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C hinese A merican adolescents: perceived parenting styles and adolescents' psychosocial health
Author(s) -
Yuwen W.,
Chen A. C. C.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international nursing review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1466-7657
pISSN - 0020-8132
DOI - 10.1111/inr.12002
Subject(s) - psychosocial , parenting styles , psychology , acculturation , focus group , clinical psychology , mental health , developmental psychology , distress , immigration , qualitative research , medicine , psychiatry , social science , archaeology , marketing , sociology , business , history
Background A sian A mericans are one of the fastest‐growing minority groups in the USA , and C hinese constitute the largest group. Evidence suggests that A sian A merican adolescents experience higher levels of depressive symptoms than their same‐gender white counterparts. Quantitative findings suggest associations between parenting factors and C hinese A merican adolescents' mental health. A qualitative understanding regarding C hinese A merican adolescents' perceived parenting styles and its relationship with adolescents' psychosocial health is warranted. Aim To gain an in‐depth understanding of C hinese A merican adolescents' perceived parenting styles and how parenting styles might influence adolescents' psychosocial health. Methods In this qualitative study, we recruited 15 C hinese A merican adolescents aged 12–17 years in a southwest metropolitan area. We conducted two focus group interviews. Participants also filled out a brief questionnaire that included their socio‐demographic information, immigration history and level of acculturation. Results Participants reported perceiving that parents had high expectations about academic performance and moral values. They also perceived stricter family rules regarding choices of friends compared with their non‐ A sian peers. Parents tended to be more protective of girls than of boys. Both C hinese A merican boys and girls reported poor or ineffective communication with their parents, which contributed to increased conflict between parents and adolescents and emotional distress of the adolescents. Conclusions The findings provide evidence for nurses to develop linguistically and culturally tailored resources (e.g. parent support groups, programs aimed to improving parent–child communication) or connect these families with existing resources to enhance parenting skills and consequently reduce emotional distress of their adolescent children.