2-011 - Asian American Families and Youth Development: Moving Beyond “Tiger” Parenting

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Research efforts continue to debunk monolithic stereotypes of Asian American parenting, such as the most recent caricaturist “tiger mom.” This organized symposium comprised of three papers aims to move us beyond debunking the misunderstanding and toward a more nuanced portrayal of family processes and youth development among Asian American families. The first paper reports a detailed process of the development of new measures, through which we can more accurately understand Asian American family process as a unique blend of traditional Asian culture, mainstream U.S. culture, and the experiences of immigration and racial/ethnic minority status. These new measures were utilized in the other two papers in their inquiries. The second paper tackles to answer questions on why Asian American youth exhibit less externalizing problems and good grades, but more internalizing problems compared to other groups. The study identified a) universal factors that would pose risks on youth regardless of one’s background, b) parenting behaviors that can lead to less externalizing problems, but poor mental health, and c) cultural elements that may be harmful or beneficial on youth development. Finally, the last study confirms that abusive and disengaged parenting is an adverse element for Asian American youth regardless of one’s gender or ethnicity. Culturally disjointed parenting, however, is a more salient issue that may increase vulnerability as these youth straddle between their immigrant parents and the mainstream society with culturally conflicting demands. The findings from these papers together provide important implications for prevention efforts, i.e., what and how to target in interventions.

Sub Unit

• Family Context & Processes

Chair

• Yoonsun Choi, University of Chicago

Discussant

• Yishan Shen, Texas State University

Individual Presentations

• Bicultural family process: Comparative analyses across Filipino and Korean American families - Presenting Author: Yoonsun Choi, University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Michael Park, University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Jeanette Lee, University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Tae Yeun Kim, City University of Hong Kong; Non-Presenting Author: Samuel Noh, University of Toronto

• Behaving Well but Unhappy? Differential Determinants of Filipino and Korean American Youth Outcomes - Non-Presenting Author: Yoonsun Choi, University of Chicago; Presenting Author: Michael Park, University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Jeanette Lee, University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Mina Lee, University of Chicago

• Impact of negative parenting on mental health among Asian American Youth - Non-Presenting Author: Yoonsun Choi, University of Chicago; Presenting Author: Mina Lee, University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Michael Park, University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Soo Young Lee, University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Hyeouk Chris Hahm, Boston University