Parenting in an Individualistic Culture with a Collectivistic Cultural Background: The Case of Turkish Immigrant Families with Toddlers in the Netherlands

Expanding our knowledge on parenting practices of immigrant families is crucial for designing culturally sensitive parenting intervention programs in countries with high immigration rates. We investigated differences in patterns of parenting between second-generation immigrant and native families with young children. Authoritarian and authoritative control and sensitivity of second-generation Turkish immigrant mothers of 2-year-old children (n = 70) and native Dutch mothers (n = 70) were observed in the home and in the laboratory. Controlling for maternal age and education, Turkish immigrant mothers were less supportive, gave less clear instructions to their children, were more intrusive and were less authoritative in their control strategies than native Dutch mothers. No differences were found in authoritarian control. In both ethnic groups supportive presence, clarity of instruction, authoritative control, and low intrusiveness loaded on one factor. No differences between ethnic groups were found in gender-differentiated parenting. Maternal emotional connectedness to the Turkish culture was associated with less authoritative control, whereas more use of the Turkish language was related to more sensitivity. Even though mean level differences in parenting behaviors still exist between second-generation Turkish immigrant and native Dutch mothers, the patterns of associations between parenting behaviors were comparable for both groups. This suggests that existing parenting interventions for native families may be applicable to second-generation Turkish immigrants as well.     

Parenting and preschool child behaviour among Turkish immigrant,migrant and non-migrant families

When families migrate the new culture and culture of origin may conflict, with possible consequences for parenting and children's development. Turks form one of the largest immigrant groups in Western Europe, and there is also much movement within Turkey. This study compares three groups; Turkish immigrants to the UK (N = 142), migrants within Turkey (N = 229), and Turkish non-migrants (locals, N = 396). The children were 39–71 months old (M = 58 months, SD = 6.5), 392 were boys and 375 were girls. Parents supplied data on family characteristics and parenting, and teachers supplied data on children's behaviour. Using Baumrind's parenting model and allowing for background effects, compared to non-migrants and migrants, the immigrant parents were less permissive and more authoritarian. Children in immigrant families had more externalizing problems, internalizing problems and emotional dysregulation and less social competence than migrant and non-migrant children. Multilevel models and structural equation models both found that these effects upon child behaviour were evident after taking into account demographic factors and were not eliminated by taking into account parenting style differences, and thus suggest that immigration and migration are risk factors for child behaviour. Effects of immigrant and migrant status were partly direct and partly indirect via their effects on parenting.     

Occupational injury among immigrants

The growth in immigrant populations demands an understandign of determinants of their health, including occupational health. The study reported here involved a survey of a non-probability non-clinical sample of immigrants. The results indicate that length of stay, a proxy for acculturation, had no relationship to injury, but working in a language other than English and professing Buddhism did; thus, lack of congruence between individual level culture and workplace culture affects rates of injury. The conclusion is that looking for individual level explanations of differences in workplace injury will do little to advance the field of occupational health promotion.     

The Moderating Role of English Proficiency in the Association Between Immigrant Chinese Mothers' Authoritative Parenting and Children's Outcomes

The authors' objective was to investigate the association between Chinese immigrant mothers' authoritative parenting and their children's socioemotional and behavioral difficulties. Participants were 136 first-generation Chinese immigrant mothers with 3–5-year-old children residing in the United States. Authoritative parenting was associated with lower socioemotional and behavioral difficulties in children as reported by preschool teachers. Further moderation analyses revealed that immigrant mothers' English proficiency moderated the association between authoritative parenting and children's difficulties. Specifically, authoritative parenting was significantly associated with fewer total difficulties only for children with mothers who reported higher English proficiency.     

