Purpose Despite their growing representation in the U.S. population, little is known about parenting practices among Southeast Asian immigrants or the impact of acculturation on parenting. The present study investigates discipline practices and parenting beliefs among Vietnamese and Cambodian immigrants and refugees. With a focus on physical discipline, we also examine factors related to breaking the intergenerational cycle of violence among parents who experienced harsh physical punishment in their youth. Informed by Foss (1996), we examine parent, child, and family level predictors, as well as indicators of social support and ethnic identity.

Methods The Cross-Cultural Families Project is a five-year longitudinal study that follows a randomly selected sample (N=327) of Vietnamese and Cambodian families in Washington State. The in-person parent survey is delivered by bilingual/bicultural interviewers. Present analyses use 2002 survey data. Descriptive statistics document the prevalence of parenting beliefs and discipline practices for the full sample and disaggregated by ethnicity. Using logistic regression, we analyze the relationship between acculturation and parenting beliefs / discipline practices. Using multivariate logistic regression we investigate factors related to breaking the cycle of violence, using interaction terms to identify differences between ethnic groups.

Results Approximately 53% of parents reported using physical punishment with their child. A parent's childhood history of harsh physical discipline more than doubled their risk of using physical discipline currently. However, of those parents who experienced harsh discipline (n=190), 41% broke the cycle.

Among Vietnamese respondents, acculturation to the U.S. was related to the belief that independent thinking was the most important lesson for a child to learn, whereas among Cambodians, acculturation was associated with valuing obedience most highly.

Controlling for other predictors, parental acculturation increased the likelihood of breaking the cycle of harsh discipline. Cambodians were more than three times as likely as Vietnamese to break the cycle of violence. Financial insecurity decreased the likelihood of breaking the cycle, as did child behavior problems. Besides neighborhood support, interaction effects were not significant, demonstrating that relationships identified operated similarly across the two ethnic groups.

Implications Findings indicate that parents' childhood histories of harsh discipline consistently predict later practices, across diverse populations. As such, it is a risk factor that practitioners should universally screen for and address in interventions. Yet, rates of current physical punishment were lower than were rates reported in the parents' youth, indicating reduced use of physical punishment among this generation of Southeast Asian parents.

Although acculturation to the U.S. decreased the use of harsh physical discipline, study findings caution practitioners against viewing acculturation as a linear trajectory in which ethnic retention is at the opposite end of the continuum and perceived as an obstacle to positive parenting. Instead, practitioners can reinforce attachment to cultures of origin while supporting adaptations that are positive and helpful to family management and child development. Findings may inform practitioners working with immigrant and refugee populations, particularly those involved in community-based parent training programs.

Foss, G.F. (1996). A conceptual model for studying parenting behaviors in immigrant populations. Advances in Nursing Science, 19, 2, 74-87.