Impact of Negative Parenting on Mental Health Among Asian American Youth

Background: Asian American adolescents report higher mental health problems than their white counterparts (e.g., suicidal ideation 19% vs. 15.5%). Certain elements of Asian American parenting have been identified as a possible etiology. For example, via interviewing Asian American young women with a history of self-harming behaviors, Hahm and her colleagues conceptualized a disempowering parenting called ABCDG, i.e., Abusive, Burdening, Culturally disjointed, Disengaged and Gender prescriptive. This study established ABCDG parenting concepts among community samples of Filipino and Korean American youth. It further investigated how ABCDG parenting adversely influences mental health. This study sought to pinpoint specific aspects of ABCDG parenting that may lead to negative mental health and examined whether those relationships vary by gender and ethnicity. 

Methods: This study used a large scale longitudinal survey data from the Midwest Longitudinal Study of Asian American Families Project that includes 393 Filipino and 410 Korean parent-child dyads at Wave 1. Wave 2 data (80% retention) was also used. Dependent variables were suicide ideation, suicide attempt and depressive symptoms. To establish ABCDG parenting as a multiple set of scales, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Psychometric properties of each subdomain were examined. Correlations among them were also examined to detect multicollinearity and confirm convergent and divergent construct validity. The revised scales were regressed on each mental health outcomes using logistic or OLS multivariate regressions depending on the level of measurement. The models were adjusted for control variables including several demographics. Finally, we examined two-way and three-way interactions to see whether any of the associations vary by gender, ethnicity or both of them together.

Results: Factor analyses suggested a six factor model of ABCDG parenting that produced the best empirical as well as theoretical fit of the measures. The subdomains were Abusive/Disengaged parenting (A/D), Burdening 1 (Harmony & Sacrifice, B1), Burdening 2 (Pressured to Succeed – Conditional Affection, B2), Burdening 3 (Pressured to Succeed – Insatiable Expectation, B3) and Culturally Disjointed (CD), and Gender Prescriptive (GP). Each scale showed a good measurement fit.

Regression results were: A/D and GP parenting were significant concurrent predictors of suicide ideation (OR=5.24, p<0.01; OR=1.7, p<0.05) and depression (β=0.26, p<0.001; β=0.16 p<0.001). We found two statistically significant interactions in the depressive symptom model: A/D x gender (β =0.27, p<0.05) and B1 x ethnicity (β=0.69, p<0.05). In a longitudinal model, A/D remained significant in predicting depressive symptom and GP remained significant in suicide attempt but we did not find significant interactions. When Wave 1 outcome was adjusted, however, these significant longitudinal relations disappeared.

Conclusion and Implications: This study demonstrates that abusive and disengaged parenting is an adverse element for Asian American youth and its impact does not vary by gender or ethnicity. This is likely universally true, regardless of one’s backgrounds. Culturally disjointed parenting, however, is a more salient issue among Asian American youth and may increase vulnerability as these youth straddle between their immigrant parents and the mainstream society, which make culturally different, often conflicting, demands. The study underscores a need for culturally tailored practice.