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AbstractObjectiveThe study explored the mediating role of Chinese American parents' ethnic–racial identity (ERI) in linking their discrimination experiences, ethnic–racial socialization (ERS), and their children's mental health, testing whether neighborhood racial diversity and perceived Chinese density moderated these mediation paths.BackgroundDuring COVID‐19, Chinese American families faced increased discrimination, impacting their mental well‐being. However, few studies have examined how parents' discrimination experiences influence their ERI, ERS practice, and ultimately their children's mental health difficulties.MethodData from 294 Chinese immigrant parents (Mage = 44.28, 79% female) were collected in two waves, 2020 and 2021. Path analysis tested if parental discrimination affects their ERI and ERS, and children's mental health. Multigroup analysis assessed if mediation models varied for families living in communities with low versus high racial diversity or Chinese density.ResultsParental racism‐related stress at T1 had significant indirect effects on parental ERS practices (higher use of maintenance of heritage culture and lower use of avoidance of outgroups practice) at T2 via parental ERI (greater private regard) at T2. Parental racial discrimination (perceived sinophobia in the media and racism‐related stress) at T1 had significant indirect effects on children's mental health difficulties at T2 via parental ERS practices (use of maintenance of heritage culture and avoidance of outgroups practices) at T2. The neighborhood racial diversity moderated the mediation model.ConclusionThese findings advance the understanding of both individual (i.e., parental ERI) and contextual factors (i.e., neighborhood racial diversity) in the complex associations between parents' discrimination experiences and children's mental health difficulties.

The present study examined the impact of COVID‐19‐related racial discrimination on Chinese American adolescents (N = 213; Mage = 13.95 years, SD = 2.35; 49% girls) at the intersection of race and gender. We explored (1) subgroups of adolescents based on ethnic identity, bicultural identity integration, and behavioral acculturation; (2) their demographic correlates; and (3) whether the association between racial discrimination and anxiety varied across subgroups and gender. Latent profile analysis identified three profiles: bicultural, marginalized, and separated. Bicultural and marginalized adolescents were vulnerable to direct and vicarious racial discrimination, respectively. Moreover, bicultural and marginalized boys and separated girls were more negatively affected by COVID‐19‐related racial discrimination. The findings highlight the utility of person‐centered and intersectional approaches in understanding Chinese American adolescents' experiences of racial discrimination.

AbstractChildren's temperamental surgency is associated with later child behavioral problems. However, the underlying mechanisms linking child surgency and child aggression, such as negative parental control, are relatively understudied. Moreover, the potential protective effect of a close parent‐child relationship on these associations remains untested, particularly among non‐White families. Participants included 259 Chinese American preschoolers (Mage = 4.5 years, SD = .9 years, 50% girls) and their mothers (Mage = 37.9 years, SD = 4.7 years), the present study examined the moderating effects of parent‐child relationship quality on the association between mother‐rated child surgency and teacher‐rated child aggression as mediated by maternal psychological control. Overall, results showed that child surgency was linked positively to maternal psychological control, which, in turn, led to higher levels of child aggression six months later, but only when the parent‐child relationship quality was less optimal. These findings indicate that psychological control is one underlying mechanism linking child temperament and child maladjustment, and that parent‐child relationship quality is an important protective factor. Findings also expand an existing theoretical framework by explicating how these variables are applicable to an Asian American population, suggesting the critical buffering role that parent‐child relationship quality plays. The study findings inform efforts to mitigate the potential negative effect of psychological control in reducing childhood aggression.

AbstractWe examined the meaning, assessment, and implications of different forms of social withdrawal in Turkey across two studies. In study 1, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with children, mothers, and teachers to identify descriptors of social withdrawal. Shyness and unsociability were confirmed through content analyses, and regulated withdrawal, a new subtype characterized by overregulation of behaviors and suppression of own desires during social interactions, was revealed. Based on these findings, the child social preference scale, an established North American measure of social withdrawal, was revised. In study 2, a confirmatory factor analysis on a sample of 599 9–11‐year‐old children revealed three distinct forms of social withdrawal. Shyness was related to a wider range of child adjustment difficulties than unsociability and regulated withdrawal, although all forms of withdrawal were associated with child adjustment difficulties, providing support for the importance of children's active involvement in social relationships for their positive development and well‐being.

