Objectives: This study investigates whether and how racial discrimination is associated with ethnic-racial socialization in the family and how distinct aspects of ethnic-racial socialization influence children's ethnic and American identity among Filipino American and Korean American families. Method: The data are obtained from the Midwest Longitudinal Study of Asian American Families Project (N ϭ 1,580; 379 Filipino American youths and 377 parents, and 410 Korean American youths and 414 parents; M age of youths ϭ 15.01). Using the bootstrapping and maximum likelihood with missing values approaches, we conducted path analyses to test the hypothesized associations concurrently and longitudinally for each ethnic group. Results: Youth-reported racial discrimination was directly associated with weaker American identity, both concurrently and longitudinally. In concurrent models, racial discrimination experienced by both youth and parents was positively associated with youth-reported preparation for bias, which in turn was linked with stronger ethnic identity among Filipinos, whereas no indirect pathways reached statistical significance among Koreans. In longitudinal models, parent-reported discrimination was linked with higher levels of promotion of mistrust among both groups, which predicted weaker ethnic identity among Filipino youth but stronger American identity among Korean youth. Conclusions: The present study highlights how exposure to racial discrimination may have a lasting influence in cultural identity development among Asian Americans and possibly through ethnic-racial socialization in the family, which might have been shaped by such experiences. Our results also underscore the importance of considering the experiences of both children and parents in studies of discrimination and ethnic-racial socialization. Public Significance StatementUsing intergenerational and longitudinal data, the present study investigates the indirect links between racial discrimination and youth cultural identities via ethnic-racial socialization among Filipino American and Korean American youth and their families. Parental promotion of mistrust, which is related to parents' experience of racial discrimination, longitudinally pushes Filipino American youth away from their ethnic identity and pushes Korean American youth toward stronger American identity. Parental preparation of bias, which is associated with youths' experience of racial discrimination, is cross-sectionally associated with stronger ethnic identity among Filipino American youth.

Asian Americans face structural racism and experience racial discrimination (see Benner et al., 2018, for review). In the last few years, anti-immigrant and racist sentiments have increased dramatically. Although anti-Asian crimes are rarely reported, Asian Americans, more than 62% of whom are foreign-born (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018), have been disproportionately targeted during this period. Nationwide, racist and antiimmigrant hate crimes targeting Asian Americans grew by 30% between 2015 and 2018-increasing by 20% in particular between 2016 and 2017, more than the increase in such crimes directed against any other major racial and ethnic groups in the United States (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2018). These daily racial experiences have direct implications for Asian American youth adjustment. Even before the recent surge of racism and anti-immigration/anti-Asian sentiments, Asian American youth, including Filipino American (FA;Gee et al., 2009) and Korean American (KA;Shin et al., 2011) youth, reported the highest rate of peer harassment, perpetrated by both White youth and other racial minority youth (Fisher et al., 2000).

Despite being stereotyped as problem-free and high-achieving, Asian Americans are vulnerable to mental distress (e.g., depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide), according to the limited available studies. Ethnic subgroups also have more variable outcomes than the monolithic category, “Asians or Asian Americans,” may suggest, but even across communities, few utilize mental health care compared to other racial/ethnic groups. To illustrate the needed evidence, a longitudinal survey of Filipino and Korean Americans found that mental distress among young Asian Americans increased at an alarming rate during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. Two prominent contextual factors, parent–child conflict and racial discrimination, explained the uptick in mental distress. The surge of anti-Asian discrimination since the COVID-19 pandemic requires anti-discrimination policy, while parent–child conflict requires working with families in a culturally competent way.

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