First-generation Immigrant Parents Research Articles

Sociocultural determinants of children's oral health among immigrants in Canada.

A conceptual model was designed and tested to predict immigrant children's oral health in Canada by examining parental acculturation and perceived social support (PSS) using structural equation modelling. A convenience sample of first-generation immigrant parents and their children aged 2-12 years were recruited by multilingual community workers in Edmonton, Canada. Parents completed a validated questionnaire on demographics, child's oral health (OH) behaviours, parental acculturation and PSS. Dental examinations determined children's dental caries rate using DMFT/dmft index. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the data. A total of 336 families participated in this study. The average parental acculturation level was 10.46 with a maximum of 15, and the average PSS was 63.27 with a maximum of 75. SEM showed that 77% of the variance of DMFT/dmft scores in children was explained by parental PSS, acculturation level, immigration-related variables, socioeconomic variables and children's OH behaviours. The direct effect of parental PSS was associated with a significantly reduced rate of dental caries (β = -.076, p-value = .008) and lower sugar consumption (β = -.17, p-value = .04). While the mediation effect of parental acculturation on PSS was associated with positive OH behaviours of children (e.g., toothbrushing frequency and dental care utilization), the indirect effect was negatively associated with caries rate (β = .77, p-value = .00). The direct effect of Parental Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was associated with more favourable oral health behaviours and a lower prevalence of dental caries, while the mediation effect of acculturation was linked to a higher prevalence of dental caries.

Ethnic church mentoring: buffer against outside prejudice and inside pressure for success

ABSTRACT This study investigates the influence of church mentoring on the psychosocial development of adolescents from immigrant and ethnic minority backgrounds. Framed within ecological systems and sociocultural theories, it examines mentoring processes in fostering positive youth development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen adolescents, mentors, and parents from a Protestant congregation, primarily comprising immigrants from South Koreaand Hispanic families. Qualitative content analysis identified thematic categories, revealing that multicultural church mentors acted as bridges between first-generation immigrant parents and their U.S.-born offspring, shielding against external prejudice and buffering academic pressures from immigrant parents. They provided guidance on practical issues and served as role models, validating adolescents’ identity and belonging. Findings suggestthe need for mentor training programs and parenting workshops addressing generational differences. Leveraging community resources and relational capital is crucial for promoting positive youth development among immigrant and ethnic minority communities.

Protracted development in child heritage Spanish: Evidence from inalienable possession

The present study examined the production of inalienable possession with body parts in Spanish among 20 school-age children of Mexican-born parents born and raised in the United States. The results were compared to those of 20 first-generation immigrant parents (main input providers), 27 Spanish-dominant children of similar age, and 12 Spanish monolingual parents living in Mexico. Group and individual results obtained via a question-and-answer task showed low proportion of clitic se plus the definite determiner (e.g. Ella se rompió el brazo ‘She broke her arm’) among the heritage children in their production of the inalienable construal. The heritage children significantly overextended the possessive determiner instead of the definite determiner in contrast to their parents, the Spanish-dominant children and monolingual parents. Results also showed a significant role for dominance and language experience in the degree of morphosyntactic variability among heritage children, supporting recent research. The higher the Spanish dominance and the more Spanish contact and use the heritage children had, the more they aligned closer to their parents and the Spanish-dominant children in the use of the definite determiner. There were no divergences with the use of the definite determiner in alienable contexts. We argue for protracted development in child heritage Spanish stemming from crosslinguistic influence effects, minority language dominance and linguistic experience.

Factors associated with first-generation immigrant parents’ unwillingness to vaccinate their daughters for HPV

PurposeHuman papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates for children of immigrant parents are substantially lower than US peers. This study aimed (1) to assess the prevalence of immigrant parents’ unwillingness to vaccinate their daughters, (2) to compare by race/ethnicity the prevalence of immigrant parents’ unwillingness to vaccinate their daughters, and (3) to examine predictors of the unwillingness stratified by race/ethnicity. MethodThis study conducted a secondary analysis of data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). HPV-related data were extracted and analyzed from first-generation immigrant parents (n = 784) with daughters 11–12 years of age. ResultsThe frequency of unwillingness was high for all racial/ethnic groups (43–58%). Non-Hispanic White and Asian parents who were aware of or heard about the HPV vaccine were less likely to be unwilling to vaccinate their daughters. Also, older Hispanic immigrant parents were more likely to be unwilling to vaccinate their daughters for HPV. ConclusionTo curb future incidences of HPV-related cervical cancers among second-generation immigrant women, efforts are needed to encourage first-generation immigrant parents to presently vaccinate their daughters for HPV.

