Parent-child relationships between Korean American adolescents and their parents

This cross-sectional correlational study examined the association between Korean American adolescents' and their parents' reports of parent-child relationships. A total of 61 Korean American families completed a questionnaire assessing parental knowledge, parental/filial self-efficacy, parent-child communication, and parent-child conflicts. T tests, Pearson's correlations, a scatter diagram, and bivariate regression were used to analyze the data. Both Korean American adolescents and their parents reported that fathers were less knowledgeable about their child's school life and less likely to communicate with their children than were mothers. Fathers reported a significantly lower level of parental self-efficacy than mothers, and adolescents also reported a significantly higher level of filial self-efficacy in mother-child relationships than in father-child relationships. Positive correlations between parents' and adolescents' reports of parent-child relationships were observed. These findings indicated a need for parent education programs or counseling services for Korean American parents of adolescents, particularly fathers with inadequate parental skills and limited communication with their children.     

Relationships Between Parenting Environment and Children's Mental Health Among African American and European American Mothers and Children

This study examined the relationship between aspects of the parenting environment and children's conduct problems and anxious symptoms among socioeconomically comparable samples of African American and European American mothers and their kindergarten children. Ethnic differences in parenting may lead to differences in the relationship between parenting and child outcomes. Thus, the moderating role of ethnicity for the relationships between parenting and children's mental health was tested. African American and European American parents were similar in their parenting practices. European American children reported a higher number of anxious symptoms, however. Parenting and family interaction patterns were associated with children's anxious symptoms and conduct problems. Although many relationships were similar across ethnic groups, there were ethnic differences in the relationships between maternal parenting efficacy and anxiety and between hostile control and conduct problems. These similarities and differences are discussed in light of theory and familial, cultural, and environmental niches.     

Examining the role of parental factors on depression among Urban African American youth living in public housing

This study examined the potential risk and protective parental factors associated with depression among African American youth living in public housing. Utilizing a community-based participatory research approach, 239 African-American youth surveys were collected during 2013–2014 in two urban public housing developments with low socioeconomic profiles. Over half (52.3%) of the sample was in high school and female (58%). 65.3% reported living with their mother while 38% reported being employed. Bivariate analysis revealed significant correlations between depression and maternal substance abuse, paternal monitoring, parent-child relationship, and family time. Results from the regression analyses indicated that higher depression scores were significantly associated with youth who reported poor parent-child relationships, low levels of paternal supervision and high levels of maternal drug abuse. These findings provide support for claims about the importance of parent-child relationship and paternal monitoring as a protective factor for depressive symptoms, particularly during adolescence. Moreover, findings suggest that interventions which are targeted towards urban African American youth should address parental factors as a pathway to decrease depression among this population.     

Parent Marital Quality and the Parent–Adolescent Relationship: Effects on Adolescent and Young Adult Health Outcomes

Although a number of studies examined the implications of marital disruption for adolescent well-being, few studied the implications of marital relationship quality on health outcomes for children in married-couple families. The present study examines how parent marital quality among intact families interacts with the quality of parent–adolescent relationships to predict physical health, mental health, and substance use in middle adolescence and early adulthood. The study uses data from the NLSY97 cohort, a nationally representative sample of adolescents who are being followed into adulthood. Predictors include the quality of the parent marital relationship, the quality of the parent–adolescent relationship, marital structure, and a number of contextual covariates and control variables. Combined parent marital quality and parent–adolescent relationship groups were developed using latent class analyses and were used to predict positive and negative health behaviors during the teen and early adult years. Results indicate that adolescents in families experiencing poor marital quality fared worse on physical health, mental health, and substance use outcomes. In addition, adolescents who reported poor relationships with at least one of their parents fared worse on outcomes. Adolescents whose parents have low-quality relationships and also have poor parent–adolescent relationships tended to fare least well across health measures. Adolescents whose parents have a high-quality relationship and who have a good parent–adolescent relationship with both parents consistently had the best outcomes. Overall, poor relationships consistently undermine mental health, physical health, and substance use. Family religious activities also consistently predict better health outcomes.     

