Cultural orientations and parental distress among Chinese immigrants in the United States: the mediating role of parent–child acculturation conflict

ABSTRACT

Among one of the first social work studies to probe the mechanism between cultural orientations and parental distress, this study examined the mediating role of parent–child acculturation conflict among Chinese immigrant families. A sample of first-generation immigrants from mainland China to the United States (N = 268) was extracted from the Study of Asian American Families, which was conducted in New York (2011–2012), New Jersey (2013–2014), and Hawaii (2015–2017). Mediation results suggest that Chinese immigrant parents who had a stronger cultural orientation to the United States had less parent–child acculturation conflict, which in turn, lessened parental distress. For social workers, these findings echo existing theories and highlight the importance and potential arrays of cultural competence for social service delivery to support family resilience among first-generation Chinese immigrant families in the United States.

KEYWORDS:

• Chinese immigrant
• cultural orientation
• parent–child acculturation conflict
• parental distress
• culturally competent practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yixuan Wang

Dr. Yixuan Wang is an Assistant Professor at China Youth University of Political Studies.

Fuhua Zhai

Dr. Fuhua Zhai is an Associate Professor at Fordham University and Research Associate at Columbia University China Center for Social Policy.

Qin Gao

Dr. Qin Gao is a Professor of Social Policy and Social Work and the Founding Director of Columbia University’s China Center for Social Policy.

Fei Pei

Fei Pei is a Doctoral Candidate at The Ohio State University.