ERIC Number: EJ933860
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Mar
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Intergenerational Cultural Dissonance in Parent-Adolescent Relationships among Chinese and European Americans
Wu, Chunxia; Chao, Ruth K.
Developmental Psychology, v47 n2 p493-508 Mar 2011
Generational cultural gaps (assessed as the mismatch between adolescents' ideals and perceptions of the parent-adolescent relationship) were investigated among Chinese youth with immigrant parents and their European American counterparts who have been in the United States for generations and assumingly do not have intergenerational cultural gaps. The authors of the study examined the associations of such generational gaps with adolescents' behavioral problems and whether youth's appreciation of Chinese parent-adolescent relationships (parental devotion, sacrifice, thoughtfulness, and "guan") described by the notion of "qin" would moderate the relationship between discrepancies and youth's adjustment. A total of 634 high school students (M = 15.97 years; 95 and 154 first- and second-generation Chinese American respectively, and 385 European Americans) completed measures of parental warmth, parent-adolescent open communication, "qin", and psychological adjustment. The U.S.-born Chinese American adolescents' ideals exceeded perceptions of parents' warmth and open communication to a greater degree than it did for European American adolescents (ps less than 0.05). Such discrepancies in parental warmth were related to greater internalizing symptoms for second-generation Chinese American youth than for their European American peers. In addition, for second-generation Chinese, their perceptions of "qin", particularly parents' devotion and sacrifice, had stronger moderating effects, diminishing the associations between generational cultural gaps and youth's behavioral problems compared with those of European American and first-generation Chinese youth. Parental thoughtfulness also played a similar beneficial role, but did so for all youth. (Contains 4 figures and 8 tables.)
Descriptors: Adolescents, Parent Child Relationship, Conflict, Cultural Differences, Immigrants, Behavior Problems, Correlation, Chinese Americans, High School Students, Measures (Individuals), Affective Behavior, Adjustment (to Environment), Emotional Adjustment, Whites, Symptoms (Individual Disorders)
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org/publications
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

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