control was associated with lower school engagement among Korean Chinese (but not South Korean) youth and higher grades among South Korean (but not Korean American) youth. These findings highlight the role of academic socialization as an adaptive strategy for ethnic/racial minorities to succeed in host societies and the generally universal role of parental academic socialization in youth adjustments.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angold, A., Costello, F. J., Messer, S. C., Pickles, A., Winder, F., & Silver, D. (1995). Development of a short questionnaire for use in epidemiological studies of depression in children and adolescents. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 5, 237–249.
Barger, M. M., Kim, E. M., Kuncel, N. R., & Pomerantz, E. M. (2019). The relation between parents’ involvement in children’s schooling and children’s adjustment: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 145(9), 855–890. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000201.
Bornstein, M.H., & Cote, L.R. (2006). Parenting cognitions and practices in the acculturative process. In M.H. Bornstein & L.R. Cote (Eds.), Acculturation and parent-child relationships: Measurement and development (pp. 173–196). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780415963589-9.
Budiman, A. (2021). Koreans in the U.S. Fact Sheet. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/factsheet/asian-americans-koreans-in-the-u-s/.
Chao, R.K. (2000a). Cultural explanations for the role of parenting in the school success of Asian-American children. In R.D. Taylor & M.C. Wang (Eds.), Resilience across contexts: Family, work, culture, and community (pp. 333–363). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Chao, R. K. (2000b). The parenting of immigrant Chinese and European American mothers: Relations between parenting styles, socialization goals, and parental practices. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 21(2), 233–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0193-3973(99)00037-4.
Chao, R.K., & Wu, C. (2001). Guan parenting behaviors. Psychology. University of California at Riverside.
Chen, F. F. (2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 14(3), 464–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701301834.
Chen, X., Wang, L., & Liu, J. (2012). Adolescent cultural values and adjustment in the changing Chinese society. In G. Trommsdorff & X. Chen (Eds.), Values, religion, and culture in adolescent development (pp. 235–252). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139013659.014.
Cheung, C. S. S., & Pomerantz, E. M. (2011). Parents’ involvement in children’s learning in the United States and China: Implications for children’s academic and emotional adjustment. Child Development, 82(3), 932–950. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01582.x.
Cheung, C. S., Pomerantz, E. M., Wang, M., & Qu, Y. (2016). Controlling and autonomy‐supportive parenting in the United States and China: Beyond children’s reports. Child Development, 87(6), 1992–2007. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12567.
Choi, W. G. (2001). The Korean minority in China: The change of its identity. Development and Society, 30(1), 119–141. http://www.jstor.org/stable/deveandsoci.30.1.119.
Choi, Y. (2008). Korean American Families Project. University of Chicago.
Choi, Y. (2013). Asian Americans: Koreans. Encyclopedia of social work. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.522.
Choi, Y. (2014). The Midwest Longitudinal Studies of Asian American Families (MLSAAF): Wave 1 Questionnaire. University of Chicago.
Choi, Y., Kim, T. Y., Lee, J. P., Tan, K. P. H., Noh, S., & Takeuchi, D. T. (2021). Upholding familism among Asian American youth: Measures of familism among Filipino and Korean American youth. Adolescent Research Review, 6, 437–455. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-020-00148-9.
Choi, Y., Kim, T. Y., Noh, S., Lee, J. P., & Takeuchi, D. T. (2018). Culture and family process: Measures of familism for Filipino and Korean American parents. Family Process, 57(4), 1029–1048. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12322.
Choi, Y., Kim, T. Y., Pekelnicky, D. D., Kim, K., & Kim, Y. S. (2017). Impact of youth cultural orientation on perception of family process and development among Korean Americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 23(2), 244–257. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000093.
Choi, Y., Kim, Y. S., Kim, S. Y., & Park, I. J. K. (2013). Is Asian American parenting controlling and harsh? Empirical testing of relationships between Korean American and Western parenting measures. Asian. American Journal of Psychology, 4(1), 19–29. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031220.
Choi, Y., Kim, Y. S., Pekelnicky, D. D., & Kim, H. J. (2013). Preservation and modification of culture in family socialization: Development of parenting measures for Korean immigrant families. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 4(2), 143–154. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028772.
Choi, Y., Park, M., Lee, J. P., & Lee, M. (2020). Explaining the Asian American youth paradox: Universal factors versus Asian American family process among Filipino and Korean American youth. Family Process, 59(4), 1818–1836. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12532.
Distefano, R., & Meuwissen, A. S. (2022). Parenting in context: A systematic review of the correlates of autonomy support. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 14(4), 571–592. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12465.
Education GPS (2023), OECD, 4/20/2023, 2:29:55 PM http://gpseducation.oecd.org.
Frost, R. O., Marten, P., Lahart, C., & Rosenblate, R. (1990). The dimensions of perfectionism. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14(5), 449–468. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01172967.
García Coll, C., Lamberty, G., Jenkins, R., McAdoo, H. P., Crnic, K., Wasik, B. H., & Garcia, H. V. (1996). An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Development, 67(5), 1891–1914. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131600.