An Intersectional Analysis of the Recruitment and Participation of Second-Generation African Canadian Adolescent Girls in a Community Basketball Program in Ottawa, Canada

Guided by the experiences and perspectives of sport practitioners, in this paper, an intersectional lens was used to examine age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and religion and how they relate to the recruitment and participation of second-generation, low-income, African Canadian, Black Muslim, and Christian adolescent girls in a community-based basketball program in Ottawa, Canada. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 program coordinators and coaches involved in the City of Ottawa Community Centre Basketball League (CCBL), and reflexive thematic analysis of the data was engaged. The findings were threefold: (a) CCBL coordinators and coaches recognize the importance of representation to enhancing their support to program users; (b) CCBL coaches and coordinators make efforts to build trust with and increase buy-in from first-generation immigrant parents to improve girls’ program participation; and (c) CCBL coaches and coordinators make religious accommodations in response to the needs of Muslim and Christian program users. The findings illustrated that community-based sport programs serving second-generation African Canadian adolescent girls in low-income communities require multifaceted program and outreach strategies that consider the intersecting social experiences of participants to improve recruitment and participation. To conclude, policy and program design and implementation strategies to support the creation of inclusive, equity-driven community-based sport practices were proposed.

Linking IEP Status to Parental Involvement for High School Students of First-Generation and Native-Born Families

As educators and policymakers increasingly use parental involvement as a mechanism to increase student achievement, scholars know surprisingly little about the disparities in frequencies of parental involvement for first-generation immigrant compared to native-born parents as well as how involvement may differ for parents of students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Using HSLS:2009, we compared parental involvement of first-generation immigrant parents and native-born parents of high school students with and without IEPs. Our descriptive results indicate that first-generation parents exhibit lower frequencies of school-based involvement compared to native-born parents. In our propensity score matching analysis, we found that IEP status is associated with an increase in school-based parental involvement for both first-generation immigrant and native-born families. We also found that IEP status was negatively associated with academic socialization for both first-generation immigrant and native-born families.

Family Environment, Heritage Language Profiles, and Socioemotional Well-being of Mexican-origin Adolescents with First Generation Immigrant Parents.

Although Mexican-origin youth with first-generation immigrant parents are relatively good at retaining their heritage language of Spanish, limited research has been conducted on their Spanish language development during adolescence. From three-wave longitudinal data across six years (Nwave1 = 604, Mage.wave1 = 12.91, 54% female), distinct groups of adolescents with consistently high, improved, declined, and consistently low Spanish proficiencies were identified. Family relationship quality was more predictive of adolescents' Spanish proficiency than family language environment. The benefits of Spanish proficiency were consistent across adolescents' ethnic identity, resilience, and life meaning. More research and practical attention to parent-adolescent relationships is needed to capitalize on the continued plasticity of adolescents' Spanish language development and to promote consequent positive outcomes.

Cultural Values, Intergenerational Transmission of Internalized Racism, Education, and Career Goals in Chinese American Families

The present study is the first of its kind using a dyadic and prospective research design to test whether traditional Asian cultural values and internalized racism among Chinese American adolescents and their first-generation immigrant parents are influential factors in the educational and vocational goals of the adolescents by the time they become young adults. While results show that traditional Asian cultural values and internalized racism were not related to adolescents’ educational aspiration or young adults’ major choice, results do show an intergenerational correlation in internalized racism. Furthermore, results show that youth who planned to pursue science/health professions had significantly higher levels of internalized racism than those who planned to pursue business/law professions. Findings suggest that internalized racism may restrict parents’ expectations and goals for their children and, in tandem, serve as a barrier for youths’ self-determination or sense of autonomy in their selection of college majors and career development.