AbstractCulture provides a context in which emotion socialization is embedded, and the bidirectional effects between parents' emotion socialization and children's emotional behaviors may work differently across cultures. To understand how emotion socialization may be shaped by the cultural context, we examined the moderating role of Asian cultural values in bidirectional associations between maternal emotion socialization practices and child anger and sadness. Seventy‐four U.S. Chinese immigrant mothers (Mage = 40.71 years, SD = 3.61) completed measures assessing their Asian cultural values and parenting style. Children experienced a disappointment task in the lab (Cole, 1986), and mothers and their children (Mage = 6.73 years, SD = .95; 55% female) were observed at two different time intervals. Mothers' socialization practices (emotion dismissing, emotion coaching, and moral and behavioral socialization) and children's anger and sadness responses at both intervals were coded. Mothers' greater Asian cultural values buffered the negative effects of their emotion dismissing practices on children's anger and sadness. However, Asian cultural values did not impact the effects of children's anger and sadness on mothers' emotion dismissing practices. When mothers endorsed fewer Asian values, their emotion coaching practices reduced children's anger and sadness. Children's anger and sadness evoked more emotion coaching practices when mothers endorsed lower levels of Asian cultural values. In addition, children's anger and sadness evoked greater moral and behavioral responses from their mothers when mothers endorsed more Asian values. Overall, findings underscored the importance of cultural values in the interplay between mothers' emotion socialization practices and children's emotions.

AbstractPast 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 socioemotional 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 United States.

Over 750 studies have examined parental psychological control (PPC) in different cultures. However, the conceptualization of PPC remains unclear, and operationalizations of PPC have been inconsistent. Herein we review and refine conceptual models of PPC, focusing on intrusiveness and emotional manipulation as two core facets of PPC. Guided by the Social Domain Theory, we relate intrusiveness to the boundaries of the child's personal domain, which can vary by culture and age group. We describe how our conceptual model of PPC can clarify the disagreement in the literature about whether PPC may be arguably less damaging in interdependent cultures than it is in independent cultures or not; operationalizing PPC as mainly emotional manipulation – inducing guilt – might have contributed to this argument, and testing PPC with both intrusiveness and emotional manipulation can show both universal and culture-specific consequences of PPC. We conclude with recommendations for applying our conceptual model in future studies.

AbstractThis study compared parenting across four non‐Western cultures to test cross‐cultural commonality and specificity principles in three aspects: measurement properties, parenting normativeness, and their associations with child outcomes. Both mothers and fathers (N = 1509 dyads) with preschool‐aged children (M = 5.00 years; 48% girls) from urban areas of four countries (Malaysia, N = 372; China, N = 441; Turkey, N = 402; and Japan, N = 294) reported on four parenting constructs (authoritative, authoritarian, group harmony socialization, and intrusive control) and their sub‐dimensions using modified culturally relevant measures. Teachers reported on children's internalizing, externalizing, and prosocial behaviors. The commonality principle was supported by two sets of findings: (1) full measurement invariance was established for most parenting constructs and sub‐dimensions, except that intrusive control only reached partial scalar invariance, and (2) no variations were found in associations between parenting and any child outcomes across cultures or parent gender at the construct level for all four parenting constructs and at the sub‐dimensional level for authoritarian and intrusive control sub‐dimensions. The specificity principle was supported by the other two sets of findings: (1) cross‐cultural differences in parenting normativeness did not follow the pattern of economic development but yielded culture‐specific patterns, and (2) at the sub‐dimensional level, the authoritative parenting and group harmony socialization sub‐dimensions were differently associated with child outcomes across cultures and/or parent gender. The findings suggested that examining specific dimensions rather than broad parenting constructs is necessary to reflect cultural specificities and nuances. Our study provided a culturally‐invariant instrument and a three‐step guide for future parenting research to examine cross‐cultural commonalities/specificities.Research Highlights
This is the first study to use an instrument with measurement invariance across multiple non‐Western cultures to examine the commonality and specificity principles in parenting.
Measurement invariance was achieved across cultures for authoritative and authoritarian parenting, group harmony socialization, intrusive control, and their sub‐dimensions, supporting the commonality principle.
Cross‐cultural differences in parenting normativeness did not follow the pattern of economic development but yielded culture‐specific patterns, supporting the specificity principle.
Both commonalities and specificities were manifested in associations between parenting and child outcomes across cultures.