Parent-Adolescent Ethnic Identity Discrepancies and Adolescent Psychosocial Maladjustment: A Study of Gender Differences
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Parent-Adolescent Ethnic Identity Discrepancies and Adolescent Psychosocial Maladjustment: A Study of Gender Differences Nadia S. Ansary • Elaine Scorpio • Donjae Catanzariti
Published online: 13 December 2012 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012
Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of parent– adolescent ethnic identity disparities on the psychosocial adjustment of an ethnically diverse sample (n = 174, female = 96) of adolescents (M = 16.05, SD = 1.30). Findings from this investigation suggest gender differences in links between parent and adolescent acculturation disparities and psychosocial maladjustment. Whereas parent–child conflict regarding affiliating with the dominant group was associated with higher levels of depression and social stress for females, this was not the case for males. Implications for social workers providing services to youth and families struggling to acculturate are discussed. Keywords Parent–child ethnic identity discrepancies Adolescence Gender differences Psychosocial maladjustment
Introduction Acculturation related conflicts arising from incongruence between immigrant parents’ adherence to their heritage culture and children’s accelerated adoption of the mainstream dominant culture (Smokowski et al. 2008), is a topic that has received limited empirical attention but has been the focus of some debate over the last 20 years (Smokowski and Bacallao 2006). Prior research has yielded conflicting evidence regarding these associations with some findings suggesting that family N. S. Ansary (&) E. Scorpio D. Catanzariti Department of Psychology, Rider University, 2083 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648-3099, USA e-mail: [email protected] D. Catanzariti Department of Professional Psychology and Family Therapy, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA
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conflicts emanating from parent–child acculturation disparities are significantly related to youth maladjustment, while others have found no such association. To illustrate, in several studies parent–child ethnic identity discrepancies were directly related to increased family conflict (Martinez 2006; Smokowski et al. 2008), and indirectly associated with youth internalizing distress and externalizing behavior problems (Schofield et al. 2008). In contrast, other studies have failed to find an association between parent and child ethnic identity discrepancies, family conflict, and increased risk for youth maladjustment (Lau et al. 2005; Pasch et al. 2006). In addition to these inconsistent findings, there is a dearth of research examining the role that gender may play in influencing the relationship between parent and child ethnic identity discrepancies and adolescent psychosocial outcomes. Deviations from culturally prescribed gender roles are likely to be sources of tension–– particularly between first- and second-generation parents and daughters––since many non-Western cultures afford males greater autonomy compared to females (Ahmed 2012; Sirin and Fi
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