Race and ethnic differences in depressed mood following the transition from high school

Young adulthood is a period of increased mental health risk, with evidence linking psychological disorder to problematic role transitions. To our knowledge, there has been little or no research that examines the forces shaping minority mental health at this time. Using a diverse, urban sample of young adults who are followed over a two-year period, this paper examines the link between race/ethnicity and depressed mood and the transitional roles and interpersonal experiences that mediate this association. Findings indicate that blacks and Hispanics have elevated depressed mood relative to whites and Asian Americans, independent of socioeconomic background factors. The underrepresentation of blacks and Hispanics in four-year colleges largely explains the differences in depressed mood between members of these groups and Asian American youth. In contrast, comparisons of black and Hispanic youth to white youth highlight problems in peer and parental relations among individuals in the former groups. Overall, findings suggest that the heightened depressed mood among Hispanics and blacks relative to whites and Asian Americans reflects their increasingly disadvantaged pathways into adulthood, characterized by poorer prospects for educational advancement and more problematic relationships subsequent to the high school years.     

Risk and Resilience Among African American Children of Incarcerated Parents

Abstract

The current literature indicates that children of incarcerated parents are negatively responding to parent-child separation and vulnerable to myriad adverse psychological, emotional, and behavioral outcomes. African American children are the most greatly impacted by this social issue as they account for over 50% of all children of incarcerated parents. Despite the risks, many of these youths appear to cope with parent-child separation. There is a paucity of literature that employs a risk and resilience conceptual model to explicate the variability in developmental trajectories. This article reviews the literature on risks and resilience among African American families. An interpersonal-ecological conceptual model that emphasizes the reciprocal interaction between the person and social context is employed. Moreover, African American resilient factors that potentially mediate the relationship between parental incarceration and environmental risks and developmental outcomes are discussed.     

Impact of age and symptom severity on parent-child relationships and self-perception among Chinese children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Little information is available on the effect of parent-child relationships on self-perception among Chinese children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Hong Kong. This study examined the impact of children’s age and symptom severity on the linkage of quality parent-child relationships to perceived competence/hope among children with ADHD. A clinical sample of 81 school-age children (ages 5–11, mean age = 8.38) who were diagnosed with ADHD were recruited in this study. Separate questionnaires were employed to collect data among children and their parents in the pre-treatment phase. Parent-child relationships were positively correlated with self-perception of children with ADHD, with physical competence to be father-child specific. Children’s age had moderated the correlation between mother-child relationship and children’s hope. Maternal role on children’s hope was significant for the mild symptom group; paternal role on children’s hope was significant for the severe symptom group. No moderation effect was found for symptom severity on the correlation between parent-child relationship and children’s self-perception. The study’s findings helped mental health professionals in a Chinese context to develop psychosocial interventions to foster quality parent-child relationships, which in turn will maintain children’s self-perception. Implications for social work practice are discussed.     

Integrating creative art into a community-based mental health program for Asian American transition age youth

This paper advocates for the use of creative art as an adjunct in the delivery of mental health care for Asian American transition age youth in the United States. A case study of a participant in a community-based mental health program called Project FOCUS in Orange County, California details how art was used to assist a young woman to identify and achieve her personal goals, mitigate her emotional and behavioral problems, and reach a sense of overall well-being. The findings in this paper lay the groundwork for future research into how art can be systematically incorporated into community-based mental health programs to facilitate service utilization. Further, this study demonstrates that Asian American transition age youth face mental health challenges typical of their cohorts, despite being putative members of a “model minority.” The use of creative art transcends cultural and language barriers, and empowers Asian American transition age youth to explore their identity and express their emotions, which ultimately promotes their mental well-being.     

Expectations,education, and opportunity

Using a long panel of youths, we establish a causal link between parental expectations regarding education and educational attainment. In particular, we use an instrumental variables approach to find that the child’s chances of obtaining a high school or college degree are increasing in the parent’s expectations of the likelihood of these events. We then use differences between the objective likelihood of a child’s educational attainment and the parents’ subjective probabilities to consider the hypothesis that lower educational outcomes among certain groups are driven by a “culture of despair,” where children are low-achieving because they are expected to underachieve. While we do find that children from households with lower levels of income, wealth, and parental education are less likely to attain high school and college degrees, we reject the hypothesis that this is driven by low subjective expectations of educational success. Rather, we find that parents from disadvantaged groups have expectations for the educational outcomes of their children that differ more from the statistical likelihood of these outcomes than do parents of children from advantaged households. That is, we find that parents in more disadvantaged households are more optimistic about the educational outcomes of their children than those from more advantaged households.     

