Discrimination and adjustment among Chinese American adolescents: family conflict and family cohesion as vulnerability and protective factors.
OBJECTIVE
We examined racial/ethnic discrimination experiences of Chinese American adolescents to determine how discrimination is linked to poor adjustment (i.e., loneliness, anxiety, and somatization) and how the context of the family can buffer or exacerbate these links.


METHODS
We collected survey data from 181 Chinese American adolescents and their parents in Northern California. We conducted hierarchical regression analyses to examine main effects and 2-way interactions of perceived discrimination with family conflict and family cohesion.


RESULTS
Discrimination was related to poorer adjustment in terms of loneliness, anxiety, and somatization, but family conflict and cohesion modified these relations. Greater family conflict exacerbated the negative effects of discrimination, and greater family cohesion buffered the negative effects of discrimination.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings highlight the importance of identifying family-level moderators to help adolescents and their families handle experiences of discrimination.
Juang
Linda P
LP
Department of Psychology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA. ljuang@sfsu.edu
Alvarez
Alvin A
AA
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000208:ethnology; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology*; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D054541:Family Conflict / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations / Q000208:ethnology*; D011287:Prejudice; D012307:Risk Factors; D012495:San Francisco; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000208:ethnology