Spillover of stress to Chinese Canadian immigrants’ parenting: Impact of acculturation and parent–child stressors.

Abstract

A growing body of research has demonstrated that the experience of stress may spill over to impact the way in which fathers and mothers approach the parenting role, such as expressions of warmth, discipline, reasoning, and control (Leinonen, Solantaus, & Punamäki, 2003). In the present study, these spillover effects were examined in a sample of 182 Chinese immigrant families in Canada with adolescent children. Using a two-wave longitudinal design and structural equation modeling, we evaluated the hypotheses that both acculturation-related stress in the parents' lives and high parent-child relational stress within the family would predict a decrease in positive parenting over time. As expected, parents who reported higher levels of acculturation stress showed a decrease in positive parenting, suggesting that external acculturation stressors may deplete immigrant parents' emotional resources, making it more difficult to sustain positive parenting approaches. Interestingly, stress from within the parent-child relationship did not have the same effect. Parents who reported more intense conflicts with their adolescents showed an increase in positive parenting. Invariance analyses revealed similarity between fathers and mothers in terms of the impact of stress on parenting. The significant effects of both cultural and relationship stressors on parenting call for stronger clinical and settlement support for immigrant parents' adjustment, as well as more family-oriented immigration policies. What is the public significance of this article?This study suggests that the stress associated with adapting to a new culture can have negative long-term effects on Chinese Canadian immigrants' parenting, whereas conflicts within the parentchild relationship may in fact be a stimulant for increasing positive parenting over time. These findings inform those involved in supporting immigrants' adjustment and well-being to carefully consider the role of both cultural and relational stressors in efforts to foster healthy family relationships and parenting.

The Crying Clinic: Increasing accessibility to Infant Mental Health services for immigrant parents at risk for peripartum depression

“…Immigrant parents from collectivist backgrounds may struggle with upholding their traditional parenting beliefs and customs and adapting practices from the culture of their host country (Kim, Ahn, & Lam, 2009; Yaman, Mesman, van IJzendoorn, Bakermans‐Kranenburg, & Linting, 2010). These findings are consistent with research that indicates that acculturation can be a stressful process for parents (Miao, Costigan, & MacDonald, 2018; Yu, Cheah, & Calvin, 2016), and call for additional support and resources to help these parents cope with acculturation‐related stressors. Furthermore, complex individual and community‐level factors may contribute to a higher risk of PPD in immigrant women, including a lack of social support and financial burdens.…”

Time-varying associations of racial discrimination and adjustment among Chinese-heritage adolescents in the United States and Canada

“…No significant differences were found for the first or second data set with regard to demographic (e.g., gender distribution) or main study variables (i.e., discrimination, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem). For more detailed information of sample recruitment and procedures for the US sample (Juang & Cookston, 2009) and Canadian sample (Hua & Costigan, 2012; Miao, Costigan, & MacDonald, 2018), please see previous publications.…”

Exploring Chinese Bicultural Students’ College Adjustment Process

“…A recent study challenged the unilateral perceptive of US immigration and identified Chinese immigrant youth's desire to transition between countries and identities (Liu 2017), which could amplify the frequency of acculturative stress experienced by Chinese immigrant students through constant cultural switching. Moreover, a study focused on Canadian Chinese immigrant families pointed out the spillover effects of parental acculturative stress which reduced positive parenting for Chinese immigrant youth (Miao, Costigan and MacDonald 2018). Since levels of cultural integration appear to be an acculturative variation for Chinese international and immigrant students, this study includes acculturative stress as a research component in examining biculturalism in college adjustment.…”