Poster #145 - Parent-Child Communication and Academic Achievement in Relation to Asian American Adolescents’ Self-esteem: A Cluster Analysis

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Introduction
The cultural ecological theory emphasizes the importance of understanding the development of children’s self-esteem within their cultural and family contexts (Garcia Coll, 1990; Harkness & Super, 1996). Self-esteem is a key component to adolescents’ mental health (Choi et al., 2007; Rosenberg, 1986; Phinney, 1993); yet, past research has found lower self-esteem in Asian American adolescents than peers from other ethnic groups (Bracey, 2004). Academic achievement and parent-child communication have been found to be important predictors of adolescent self-esteem and may be important influences to consider given the high emphasis parents of Asian descent place on academics and the low verbal interaction reported in homes of Asian American families (Alves-Martinis et al., 2002; Chao & Tseng, 2002; Zhang et al., 2013). Using cluster analysis, the current study examined how academic performance and parent-child communication, aiming to segment Asian adolescents into groups by both parental and academic factors, and to investigate how they were associated with self-esteem in Asian American adolescents.

Method
Data were drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K). Participants included 850 Asian American 7-grade adolescents (49.1% male; 50.9% female). All participants were born between the year 1992 and 1993. Parent-child communication was assessed using the Home Environment, Activities, and Cognitive Stimulation sub-questionnaire (HEQ; α=0.787). Self-Esteem was measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965; α=0.872). Academic performance was assessed using adolescents’ T-scores of Math, Reading, and Science. Parent-child communication scores and academic T-scores were used to conduct hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis using Ward’s hierarchical agglomerative cluster method. Then, a one-way ANOVA was used to test group differences in self-esteem.

Results and Discussion
A four-cluster solution emerged: Cluster 1 (low academic scores/low parent-child communication); Cluster 2 (low academic scores/high parent-child communication); Cluster 3 (high academic scores/high parent-child communication); and Cluster 4 (high academic scores/low parent-child communication). ANOVA results found significant differences between clusters on self-esteem. Adolescents in Cluster 1 reported the lowest self-esteem. Adolescents in Cluster 3 reported the highest self-esteem. In Cluster 2 and Cluster 4, adolescents reported higher self-esteem when they reported more communication with their parents despite reporting lower academic scores. Thus, parent-child communication may support and protect adolescents’ self-esteem, regardless of academic achievement. Clinicians working to promote healthy self-esteem in Asian American youth should consider methods of increasing parent-child communication at home.

Authors

• Yuan Zhang, University of Connecticut
  Presenting Author

• Noel Card, University of Connecticut
  Non-Presenting Author

• Linda Citlali Halgunseth, UConn
  Non-Presenting Author