Abstract
Parent–child acculturation discrepancy has been considered a risk factor for child maladjustment. The current study examined parent–child acculturation discrepancy as an ongoing risk factor for delinquency, through the mediating pathway of parental knowledge of the child’s daily experiences relating to contact with deviant peers. Participants were drawn from a longitudinal project with 4 years between data collection waves: 201 Chinese immigrant families participated at Wave 1 (123 girls and 78 boys) and 183 families (110 girls and 73 boys) participated at Wave 2. Based on the absolute difference in acculturation levels (tested separately for Chinese and American orientations) between adolescents and parents, one parent in each family was assigned to the “more discrepant” group of parent–child dyads, and the other parent was assigned to the “less discrepant” group of parent–child dyads. To explore possible within-family variations, the mediating pathways were tested separately among the more and less discrepant groups. Structural equation modeling showed that the proposed mediating pathways were significant only among the more discrepant parent–adolescent dyads in American orientation. Among these dyads, a high level of parent–child acculturation discrepancy is related to adolescent perceptions of less parental knowledge, which is related to adolescents having more contact with deviant peers, which in turn leads to more adolescent delinquency. This mediating pathway is significant concurrently, within early and middle adolescence, and longitudinally, from early to middle adolescence. These findings illuminate some of the dynamics in the more culturally discrepant parent–child dyad in a family and highlight the importance of examining parent–child acculturation discrepancy within family systems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achenbach, T. (2001). Manual for the youth self-report and 2001 profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont.
Benner, A. D., & Kim, S. Y. (2009). Intergenerational experiences of discrimination in Chinese American families: Influences of socialization and stress. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71, 862–877.
Berger, C., & Calabrese, R. (1975). Some explorations in initial interaction and beyond: Toward a developmental theory of interpersonal communication. Human Communication Research, 1, 99–112.
Birman, D. (2006). Acculturation gap and family adjustment: Findings with Soviet Jewish refugees in the United States and implications for measurement. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 37, 568–589.
Choi, Y., & Lahey, B. B. (2006). Testing the model minority stereotype: Youth behaviors across racial and ethnic groups. Social Service Review, 80, 419–452.
Costigan, C. L. (2010). Embracing complexity in the study of acculturation gaps: Directions for future research. Human Development, 53, 341–349.
Costigan, C. L., & Dokis, D. P. (2006a). Relations between parent–child acculturation differences and adjustment within immigrant Chinese families. Child Development, 77, 1252–1267.
Costigan, C. L., & Dokis, D. P. (2006b). Similarities and differences in acculturation among mothers, fathers, and children in immigrant Chinese families. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 37, 723–741.
Crouter, A. C., & Head, M. R. (2002). Parental monitoring and knowledge of children. In M. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook on parenting (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Crouter, A. C., Helms-Erikson, H., Updegraff, K., & McHale, S. M. (1999). Conditions underlying parents’ knowledge about children’s daily lives in middle childhood: Between- and within-family comparisons. Child Development, 70, 246–259.
Ge, X., Best, K. M., Conger, R. D., & Simons, R. L. (1996). Parenting behaviors and the occurrence and co-occurrence of adolescent depressive symptoms and conduct problems. Developmental Psychology, 32, 717–731.
Hernandez, D. J. (2004). Demographic change and the life circumstances of immigrant families. Future of Children, 14, 17–47.
Hwang, W.-C. (2006). Acculturative family distancing: Theory, research, and clinical practice. Psychotherapy: Theory, research, practice, training, 43, 397–409.
Juang, L. P., & Nguyen, H. H. (2009). Misconduct among Chinese American adolescents: The role of acculturation, family obligation, and autonomy expectations. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 40, 649–666.
Kim, S. Y., Chen, Q., Li, J., Huang, X., & Moon, U. J. (2009). Parent–child acculturation, parenting, and adolescent depressive symptoms in Chinese immigrant families. Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 426–437.
