Harsh Parenting Among Asian Immigrant Parents in the Context of IPV Perpetration: Does Acculturative Stress or Family Cohesion Moderate the Effects?

Background and Purpose: Harsh parenting, a milder expression of child maltreatment, has been more noted due to its harmful and long-lasting impact on children's development and well-being. While intimate partner violence (IPV) has been identified as increasing the risk of harsh parenting, most studies have focused on victims, with IPV perpetration being less studied. Additionally, this issue has been underexplored among Asian immigrant families facing unique cultural and contextual challenges. Therefore this study examines how IPV perpetration relates to parenting behaviors among Asian immigrant families. It also investigates whether acculturative stress (as a risk factor) and family cohesion (as a protective factor) may moderate this relation. Understanding these dynamics would provide important insights for developing culturally responsive interventions for immigrant families affected by physical IPV perpetration and harsh parenting.

Methods: This study used data from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). The analytic sample included 544 non–U.S. born, married or cohabiting Asian immigrant parents with at least one minor child. Physical harsh parenting and IPV were measured using items from the Conflict Tactics Scales; acculturative stress and family cohesion with MAPSS (9 items) and FACES (10 items), respectively. Logistic regression analyses, including moderation models, were applied to look at the main and interaction effects of physical IPV perpetration, acculturative stress, and family cohesion on physical harsh parenting. This analytical approach allowed for more nuanced exploration of how a culturally relevant stressors and a protective factor could potentially affect the physical IPV perpetration-harsh parenting relationship.

Results: The results showed that both physical IPV-perpetration (with victimization and sex controlled; OR=3.96, p<0.001) and acculturative stress (OR=3.58, p<0.05) were significantly and positively associated with physical harsh parenting. In contrast, family cohesion (OR=0.46, p<0.05) was significantly and negatively associated, even after controlling for covariates. Acculturative stress was not initially associated with physical harsh parenting, but it became significant when adding control variables. In contrast, the association between family cohesion and physical harsh parenting became weaker as the covariates were added. However, neither acculturative stress nor family cohesion moderated the relationship between physical IPV perpetration and harsh parenting.

Conclusions and Implications: The results show that physical IPV perpetration may lead to physical harsh parenting in Asian immigrant families Acculturative stress and family cohesion also can independently influence parenting behaviors, suggesting the need to consider culturally specific risks and protective factors in understanding the family dynamics of Asian immigrants. Although neither acculturative stress nor family cohesion moderated the IPV–parenting relationship, their significant main effects underscore their relevance to Asian immigrant families’ well-being. These findings call for a theoretical model to account for IPV perpetration and its influence on parenting. This study also contributes to a better understanding of how cultural and familial contexts shape parenting behaviors. Future research should investigate other potential moderators or mediators, including parenting norms or social support, and explore the complex relationships between other types of IPV and parenting behaviors. Ultimately, culturally responsive interventions should consider these factors in order to effectively address harsh parenting in Asian immigrant communities.