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Though a number of language socialization processes are theorized to promote children's heritage language proficiency (HLP), little research has considered these processes in a single study and examined their prospective relations to multiple domains of HLP in school-age children. In a two-wave longitudinal study of Chinese American children of immigrant parents (N = 258, age = 7-11 years), language socialization processes (e.g., adult HL use at home, parental attitudes towards HL, child participation in HL classes or extracurricular activities) were assessed using parent reports and behavioral observation at Time 1 (1st to 2nd grade). Children's HLP (Cantonese or Mandarin) was assessed using vocabulary and literacy tests at Time 2. Results of structural equation modeling showed that adults' Chinese language use with children at home predicted children's higher Chinese receptive and expressive vocabulary two years later, and children's participation in Chinese language extra-curricular activities predicted their higher Chinese receptive and expressive vocabulary and higher Chinese word reading. By contrast, parental valuing of Chinese language and children's exposure to Chinese media did not predict children's Chinese proficiency. These findings provided support for the benefits of HL use at home and HL classes in promoting HL development in children in immigrant families.

Research in developmental psychology has traditionally focused on parents' roles as agents of emotion socialization in their children's socioemotional development. By contrast, little longitudinal research has examined sociocultural mechanisms shaping parents' own emotional development. Immigrant parents are an ideal population in which to examine these processes and advance conceptual models of culture and continuing emotional development in adulthood. Using developmental functionalism and bioecological models of development as theoretical frameworks, the present study examined how immigrant parents' and children's cultural orientations were prospectively related to parents' self-reported emotional expressivity in the family context. Chinese American immigrant parents (n = 210) with elementary-aged children were assessed at two time points approximately 2 years apart. Path analyses using longitudinal panel models indicated that immigrant parents' cultural orientation in various cultural domains (language, social relationships, media) prospectively predicted their emotional expressivity in the family context. Parents' emotional expressivity was also predicted by children's cultural orientation and by discrepancies between their own and their children's cultural orientations. Our results underscore pathways through which immigrants' interactions with the family and broader sociocultural context can contribute to continued emotional development in adulthood. We discuss implications of our findings for developmentally informed approaches to the study of culture and emotion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Harlow's seminal work on the nature of attachment focused on the importance of warm, responsive, and loving relationships in children's healthy development. While the need for love and care is arguably universal, the ways in which these emotions are expressed can vary across cultural contexts. We examined how Chinese American parents' expressions of love were associated with children's attachment security. A total of 110 Chinese American immigrant parent–child dyads (children 7–11 years old, 49% girls) participated in 3‐min conversations in which parents were instructed to communicate love and care. Proposition‐level analyses in speech (total 8825 propositions) identified three types of affection: training (guan and chiao shun); relational affection (qin); and validation (acceptance and encouragement of child's own expression of emotion, thoughts, and behaviors). Higher training was observed in parents with lower American orientation and lower income. Higher relational affection was observed in parents with lower income. Higher validation was observed in parents with higher income. Using path analyses, training and validation were found to be positively associated with children's attachment security beyond parenting styles. Effects of parents' relational affection were moderated by children's American orientation. Results demonstrate how immigrant parents draw on multiple cultural scripts to express love and care. These findings expand traditional concepts of parental love in immigrant families and illustrate how bicultural expressions of love can shape attachment security in middle childhood. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/HqUfIDxkFsE Research Highlights: Analyses of parent‐child discussions identified three parental affection styles (i.e., training, relational affection, and validation) as expressions of love and care in Chinese American immigrant families.Training and validation were positively associated with children's attachment security.Relational affection was associated with lower attachment security for children with higher American cultural orientation, suggesting the effects of parent–child expressions of love are shaped by acculturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to studies of ethnic identity development in adolescence, fewer investigations have examined the development of ethnic identity during middle childhood, a developmental period of dynamic social and cognitive changes that have direct implications for social identity and group membership. Moreover, research on the developmental processes of Asian American youth has also primarily utilized cross‐group comparisons, while neglecting consideration of variations in acculturation, socioeconomic status, and other sociodemographic characteristics within Asian American ethnic groups. Using a socioeconomically‐ and acculturatively‐diverse sample of Chinese immigrant families in the United States (N = 169; 49.1% girls; M = 9.16 years; SD = 1.05), the present study examined how parents' ERS practices varied by parents' socioeconomic status, education, and cultural orientations, then tested associations between parents' ERS and children's self‐reported ethnic centrality and ethnic regard. More highly‐educated Chinese American immigrant parents reported more frequent cultural socialization and more acculturated parents reported more preparation of their children for racial and ethnic bias. Consistent with hypotheses, parents' cultural socialization was positively associated with children's self‐reported ethnic centrality and positive regard. Results highlight the roles of social status and acculturation in Chinese immigrant parents' ERS, and point to middle childhood as a key developmental window for ethnic identity socialization and development in immigrant families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct and indirect/mediated relations of (a) children's and parents' cultural orientations and (b) parent-child gaps in cultural orientations to children's psychological adjustment were examined in a socioeconomically diverse sample of 258 Chinese American children (age = 6-9 years) from immigrant families. Parents reported on children's and their own Chinese and American orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social relationships. Parents and teachers rated children's externalizing and internalizing problems and social competence. Using structural equation modeling, we found evidence for both the effects of children's and parents' cultural orientations and the effects of parent-child gaps. Specifically, children's American orientations across domains were associated with their better adjustment (especially social competence). These associations were partly mediated by authoritative parenting. Parents' English and Chinese media use were both associated with higher authoritative parenting, which in turn was associated with children's better adjustment. Furthermore, greater gaps in parent-child Chinese proficiency were associated with children's poorer adjustment, and these relations were partly mediated by authoritative parenting. Together, the findings underscore the complex relations between immigrant families' dual orientations to the host and heritage cultures and children's psychological adjustment.