Social and Emotional Functioning of Older Asian American Adolescents

This study identified a constellation of psychosocial problems reported by older Asian American adolescents that was different from their Caucasian peers. When compared to 386 Caucasian American adolescents from the same community, Asian American students performed better academically and reported fewer delinquent behaviors. However, these Asian American youth reported higher levels of depressive symptomatology, withdrawn behavior, and social problems. They also perceived themselves more poorly and were more dissatisfied with their social support. These differences highlight the unique mental health needs of older Asian American youth. Practice recommendations are made that consider traditional Asian values and the role that family members can play in the development of effective treatment plans.     

Siblings’ Differential Treatment in Mexican American Families

We investigated the patterns and correlates of parents’ differential treatment of adolescent siblings in 246 two‐parent Mexican American families. In home interviews, siblings rated 7 domains of differential treatment (e.g., privileges, chores, warmth) as well as their adjustment and perceptions of parental acceptance and fairness, and both parents and adolescents reported on cultural dynamics. More gender‐typed patterns of differential treatment were evident when parents were more oriented to Mexican than Anglo culture. The links between differential treatment and youth reports of adjustment, parental acceptance, and parental fairness were moderated by adolescents’ familism values, particularly for older siblings: Differential treatment was linked more strongly to adjustment and parent‐youth relationship problems when youth reported lower levels of familism.     

Linkages Between Parents’ Differential Treatment,Youth Depressive Symptoms,and Sibling Relationships

We tested social comparison predictions about cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations between parents’ differential treatment of siblings and both youth depressive symptoms and sibling relationship qualities from middle childhood to late adolescence, controlling for dyadic parent‐child relationships and siblings’ ratings of parents’ fairness. Participants were parents and first‐ and second‐borns (M= 11.8 and 9.2 years old at Year 1) from 201 White, middle/working‐class families. Three‐level models revealed both cross‐sectional and longitudinal linkages between differential treatment and outcomes. For example, youth whose parent‐child relationships decreased in warmth relative to those of their sibling reported increases in depressive symptoms and decreases in sibling warmth. Gender and age moderated differential treatment‐depressive symptoms associations; birth order moderated differential treatment‐sibling relationship associations.     

Substance abuse among Asian American youth: An ecological review of the literature

The purpose of this review is to understand the risk and protective factors that are associated with substance use among Asian American youth. Using the Bronfenbrenner's (1994) ecological systems theory, we examine how individual characteristics (age, gender, psychopathology, genetics, and ethnic differences), micro- (family and peers), meso-/exo- (relations between family and peers, cultural norms, and economic stress), macro- (academic achievement and cultural influences), and chrono-systems (acculturation) level factors influence or inhibit substance use among Asian American youth. In addition, this review highlights major implications for practice and policy to prevent substance misuse and to improve outcomes for substance abusing Asian American youth.     

The Continued Importance of Quality Parent–Adolescent Relationships During Late Adolescence

The quality of adolescents' relationships with residential parents has been found to predict many different health and behavioral youth outcomes; strong associations have also been found between these outcomes and family processes, and between relationship quality and family processes. Data from Rounds 1–5 of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 were used to examine hypotheses about the influence of the parent–adolescent relationship on subsequent adolescent mental well‐being and delinquency, as mediated by family processes. Using structural equation modeling, we found that the influence of a positive residential parent–adolescent relationship on better mental well‐being and fewer delinquency was entirely mediated by family routines, parental monitoring, and parental supportiveness, net of sociodemographic controls.     

Parent Involvement as Parental Monitoring of Student Motivation and Parent Expectations Predicting Later Achievement Among African American and European American Middle School Age Students

SUMMARY

Parent involvement and parent expectations are fundamental to academic success. However, much of the research has been with elementary school aged children; consequently, we know less about the influence of parent involvement and parent expectations on the academic achievement of middle school students, and we have even less information for African American (AA) students. Do parent involvement and parent expectations have a similar effect on later Grade Point Average (GPA) for European American (EA) and AA middle school youth? Data from 567 AA and EA urban youth who participated in a longitudinal study were used in this analysis. Within group hierarchical regression analyses reveal parent involvement and parent expectations are statistically significant for both groups. However, partial correlations indicate parental involvement represents the highest unique contribution to later grade point average for EA students, and for AA students, earlier educational achievement represents the highest unique contribution to later grade point average. Implications for practice suggest that approaches to increase parent involvement may work well with improving academic achievement of EA youth, while approaches to increase early educational achievement may work well with AA students.     