Intergenerational and Personal Connectedness: Held Together in Christian Faith

Christianity is the predominant religious affiliation for Chinese Americans. The divide and loss of connectedness of cultural values between first and second generations has left both parties deeply grieved. Research has confirmed this intergenerational divide and the potential of Christian faith to help cohere the family unit. Notably, the influence of the new primary culture of Christianity may enable a way for the two generations to better understand one another. In addition to the church providing a new model for the strengthening of familial relationships, it is suggested that the enhanced ability for mentalization developed through one’s relationship with God and connecting self-states may also translate to the improvement of personal and family connectedness. This article presents a case of a second-generation Christian Chinese American woman who found links of connection with her first-generation immigrant parents and between the multiplicity of her identity through her Christian faith.

Reactive and Proactive Ethnic-Racial Socialization Practices of Second-Generation Asian American Parents.

Studies of Asian American parenting have primarily focused on first-generation immigrant parents. Few studies have examined the experiences of second-generation Asian American adults who now have children of their own. The purpose of this qualitative study, then, is to better understand the values, practices, and concerns of second-generation Asian American parents regarding ethnic and racial socialization. The sample included 34 Asian American parents from seven different cities across the United States. Using interviews and a focus group, the results show that (a) place, specific contexts, and transitions were important to second-generation parents' motivation behind ethnic and racial socialization, (b) parents are reactive and proactive, especially with regard to promoting an awareness of discrimination, in the racial socialization of their children, (c) parents engage in predominantly proactive ethnic socialization when passing on heritage culture, which they believe is important, but also difficult to do, (d) in contrast to ethnic socialization, passing on American culture and passing on important values (that they did not see as solely "American" or "Asian") came easily, and (e) parents consider the intersection of race and culture with religion and disability when socializing their children. Our findings highlight unique aspects of how second-generation Asian American parents engage in ethnic and racial socialization in an increasingly socially diverse world.

“This is America”: Narratives of parenting experiences by African immigrant parents from Cameroon, Kenya, and Somalia living in the United States

AbstractThis study utilized thematic content analysis and a partial ecological model to analyze qualitative data drawn from focus group discussions with first-generation immigrant parents from Cameroon, Kenya, and Somalia from the Twin City area of Minnesota. (Twin Cities: the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis are adjacent to each other, with Saint Paul located on the west bank and Minneapolis on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the state of Minnesota.) Results indicate that macro-time or chronosystem levels in the event of immigration had the most influence on parental perceptions. Hence, contextual changes that made “parenting” challenging were attributed to immigration. Variations were partly due to the reasons for migrating. Cameroonians and Kenyans migrated mainly for economic reasons and held perspectives that emphasized how the contextual change had influenced their parental roles. Cameroonians pointed to the impact of the exosystem on the perceived role of the child welfare system in t...

You Can Come Home Again: Narratives of Home and Belonging among Second-Generation Việt Kiều in Vietnam

Over the last decade, increasing numbers of second-generation overseas Vietnamese or Việt Kiều have returned to Vietnam to live and work. These are children of first-generation immigrant parents, who fled the country following the communist victory over South Vietnam in 1975. Since the 1990s, the government has implemented new laws and policies to encourage overseas Vietnamese to return to invest, work and live in Vietnam. However, recent state initiatives have also been hampered by substantial ambiguities and bureaucratic inefficiency. The narratives of second-generation Việt Kiều living in Hồ Chi Minh City reveal how — apart from state discourse and policies — personal motivations and pragmatic considerations also have an important bearing on their sense of “home” and “belonging” in Vietnam.

Parental autonomy support predicts academic achievement through emotion-related self-regulation and adaptive skills in Chinese American adolescents.

