Yijie Wang

Accent, Perpetual Foreigner Stereotype, and Perceived Discrimination as Indirect Links Between English Proficiency and Depressive Symptoms in Chinese American Adolescents

The current study uses García Coll et al.s (1996) developmental competence model of ethnic minority children and Kims (1999) racial triangulation theory as frameworks for investigating the mechanisms whereby early adolescent English proficiency relates to perceived discriminatory experiences and adolescent depressive symptoms. Data from 444 adolescents (239 girls and 205 boys, with a mean age of 13.0 years for Wave 1 and 17.0 years for Wave 2) and their parents living in major metropolitan areas of Northern California were collected. The structural equation modeling analyses indicate that self-reported low levels of English proficiency among Chinese American adolescents in middle school are related to these same students later reporting that they speak English with an accent in high school, which in turn relates significantly to their perceiving that they have been stereotyped as perpetual foreigners. For girls, a perpetual foreigner stereotype relates to perceptions of chronic daily discrimination, increasing the risk of depressive symptoms. For boys, the path is different: A perpetual foreigner stereotype is apparently related to discriminatory victimization experiences, which increase the risk of depressive symptoms.

Longitudinal Linkages among Parent-Child Acculturation Discrepancy, Parenting, Parent-Child Sense of Alienation, and Adolescent Adjustment in Chinese Immigrant Families

Parent-child acculturation discrepancy is a risk factor in the development of children in immigrant families. Using a longitudinal sample of Chinese immigrant families, the authors of the current study examined how unsupportive parenting and parent-child sense of alienation sequentially mediate the relationship between parent-child acculturation discrepancy and child adjustment during early and middle adolescence. Acculturation discrepancy scores were created using multilevel modeling to take into account the interdependence among family members. Structural equation models showed that during early adolescence, parent-child American orientation discrepancy is related to parents use of unsupportive parenting practices; parents use of unsupportive parenting is related to increased sense of alienation between parents and children, which in turn is related to more depressive symptoms and lower academic performance in Chinese American adolescents. These patterns of negative adjustment established in early adolescence persist into middle adolescence. This mediating effect is more apparent among father-adolescent dyads than among mother-adolescent dyads. In contrast, parent-child Chinese orientation discrepancy does not demonstrate a significant direct or indirect effect on adolescent adjustment, either concurrently or longitudinally. The current findings suggest that during early adolescence, children are more susceptible to the negative effects of parent-child acculturation discrepancy; they also underscore the importance of fathering in Chinese immigrant families.

Acculturation-based and everyday family conflict in Chinese American families

Everyday conflict (studied primarily among European American families) is viewed as an assertion of autonomy from parents that is normative during adolescence. Acculturation-based conflict (studied primarily among Asian- and Latino-heritage families) is viewed as a threat to relatedness with parents rather than the normative assertion of autonomy. Our overarching goal for the chapter is to integrate our knowledge of these two types of family conflict that have been studied separately to arrive at a new understanding of what family conflict means for Chinese American adolescents and their parents.

Parent–Child Acculturation Discrepancy, Perceived Parental Knowledge, Peer Deviance, and Adolescent Delinquency in Chinese Immigrant Families

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 4xa0years 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.

An Integrated Conceptual Framework for the Development of Asian American Children and Youth

The diversity of circumstances and developmental outcomes among Asian American children and youth poses a challenge for scholars interested in Asian American child development. This article addresses the challenge by offering an integrated conceptual framework based on three broad questions: (a) What are theory-predicated specifications of contexts that are pertinent for the development of Asian American children? (b) What are the domains of development and socialization that are particularly relevant? (c) How can culture as meaning-making processes be integrated in conceptualizations of development? The heuristic value of the conceptual model is illustrated by research on Asian American children and youth that examines the interconnected nature of specific features of context, pertinent aspects of development, and interpretive processes.

Demographic Marginalization, Social Integration, and Adolescents' Educational Success

Links between schools’ demographic composition and students’ achievement have been a major policy interest for decades. Using a racially/ethnically diverse sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Nxa0=xa06,302; 54xa0% females; 53xa0% White, 21xa0% African American, 15xa0% Latino, 8xa0% Asian American, 2xa0% other race/ethnicity), we examined the associations between demographic marginalization, students’ later social integration (loneliness at school, school attachment), and educational performance and attainment. Adolescents who were socioeconomically marginalized at school [i.e., having <15xa0% same-socioeconomic status (SES) peers] had lower cumulative grade point averages across high school and lower educational attainment. A similar disadvantage was observed among students who were both socioeconomically and racially/ethnically marginalized at school (i.e., having <15xa0% same-SES peers and <15xa0% same-racial/ethnic peers). Indirect effects were also observed, such that demographic marginalization was linked to poorer school attachment, and poorer school attachment, in turn, was related to poorer academic performance. These results highlight the educational barriers associated with demographic marginalization and suggest potential targets for future intervention efforts.

