Qing Zhou

The present study examined the direct and indirect relations of family contextual factors, effortful control (EC), and the early math and English literacy skills of first and second-generation Chinese American immigrant children in early elementary school. Using a socioeconomically diverse sample of 258 Chinese American children (53% receiving free-or reduced-price school lunch), we assessed EC with a combination of parent and teacher reports, computerized neuropsychological tests, and a behavioral frustration task. Children's math calculation and English literacy skills were assessed with standardized achievement tests. Results of structural equation modeling suggested that: (a) EC was positively associated with both math and English literacy skills; (b) parents' enculturation was marginally and positively associated with children's EC, and EC mediated the link between parent's enculturation and children's achievement, (c) authoritarian parenting was marginally and negatively associated with children's EC, and EC mediated the link between authoritarian parenting and children's achievement; (d) parents' enculturation had a direct and negative link to children's English literacy skills; and (e) no evidence of an EC × SES interaction was found. The findings highlight the need to consider joint influences of socioeconomic, interpersonal, and cultural factors on children's academic development in immigrant families; and provide support for promoting children's effortful control as an intermediate target of intervention.

The prospective relations between five types of parental reactions to children's negative emotions (PRCNE) and children's psychological adjustment (behavioral problems and social competence) were examined in a two-wave longitudinal study of 425 school-age children in China. Parents (mostly mothers) reported their own PRCNE. Parents, teachers, and children or peers reported on children's adjustment. Parental punitive reactions positively predicted externalizing problems (controlling for baseline), whereas emotion-and problem-focused reactions were negatively related to internalizing problems. Parental minimizing and encouragement of emotion expression were unrelated to adjustment. Concurrent relations were found between PRCNE and parents' authoritative and authoritarian parenting dimensions. However, PRCNE did not uniquely predict adjustment controlling for global parenting dimensions. The findings have implications for cultural adaptation of parent-focused interventions for families of Chinese origin.

The present study examined relations between prosocial tendencies (dispositional sympathy and prosocial behavior) and psychological adjustment using a multi-method and multi-informant approach in a socioeconomically diverse sample of first-and second-generation Chinese American children from immigrant families (N 5 238, M age 5 9.2 years). We tested the concurrent associations between: (a) children's dispositional sympathy (rated by parents, teachers, and children, and observed prosocial behavior), (b) psychological adjustment (parent-and teacher-reported externalizing problems and social competence); and (c) cultural and socio-demographic factors (children's Chinese and American orientations, family Socioeconomic Status (SES), only child status, and children's age, sex, and social desirability). Results from correlations and structural equation modeling suggested that different measures of prosocial tendencies related differently to children's psychological adjustment. Parent-and teacher-rated sympathy were associated with higher child social competence and lower externalizing problems within, but not across, reporter. By contrast, child-rated sympathy was associated with higher teacher-rated social competence, and observed prize donation was associated with lower teacher-rated externalizing problems. Different measures of prosocial tendencies also showed different relations to cultural and socio-demographic factors. These findings suggest that prosocial tendencies are not a unitary construct in Chi-nese American immigrant children: the manifestations of prosocial tendencies and their adjustment implications might depend on the context and/or targets of these tendencies.

This study examines whether program effects on mother-child relationship quality and effective discipline mediated the 6-year longitudinal effects of the New Beginnings Program (NBP) to improve mental health and competence outcomes in 218 adolescents from divorced families in a randomized experimental trial. The NBP is a theory-based and parenting-focused preventive intervention to help children adjust to divorce, and it has previously shown significant main and/or Program x Baseline Risk interaction effects to reduce adolescents' mental health and social adaptation problems and to promote competence. Mediation analyses were conducted using single- and two-group (high and low baseline risk) structural equation modeling. A multiple-methods and multiple-informants approach was used to assess the putative mediators and adolescents' outcomes. Results indicated that program-induced improvement in maternal effective discipline at posttest mediated the intervention effect on adolescents' GPA at the 6-year follow-up. Moreover, program-induced improvement in mother-child relationship quality mediated the intervention effect on adolescents' mental health problems for those with high baseline risk for maladjustment. The discussion focuses on the implications of the mediation findings for advancing the developmental theories that informed the design of the NBP and the implications for implementation of the NBP in community settings.