The present study challenges the popular notion that overly controlling or restrictive parenting is the primary pathway to academic achievement for Chinese Americans. Although traditional Chinese values require parents to make good choices for their children by supervising and asserting strict limits using guǎn (safeguarding) and jiao xun (demandingness of excellence), such parental duties do not preclude the use of autonomy support or noncoercive discipline to promote children’s academic success. In this study, we examined the processes or mechanisms underlying the linkages between parental autonomy support, emotion-related self-regulation, adaptive skills, and academic achievement in 92 Chinese American adolescents (mean age 16 years, SD 1.4) and their first-generation immigrant parents. Study results indicate that parental autonomy support and emotion-related self-regulation are both promotive factors in adaptive and academic competencies. We propose that guǎn (管), or safeguarding, and jiao xun (教訓), or demandingness of excellence, represent parental strictness-supervision, which when counterbalanced by autonomy support, could be considered the yin and yang in parenting that promotes adolescents’ academic success without harming their social–emotional or psychological well-being.

Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States

Reviewed by: Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States Nancy J. Smith-Hefner Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States. By Min Zhou and Carl L. Bankston, III. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1998. Children of Vietnamese refugees are members of the “new second generation,” that is, U.S. or foreign-born children of contemporary immigrants growing up in the United States. Their parents came to America hoping for a better life; they look to the second generation to either realize or frustrate those hopes. (p. 2) Growing Up American is a study of the adaptation of one such group of second-generation Vietnamese Americans to life in the United States. Min Zhou and Carl L. Bankston, III argue that the new (post-1965) immigrants to the United States face a very different situation than that faced by earlier-arriving European immigrants. The American economy today is highly segmented. One segment requires a college education and sophisticated technical or interpersonal skills. The other is comprised of low-skilled, labor-intensive service jobs which hold little hope for advancement or long-term security. The American employment market is, in effect, an “hourglass” economy in which there are few possibilities in the middle and a great distance between top and bottom. The great majority of Vietnamese refugees arrived in this country with few economic resources and low educational backgrounds. Most settled in poor, urban, minority neighborhoods. Zhou and Bankston’s study depicts first-generation immigrant parents as engaged in a desperate race to give their children sufficient social and economic support to succeed in school before they are absorbed into the disadvantaged minority subculture that surrounds them. Children are pushed toward educational success by their parents, and at the same time pulled by oppositional youth culture of their poor, urban neighborhoods. This study confirms the findings of previous studies; Vietnamese children for the most part do exceptionally well in school. Their success suggests that doing well depends less on the social capital that parents arrive with than on something else. Zhou and Bankston argue that the something else is their ethnicity, “a group’s distinctive cultural and social-organizational traits.” (p. 5) “Specifically, we perceived the ethnic factor as a social context that influenced children’s adaptation through support as well as control.” (p. 10) Their study focuses particular attention on the influence of Vietnamese community organization on socioeconomic adaptation. The authors’ research was conducted in Versailles Village, a low-income, [End Page 111] urban minority community in New Orleans and the second largest Vietnamese community outside of California. Between 1993 and 1995, the authors engaged in participant observation in the community, conducted numerous in-depth interviews, and administered two surveys of high school aged youth. They also drew extensively on U.S. Census data and other statistical indices. The authors describe their methodology as multivariate, linking ethnographic case studies with quantitative census data, survey data, and archival records. Their primary concern is to determine how Vietnamese American children have overcome class and economic disadvantages to adapt to American schools. In framing their study, the authors note the paradoxical relationship between cultural assimilation and educational achievement. Whereas conventional sociological theories argue that longer residence in the United States leads to higher academic achievement, more recent ethnographic studies have indicated that the longer immigrants are in the country, the more maladaptive the outcomes can be in terms of school performance, aspirations, and behaviors. John Ogbu, The Next Generation: An Ethnography of Education in an Urban Neighborhood (1974), and more recently Signithia Fordham, Blacked Out: Dilemmas of Race, Identity, and Success at Capital High (1996), have both argued that for “caste-like minorities,” including African Americans, ethnicity may be of limited advantage. If a socially defined racial minority finds normal paths of integration and upward mobility are blocked because of race, they may cope with racial barriers by falling back on alternate survival strategies inimical to school success. They may react to racial oppression by constructing identities in the form of avoidance or resistance to the values of mainstream society; this may include resistance to school sanctioned norms of achievement. Among the...