Hmong American adolescents' perceptions of mothers' parenting practices: Support, authority, and intergenerational agreement.

Abstract

Twenty-four Hmong American adolescents participated in individual interviews regarding their percep- tions of mothers' parenting practices. A content analysis revealed a set of nine parenting practices that were represented in the responses. The adolescents talked about supportive parenting practices that included caretaking, positive communication, acceptance, and involvement. The adolescents also talked about parental assertions of authority that included high expectations for achievement, family obligations, and supervision. Less commonly discussed were the categories of psychological autonomy and inter- generational support. This study captured youth perceptions of family interactions, which revealed a range of parenting practices that represent Hmong American mothers. The Asian American population experienced the largest growth of any other ethnic group in the past decade (46%; United States Census Bureau, 2010). With nearly a quarter of the population comprised of children under the age of 18, the nature of Asian American parenting and child development is an important topic of research. Mainstream interest in the topic was piqued by Amy Chua's (2011) memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, in which she describes a strict approach to parenting that she claims is rooted in traditional Chinese cultural approaches to parenting. The notion that there is a Chinese, or more broadly, Asian approach to parenting is supported by Chao's (1994) model of Asian parenting that emphasizes the concepts of guan (caring and governing) and chiao shun (training). In this model, Chinese immigrant parents are represented as having high control but without the negative emo- tional climate that is often thought to characterize strict families. In particular, families are described as using a style in which parents have high expectations for educational outcomes and emphasize hard work, self-discipline, and obedience. Warmth and responsiv- ity are shown through investing time and having high expectations rather than verbal or physical expressions of closeness and inti- macy in the parent-child relationship. These interactions occur within a hierarchical family structure in which respect for parents is highly valued. Children largely experience positive psychosocial and academic outcomes in the context of the guan or training style (and their equivalent models in other Asian cultures; for a review, see Chao & Tseng, 2002).