Intergenerational Experiences of Discrimination in Chinese American Families: Influences of Socialization and Stress

Abstract

In this longitudinal study, we investigated the mechanisms by which Chinese American parents' experiences of discrimination influenced their adolescents' ethnicity-related stressors (i.e., cultural misfit, discrimination, attitudes toward education). We focused on whether parents' ethnic-racial socialization practices and perpetual foreigner stress moderated or mediated this relationship. Participants were 444 Chinese American families. Results indicated no evidence of moderation, but we observed support for mediation. Parental experiences of discrimination were associated with more ethnic-racial socialization practices and greater parental perpetual foreigner stress. More ethnic-racial socialization was related to greater cultural misfit in adolescents, whereas more perpetual foreigner stress was related to adolescents' poorer attitudes toward education and more reported discrimination. Relationships between mediators and outcomes were stronger for fathers than for mothers.

FIGURE 1

Conceptual model linking parents’ discrimination experiences to adolescents’ attitude toward education, sense of cultural misfit and discrimination through parents’ racial socialization practices and perpetual foreigner stress.

FIGURE 2

Model examining contemporaneous relationships between wave 2 parent-reported discrimination, racial socialization practices, and stress over being stereotyped as a foreigner and adolescent-reported discrimination, sense of cultural misfit, and positive attitudes toward education. Note: Separate models for fathers and mothers were estimated, with mother coefficients underlined. Father model: CFI = 1.00, RMSEA = .025, SRMR = .011. Mother model: CFI = .99, RMSEA = .039, SRMR = .013. Only significant paths are shown. ***p < .001, **p < .01, *p < .05, ⁺p < .10. Each model includes the following covariates: adolescent gender, adolescent nativity status, parent-reported household income, and parent education.

FIGURE 3

Model examining longitudinal relationships between wave 1 parent-reported discrimination, wave 2 parent racial socialization practices, and stress over being stereotyped as a foreigner and wave 2 adolescent-reported discrimination, sense of cultural misfit, and positive attitudes toward education. Note: Separate models for fathers and mothers were estimated, with mother coefficients underlined. N = 444. Father model: CFI = .98, RMSEA = .063, SRMR = .014. Mother model: CFI = .98, RMSEA = .061, SRMR = .018. Only significant paths are shown. ***p < .001, **p < .01, *p < .05, ⁺p < .10. Each model includes the following covariates: adolescent gender, adolescent nativity status, parent-reported household income, and parent education.