Abstract
Intergenerational cultural dissonance (ICD)—a clash between parents and children over cultural values—is a frequent issue for Asian American youth. Using longitudinal data from the Cross Cultural Families Project, this study examines the mechanisms by which ICD contributes to problem behaviors, including whether ICD predicts parent–child conflict, whether parent–child conflict then has a direct effect on youth problem behavior, and whether positive bonding with parents mediates the effects of such conflict on youth problem behaviors among Vietnamese (n = 164) and Cambodian (n = 163) families with adolescents [average age = 15.2 years (SD = 1.05)]. The results from the path analyses show that, in both groups, ICD indirectly predicts problem behaviors by increasing parent–child conflict, which in turn weakens positive parent–child bonding. Interventions that target youths’ perception of intergenerational cultural gaps, help them manage conflict, and help strengthen bonds with parents may prevent problem behaviors among Cambodian and Vietnamese families. This study contributes to inform how to effectively prevent problems and difficulties among these families.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411–423.
Arbona, C., & Power, T. G. (2003). Parental attachment, self-esteem, and antisocial behaviors among African American, European American and Mexican American adolescents. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50(1), 40–51.
Armsden, G. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16(5), 427–454.
Bankston, C. L. III, & Hidalgo, D. A. (2007). Southeast Asia: Laos, Cambodia, Thailand. In M. C. Waters, R. Ueba, & H. Marrow (Eds.), The new Americans: A guide to immigration since 1965 (pp. 624–640). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Barber, J. G., & Delfabbro, P. (2000). Predictors of adolescent adjustment: Parent–peer relationships and parent–child conflict. Child and Adolescent Social Work, 17(4), 275–288.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182.
Bentler, P. M. (1990). Fit indexes, Lagrange multipliers, constraint changes and incomplete data in structural models. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 25(2), 163–172.
Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136–162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Byrne, B. M. (1994). Structural equation modeling with EQS and EQS/Windows: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J. D. (1996). The social development model: A theory of antisocial behavior. In J. D. Hawkins (Ed.), Delinquency and crime: Current theories (pp. 149–197). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Chan, S., & Leong, C. W. (1994). Chinese families in transition: cultural conflicts and adjustment problems. Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 3(3), 263–281.
Choi, Y. (in press). Diversity within: Subgroup differences of youth behaviors among Asian Pacific Islander American adolescents. Journal of Community Psychology.
Choi, Y., & Harachi, T. W. (2002). The cross-cultural equivalence of the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale among Vietnamese and Cambodian Americans. The Journal of Social Work Research and Evaluation, 3(1), 5–17.
Choi, Y., & Lahey, B. B. (2006). Testing model minority stereotype: Youth behaviors across racial and ethnic groups. Social Service Review, 80(3), 419–452.
Choi, Y., Mericle, A., & Harachi, T. W. (2006). Using Rasch model to test the cross-cultural item equivalence of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist across Vietnamese and Cambodian immigrant mothers. Journal of Applied Measurement, 7(1), 16–38.
Chung, R. H. G. (2001). Gender, ethnicity, and acculturation in intergenerational conflict of Asian American college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 7(4), 376–386.
Constantine, M. G. (2006). Perceived family conflict, parental attachment, and depression in African American female adolescents. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 12(4), 697–709.
Dinh, K. T., Sarason, B. R., & Sarason, I. G. (1994). Parent–child relationships in Vietnamese immigrant families. Journal of Family Psychology, 8(4), 471–488.
Dryfoos, J. G. (1998). Safe passage: Making it through adolescence in a risky society: What parents, schools, and communities can do. New York: Oxford University Press.
Eamon, M. K., & Mulder, C. (2005). Predicting antisocial behavior among Latino young adolescents: An ecological systems analysis. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 75(1), 117–127.
