Age-varying associations between Chinese American parents’ racial–ethnic socialization and children’s difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

Parental racial–ethnic socialization (RES) can be an important resource for Chinese American youth as they navigate the highly racialized and Sinophobic context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. We used time-varying association models to examine Chinese American parents’ engagement in six types of racial–ethnic socialization (RES) practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and their associations with child difficulties across child ages 4–18 years and child gender. Five hundred Chinese American parents (Mage = 43.5 years, SD = 6.5; 79% mothers) with 4–18-year-old children (Mage = 11.7 years, SD = 3.9; 48% girls) reported on their RES practices and children’s adjustment difficulties. Parents’ use of maintenance of heritage culture and cultural pluralism RES did not vary for children at different ages, whereas they used more awareness of discrimination RES for older children than younger children. Parents engaged in more maintenance of heritage culture RES during early adolescence and more concealing Chinese connection RES during middle adolescence with their daughters than sons. Maintenance of heritage culture and cultural pluralism RES contributed to fewer child difficulties during early to middle adolescence, respectively. However, avoidance of outgroups and concealing Chinese connection RES strategies contributed to more child difficulties across most child ages. Awareness of discrimination and awareness of COVID-19 discrimination RES were associated with more child difficulties during early to middle adolescence during the pandemic, with the association peaking at around child age 14. Findings highlight the role of child age and gender in parents’ RES and implications for their adjustment during COVID-19, and inform culturally and developmentally tailored interventions.

Examining racial discrimination, internalized racism, and racial–ethnic socialization among Asian American parents.

“…RES at home plays a substantive role in shaping how youth understand who they are and how they understand themselves in their schools, community, and society (Mistry et al, 2016). Literature has pointed to the differences in the prevalence of socialization patterns among Asian American families and how different domains of RES uniquely influence outcomes (Juang et al, 2018; Kim, 1999; Ren et al, 2022; Tran & Lee, 2010). The study’s findings highlight the importance of understanding various types of RES and call attention to the domains of RES that Asian American parents may overlook.…”

“…Sample questions for maintenance of heritage culture included: “Celebrated my heritage culture’s holidays with my child” and “Told my child to speak in our heritage language.” Examples of becoming American included: “Had close friends who were Americans that spent time with my child” and “Invited American people over to my house when my child was home.” Examples of awareness of discrimination items were “Showed you what to do if you experience unfair treatment because of your Asian background” and “Talked to my child about why some people will treat him/her unfairly because of his/her Asian background.” Examples of avoidance of out-group items were “Told my child to avoid another racial or ethnic group” and “Showed my child that he/she cannot trust people of other races or ethnicities.” Items on the minimization of race subscale included: “Gave my child the impression that I am not comfortable talking about issues of race” and “Told my child that racism doesn’t exist.” Examples of promotion of equality items were “Showed my child that all people are equal regardless of race or ethnicity” and “Told my child that race or ethnicity is not important in choosing friends.” Last, items on cultural pluralism included: “Encouraged my child to have friends from other racial/ethnic backgrounds” and “Discussed the importance of racial/ethnic diversity with my child.” The response scale ranged from 1 ( never ) to 5 ( very often ). As done in previous studies (Atkin & Yoo, 2021; Ren et al, 2022), the study examined each of the seven domains separately. Internal consistency for all seven domains was reliable: maintenance of heritage culture ( a = .85), becoming American ( a = .85), awareness of discrimination ( a = .96), avoidance of out-group ( a = .92), minimization of race ( a = .82), cultural pluralism ( a = .84), and promotion of equality ( a = .89).…”

The voices of Chinese American parents during COVID-19: Recommendations for addressing anti-Asian racism and supporting adolescents in school.

“…A prior study with Chinese American families showed that parents’ discussions about potential bias might make adolescents “feel more stigmatized and less like they belong in U.S. culture” (Benner & Kim, 2009, p. 874). Similarly, in a quantitative study conducted in the Spring of 2020, Chinese American parents infrequently talked to their children about COVID-19 discrimination (Ren et al, 2022). A different group of Chinese American parents with elementary school-aged children also worried that putting too much emphasis on race, racism, and discrimination could lead to the poorer treatment of Asian American children (Wang et al, 2022).…”

To maintain or conceal one’s cultural identity? Chinese American parents’ ethnic–racial socialization during COVID-19.

“…Past studies have found that parents’ socialization messages that downplay their heritage culture and identity were associated with Asian American adolescents’ lower self-esteem and higher levels of externalizing and internalizing problems (Atkin et al, 2019; Xie et al, 2021). Moreover, parents’ ethnic–racial socialization messages that encouraged their children to conceal connection to their heritage culture during COVID-19 were found to be positively associated with Chinese American children’s and adolescents’ socioemotional and behavioral difficulties (Ren et al, 2022). However, no study to date has examined potential contributors to parents’ engagement in these practices.…”