Parenting–Acculturation Match and Psychosocial Adjustment for Academically Gifted Chinese American Adolescents

• Published date: 01 April 2021
• Author: Tzu‐Fen Chang,Desiree B. Qin,Ivan H. C. Wu
• Date: 01 April 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12506

T-F CCalifornia State University, Bakerseld

D B. QMichigan State University

I H. C. WUniversity of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Emerging Ideas.

Parenting–Acculturation Match and Psychosocial

Adjustment for Academically Gifted Chinese

American Adolescents

Objective: Grounded in person–environment

t theory, we examine how different levels of

parenting–acculturation match are associ-

ated with gifted Chinese American students’

psychosocial adjustment. This study identies

parenting proles indicated by psychological

control and decisional autonomy granting and

adolescents’ acculturation proles indicated

by mainstream American culture and Chinese

culture orientations.

Background: Accordingto person–environment

t theory, optimal adjustment occurs when there

is a match between individuals’ environments

and needs. However, it remains understudied

whether academically gifted Chinese Amer-

ican adolescents have optimal psychosocial

adjustment when their acculturation orientation

matches with their family’s parenting prole.

Method: Using self-report questionnaires, this

study assessed 222 academically gifted Chinese

Department of Child, Adolescent, and Family Studies,

California State University, Bakerseld, 9001 Stock-

dale Highway, EDUC 156, Bakerseld, CA 93311

(tchang1@csub.edu).

Key Words: academically gifted adolescents, Chinese Amer-

icans, parenting, psychosocial adjustment.

American adolescents’ perceptions of parental

psychological control and autonomy granting,

American and Chinese culture orientation, and

psychosocial adjustment (depression, anxiety,

social acceptance, and self-esteem). Latent pro-

le analysis was used to identify parenting and

acculturation-orientation proles.

Results: Three parenting proles were identi-

ed: high control oriented (14.9%; i.e., high

in psychological control and low in deci-

sional autonomy granting), slight control

oriented (44.6%; i.e., psychological control

slightly exceeding decisional autonomy grant-

ing), and child oriented (40.5%; i.e., low

in psychological control and high in deci-

sional autonomy granting). Given that all the

adolescents in the sample slightly preferred

mainstream American culture to Chinese cul-

ture, three levels of parenting–acculturation

match were identied: a strong match (for those

in child-oriented families), moderate match (for

those in slight-control-oriented families), and

weak match (for those in high-control-oriented

families).

Conclusion: The adolescents with a strong

parenting–acculturation match reported lower

Family Relations 70 (April 2021): 619–636619

DOI:10.1111/fare.12506

620 Family Relations

anxiety and higher social acceptance and

self-esteem than those with a weak match.

Implications: Practitioners working with

academically gifted Chinese American adoles-

cents should seek to understand adolescents’

acculturation and the parenting practices in

their families and acknowledge how their

psychosocial problems are associated with

a mismatch in adolescent acculturation and

parenting. Strategies for mitigating psychoso-

cial problems in relation to an acculturation–

parenting mismatch are discussed.

Amy Chua’s (2011) book Battle Hymn of the

Tiger Mother describes how she practiced

psychological control (e.g., guilt induction

and invalidation of her daughters’ perspec-

tives) in parenting her academically gifted

daughters and indicates that she also forbade

them to make everyday decisions (e.g., about

watching TV and how they used their free

time). The book generated broad discussions

on Asian American families with academi-

cally gifted children (children who display

extraordinary intellectual ability and potential

for outstanding accomplishment; see McClain

& Pfeiffer, 2012). Discussions included ques-

tions of whether academically gifted Chinese

American children really grow up in families

like the one depicted in Chua’s book and, as

reected in some model minority myths, with

high psychological control and low granting

of decisional autonomy (Shih et al., 2019).

If so, how might such a family context be

associated with these students’ nonacademic

development, particularly their psychological

and social well-being? It is crucial to address

this question because although such students are

often assumed to be developing well, academic

talent does not ensure being free from problems

(Qin, 2008).

One perspective found in cross-cultural

parenting research is that Chinese American

parenting tends to be high in psychological

control and to grant children a low level of

decisional autonomy (see review in Rothbaum

& Trommsdorff, 2007). However, this per-

spective has recently been criticized on the

ground that Chinese American parenting is not

monolithic but heterogeneous (Tamis-LeMonda

et al., 2008). For example, some Chinese Amer-

ican parents may be high in both psychological

control and autonomy granting, whereas other

Chinese American parents may be high in

control but low in autonomy granting.

To address such potential variation,we aim to

identify different parenting proles as indicated

by psychological control and decisional auton-

omy granting in Chinese American families with

academically gifted mid-adolescent children.

The role of psychological control and deci-

sional autonomy are particularly relevant during

mid-adolescence when there is an increase in

adolescents’ expectations for autonomy across

culture (Smetana, 2017). Additionally, we focus

on daily decisions regarding personal issues

and multifaceted ones involving convention

(e.g., social norms and manners) or prudence

(e.g., negative consequences for adolescents’

safety) in relation to personal issues because

granting children autonomy over these issues

as they enter middle adolescence is important

for adolescent development across cultures

(Smetana, 2017).

The second goal of this study was to examine

how these adolescents’ psychosocial outcomes

(in terms of social acceptance, depression,

anxiety, and self-esteem) vary across different

parenting proles as dened by psychological

control and autonomy granting. According

to person–environment t theory (Edwards

et al., 1998), optimal adjustment occurs when

individuals’ environments t their specic

needs. Therefore, we were interested also in

examining whether adolescents have optimal

psychosocial adjustment when their accultura-

tion orientation matches their family’s parenting

prole. For example, a match between adjust-

ment and acculturation may be reected in an

assimilation orientation—highly endorsing the

host culture but not the heritage culture—paired,

in this case, with low psychological control and

high decisional autonomy granting. This would

reect prior research that has found associations

between acculturation orientation and prefer-

ence regarding parenting approaches, such as

adolescents who choose assimilation having a

preference for more autonomy and less parental

control (e.g., Russell, Chu, et al., 2010).

P C  D

A G  C A

F

Inuenced by Confucian philosophy, Chinese

culture emphasizes that the primary devel-

opmental goal is to become a seless person