Prolonged Separation and Reunification among Chinese Immigrant Children and Families: An Exploratory Study

The present study explored the lived experiences of Chinese immigrant parents in New York City who went through prolonged separation and faced challenges after reunification in the United States. The study assessed their attitudes, perceptions, and reactions to the separation and reunification process to gain better understanding of the ways prolonged separation and reunification impact on child development and family wellbeing. A phenomenological research approach was used to study qualitatively the narrative data from in-depth interviews. The analytical process was based on data immersion, coding, sorting codes into themes, and comparing the themes across interviews. The sample included 18 Chinese immigrant families who had sent their American-born children to China for rearing and reunited with their children within the past 5 years. Data analyses revealed specific themes that included reasons for separation, parenting methods, child’s initial adjustment, behavior, and family relationship, child’s social, emotional, and academic challenges, parental stress and challenges, and recommendations for services. This study contributed to our knowledge of prolonged separation, a common practice among a vulnerable, hard-to-reach immigrant population. It shed light on specific needs of Chinese immigrant families by examining closely the unique circumstances pertaining to prolonged separation, parenting practice, and related family challenges. An understanding of the approaches these families adopt to cope with life challenges may help inform practitioners in formulating service strategies for these families. Specific assessments in child-care, education, and health care settings are essential to prompt immediate follow-up and intervention when needed.     

The longitudinal association between internalizing symptoms and academic achievement among immigrant and non‐immigrant children in Norway

The aim of this study was to explore the longitudinal relation between internalizing symptoms and academic achievement, as two processes of children and youth development, among children in Norway, and whether having an immigrant background moderated this association. Data collected from 4,458 students in Norway in four waves over three years were analyzed with multi‐group latent growth curve modeling (LGM ). Results showed that internalizing symptoms level remained unchanged over time both for immigrant and non‐immigrant children, while levels of academic achievement increased only for children of immigrants with both parents born outside of Norway. Further analyses supported a reciprocal relation between internalizing symptoms and academic achievement and revealed that the initial level of academic achievement predicted the rate of change in internalizing symptoms over time, but not vice versa. Moreover, immigrant background did not moderate the associations in the model, however, children of immigrants with both parents born abroad initially had lower levels of academic achievement, but showed an increase in academic achievement, compared to their non‐immigrant peers as well as to peers with one native‐born parent after controlling for gender and their grade at the first observation. The implications for policy and practice were discussed.     

An Intergroup Perspective on Immigrant Acculturation with a Focus on Collective Strategies

This study adopted an intergroup perspective on immigrant acculturation, which views immigrants as members of a disadvantaged social category. Its primary purpose was to relate the relative disadvantage of certain immigrant groups to a preference for collective acculturation strategies. Questionnaires were administered to immigrants from four ethnic groups, two of which (blacks from the Caribbean, and Chinese) were considered to be relatively more “stigmatized” within the Canadian context than the other two (Greeks and Italians). In addition, a cross-generational methodology provided comparisons between first-generation immigrants (n = 116), and their adult children (n = 133). It was hypothesized and found that the more “stigmatized” immigrants perceived themselves to be at a greater social disadvantage and were more supportive of a collective integration orientation than less stigmatized immigrants. Parents were more likely to endorse a collective acculturation orientation and exhibited a stronger ethnic identification than their children. The results are interpreted using an intergroup approach to immigrant acculturation.     

Structural and behavioural determinants of immigrant and non-immigrant health status: Results from the Canadian community health survey

The purpose of this paper, which utilizes data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS-Cycle 1.1), is threefold. The first is to examine the health of Canadian immigrants in relation to non-immigrants, focusing on the relationship between key health determinants and health status. Second, it tests whether these data support the well-documented ‘healthy immigrant effect’. The third is to evaluate the usefulness of using a large national database to study ‘special populations’ such as immigrants. Through a comparison of findings from previous studies, the authors highlight the strengths and weaknesses of different datasets for investigating immigrant health and, by extension, the health of other unique populations in Canada. The present study found that recent arrivals to Canada tended to be substantially healthier than the Canadian-born population. However, this advantage was lost over time, as immigrants with longer residence histories (10 years of residence or longer) tended to have inferior health statuses relative to the Canadian-born. These results indicate that the ‘healthy immigrant effect’ continues to manifest itself in Canada. The findings also suggest that the large sample of immigrants in the CCHS facilitated statistically significant associations between health determinants and health status. This is in contrast to the results of previous studies on immigrant health-such as those using the National Population Health Survey (NPHS)—which reported a number of non-significant and counter-intuitive relationships. We suggest that the CCHS, a comparatively much larger dataset with a diverse sample of immigrants, is a useful survey instrument to evaluate the health and well-being of special populations.     