García Coll, C., & Pachter, L.M. (2002). Ethnic and minority parenting. In M.H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Social conditions and applied parenting (pp. 1–20). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Gelhorn, H., Hartman, C., Sakai, J., Mikulich-Gilbertson, S., Stallings, M., Young, S., Rhee, S., Corley, R., Hewitt, J., Hopfer, C., & Crowley, T. (2009). An item response theory analysis of DSM-IV conduct disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 48(1), 42–50. https://doi.org/10.1097/CHI.0b013e31818b1c4e.
Gelhorn, H. L., Sakai, J. T., Price, R. K., & Crowley, T. J. (2007). DSM-IV conduct disorder criteria as predictors of antisocial personality disorder. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 48(6), 529–538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2007.04.009.
Greenburg, M.T., & Kusche, C.A. (1990). Draft manual for the Seattle Personality Scale for Children. Seattle: Unpublished manuscript, University of Washington.
Grolnick, W. S., & Pomerantz, E. M. (2009). Issues and challenges in studying parental control: Toward a new conceptualization. Child Development Perspectives, 3(3), 165–170. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2009.00099.x.
Grolnick, W. S., Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (1991). Inner resources for school achievement: Motivational mediators of children’s perceptions of their parents. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(4), 508–517. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.83.4.508.
Ju, S. G., Chen, X., Chen, L., Zhao, S., & Fegley, S. G. (2021). Relations of maternal power assertion and autonomy support with children’s adjustment in Korea. Journal of Family Psychology, 35(3), 335–344. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000720.
Kim, E. (2002). The relationship between parental involvement and children’s educational achievement in the Korean immigrant family. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 33(4), 529–540. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.33.4.529.
Kim, K., & Rohner, R. P. (2002). Parental warmth, control, and involvement in schooling: Predicting academic achievement among Korean American adolescents. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 33(2), 127–140. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022102033002001.
Lansford, J. E., Godwin, J., Al-Hassan, S. M., Bacchini, D., Bornstein, M. H., Chang, L., Chen, B.-B., Deater-Deckard, K., Di Giunta, L., Dodge, K. A., Malone, P. S., Oburu, P., Pastorelli, C., Skinner, A. T., Sorbring, E., Steinberg, L., Tapanya, S., Alampay, L. P., Uribe Tirado, L. M., & Zelli, A. (2018). Longitudinal associations between parenting and youth adjustment in twelve cultural groups: Cultural normativeness of parenting as a moderator. Developmental Psychology, 54(2), 362–377. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000416.
Lee, J., & Randolph, K. A. (2015). Effects of parental monitoring on aggressive behavior among youth in the United States and South Korea: A cross-national study. Children and Youth Services Review, 55, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.05.008.
Lee, R. M., Noh, C.-Y., Yoo, H. C., & Doh, H.-S. (2007). The psychology of diaspora experiences: Intergroup contact, perceived discrimination, and the ethnic identity of Koreans in China. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13(2), 115–124. https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.13.2.115.
Leung, J. T., & Shek, D. T. (2020). Parental sacrifice, filial piety and adolescent life satisfaction in Chinese families experiencing economic disadvantage. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 15, 259–272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-018-9678-0.
Little, T. D. (1997). Mean and covariance structures (MACS) analyses of cross-cultural data: Practical and theoretical issues. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 32(1), 53–76. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr3201_3.
Muthén, B. O., & Muthén, L. K. (1998–2017). Mplus user’s guide (8th ed.). Muthén & Muthén.
National Bureau of Statistics of China (2020). Tabulation on the 2020 population census of the People’s Republic of China [Data set]. China Statistics Press. http://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/pcsj/rkpc/7rp/zk/indexce.htm.
Ng, F. F. Y., Sze, I. N. L., Tamis‐LeMonda, C. S., & Ruble, D. N. (2017). Immigrant Chinese mothers’ socialization of achievement in children: A strategic adaptation to the host society. Child Development, 88(3), 979–995. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12701.
Ng, F. F. Y., & Wang, Q. (2019). Asian and Asian American parenting. In M.H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting. Vol. 4. Special conditions and applied parenting (3rd ed., pp. 108–169). Routledge.
Park, M., Choi, Y., Yasui, M., & Hedeker, D. (2021). Racial discrimination and the moderating effects of racial and ethnic socialization on the mental health of Asian American youth. Child Development, 92(6), 2284–2298. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13638.
Park, Y., & Kim, U. (2006). Family, parent-child relationship, and academic achievement in Korea: Indigenous, cultural, and psychological analysis. In U. Kim, K. Yang & K. Hwang (Eds.), Indigenous and cultural psychology: Understanding people in context (pp. 421–443). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-28662-4_19.
Perez-Brena, N. J., Rivas-Drake, D., Toomey, R. B., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2018). Contributions of the integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children: What have we learned about adaptive culture. American Psychologist, 73(6), 713–726. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000292.
