Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Influence of Maternal Acculturation, Neighborhood Disadvantage, and Parenting on Chinese American Adolescents’ Conduct Problems: Testing the Segmented Assimilation Hypothesis

  • Empirical Research
  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Associations among neighborhood disadvantage, maternal acculturation, parenting and conduct problems were investigated in a sample of 444 Chinese American adolescents. Adolescents (54% female, 46% male) ranged from 12 to 15 years of age (mean age = 13.0 years). Multilevel modeling was employed to test the hypothesis that the association between maternal acculturation and adolescents’ conduct problems could be explained by differences in mothers’ reliance on monitoring and harsh discipline. In addition, guided by segmented assimilation theory, measures of neighborhood disadvantage were expected not only to be related to differences in parenting, but also to moderate the effects of maternal acculturation on parenting. Results indicated that increased maternal acculturation was related to higher levels of maternal monitoring and lower levels of harsh discipline, which, in turn, were related to lower levels of adolescents’ conduct problems. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed that neighborhood disadvantage was related to lower levels of maternal monitoring. However, neighborhood disadvantage did not moderate the link between maternal acculturation and parenting practices.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist 14–18 and 1991 profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry.

  • Allison, P. D. (2001). Missing data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumrind, D. (1997). Necessary distinctions. Psychological Inquiry, 8(3), 176–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bornstein, M. H., & Cote, L. R. (2004). Mothers’ parenting cognitions in cultures of origin, acculturating cultures, and cultures of destination. Child Development, 75(1), 221–235.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bornstein, M. H., Haynes, O. M., Azuma, H., Galperín, C., Maital, S., Ogino, M., Painter, Kathleen, Pascual, L., Pêcheux, M. -G., Rahn, Charles, Toda, S., Venuti, P., Vyt, A., & Wright, B. (1998). A cross-national study of self-evaluations and attributions in parenting: Argentina, Belgium, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, and the United States. Developmental Psychology, 34(4), 662–676.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brody, G. H., Ge, X., Conger, R. D., Gibbons, F. X., McBride Murry, V., Gerrard, M., & Simons, R. L. (2001). The influence of neighborhood disadvantage, collective socialization, and parenting on African American children’s affiliation with deviant peers. Child Development, 72(4), 1231–1246.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brody, G. H., Ge, X., Kim, S. Y., Murry, V. M., Simons, R. L., Gibbons, F. X., Gerrard, M., & Conger, R. D. (2003) Neighborhood disadvantage moderates associations of parenting and older sibling problem attitudes and behavior with conduct disorders in African American children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71, 211–222.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chao, R. K. (1994). Beyond parental control and authoritarian parenting style: Understanding Chinese parenting through the cultural notion of training. Child Development, 65, 1111–1119.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chao, R., & Tseng, V. (2002). Parenting of Asians. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting (pp. 59–93). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conger, R. D., Patterson, G. R., & Ge, X. (1995). It takes two to replicate: A mediational model for the impact of parents’ stress on adolescent adjustment. Child Development, 66, 80–97.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crouter, A. C., Davis, K. D., Updegraff, K., Delgado, M., & Fortner, M. (2006). Mexican American fathers’ occupational conditions: Links to family members’ psychological adjustment. Journal of Marriage and Family, 68, 843–858.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dinh, K. T., Roosa, M. W., Tein, J.-Y., & Lopez, V. A. (2002). The relationship between acculturation and problem behavior proneness in a Hispanic youth sample: A longitudinal mediation model. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30(3), 295–309.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dishion T. J., & McMahon, R. J. (1998). Parental monitoring and the prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior: A conceptual and empirical formulation. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 1(1), 61–75.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dumka, L. E., Roosa, M. W., & Jackson, K. M. (1997). Risk, conflict, mothers’ parenting, and children’s adjustment in low-income, Mexican immigrant, and Mexican American families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 59, 309–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eamon, M. K., & Mulder, C. (2005). Predicting antisocial behavior among Latino young adolescents: An ecological systems analysis. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 75(1), 117–127.