A longitudinal study of family process influences on socioeconomic status achievement among Southeast Asian immigrant adolescents: implications for parent education and K-12 education

Abstract

Based on Bronfenbrenner's Process-Person-Context-Time research model, this study explores individual factor effects of family context (i.e., parents' acculturation), family processes (i.e., parental involvement and parent-child conflict), and adolescents' individual characteristics (i.e., self-esteem and gender) on adolescent children's SES achievement (i.e., highest education and annual income) in adulthood. In addition, this study explores the interplay effect of those family and individual factors on adolescents' SES achievement in adulthood. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) procedures were used because this study aims to test the conceptual model of Southeast Asian immigrant adolescents' long-term SES achievement using the Children of Immigrant Longitudinal Study, a ten-year national panel data. The hypothesized relationships in the model include the followings: (a) positive effect of parents' acculturation on parental involvement and on adolescents' SES achievement in adulthood and negative effect on parent-child conflict (b) negative effect of parental involvement on parent-child conflict and positive effect on adolescents' self-esteem and on SES achievement (c) negative effect of parent-child conflict on adolescents' self-esteem (d) positive effect of adolescents' self-esteem on SES achievement. This study reveals the individual effects of family processes and adolescent individual characteristics on Southeast Asian immigrant adolescents' long-term SES achievement. More essentially, the interplay effect of family processes and adolescent individual characteristics takes a critical role in the adolescents' SES achievement by potentially mediating or moderating the parents' SES effect. Implications for parent education and K-12 education for Southeast Asian immigrant families were discussed in the way to help immigrant adolescents succeed in the host society socioeconomically.