Two Sides to Face: Integrity- and Achievement-Centered Face-Saving, Parental Psychological Control, and Depressive Symptoms in Chinese American Adolescents

Abstract

Depressive symptoms can be serious, but often overlooked, health risk factors, especially for Asian Americans who are vulnerable to acculturation stress but tend to underreport mental health problems. The present study examines how specific cultural values and parenting practices are associated with Chinese American adolescents’ depressive symptoms. One hundred and nine Chinese American adolescents (61% females; Mage = 15.93 years, SDage = 1.39 years) and their parents completed online surveys about their endorsement of traditional Chinese cultural values that reflect integrity and achievement as two forms of face-saving, parents’ use of psychological control, and adolescents’ depressive symptoms. Parents’ endorsement of Conformity To Norms was positively associated with adolescents’ endorsement of the same value, which further correlated positively with adolescents’ depressive symptoms. However, adolescents’ endorsement of Family Recognition Through Achievement was neither associated with parents’ endorsement of the value nor with adolescents’ depressive symptoms. In addition, while parental psychological control was positively related to adolescents’ value belief in Conformity To Norms and depressive symptoms, parental psychological control was negatively related to adolescents’ value belief in Family Recognition Through Achievement. The findings suggest the richness and complexities of the face-saving cultural values and the usefulness of unpacking parenting dimensions in understanding familial processes and developmental specificity among immigrant youth.