Advancing Methods in Research on Asian American Children and Youth.

Asian American children and youth constitute at the same time an immigrant group, a set of ethnic groups, and a set of cultural groups. Research on these populations can therefore take on one or more of these perspectives. This article provides guidance for research methods in three areas: (a) conceptualizing and assessing migration-related factors, (b) assessing ethnicity and national origin, and (c) using culturally and contextually relevant measures. Methodological recommendations are made for each area, with attention to small-scale studies with community samples as well as large-scale data sets. In addition, this article recommends researchers attend to within-group variations (i.e., intersections of ethnicity, generational status, gender, class, sexuality), the embeddedness of individual development in context, and specificity of developmental periods.

Parent-child discrepancies in educational expectations: differential effects of actual versus perceived discrepancies.

This study explored how discrepancies between parents and adolescents educational expectations influenced adolescents achievement using a nationally representative, longitudinal sample of 14,041 students (14 years old at baseline). Actual discrepancies (i.e., those between parents and adolescents actual educational expectations) and perceived discrepancies (i.e., those between adolescents perceptions of their parents educational expectations and adolescents own) were examined. Achievement was higher when parents actually held higher expectations than adolescents held or when adolescents perceived that their parents expectations were lower than their own. In contrast, achievement was lower when parents actually held lower expectations than adolescents held or when adolescents believed that their parents expectations exceeded their own. Implications for identifying adolescents at risk and promoting adaptive parent-child educational expectations are discussed.

Measurement Equivalence of the Brief Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol Scale in a Multiethnic Sample of College Students

OBJECTIVESnThis study examined the measurement equivalence of the Brief Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol scale (B-CEOA; Ham et al., 2005)--a measure that assesses alcohol outcome expectancies (AOE) and expectancy evaluations-across ethnic groups and genders among multiethnic college student samples.nnnMETHODnUndergraduates provided self-report data in two multisite studies (Study 1: N = 1,536, 75.5% women, Mage = 19.6 years old, 56.4% European American, 9.8% African American, 7.6% Asian American, and 26.2% Hispanic/Latino American; Study 2: N = 7,767, 72.6% women, Mage = 19.8 years old, 63.3% European American, 7.9% African American, 14.3% Asian American, and 14.5% Hispanic/Latino American).nnnRESULTSnExploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a positive and negative 4-factor model. Positive and negative AOE and expectancy evaluations were positively associated with hazardous alcohol use. Measurement equivalence of the B-CEOA across ethnicities and genders was largely supported.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThis study provides support for the utility of the B-CEOA in college students of different ethnicities and genders in assessment and prevention.

Longitudinal reciprocal relationships between discrimination and ethnic affect or depressive symptoms among Chinese American adolescents

Discrimination plays an important role in the development of ethnic minority adolescents. However, previous studies have often adopted a unidirectional model examining the influence of discrimination on adolescent development, thus leaving the potential reciprocal relationship between them understudied. Moreover, there is a dearth of studies on Chinese Americans in the discrimination literature. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the reciprocal relationships between discrimination and two measures of adolescent outcomes (i.e., ethnic affect and depressive symptoms) from early adolescence to emerging adulthood in Chinese Americans. Participants were 444 adolescents (54xa0% female), followed at four-year intervals, beginning at 7th or 8th grade (Mage.wave1xa0=xa013.03) in 2002, for a total of three waves. An examination of cross-lagged autoregressive models revealed two major findings. First, in contrast to the rejection–identification model, perceived discrimination at early adolescence negatively related to ethnic affect at middle adolescence. Conversely, ethnic affect at early adolescence also negatively related to discrimination at middle adolescence. These results held the same direction but became insignificant from middle adolescence to emerging adulthood. Second, perceived discrimination positively related to depressive symptoms across the studied developmental periods, and depressive symptoms positively related to perceived discrimination from middle adolescence to emerging adulthood. The strength of these longitudinal relationships did not change significantly across developmental periods or gender. These findings highlight the bidirectional relationship between perceived discrimination and adolescent outcomes; they also demonstrate the value of studying the discrimination experiences of Chinese Americans.