A central theme of acculturative specificity is the heterogeneity of the immigrant experience. This study integrated this application of the Specificity Principle with intergenerational transmission models of self-regulation and identified both common and specific pathways in the self-regulatory development of Chinese American children in immigrant families (N = 169, Mage  = 9.2 years). Consistent with intergenerational transmission models, results indicated associations between parents' and children's effortful control, with the mediation of these associations via authoritarian parenting. Parental education, family income, and children's bilingual proficiency were also uniquely associated with children's executive function and effortful control. Together, findings provide new directions for research with ethnic minority immigrant families, and underscore the utility of within-group approaches in advancing research on ethnic minority children's development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children who experience transnational separation (TS) from their parents, often referred to as "satellite babies," endure a relatively common but underdiscussed experience. To date, no evaluations of clinical interventions to specifically support transnationally separated families have been described. This column describes implementation of a group therapy pilot program for parents to address parenting and emotional concerns related to TS at a social services agency in Boston's Chinatown. Parent and therapist interviews indicated increased skills in negotiating parental feelings of guilt, shame, and regret caused by TS. These insights can guide practitioners and researchers who wish to address family separation in their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the direct and indirect relations of family contextual factors, effortful control (EC), and the early math and English literacy skills of first and second-generation Chinese American immigrant children in early elementary school. Using a socioeconomically diverse sample of 258 Chinese American children (53% receiving free- or reduced-price school lunch), we assessed EC with a combination of parent and teacher reports, computerized neuropsychological tests, and a behavioral frustration task. Children's math calculation and English literacy skills were assessed with standardized achievement tests. Results of structural equation modeling suggested that: (a) EC was positively associated with both math and English literacy skills; (b) parents’ enculturation was marginally and positively associated with children's EC, and EC mediated the link between parent's enculturation and children's achievement, (c) authoritarian parenting was marginally and negatively associated with children's EC, and EC mediated the link between authoritarian parenting and children's achievement; (d) parents’ enculturation had a direct and negative link to children's English literacy skills; and (e) no evidence of an EC × SES interaction was found. The findings highlight the need to consider joint influences of socioeconomic, interpersonal, and cultural factors on children's academic development in immigrant families; and provide support for promoting children's effortful control as an intermediate target of intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from a socioeconomically diverse sample of Chinese American children (n = 258, aged 6-9 years) in immigrant families, we examined the concurrent relations among neighborhood economic disadvantage and concentration of Asian residents, parenting styles, and Chinese American children's externalizing and internalizing problems. Neighborhood characteristics were measured with 2000 U.S. Census tract-level data, parents (mostly mothers) rated their own parenting styles, and parents and teachers rated children's behavioral problems. Path analysis was conducted to test two hypotheses: (a) parenting styles mediate the relations between neighborhood characteristics and children's behavioral problems, and (b) children's behavioral problems mediate the relations between neighborhood and parenting styles. We found that neighborhood Asian concentration was positively associated with authoritarian parenting, which in turn was associated with Chinese American children's higher exter-nalizing and internalizing problems (by parents' reports). In addition, neighborhood economic disadvan-tage was positively related to children's externalizing problems (by parents' reports), which in turn predicted lower authoritative parenting. The current results suggest the need to consider multiple pathways in the relations among neighborhood, family, and child adjustment, and they have implications for the prevention and intervention of behavioral problems in Chinese American children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study examined the cross-sectional relations between teacher–child relationship quality (TCRQ) and math and reading achievement in a socio-economically diverse sample of Chinese American first- and second-grade children in immigrant families (N =207). Teachers completed a questionnaire measuring TCRQ dimensions including closeness, conflict, and intimacy, and children completed a questionnaire measuring overall TCRQ. Standardized tests were used to assess children''s math and reading skills. Analyses were conducted to (a) test the factor structure of measures assessing TCRQ among Chinese American children, (b) examine the associations between teacher- and child-rated TCRQ and children''s academic achievement, controlling for demographic characteristics, and (c) examine the potential role of child gender as a moderator in the relations between TCRQ and achievement. Results indicated that teacher-rated TCRQ Warmth was positively associated with Chinese American children''s reading achievement. Two child gender-by-TCRQ interactions were found: (a) teacher-rated TCRQ Conflict was negatively associated with girls’ (but not boys’) math achievement, and (b) child-rated Overall TCRQ was positively associated with boys’ (but not girls’) reading achievement. These findings highlight the valuable role of TCRQ in the academic success of school-aged children in immigrant families. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]