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Earls, F., McGuire, J., & Shay, S. (1994). Evaluating a community intervention to reduce the risk of child abuse: Methodological strategies in conducting neighborhood surveys. Child Abuse & Neglect, 18, 473–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farver, J. M., & Lee-Shin, Y. (2000). Acculturation and Korean-American children’s social and play behavior. Social Development, 9, 316–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fridrich, A. H., & Flannery, D. J. (1995). The effects of ethnicity and acculturation on early adolescent delinquency. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 4, 69–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuligni, A. J., Tseng, V., & Lam, M. (1999). Attitudes toward family obligations among American adolescents with Asian, Latin American, and European backgrounds. Child Development, 70, 1030–1044.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ge, X., Best, K. M., Conger, R. D., & Simons, R. L. (1996a). Parenting behaviors and the occurrence and co-occurrence of adolescent depressive symptoms and conduct problems. Developmental Psychology, 32, 717–731.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ge, X., Conger, R. D., Cadoret, R. J., Neiderhiser, J. M., Yates, W., Troughton, E., & Stewart, M. A. (1996b). The developmental interface between nature and nurture: A mutual influence model of child antisocial behavior and parent behaviors. Developmental Psychology, 32(4), 574–589.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gershoff, E. T. (2002). Corporal punishment by parents and associated child behaviors and experiences: A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 128(4), 539–579.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzales, N. A., Deardorff, J., Formoso, D., Barr, A., & Barrera, M. Jr. (2006). Family mediators of the relation between acculturation and adolescent mental health. Family Relations, 55, 318–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutman, L. M., McLoyd, V. C., & Tokoyawa, T. (2005). Financial strain, neighborhood stress, parenting behaviors, and adolescent adjustment in urban African American families. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15(4), 425–449.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, N. E., Bush, K. R., & Roosa, M. W. (2003). Parenting and family socialization strategies and children’s mental health: Low-income, Mexican-American and Euro-American mothers and children. Child Development, 74(1), 189–204.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, P., Roper, M., Fisher, P., & Piacentini, J. (1995). Test-retest reliability of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC 2.1): Parent, child, and combined algorithms. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 61–71.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, E., Cain, K., & McCubbin, M. (2006). Maternal and paternal parenting, acculturation, and young adolescent’s psychological adjustment in Korean American families. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 19(3), 112–129.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, S. Y., & Ge, X. (2000). Parenting practices and adolescent depressive symptoms in Chinese American families. Journal of Family Psychology, Special Issue: Cultural Variation in Families, 14(3), 420–435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klebanov, P. K., Brooks-Gun, J., & Duncan, G. J. (1994). Does neighborhood and family poverty affect mothers’ parenting, mental health, and social support? Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56, 441–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, G. P., Virdin, L. M., & Roosa, M. (1994). Socialization and family correlates of mental health outcomes among Hispanic and Anglo American children: Consideration of cross-ethnic scalar equivalence. Child Development, 65(1), 212–224.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kotchick, B. A., Dorsey, S., & Heller, L. (2005). Predictors of parenting among African American single mothers: Personal and contextual factors. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(2), 448–460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kreft, I., & DeLeeuw, J. (1998). Introducing multilevel modeling. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krull, J. L., & MacKinnon, D. P. (2001). Multilevel modeling of individual and group level medicated effects. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 36(2), 249–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lansford, J. E., Chang, L., Dodge, K. A., Malone, P. S., Oburu, P., Palmerus, K., Bacchini, D., Pastorelli, C., Bombi, A. S., Zelli, A., Tapanya, S., Chaudhary, N., Deater-Deckard, K., Manke, B., & Quinn, N. (2005). Physical discipline and children’s adjustment: Cultural normativeness as a moderator. Child Development, 76(6), 1234–1246.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lau, S., & Cheung, P. C. (1987). Relations between Chinese adolescents’ perception of parental control and organization and their perception of parental warmth. Developmental Psychology, 23, 726–729.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 309–337.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • LeVine, R. A. (1988). Human parental care: Universal goals, cultural strategies, individual behavior. In R. A. LeVine, P. M. Miller, & M. M. West (Eds.), Parental behavior in diverse societies (pp. 5–12). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

