The Social Development of Immigrant Children: A Focus on Asian and Hispanic Children in the United States

Cheah, Charissa S. L.; Leung, Christy Y. Y.

doi:10.1002/9781444390933.ch9

Cited by 32 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…Although Chinese American children are perceived to do well academically, much less attention has been paid to their early social-emotional competence (Cheah & Leung, 2011). These children may be at risk for experiencing social-emotional difficulties at school, including those of an internalizing nature (Liew, Castillo, Chang, & Chang, 2011;Yamamoto & Li, 2012).…”

Section: The Role Of Culture In Shy Children's Social Adjustmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal encouragement of modest behavior, temperamental shyness, and anxious withdrawal linkages to Chinese American children's social adjustment: A moderated mediation analysis

Balkaya

Cheah

et al. 2018

Social Development

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Past studies have revealed potential differences in the functional meaning and social evaluation of children's temperamental shyness between Chinese interdependence-oriented and North American independence-oriented cultural contexts. However, very little is known about shy Chinese American children's adjustment in Western school contexts and potential pathways underlying their adjustment. To address this gap in the literature, we examined the associations between Chinese American children's temperamental shyness and their social adjustment outcomes, including peer exclusion, prosocial behavior, and assertiveness/leadership skills. In addition, the mediating role of children's display of anxious-withdrawn behavior and the moderating role of first-generation Chinese immigrant mothers' encouragement of modesty in their parenting practices as applied to associations between temperamental shyness and social adjustment outcomes were explored. Path analyses indicated that the impact of Chinese American children's temperamental shyness on their socio-emotional adjustment was mediated by their display of anxious-withdrawn behavior in school. However, when Chinese immigrant mothers encouraged their children to be more modest, children's temperamental shyness was less strongly related to negative social adjustment outcomes through diminished anxious-withdrawn behavior. These results highlighted the importance of culturally-emphasized parenting practices in fostering Chinese American children's adjustment in the U.S. Keywords Shyness; parents/parenting; social behavior; adjustment; culture Temperamentally shy children desire interactions with peers but withdraw themselves due to a biologically-based disposition that is characterized by fear and anxiety in the face of novel situations (Asendorpf, 1991; Rubin, Coplan, & Bowker, 2009). These children remove themselves from the benefits of social interactions through the display of anxious-withdrawn behavior, or by behaving in a fearful, quiet, and reserved manner

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Section: The Role Of Culture In Shy Children's Social Adjustmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal encouragement of modest behavior, temperamental shyness, and anxious withdrawal linkages to Chinese American children's social adjustment: A moderated mediation analysis

Balkaya

Cheah

et al. 2018

Social Development

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“…The transition from home to American preschools is particularly challenging for children of Chinese immigrants, because they engage in social interactions with teachers and other children from mainstream society in an unfamiliar environment (Cheah & Leung, 2011). These children may encounter numerous social, cultural, and language challenges posed by their peers and teachers, including with regard to food.…”

Section: Chronosystem: Family Acculturation and Children’s School Tramentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological risk model of childhood obesity in Chinese immigrant children

Zhou

Cheah

2015

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Chinese Americans are the largest and fastest growing Asian American subgroup, increasing about one-third during the 2000s. Despite the slender Asian stereotype, nearly one-third of 6-to-11 years old Chinese American children were found to be overweight (above the 85th percentile in BMI). Importantly, unique and severe health risks are associated with being overweight/obese in Chinese. Unfortunately, Chinese immigrant children have been neglected in the literature on obesity. This review aimed to identify factors at various levels of the ecological model that may place Chinese immigrant children at risk for being overweight/obese in the U.S. Key contextual factors at the micro-, meso-, exo-, macro- and chronosystem were identified guided by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. The corresponding mediating and moderating processes among the factors were also reviewed and proposed. By presenting a conceptual framework and relevant research, this review can provide a basic framework for directing future interdisciplinary research in seeking solutions to childhood obesity within this understudied population.

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“…Chinese American children are perceived as succeeding academically, but may be at particular risk for experiencing social-emotional difficulties (Cheah & Leung, 2011). Little attention so far has been paid to the early social-emotional development of Chinese American children and its potential contributors.…”

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confidence: 99%

Child inhibitory control and maternal acculturation moderate effects of maternal parenting on Chinese American children’s adjustment.

Yu¹,

Cheah²,

Hart³

et al. 2018

Developmental Psychology

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The goals of this study were to examine: (a) bidirectional associations between maternal parenting (physical punishment and guilt induction) and Chinese American preschool children's psychosocial adjustment and (b) the role of maternal cultural orientation and child temperament in moderating parenting effects. Participants were Chinese American mothers and children (N = 163, M = 4.56, 53% boys). Mothers reported on their parenting practices at both Wave 1 (W1) and Wave 2 (W2) and their cultural orientations and children's inhibitory control at W1. Teachers rated children's prosocial, internalizing, and externalizing behaviors at both W1 and W2. A Bayesian approach to path analysis was utilized to investigate how parenting, child inhibitory control, and maternal cultural orientations work together to predict the development of children's prosociality and psychosocial problems. Results showed that for Chinese immigrant mothers who were highly acculturated toward the American culture and for children with low levels of inhibitory control, maternal use of physical punishment predicted more externalizing problems in children. Child inhibitory control and maternal enculturation were directly associated with less W2 child internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Moreover, physical punishment predicted more internalizing behavior, whereas guilt induction predicted less child internalizing behavior. Maternal guilt induction also prospectively predicted more prosocial behavior but only for children with low levels of inhibitory control. Finally, only one child effect was significant: More W1 internalizing behavior predicted less W2 physical punishment. These effects held after controlling for temporal stabilities of the constructs and demographic covariates. Findings are discussed within the cultural context of the study. (PsycINFO Database Record

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The Social Development of Immigrant Children: A Focus on Asian and Hispanic Children in the United States

Cited by 32 publications

References 83 publications

Maternal encouragement of modest behavior, temperamental shyness, and anxious withdrawal linkages to Chinese American children's social adjustment: A moderated mediation analysis

Maternal encouragement of modest behavior, temperamental shyness, and anxious withdrawal linkages to Chinese American children's social adjustment: A moderated mediation analysis

Ecological risk model of childhood obesity in Chinese immigrant children

Child inhibitory control and maternal acculturation moderate effects of maternal parenting on Chinese American children’s adjustment.

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