The relationship between acculturation, intergenerational family conflict, and late adolescent psychological adjustment in Asian Indian college students
Abstract
Grounded in the dissonant acculturation theory, this study investigated how the difference in levels of acculturation between the parent and adolescent (acculturation gap): (a) exists for Asian Indian families in the United States, and (b) relates to intergenerational conflict and late adolescent psychological adjustment, indicated by levels of anxiety and self-esteem. This study's first hypothesis was that there would be a significant positive relationship between acculturation gap and intergenerational conflict. Second it was hypothesized that intergenerational conflict would be significantly related to self-esteem and anxiety. Last it was hypothesized that the interaction of acculturation gap and intergenerational conflict would account for significant variance in anxiety and self-esteem. Participants included 109 undergraduate students ages 18-21. These students were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire and five instruments via the internet. The students completed an acculturation measure based on their own acculturation experience and were then asked to complete the same measure using their parent's perceived experience. Results of the bivariate correlations revealed that acculturation gap was significantly and positively correlated with intergenerational conflict. Additionally, intergenerational conflict was positively related to self-esteem but not significantly related to anxiety. Results of the regression analyses revealed that: (a) acculturation gap was a significant predictor of intergenerational conflict, and (b) intergenerational conflict contributed significantly to the variance in self-esteem. Intergenerational conflict did not significantly account for the variance in anxiety. Further regression analyses revealed that the interaction of acculturation gap and intergenerational conflict did not significantly contribute to the variance of anxiety or self-esteem. Implications of these findings, limitations of the study, and recommendations for future research were discussed.
Subject Area
Clinical psychology|Ethnic studies
Recommended Citation
Hajizadeh, Neda, "The relationship between acculturation, intergenerational family conflict, and late adolescent psychological adjustment in Asian Indian college students" (2009). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI3361355.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI3361355
