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Doing Well vs. Feeling Well: Understanding Family Dynamics and the Psychological Adjustment of Chinese Immigrant Adolescents

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Abstract

Despite their average high levels of educational achievement, Asian American students often report poor psychological and social adjustment, suggesting an achievement/adjustment paradox. Yet, the reasons for this paradox remain unclear. Drawing on 5-year longitudinal qualitative interview data, this paper compares the family dynamics of two groups of adolescents from Chinese immigrant families: non-distressed adolescents (n = 20) who have high levels of academic achievement and high levels of psychological well-being; and distressed adolescents (n = 18) who have high levels of academic achievement but low levels of psychological well-being. Findings suggest that the two groups of families differed in parenting approaches after migration, parent–child communication, parental expectations, and parent–child relations. Implications for Asian American adolescent and youth development are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco, co-directors of the Harvard Immigration Project, for their support of this research within the Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation Study. I would also like to thank Meenal Rana, Francisco Gaytan, and Laura Bates for their assistance in this paper. Finally, I am indebted to Dr. Roger Levesque and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which were very helpful in the revisions.

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  1. Department of Family and Child Ecology, Michigan State University, 103E Human Ecology, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Desirée Baolian Qin

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  1. Desirée Baolian Qin
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Correspondence to Desirée Baolian Qin.

Appendix 1: Coding Category, Definition, and Number of Families in Which Adolescents and/or Parents Addressed Specific Categories (n = 38)

Appendix 1: Coding Category, Definition, and Number of Families in Which Adolescents and/or Parents Addressed Specific Categories (n = 38)

   
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Qin, D.B. Doing Well vs. Feeling Well: Understanding Family Dynamics and the Psychological Adjustment of Chinese Immigrant Adolescents. J Youth Adolescence 37, 22–35 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9220-4

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