Parental and Child Characteristics Predicting Asian immigrants’ Feeding Practices

To explore parenting style, child effortful control, parenting stress, and their associations with maternal use of pressure to eat among Asian U.S. immigrant families with preschoolers. One hundred and nine Asian immigrant mothers with 3-to-5-year-old children in Maryland, United States rated their authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles, frequency of pressuring their child to eat, perceived parenting stress, and child’s effortful control. Two proposed moderated mediation models were tested using conditional process modeling. Effortful control mediated the association between authoritative parenting style and pressure to eat practices, αβ?=??0.07, p?<?0.05, and the association between authoritarian style and pressure to eat, αβ?=?0.12, p?<?0.05. Moreover, parenting stress moderated the association between child effortful control and maternal pressure to eat in the authoritarian style model, but not in the authoritative style model. Specifically, higher effortful control was associated with less use of pressure to eat at low and mean levels of parenting stress. Our findings revealed potential mechanisms underlying the associations between parenting styles and controlling feeding practices. Importantly, information learned from the present study may guide transdisciplinary efforts to design and implement culturally sensitive and family-based interventions targeting Asian immigrants’ wellbeing and obesity in the United States.

     

Are immigrants in the nursing industry at increased risk of bullying at work? A one‐year follow‐up study

The purpose of this study was to explore whether (a) immigrant health care workers (HCW) are more at risk of bullying at work than Danish staff members, (b) this association is increased by previous exposure to bullying and (c) immigrants experience more bullying from supervisors, colleagues and clients/residents. We analyzed cross-sectional baseline data from 5,635 health care students of whom 10.4% were immigrants, and conducted a prospective analysis by following 3,109 of these respondents during their first year of employment. More than a third of the respondents had previous experiences with bullying. The baseline analyses showed that immigrants are more at risk of being bullied during both their theoretical education and trainee periods than their Danish co-students. At follow-up we found that 9.1% of the total cohort had been exposed to bullying at work during their first year of employment, hereof 1.8% frequently. "Non-Western" immigrants had a significantly higher risk of exposure to bullying at work during follow-up than the Danish respondents independent of previous experience with bullying. Danish and immigrant health care workers were more exposed to bullying from co-workers than from supervisors with no statistically significant difference between the Danes and the immigrant groups. Both "Western" and "non-Western" respondents were more at risk of bullying from clients/residents than the Danish respondents.     

Are Immigrants from Asia Healthier than Immigrants from Other Regions?: Self-reported Health Status and Functional Difficulties of Immigrants in the USA

This study examines how regions of origin are related to immigrant health status in the USA. This paper uses the National Health Interview Survey to examine health status differences between East and Southeast Asian immigrants and immigrants from other regions. The models control for duration, socioeconomic factors, and behavioral factors. Two health indicators are examined: self-reported health and functional difficulties. Results from ordered logit regression analyses demonstrate that some of the regions of birth do significantly predict differences in health for immigrants. Specifically, immigrants from Central America and the former Soviet Union do exhibit significant health disadvantages when compared with immigrants from East and Southeast Asia. The duration effect was positively related to functional difficulties but not to self-reported health status. Overall, economic resources and education typically have a strong relationship to the measures of immigrants’ physical health. It was also found that drinking is persistently associated with better measures of physical health while smoking appears to have the opposite effect.     