Fleming, C. B., Kim, H., Harachi, T. W., & Catalano, R. F. (2002). Family processes for children in early elementary school as predictors of smoking initiation. Journal of Adolecent Health, 30, 184–189.
Foner, N., & Kasinitz, P. (2007). The second generation. In M. C. Waters, R. Ueba, & H. B. Marrow (Eds.), The new Americans: A guide to immigration since 1965 (pp. 270–282). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Formoso, D., Gonzales, N. A., & Aiken, L. S. (2000). Family conflict and children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior: Protective factors. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28(2), 175–199.
Go, C. G., & Le, T. N. (2005). Gender differences in Cambodian delinquency: The role of ethnic identity, parental discipline, and peer delinquency. Crime and Delinquency, 51(2), 220–237.
Goldberg, M. (1999). Truancy and dropout among Cambodian students: Results from a comprehensive high school. Social Work in Education, 21(1), 49–63.
Hancock, G. R., Stapleton, L. M., & Berkovits, I. (1999). Loading and intercept invariance within multisample covariance and mean structure models. In Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal.
Hannum, J. W., & Dvorak, D. M. (2004). Effects of family conflict, divorce, and attachment patterns on the psychological distress and social adjustment of college freshmen. Journal of College Student Development, 45(1), 27–42.
Harachi, T. W., Catalano, R. F., Kim, S., & Choi, Y. (2001). Etiology and prevention of substance use among Asian American youth. Prevention Science, 2(1), 57–65.
Harachi, T. W., Choi, Y., Abbott, R. D., Catalano, R. F., & Bliesner, S. L. (2006a). Examining cross-cultural equivalence of concepts and measures in diverse samples. Prevention Science, 7(4), 359–368.
Harachi, T. W., Fleming, C. B., White, H. R., Ensminger, M. E., Abbott, R. D., Catalano, R. F., et al. (2006b). Aggressive behavior among girls and boys during middle childhood: Predictors and sequelae of trajectory group membership. Aggressive Behavior, 32, 279–293.
Hawkins, J. D., & Catalano, R. F. (1990). Seattle Social Development Project, Ninth-Grade Interview. Seattle, WA (unpublished).
Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., & Miller, J. Y. (1992). Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse prevention. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 64–105.
Hill, K. G., Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., Abbott, R. D., & Guo, J. (2005). Family influences on the risk of daily smoking initiation. Journal of Adolecent Health, 37, 202–210.
Hoyle, R. H., & Smith, G. T. (1994). Formulating clinical research hypotheses as structural equation models: a conceptual review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62(3), 429–440.
Ima, K. (1995). Testing the American dream: Case studies of at-risk Southeast Asian refugee students in secondary schools. In R. G. Rumbaut & W. A. Cornelius (Eds.), California’s immigrant children: Theory, research and implications for educational policy (pp. 191–208). San Diego: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California San Diego.
Ingoldsby, E. M., Shaw, D. S., Winslow, E., Schonberg, M., Gilliom, M., & Criss, M. M. (2006). Neighborhood disadvantage, parent–chilld confliict, neighborhood peer relationships, and early antisocial behavior problem trajectories. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34(3), 303–319.
Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., & Bachman, J. G. (2001). The monitoring the future national survey results on adolescent drug use: Overview of key findings, 2000. (National Institutes of Health Publication no. 00-4923). Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Kibria, N. (1993). Family tightrope: The changing lives of Vietnamese Americans. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University.
Kim, R. Y. (2002). Ethnic differences in academic achievement between Vietnamese and Cambodian children: Cultural and structural explanations. The Sociological Quarterly, 43(2), 213–235.
Kinzie, J. D., Fredrickson, R. H., Ben, R., Fleck, J., & Karls, W. (1984). Posttraumatic stress disorder among survivors of Cambodian concentration camps. American Journal of Psychiatry, 141(5), 645–650.
Kusche, C. A., Greenberg, M. T., & Beilke, R. (1988). Seattle personality questionnaire for young school-aged children. Seattle: University of Washington, Department of Psychology.
