Guan, parental attachment, school bonding, and susceptibility to initiate smoking in non-smoking Chinese Americans

The main purpose this study is two fold: (a) to examine if Guan parenting behaviors would facilitate positive attachments to parents and bonding to schools in Chinese American young adults, and (b) to explore the impact of attachment/bonding on susceptibility to initiate smoking. To reach the objectives of this study, perceived parenting behaviors, perceived parent-child attachment, school bonding during high school, and susceptibility to initiate smoking were examined in non-smoking Chinese American young adults. A total of 79 never-smoked Chinese Americans in the age range of 18 to 32, with parents both living and married to each other, and currently residing in the United States participated in the study. The Personal Background Questionnaire, the Parental Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ), the Guan Questionnaire, the School Bonding Questionnaire, and the Susceptibility to Initiate Smoking Questionnaire were administered on the Internet, and data were analyzed using partial correlations, one-way analysis of covariance, and logistic regression. Results did not show significant correlations between susceptibility to initiate smoking and Guan, parental attachment, and school bonding in Chinese Americans. However, consistent with the concepts of Guan, results showed that Chinese American men and women who perceived their parents as practicing less Guan described less parental support and guidance, as measured by one of the subscales in PAQ. Results also showed that the demographic variable acculturation had a significant association with Chinese American men's parental attachment and school bonding. Specifically, more acculturated Chinese American men reported less positive parental attachment and school bonding. This finding is consistent with the notion that acculturation negatively affects family values and relationships, thus more acculturated children, particularly males, are less likely to feel supported from parents, to seek guidance/advice from parents, and to emphasize academic achievements. Additionally, the differences in the impact of acculturation on Chinese American men versus women suggest the importance of considering gender differences when examining parental attachment and school bonding in Chinese Americans.