Parent training with high-risk immigrant chinese families: a pilot group randomized trial yielding practice-based evidence

We studied the efficacy and implementation outcomes of a culturally responsive parent training (PT) program. Fifty-four Chinese American parents participated in a wait-list controlled group randomized trial (32 immediate treatment, 22 delayed treatment) of a 14-week intervention designed to address the needs of high-risk immigrant families. Parents were eligible for intervention if they were Chinese-speaking immigrants referred from schools, community clinics, or child protective services with concerns about parenting or child behavior problems. Retention and engagement were high with 83% of families attending 10 or more sessions. Results revealed that the treatment was efficacious in reducing negative discipline, increasing positive parenting, and decreasing child externalizing and internalizing problems. Treatment effects were larger among families with higher levels of baseline behavior problems and lower levels of parenting stress. Further augmentation of PT to address immigrant parent stress may be warranted. Qualitative impressions from group leaders suggested that slower pacing and increased rehearsal of skills may improve efficacy for immigrant parents unfamiliar with skills introduced in PT.     

Age and Gender Variations in Healthy Immigrant Effect: a Population Study of Immigrant Well-Being in Canada

The healthy immigrant effect (HIE) is the phenomenon in which immigrants show better health than their native-born counterparts but this healthier condition declines with length of residence. This study investigated whether (1) immigrants also show better adaptation than non-immigrants as well as better health, (2) length of residence affects their health and adaptation differently, and (3) differential outcomes are found for different age and gender groups. Utilizing the Canadian Community Health Survey (2011–2012) data, immigrants (N?=?17,555) and non-immigrants (N?=?103,579) were divided into adolescents (15–19 years old), adults (20–49), older adults (50–64), and seniors (65–74) to examine their subjective general and mental health, diagnosed chronic and psychological illnesses, and self-reported daily stress, life satisfaction and sense of belonging. After controlling for key demographics, HIE was found to be more robust in health than adaptation. In general, recent immigrants reported better health conditions than long-term immigrants; however, the two did not differ with daily stress or life satisfaction. The older adult immigrants were the only segment of the immigrant population who did not display HIE; within the immigrant population, working-aged long-term adult immigrants were those experiencing negative well-being in both health and adaptation compared to the same-aged recent immigrants. Regarding diagnosed psychological illnesses, immigrants yielded no difference by age, gender, or length of residence, indicating ‘reluctant’ views on seeking professional help for mental health were persistently held by both recent and long-immigrants. The findings suggest that health policy needs to take into consideration age-related life stages, and enhancement of mental health awareness for immigrant well-being.     

Test of a cultural framework of parenting with Latino families of young children

This study examined the mental health and academic functioning of 442 4- and 5-year old children of Mexican (MA) and Dominican (DA) immigrant mothers using a cultural framework of Latino parenting. Data were collected on mothers' self-reported acculturative status, parenting practices and cultural socialization, and on children's behavioral functioning (mother- and teacher-report) and school readiness (child test). Results provide partial support for the validity of the framework in which mothers' acculturative status and socialization of respeto (a Latino cultural value of respect) and independence (a U.S. American cultural value) predict parenting practices. For both groups, English language competence was related to less socialization of respeto, and other domains of acculturative status (i.e., U.S. American/ethnic identity, and U.S. American/ethnic cultural competence) were related to more socialization of respeto and independence. Socialization of respeto was related to the use of authoritarian practices and socialization of independence was related to the use of authoritative practices. Socialization of respeto was also related to lower school readiness for DA children, whereas socialization of independence was related to higher school readiness for MA children. Independence was also related to higher teacher-rated externalizing problems for MA children. For both groups, authoritarian parenting was associated with more parent-reported internalizing and externalizing problems. The discussion focuses on ethnic subgroup differences and similarities to further understanding of Latino parenting from a cultural perspective.     