  • Lin, C. Y. C., & Fu, V. R. (1990). A comparison of child-rearing practices among Chinese, Immigrant Chinese, and Caucasian-American Parents. Child Development, 61, 429–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loeber, R., & Dishion, T. (1983). Early predictors of male delinquency: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 94, 68–99.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ngo, P. Y. L., & Malz, T. A. (1998). Cross-cultural and crossgenerational differences in Asian Americans’ cultural, familial systems and their impact on academic striving. In H. I. McCubbin & E. A. Thompson (Eds.), Resiliency in family series: Vol. 2. Resiliency in Native American and immigrant families (pp. 265–274). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, G. R., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1984). The correlation of family management practices and delinquency. Child Development, 55, 1299–1307.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peeples, F., & Loeber, R. (1994). Do individual factors and neighborhood context explain ethnic differences in juvenile delinquency? Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 10, 141–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinderhughes, E. E., Nix, R., Foster, E. M., & Jones, D. (2001). Parenting in context: Impact of neighborhood poverty, residential stability, public services, social networks, and danger on parental behaviors. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 63(4), 941–953.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (1990). Immigrant America: A portrait. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothbaum, F., & Weisz, J. R. (1994). Parental care giving and child externalizing behavior in nonclinical samples: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 55–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, D. B. (1987). Multiple imputation for nonresponse in surveys. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ryder, A. G., Alden, L. E., & Paulhus, D. L. (2000) Is acculturation unidimensional or bidimensional? A head-to-head comparison in the prediction of personality, self-identity, and adjustment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 49–65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Samaniego, R. Y., & Gonzales, N. A. (1999). Multiple mediators of the effects of acculturation status on delinquency for Mexican American adolescents. American Journal of Community Psychology, Special Issue: Adolescent risk behavior, 27, 189–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J., Morenoff, J. D., & Earls, F. (1999). Beyond social capital: Spatial dynamics of collective efficacy for children. American Sociological Review, 64(5), 633–660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seidman, E., Yoshikawa, H., Roberts, A., Chesir-Teran, D., Allen, L., Friedman, J. L., & Aber, L. (1998). Structural and experiential neighborhood contexts, developmental stage, and antisocial behavior among urban adolescents in poverty. Development and Psychopathology, 10, 259–281.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shumow, L., & Lomax, R. (2002). Parental efficacy: Predictor of parenting behavior and adolescent outcomes. Parenting: Science and Practice, 2, 127–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silk, J. S., Sessa, F. M., Morris, A. S., Steinberg, L., & Avenevoli, S. (2004). Neighborhood cohesion as a buffer against hostile maternal parenting. Journal of Family Psychology, 18, 135–146.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Simons, R. L., Johnson, C., Conger, R. D., & Lorenz, F. O. (1997). Linking community context to quality of parenting: A study of rural families. Rural Sociology, 62, 207–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, J., & Patterson, G. R. (1987). Family interaction and delinquent behavior. In H. C. Quay (Ed.), Handbook of juvenile delinquency (pp. 216–243). Oxford, England: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sobel, M. E. (1982). Asymptotic confidence intervals for indirect effects in structural equation models. In S. Leinhardt (Ed.), Sociological methodology 1982 (pp. 290–312). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stattin, H., & Kerr, M. (2000). Parental monitoring: A reinterpretation. Child Development, 71(4), 1072–1085.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, S. R., & Kim, S. Y. (2008). A person-centered approach to studying the linkages among parent–child differences in cultural orientation, supportive parenting, and adolescent depressive symptoms in Chinese American families. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(1), 36–49.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, B., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Petit, G. S. (1992). Some consequences of early harsh discipline: Child aggression and a maladaptive social information processing style. Child Development, 63(6), 1321–1335.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, D. Y. H. (1996). Chinese childhood socialization. In: M. H. Bond (Ed.), The handbook of chinese psychology (pp. 143–154). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu, Z., Wan, C. W., Mussen, P. H., & Shen, J. X. (1991). Family socialization and children’s behavior and personality development in China. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 152, 239–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, M. (1997). Segmented assimilation: Issues, controversies, and recent research on the new second generation. International Migration Review, 31, 975–1008.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Support for this research was provided through awards to Dr. Su Yeong Kim from the (1) American Psychological Foundation/Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology, Ruth G. and Joseph D. Matarazzo Grant; (2) California Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, Extended Education Fund; and (3) American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, Massachusetts Avenue Building Assets Fund; and an award to Dr. Angela Chia-Chen Chen from the (4) American Nurses Foundation Grant.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Lisa L. Liu & Anna S. Lau

  2. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Angela Chia-Chen Chen

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, USA

    Khanh T. Dinh

  4. Department of Human Ecology, Division of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA

    Su Yeong Kim

Authors
  1. Lisa L. Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anna S. Lau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Angela Chia-Chen Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Khanh T. Dinh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Su Yeong Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lisa L. Liu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Liu, L.L., Lau, A.S., Chen, A.CC. et al. The Influence of Maternal Acculturation, Neighborhood Disadvantage, and Parenting on Chinese American Adolescents’ Conduct Problems: Testing the Segmented Assimilation Hypothesis. J Youth Adolescence 38, 691–702 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-008-9275-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-008-9275-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation