Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.

Non-UMass Amherst users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.

Dissertations that have an embargo placed on them will not be available to anyone until the embargo expires.

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1104-8774

AccessType

Open Access Dissertation

Document Type

dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Program

Psychology

Year Degree Awarded

2022

Month Degree Awarded

September

First Advisor

Harold D. Grotevant

Subject Categories

Clinical Psychology | Developmental Psychology | Multicultural Psychology

Abstract

Chinese American and Chinese immigrant parents within the United States possess parenting cognitions that reflect their multidimensional cultural experiences. One such parenting cognition is parents’ bicultural socialization beliefs, defined as their desire for their children to adopt both heritage Chinese values as well as destination American values in order to be successful in the United States. The aim of the current dissertation was to quantitatively examine bicultural socialization beliefs among Chinese American parents of adolescents and young adults. Four studies were conducted to model a pathway from parents’ social and cultural experiences to outcomes in their children. Study 1 examined the demographic and immigration-related factors that predicted the development of bicultural socialization beliefs in parents. Study 2 examined the mediating effects of parents’ parenting behaviors in the relation between parents’ bicultural socialization beliefs and subsequent depressive symptoms in their children. Study 3 examined the nature and direction of the relation between parents’ bicultural socialization beliefs and intergenerational/acculturative family conflict with their children over time. Finally, Study 4 examined potential moderating influences on the relation between parents’ bicultural socialization beliefs and either child depressive symptoms or parents’ behaviors. Participants included mothers, fathers, and adolescents/young adults from a three-wave longitudinal study of Chinese American families (N=444; Director: Dr. Su Yeong Kim). Data were collected using self-report measures. Results from Study 1 indicated that mothers’ bicultural socialization beliefs were positively predicted by their Chinese cultural orientation and negatively predicted by their length of time in the United States. In Study 2, parents’ bicultural socialization beliefs positively predicted their reports of supportive and unsupportive parenting behaviors; however, there was no evidence to suggest parents’ behaviors mediated the relation between parents’ bicultural socialization beliefs and young adult depressive symptoms. Concerning Study 3, greater levels of intergenerational/acculturative family conflict during adolescence predicted higher levels of parents’ bicultural socialization beliefs during young adulthood. Finally, results from Study 4 suggested mothers’ bicultural socialization beliefs may be protective against adolescent depressive symptoms under contexts of high socioeconomic stress. Future areas of research and implications for practice are presented.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/23606633

Download

Share

COinS