Lau, A. S., McCabe, K. M., Yeh, M., Garland, A. F., Wood, P. A., & Hough, R. L. (2005). The acculturation gap-distress hypothesis among high-risk Mexican American families. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, 367–375.
Le, T. N. (2002). Delinquency among Asian/Pacific Islanders: Review of literature and research. Justice Professional, 15, 57–70.
Le, T. N., & Stockdale, G. D. (2005). Individualism, collectivism, and delinquency in Asian American adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34, 681–691.
Le, T. N., & Stockdale, G. D. (2008). Acculturative dissonance, ethnic identity, and youth violence. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 14, 1–9.
Minuchin, P. (1985). Families and individual development: Provocations from the field of family therapy. Child Development, 56, 289–302.
Moffitt, T. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674–701.
Moffitt, T., Caspi, A., Rutter, M., & Silva, P. (2001). Sex differences in antisocial behavior: Conduct disorder, delinquency and violence in the Dunedin longitudinal study. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mussweiler, T. (2003). Comparison processes in social judgment: Mechanisms and consequences. Psychological Review, 110, 472–489.
Muthen, B. O., & Muthen, L. (2011). Mplus computer software. Los Angeles: Authors.
Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (1996). Immigrant America: A portrait (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Qin, D. B. (2006). “Our child doesn’t talk to us anymore”: Alienation in immigrant Chinese families. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 37, 162–179.
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.
Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Luyckx, K., & Goossens, L. (2006). Parenting and adolescent problem behavior: An integrated model with adolescent self-disclosure and perceived parental knowledge as intervening variables. Developmental Psychology, 42, 305–318.
Stattin, H., & Kerr, M. (2000). Parental monitoring: A reinterpretation. Child Development, 71, 1072–1085.
Tasopoulos-Chan, M., Smetana, J. G., & Yau, J. P. (2009). How much do I tell thee? Strategies for managing information to parents among American adolescents from Chinese, Mexican, and European backgrounds. Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 364–374.
Unger, J. B., Ritt-Olson, A., Wagner, K. D., Soto, D. W., & Baezconde-Garbanati, L. (2009). Parent–child acculturation patterns and substance use among Hispanic adolescents: A longitudinal analysis. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 30, 293–313.
Weaver, S. W., & Kim, S. Y. (2008). A person-centered approach on 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, 36–49.
Willgerodt, M. A., & Thompson, E. A. (2006). Ethnic and generational influences on emotional distress and risk behaviors among Chinese and Filipino American adolescents. Research in Nursing and Health, 29, 311–324.
Ying, Y.-W. (1999). Strengthening intergenerational/intercultural ties in migrant families: A new intervention for parents. Journal of Community Psychology, 27, 89–96.
Yoon, E., Langrehr, K., & Ong, L. Z. (2011). Content analysis of acculturation research in counseling and counseling psychology: A 22-year review. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58, 83–96.
Acknowledgments
Support for this research was provided through awards to Su Yeong Kim from (1) Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD 5R03HD051629-02 (2) Office of the Vice President for Research Grant/Special Research Grant and Summer Research Assignment from the University of Texas at Austin (3) Jacobs Foundation Young Investigator Grant (4) American Psychological Association Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs, Promoting Psychological Research and Training on Health Disparities Issues at Ethnic Minority Serving Institutions Grant (5) American Psychological Foundation/Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology, Ruth G. and Joseph D. Matarazzo Grant (6) California Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, Extended Education Fund (7) American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, Massachusetts Avenue Building Assets Fund (8) Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD 5R24HD042849-09 grant awarded to the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin and (9) American Nurses Foundation Grant awarded to Angela Chia-Chen Chen.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, Y., Kim, S.Y., Anderson, E.R. et al. Parent–Child Acculturation Discrepancy, Perceived Parental Knowledge, Peer Deviance, and Adolescent Delinquency in Chinese Immigrant Families. J Youth Adolescence 41, 907–919 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9705-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9705-z