Ethnic Background, Labour Market Attachment and Severe Morbidity: Hospitalisation among Immigrants in Sweden 1990–2001

This article examines differences in health among immigrants in Sweden from 1990 to 2001. Controlling for demographic characteristics, most immigrant groups display higher rates of hospitalisation than native Swedes, but when socio-economic factors are introduced, only Nordic immigrants display rates that are significantly higher than for Swedish-born individuals. High rates of hospitalisation among immigrants compared to Swedes seem to be explained by the socio-economic situation in Sweden rather than health conditions and socio-economic circumstances before immigration. There is a strong correlation between weak labour market integration and high levels of severe morbidity in non-Nordic immigrant groups.     

Environmental influences on perceptual and motor skills of children from immigrant Ethiopian families

The purpose of this study was to examine environmental influences on perceptual and motor skills of children from immigrant Ethiopian families in Israel in comparison with those of Israeli-born children. The subjects were divided into groups based on age (6- to 8-yr.-olds and 10- to 12-yr.-olds) and length of time in Israel. The results of this study show that the perceptual and motor performance of 6- to 8-yr.-old, less recent Ethiopian immigrants is similar to that of the recent Ethiopian immigrants of the same age. A difference exists between those two groups and the Israeli-born children of the same age. In the 10- to 12-yr.-old age group, there is a marked difference between the performance of the two groups of Ethiopian immigrants. The difference between the less recent immigrants and the Israeli-born children is smaller for most tasks; however, the less recent immigrants' performance is still poorer than that of the Israeli children. These results are compatible with those of other studies describing the difficulties encountered by children who had not studied in formal educational settings and those who have had that experience.     

Acculturation Conflict,Cultural Parenting Self‐Efficacy,and Perceived Parenting Competence in Asian American and Latino/a Families

Parents from immigrant backgrounds must deal with normative parenting demands as well as unique challenges associated with acculturation processes. The current study examines the independent and interactive influences of acculturation conflict and cultural parenting self‐efficacy (PSE; e.g., parents’ confidence in instilling heritage, American, and bicultural values in their children) on perceptions of general parenting competence. Using data from 58 Asian American and 153 Latin American parents of children in grades 6–12, ethnic differences were also explored. Results suggest that lower acculturation conflict is associated with higher perceptions of general parenting competence for both Asian and Latin American parents. Higher cultural PSE is associated with higher perceived general parenting competence for Latino/a parents only. One significant interaction was found, and only for Asian Americans, whereby the negative association between acculturation conflict and perceptions of parenting competence was weaker for those who felt efficacious in transmitting heritage messages. Results are discussed in light of clinical implications and the need for further recognition and study of culturally relevant factors and frameworks among families from immigrant backgrounds.     

Comparisons of second-generation holocaust survivors, immigrants, and nonimmigrants on measures of mental health

To determine whether a "children-of-holocaust-survivors syndrome" could more parsimoniously be explained as an "immigration effect," we performed a comparative study on a sample of 25 children of holocaust survivors, 25 children of immigrants, and 25 children of American-born parents. Subjects were matched on age and educational level and were assessed with four measures of mental health. Contrary to the findings of some researchers whose data supported such a syndrome, our data indicate no significant differences between children of holocaust survivors and the children of other immigrants. These data are suggestive of an immigration effect that is common to the children of immigrants and not limited to the children of holocaust survivors, rather than a survivors syndrome. The children of American-born parents showed greater alienation, less religiosity, and a tendency toward feelings of less guilt than the other two groups. Our data underscore the need to control immigrant status in multiple samples and studies before definitive conclusions can be drawn in this area.     

The Problem of Second-generation Decline: Perspectives on Integration in Canada

Recent studies in North America have produced mixed results on the socioeconomic success of second-generation immigrants. This study contributes to this debate by analysing the data of the 1999 Equality, Security, and Community Survey. The analysis reveals that children of immigrant parents are not performing as well as most theories of linear assimilation suggest. Their performance varies depending on whether one or both parents are foreign-born. Specifically, there is a marked similarity between the outcomes of native-born children and second-generation children with only one immigrant parent, and between immigrant children and those of the second generation with two foreign-born parents.