Biculturalism as a predictor of perceived quality of mother-child relationship in Chinese immigrant families

This study explored the role biculturalism played on the perceived quality of mother-child relationship in families comprised of first generation immigrant mothers who were of Chinese descent and emigrated from Asian countries, and their college-age offspring who were born and grew up in the U.S. The study employed second-generation, undergraduate students as respondents to report on the degree of biculturalism in mother and in self, as well the perceived quality of mother-child relationship in the domains of support, depth, and conflict. The supposition that biculturalism in mother and in offspring were predictive of the quality of mother-child relationship remained largely unsupported. However, increased degree of biculturalism in mother showed a significant association with a lower degree of conflict in the dyad relationship. Limitations of existing measures of biculturalism and the need of further development and refinement in instrumentation in this field were highlighted. The linkage between biculturalism and conflict in the dyad relationship warrants further research endeavors. Possible implications of cultural nuances relating the subjects' perception of mothers as being critical of them, and not particularly helpful in providing support when they were under stress were explored. The findings also showed that the rate and extent of acculturation varied along different aspects of customs, practices and values. The offspring tended to be closer to identifying with the mainstream culture than their mothers, although the influence of mothers' culture of origin in them was evidenced in their underlying identity and values. Mothers' social affiliation patterns were skewed toward the Chinese, while the offspring's were largely centered around Asians/Asian Americans. The standing of Chinese Americans, in relation to not only the majority population, but also other minority groups needs to be incorporated into studies on acculturation/biculturalism. Interdisciplinary collaboration and the employment of expanded research modalities, including quantitative as well as qualitative approaches, and cross-sectional as well as longitudinal designs were recommended.