Parental Acceptance, Depressive Symptoms, and Self-Esteem Among Korean American Adolescents: Mediating Effects of Positive Communication and Inter-Parental Conflict

Background and Purpose:

Having positive family relationships is an essential component in promoting mental health and wellbeing in adolescence. In particular, parental support (e.g., acceptance, warmth and positive communication) help children develop emotional security, self-worth and resilience. Conversely, lack of parental support may exacerbate children’s vulnerability to psychological distress that can lead to long term health and mental health consequences.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating effects of positive parent-child communication and inter-parental conflict on the association between parental acceptance and adolescents’ mental health (depressive symptoms, self-esteem)

Methods: The data was a cross-sectional survey of 339 Korean American adolescents aged 12 to 18. Constructs were measured by: 1) 3 items on adolescents’ perceived parental acceptance; 2) 4 items on positive communication between parents and adolescents; 3) 19 items on adolescents’ perceived parental conflict (CPIC); 4) 20 items of CES-D scale for depressive symptoms; and 5) 10 items of Rosenberg self-esteem. The study used structural equation modeling (SEM) for data analyses.

Results: The SEM results indicated a good model fit for the global fit indices (χ²_(df=6)=15.049, p<0.05; RMSEA=0.067; CFI=0.976 ; SRMR= 0.035). There were significant path coefficients from adolescents’ perceived parenting styles to self-esteem and depressive symptoms. For example, parental acceptance contributed to increasing positive communication (path coefficient=0.25, p<0.001) and self-esteem (path coefficient=0.11, p<0.001) while decreasing parental conflict (path coefficient= -0.15, p<0.001) and depressive symptoms (path coefficient= -0.12, p<0.001). Positive communication and parental conflict mediated the association between parental acceptance and self-esteem and the association between parental acceptance and depressive symptoms

Conclusions and Implications: Findings of this study suggest that perceived parental acceptance is both a protective factor against depressive symptoms and for strengthening self-esteem in Korean American adolescents. Empirical studies show that Korean American adolescents experience high levels of emotional distress stemming from family conflicts (due to intergenerational acculturation gap) but more research is needed to understand the nuances of family relationships that are particularly harmful to Korean American adolescents’ mental health. This study is one of few studies that have examined the impact of perceived parental acceptance on depressive symptoms and self-esteem and explored the effects of positive communication and inter-parental conflict as mediating variables in a sample of Korean American adolescents.