Parenting Beliefs and Practices of Immigrant Chinese in the Midwestern United States: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Guided by the developmental niche framework, this ethnographic study aimed to explore immigrant Chinese parenting beliefs and practices in the Midwestern United States. Nine immigrant Chinese parents (eight mothers and one father) living in two Midwestern states were interviewed for their caretaking practices, expectations for children, understanding of cultural influences on parenting, and perceived challenges and resources in the community. Qualitative thematic analyses revealed five themes of immigrant Chinese parenting in the Midwest, including (1) teaching children Chinese language and culture; (2) integrating American and Chinese parenting; (3) communicating expectations with children; (4) adjusting parenting in the Midwestern context; and (5) maintaining connections to Chinese families and friends. Findings emphasized the dynamic nature of parenting in the shifting contexts and highlighted the importance of including settings, childrearing customs, and the unique caregiver psychology in immigrant parenting studies. Limitations and implications for future research were discussed.

Keywords

immigrant Chinese parenting Midwestern context Chinese culture American culture

Introduction

Immigrant parenting is challenging when migrant parents need to deal with the discrepancies between their cultural childrearing customs and predominant parental notions in the new environment. It is even more complicated in a less ethnically diverse destination where parents have limited ethnic resources in the new context (Rowe et al., 2016). The development niche framework (Super & Harkness, 1986) provides a valuable culturally bounded lens to understand how the two cultural contexts and childrearing customs dynamically affect caregivers’ parenting beliefs and practices. Namely, immigrant parents may continue some parenting notions from their original culture and context and change some after learning the new culture and context. Chinese parents in the US are typical examples whose parenting beliefs and practices originate from their collective cultural heritage and are adjusted to fit the new individualistic culture (Cheah et al., 2013; Yamamoto et al., 2016). Moreover, compared with immigrant Chinese parents in other areas of the US, those in the Midwest may have different parenting notions and practices related to their unique characteristics and contexts, such as high socioeconomic status in their countries of origin and migrant destinations, small immigrant population, and limited ethnic resources. Studying their everyday parenting practices and parental beliefs will contribute to a cultural understanding of this population and imply the ethnotheories of broader beliefs and societal notions of immigrant families in general (D’Andrade & Strauss, 1992; Quinn & Holland, 1987). An ethnographic study is a useful research approach to understanding the continuum and changes in cultural behaviors by incorporating the characteristics of the population and the contexts (Creswell & Poth, 2018). Therefore, this exploratory qualitative study used an ethnographic approach to explore immigrant parenting beliefs and practices by interviewing nine immigrant Chinese parents in two US Midwestern states. The three research questions included (1) What were the continuities in traditional parenting beliefs and practices among immigrant Chinese parents in the Midwestern context? (2) What were the changes in traditional parenting beliefs and practices among immigrant Chinese parents in the Midwestern context? (3) Did immigrant Chinese parenting in the Midwest have unique features?

Parenting Acculturation and Enculturation

Parenting styles, beliefs, and practices are well-established factors associated with various child outcomes, such as mental and physical health, cognitive development, school achievement, and behavior problems (Rose et al., 2018; Tully & Hunt, 2016; Yee et al., 2017). Parenting in a new land is accompanied by tremendous changes in context to which parents need to adjust. It is particularly complicated when new childrearing customs may conflict with parenting beliefs rooted in parents’ cultural traditions due to moving from one context to another. The development niche framework (Super & Harkness, 1986) has articulated how the migrant context exposes parents to the dynamics of physical and social contexts of everyday life (settings), childcare and childrearing customs (customs), and caretakers’ attitudes and behaviors in two cultures (caregiver psychology), which indirectly influence child development. To maintain the balance of the system consisting of the settings, childrearing customs, and caregivers, these parents may adjust their perceptions of parenting and evaluation of the two customs to acculturate to the new social context and finally respond to the larger human ecology. For example, a study reveals that some immigrant parents find that spanking in public, a common disciplining method in their original culture, is no longer legal and culturally acceptable in the new context. As a result, parents may evaluate this disciplining and other childrearing customs from their original culture and change their parenting practice to fit the requirements in the new context. Another example is that parents need to decide whether they will adopt the cultural way to co-sleep with children in the new context (Garcia & de Guzman, 2017). These evaluations and adjustments are essential acculturation process.