Lee, R. M., Choe, J., Kim, G., & Ngo, V. (2000). Construction of the Asian American Family Conflicts Scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 47(2), 211–222.
Lee, R. M., Su, J., & Yoshida, E. (2005). Coping with intergenerational family conflict among Asian American college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(3), 389–399.
Levesque, R. J. R. (2007). The ethnicity of adolescent research. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36, 375–389.
McQueen, A., Getz, J. G., & Bray, J. H. (2003). Acculturation, substance use, and deviant behavior: Examining separation and family conflict as mediators. Child Development, 74(6), 1737–1750.
Min, P. G. (1998). Changes and conflicts. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Mollica, R. F., Wyshak, G., & Lavelle, J. (1987). The psychosocial impact of war trauma and torture on Southeast Asian refugees. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144(12), 1567–1572.
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2005). Mplus user’s guide. Los Angeles, CA: Muthen & Muthen.
Nguyen, N. A., & Williams, H. L. (1989). Transition from east to west: Vietnamese adolescents and their parents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28(4), 505–515.
Phinney, J. S., Ong, A., & Madden, T. (2000). Cultural values and intergenerational value discrepancies in immigrant and non-immigrant families. Child Development, 71(2), 528–539.
Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (Eds.). (2001). Legacies: the story of the immigrant second generation. Berkeley, New York: University of California Press & Russell Sage Foundation.
Prinz, R. J., Foster, S. L., Kent, R. N., & O’Leary, K. D. (1979). Multivariate assessment of conflict in distressed and nondistressed mother-adolescent dyads. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 12(4), 691–700.
Ramirez-Valles, J., Zimmerman, M. A., & Newcomb, M. D. (1998). Sexual risk behavior among youth: Modeling the influence of prosocial activities and socioeconomic factors. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 39(3), 237–253.
Rumbaut, R. G. (1996). The crucible within: Ethnic identity, self-esteem, segmented assimilation among children of immigrants. In A. Portes (Ed.), The new second generation (pp. 119–170). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Shumow, L., & Lomax, R. (2002). Parental efficacy: Predictor of parenting behavior and adolescent outcomes. Parenting: Science and Practice, 2(2), 127–150.
Sluzki, C. E. (1979). Migration and family conflict. Family Process, 18(4), 379–390.
Steinberg, L. (1991). The logic of adolescence. In R. Edelman & J. Ladner (Eds.), Adolescence and poverty (pp. 19–36). Washington, DC: Center for National Policy Press.
Szapocznik, J., Scopetta, M. A., & Aranalde, M. A., & Kurtines, W. (1978). Cuban value structure: Treatment implications. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46(5), 961–970.
Ying, Y.-W., & Chao, C. C. (1996). Intergenerational relationship in lu Mien American families. Amerasia Journal, 22, 44–64.
Ying, Y.-W., Coombs, M., & Lee, P. A. (1999). Family intergenerational relationship of Asian American adolescents. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 5(4), 350–363.
Waters, M. C., Ueba, R., & Marrow, H. (2007). The new Americans: A guide to immigration since 1965. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Zhou, M., & Lee, J. (2004). Introduction: The making of culture, identity, and ethnicity among Asian American youth. In J. Lee & M. Zhou (Eds.), Asian American youth: Culture, identity and ethnicity (pp. 1–30). New York: Rutledge.
Acknowledgment
This study was supported by a Research Scientist Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (K01 MH069910) to the first author and funded by NIMH and National Institute of Child and Human Development (NICHD) (5 R01 MH059777-05) to the third author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Choi, Y., He, M. & Harachi, T.W. Intergenerational Cultural Dissonance, Parent–Child Conflict and Bonding, and Youth Problem Behaviors among Vietnamese and Cambodian Immigrant Families. J Youth Adolescence 37, 85–96 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9217-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9217-z