The Meaning of Good Parent–Child Relationships for Mexican American Adolescents

Perceptions of good parent–adolescent relationships were explored among 19 Mexican American high school students aged 14–17 who participated in focus group interviews on what it means for Mexican American teenagers to have good relationships with parents. Using a grounded theory approach, five general themes emerged in the responses, corresponding to open communication, instrumental and emotional support, indirect expressions of caring, parental control, and valued relationship qualities. Both genders described distinct relationships with mothers and fathers. Relationships with mothers were closer and more open than relationships with fathers, and mothers were seen as being more affectionate, lenient, and emotionally supportive, whereas fathers tended to express caring indirectly by providing instrumental and financial support and by just being there. Parental upbringing, culture, gender, and parental role expectations emerged as explanations for parents' behavior. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed.     

Future orientation and health related factors among African American adolescents

African American youth are frequently confronted by economic and structural hardships, which can often suggest that their lives do not matter. This study examined the extent to which having high future orientation was related to a broad spectrum of health related factors. Among a sample of 638 largely low-income African American youth, this study assessed measures of demographics, future orientation, delinquency, sexual risk behaviors, and school engagement constructs. Major findings indicated that higher future orientation was related to lower levels of delinquency and a reduced likelihood of engaging in risky sex. In addition, stronger future orientation was related to higher levels of school bonding and student-teacher relationships. Overall, findings point to an overall protective relationship between future orientation and several health related factors among African American youth; this suggests that promoting a sense of future orientation among this population could be related to advancing more healthy youth development.     

Parent‐Adolescent Language Use and Relationships Among Immigrant Families With East Asian,Filipino, and Latin American Backgrounds

This study examined differences in the quality of relationships between immigrant parents and their adolescent children as a function of the languages with which they speak to one another. Over 620 adolescents with East Asian, Filipino, and Latin American backgrounds completed measures on parent‐adolescent language use and relationships. Adolescents who spoke in different languages with their parents reported less cohesion and discussion with their mothers and fathers than did their peers who spoke the same language with their parents. Adolescents who mutually communicated in the native language with their parents reported the highest levels of cohesion and discussion. Longitudinal analyses indicated that whereas language use did not predict differential changes in parent‐adolescent relationships over a 2‐year period, the quality of relationships did predict changes in language use. The associations between language use and relationships generally existed regardless of the families' ethnic and demographic backgrounds, and these associations did not vary across families of different backgrounds.     

Parent‐to‐Child Aggression Among Asian American Parents: Culture,Context, and Vulnerability

We examined correlates of lifetime parent‐to‐child aggression in a representative sample of 1,293 Asian American parents. Correlates examined included nativity, indicators of acculturation, socioeconomic status, family climate, and stressors associated with minority status. Results revealed that Asian Americans of Chinese descent and those who immigrated as youth were more likely to report minor parental aggression; ethnicity and nativity were not associated with severe aggression. Indices of acculturation did not predict risk, but minority status stressors (perceived discrimination, low social standing) predicted risk of both minor and severe aggression. Affective climate differed markedly in families with minor versus severe aggression. Parental aggression in Asian American families may not be cultural per se, but stress associated with immigrant family context may heighten vulnerability.     

Negative Parental Disclosures as Mediators of Coparental Communication and Relational Outcomes in Parent-Child Relationships

This study explored the associations among perceptions of coparental communication (i.e., supportive and antagonistic), parents’ negative disclosures, and relational outcomes in parent-child relationships (i.e., closeness and satisfaction). Participants included 241 young adult children who completed online surveys. Results indicate that parents’ negative disclosures to their children mediated the associations between both dimensions of coparental communication and both relational outcomes. Indirect effects of supportive and antagonistic coparental communication through mothers’ negative disclosures emerged for children’s closeness with mothers, but not satisfaction. Indirect effects of both forms of coparental communication through mothers’ negative disclosures also emerged for children’s closeness and satisfaction with fathers. Ultimately, the results underscore the importance of disclosure as an explanatory mechanism for the associations between coparental communication patterns and relational quality in parent-child relationships.