Acculturation Conflict, Cultural Parenting Self‐Efficacy, and Perceived Parenting Competence in Asian American and Latino/a Families

Abstract

Parents from immigrant backgrounds must deal with normative parenting demands as well as unique challenges associated with acculturation processes. The current study examines the independent and interactive influences of acculturation conflict and cultural parenting self-efficacy (PSE; e.g., parents' confidence in instilling heritage, American, and bicultural values in their children) on perceptions of general parenting competence. Using data from 58 Asian American and 153 Latin American parents of children in grades 6-12, ethnic differences were also explored. Results suggest that lower acculturation conflict is associated with higher perceptions of general parenting competence for both Asian and Latin American parents. Higher cultural PSE is associated with higher perceived general parenting competence for Latino/a parents only. One significant interaction was found, and only for Asian Americans, whereby the negative association between acculturation conflict and perceptions of parenting competence was weaker for those who felt efficacious in transmitting heritage messages. Results are discussed in light of clinical implications and the need for further recognition and study of culturally relevant factors and frameworks among families from immigrant backgrounds.

The Intersection of Racial–Ethnic Socialization and Adolescence: A Closer Examination at Stage‐Salient Issues

“…Parents often struggle with how best to deliver RES messages (Coard et al., ), especially when these conversations may also raise parental affect in discussions about discrimination. Cultural parental self‐efficacy is a new construct that is defined as “the extent to which parents believe they can effectively instill cultural knowledge, values, and pride in their children” (Kiang, Glatz, & Buchanan, , p. 4). In this initial study with Latinx and Asian parents, cultural parental self‐efficacy predicted general parenting competence in Latinx but not Asian parents, which the authors attributed potentially due to generational differences in their sample or unique experiences of discrimination in Asian groups (Kiang et al., ).…”

“…Cultural parental self‐efficacy is a new construct that is defined as “the extent to which parents believe they can effectively instill cultural knowledge, values, and pride in their children” (Kiang, Glatz, & Buchanan, , p. 4). In this initial study with Latinx and Asian parents, cultural parental self‐efficacy predicted general parenting competence in Latinx but not Asian parents, which the authors attributed potentially due to generational differences in their sample or unique experiences of discrimination in Asian groups (Kiang et al., ). This is an important first step in studying a critical construct that likely influences how RES messages are delivered by parents and ultimately understood by youth.…”

Synthesizing a Special Issue on Parenting Adolescents in an Increasingly Diverse World

“…(, in this issue) argue that cultural socialization (in particular) is about much more than the singular messages that parents offer their children. For example, these authors describe cultural parental self‐efficacy as a novel parenting skill, involving “the extent to which parents believe that they can effectively instill cultural knowledge, values, and pride in their children” (Kiang, Glatz, & Buchanan, , p. 4).…”

Psychological assessment with Chinese Americans: Concerns and recommendations

“…The process of acculturation comes with the gradual loss of protective factors from the culture of origin and the increased exposure to stressors that immigrants are not yet prepared to handle, such as acculturative stress, perceived discrimination and experience of racism, as well as minority status (Escobar & Vega, ). Additionally, given that the majority of Chinese‐American adults are foreign‐born (Pew Research Center, ), the different acculturation rates between Chinese‐American children and their foreign‐born parents can lead to intergenerational cultural conflicts within the family, which can further result in negative outcomes, such as lower parenting self‐efficacy and perceived parenting competence (Kiang, Glatz, & Buchanan, ) as well as more internalizing problems and lower adaptive functioning skills in children (Lui, ). Simultaneously, acculturative stress may also benefit individuals by increasing their empathy level toward people from other cultural backgrounds (Wei, Li, Wang, & Ko, ).…”