Asian Immigrant Parents' Language Use and Perceptions of Parent–Child Relationship Quality

Abstract

Research on Asian immigrant families has primarily focused on the influence of cultural factors, such as acculturation, on parent–child relationships, yet emerging research suggests that language use may play a critical role, especially when multiple languages (e.g., English and/or a heritage language; HL) may be used in the parent–child communication context. This exploratory study investigated the associations between parent language use and perceived parent–child relationship quality (i.e., positive relationship, parent–child conflict) among Asian immigrant parents (N = 90) of early adolescents ages 9–13. A MANCOVA was conducted to examine these associations, controlling for parent and child sociodemographic factors. Results indicated that parent-reported language use was significantly associated with perceived parent–child conflict: English-speaking parents reported higher levels of parent–child conflict (M = 1.65, SE = 0.29) than their HL-speaking (M = 0.61, SE = 0.30) and bilingual counterparts (M = 0.81, SE = 0.19; F(2, 80) = 4.04, p = 0.021, partial η2 = 0.09). When comparing the English language group against the bilingual language group, perceived parent–child conflict was statistically significant (p = 0.048). Parent-reported language use was not associated with perceived positive relationships. Findings highlight language use as an important mechanism in shaping parent–child relationships in Asian immigrant families, above and beyond the effects of acculturation. Greater attention to language use may strengthen future research and family interventions aimed at improving parent–child relationships in Asian immigrant families.