Pomerantz, E. M., Moorman, E. A., & Litwack, S. D. (2007). The how, whom, and why of parents’ involvement in children’s academic lives: More is not always better. Review of Educational Research, 77(3), 373–410. https://doi.org/10.3102/003465430305567.
Qin, L., Pomerantz, E. M., & Wang, Q. (2009). Are gains in decision‐making autonomy during early adolescence beneficial for emotional functioning? The case of the United States and China. Child Development, 80(6), 1705–1721. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01363.x.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68.
Shen, Y., Lee, H., Choi, Y., Hu, Y., & Kim, K. (2022). Ethnic-racial socialization, ethnic-racial identity, and depressive symptoms in Korean adolescents in the United States and China. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 51, 377–392. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01523-y.
Silk, J. S., Morris, A. S., Kanaya, T., & Steinberg, L. (2003). Psychological control and autonomy granting: Opposite ends of a continuum or distinct constructs. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 13(1), 113–128. https://doi.org/10.1111/1532-7795.1301004.
Soenens, B., Park, S. Y., Vansteenkiste, M., & Mouratidis, A. (2012). Perceived parental psychological control and adolescent depressive experiences: A cross-cultural study with Belgian and South-Korean adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 35(2), 261–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.05.001.
Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., & Luyten, P. (2010). Toward a domain‐specific approach to the study of parental psychological control: Distinguishing between dependency‐oriented and achievement‐oriented psychological control. Journal of Personality, 78(1), 217–256. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00614.x.
Suizzo, M. A., Pahlke, E., Yarnell, L., Chen, K. Y., & Romero, S. (2014). Home-based parental involvement in young children’s learning across US ethnic groups: Cultural models of academic socialization. Journal of Family Issues, 35(2), 254–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X12465730.
Suizzo, M. A., & Stapleton, L. M. (2007). Home‐based parental involvement in young children’s education: Examining the effects of maternal education across US ethnic groups. Educational Psychology, 27(4), 533–556. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410601159936.
Tan, C. Y., Lyu, M., & Peng, B. (2020). Academic benefits from parental involvement are stratified by parental socioeconomic status: A meta-analysis. Parenting, 20(4), 241–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2019.1694836.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2020). 2019 American Community Survey. Integrated public use microdata series: version 11.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. https://usa.ipums.org/usa/.
Vasquez, A. C., Patall, E. A., Fong, C. J., Corrigan, A. S., & Pine, L. (2016). Parent autonomy support, academic achievement, and psychosocial functioning: A meta-analysis of research. Educational Psychology Review, 28, 605–644. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9329-z.
Wang, M. T., Hill, N. E., & Hofkens, T. (2014). Parental involvement and African American and European American adolescents’ academic, behavioral, and emotional development in secondary school. Child Development, 85(6), 2151–2168. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12284.
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.
Wei, J., Pomerantz, E. M., Ng, F. F. Y., Yu, Y., Wang, M., & Wang, Q. (2019). Why does parents’ involvement in youth’s learning vary across elementary, middle, and high school? Contemporary Educational Psychology, 56, 262–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.12.007.
Wei, J., Pomerantz, E. M., Ng, F. F. Y., Yu, Y., Wang, M., & Wang, Q. (2022). Do the effects of parents’ involvement in youth’s academic adjustment vary with youth’s developmental phase? A longitudinal investigation in China. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 71, 102118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2022.102118.
Wu, C., & Chao, R. K. (2011). Intergenerational cultural dissonance in parent–adolescent relationships among Chinese and European Americans. Developmental Psychology, 47(2), 493–508. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021063.
Xie, Y., & Goyette, K. (2003). Social mobility and the educational choices of Asian Americans. Social Science Research, 32(3), 467–498. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0049-089X(03)00018-8.
Yanbian Bureau of Statistics (2020). Statistical communiqué of Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture on the 2019 national economic and social development. http://www.yanbian.gov.cn/sj/tjgb/202006/t20200604_152275.html.
Yoon, E., Choi, Y., Suh, J.-E., & Galvin, S. (2021). Examination of Korean immigrant mothers’ parenting practices: By using the framework of bilinear acculturation. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 12(1), 52–64. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000188.
Acknowledgements
Funding
The work was supported by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, R01HD073200 (PI: Y.C.).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
MZ carried out statistical analyses, interpreted the results, drafted and edited the manuscript; YS conceived of the study, collected portions of the data, interpreted the results, and edited the manuscript; YC participated in the design of the study, collected portions of the data, and edited the manuscript; KK also collected portions of the data, participated in the interpretation of the data and edited the manuscript. The manuscript has been reviewed by all authors, and all authors approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Approvals were obtained from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the respective universities of the Principal Investigators.
Informed Consent
Parental consent and adolescent assent were obtained from all participants included in the study.
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, MR., Shen, Y., Choi, Y. et al. Parental Academic Socialization and Youth Adjustments: A Comparison of Korean Youth in South Korea, China, and the United States. J. Youth Adolescence 52, 2526–2544 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01845-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01845-z