Intergenerational Conflict Among Asian Immigrant Families and Psychological Well-Being: Results from PIETY Study

Research suggests that stress from migration and cultural adjustment may lead to intergenerational conflict (IC) within Asian immigrant families. Current research reports management of IC but fails to acknowledge the consequences it may have on offspring. The PIETY study, a longitudinal study of Chinese adult children (n = 547) in the greater Chicago area, aims to examine the relationship between IC and psychological wellbeing in children of Asian immigrant families. IC is assessed by the sum of items on conflicting opinions with parents based on finances, health, parenting, and lifestyle. Psychological wellbeing was measured by the Perceived Stress Scale with a cutoff value greater than or equal to 14, R-UCLA Loneliness Instrument scored on a binary scale, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Anxiety Subscale with a cutoff value greater than or equal to 8. Logistic regression was conducted and controlled for age, gender, education, income, marital status, and household composition. Every one-point higher conflict with parents was associated with being 2.31 times more likely to experience stress for the adult child (OR: 2.31, 95% CI: 1.49-3.57, p<.001) and being 4.56 times more likely to experience loneliness (OR: 4.56, 95% CI: 2.79-7.43, p<.001). IC, however, had a nonsignificant positive association with anxiety in adult children. The association between IC and psychological wellbeing suggests that conflict is a result of complex factors, for which interventions could be developed to improve psychological wellbeing and resiliency in families who continue to navigate cultural changes in a foreign land.

The Generation Game: Parenting and Child Outcomes in Second-Generation South Asian Immigrant Families in Britain

Despite much research being conducted around identity and acculturation, immigrant groups are often collectively considered according to ethnicity with broad policy recommendations applied to them. The role of generational status is frequently ignored. This article reveals findings from an in-depth interview and questionnaire-based assessment of parenting quality and parent–child relationships, child psychological adjustment, and contextual factors in 90 second-generation Indian, Pakistani, and White British mothers with 5- to 7-year-old children living in minority dense urban areas of the United Kingdom. The analysis aimed to understand second-generation parenting in more depth and to explore similarities and differences between the three British-born groups. Standardized interviews and questionnaires were used to quantitatively measure parenting and child adjustment across a number of constructs. The study found positive levels of child adjustment across all groups. Similarities were found between family types for some aspects of parenting quality. Identified differences were generally reflected between the Pakistani and White mothers, with the Indian mothers lying between the two, including child supervision and discipline, levels of religiousness, and ethnic identity (all higher in the Pakistani group). The current findings relating to second-generation mothers and their children did not support the negative assumptions which are often associated with ethnic minority families. The findings also increase understanding of effective parenting processes across different ethnic groups.

An Insider Viewpoint on Cultural Norms for Marriage and Mate Selection Relevant to Immigration Fraud Detection in South Asian International Arranged Marriages

South Asian immigrant families residing in Canada often seek spouses for their children from their home countries, and file applications to enable the foreign spouses to immigrate. Marriages of convenience for immigration pose a major threat to genuine international unions, as immigration officers evaluating marriage-based immigration applications must rule out fraudulent relations. Through focus groups with 27 cultural insiders, including South Asian religious and community leaders, this study identified subculture norms for marriage and mate selection that can directly inform immigration fraud detection: (a) intra-familial marriage practices among Pakistani Muslims and South Indians, (b) extra-familial marriage traditions among Hindus and Sikhs, and (c) exceptions to norms for widows and intergroup marriages. Implications for cultural education for immigration officers are discussed.