Prior acculturation research has also summarized two common cultural approaches to adjusting parenting in the migration context: acculturation and enculturation (Bornstein, 2016; 2017; Kim, 2008). Parenting acculturation helps parents adapt their parenting-related attitudes, values, and beliefs to the host culture. Berry (2005) also proposed four acculturating strategies based on one’s attitudes toward their original and new cultures. These strategies included integration (i.e., retain original and accept new), assimilation (i.e., abandon original and accept new), separation (i.e., keep original but reject new), and marginalization (i.e., abandon original and reject new). Among the four strategies, integration is the most desired and beneficial to the family through relieving parenting stresses and preparing the family to cope with cultural shocks (Leyendecker et al., 2018). Reserving heritage culture is also found to contribute to the wellbeing of American Chinese (Wang et al., 2019). In contrast to acculturation, parenting enculturation (Kim, 2008) refers to adhering to heritage parenting in the new culture. Studies reveal that higher parenting enculturation is associated with low general stress but high parenting stress when caregivers need to intentionally collect ethnic resources (Conroy et al., 2021).

Immigrant Chinese Parenting

Immigrant Chinese parents are studied as a homogeneous group represented by those residing in densely populated US cities (e.g., Los Angeles and New York City) (Chen et al., 2015, 2017; Yu et al., 2016). Findings show that, similar to other immigrant parents, Chinese immigrants strive to acculturate their parenting beliefs, attitudes, and practices into the dominant culture in the new country to fit in (Ho, 2014). Meanwhile, immigrant Chinese parents stay connected with their traditional culture emphasizing ethics, education, and family. They hold some unique parenting goals regarding knowledge, social norms, morality, and relationships (Luo et al., 2013). For example, many parents tend to view the success of their children also as their own and familial success, so they often set high expectations of child academic success and spend efforts to support children to achieve their educational goals (Chen et al., 2015; Ng et al., 2014). They also rely heavily on regular communication with their ethnic group to seek and exchange parenting resources (Zhou, 2014).

Despite these similarities, immigrant Chinese in the US are a heterogeneous group. They have diverse reasons for migration, various socioeconomic statuses, and different attitudes toward their cultural heritage. For example, early immigrants consist of many low-skill laborers, but recent immigrants mainly move for better educational and employment opportunities. As a result, recent immigrant Chinese on average hold higher educational and socioeconomic status than earlier generations (Omori, 2016). Moreover, early Chinese migrants perceive inherited culture and language as a stigma in the new context (Zhang, 2010), whereas recent Chinese migrants value Chinese culture and language (Guo, 2013). Immigrant Chinese parents’ supportive practices for children’s learning also vary by available resources. Parents with low socioeconomic status focus on building a less stressful learning environment at home and perceive high parental responsibilities for children’s learning. In contrast, those with high socioeconomic status value reading, so they spend a significant amount of time planning diverse reading activities for children (Yamamoto et al., 2016). Notably, contrary to the stereotype of the “tiger mother” parenting style, immigrant Chinese parents increasingly value children’s well-being and social competence (Ren & Treiman, 2016). Being exposed to co-parenting notions in the US, these immigrant Chinese parents emphasize father involvement more than other Chinese parents (Chen et al., 2017). Given these different contexts and parental characteristics, a culturally bounded approach is needed to study immigrant Chinese parenting beliefs and notions.

Immigrant Chinese Parenting in the Midwest

Immigrant Chinese parents in the Midwest have some unique features and challenges from those in other US areas (Chuang et al., 2018). Census data show that there were over two million immigrant Chinese, and most of them concentrated in large western or eastern coastal states and areas, such as California and New York City, and only a small proportion reside in the Midwest (United States Census Bureau, 2017). Those immigrant Chinese living in the metropolis have diversified backgrounds and resources. Many are descendants of early Chinese laborers who came to the US in the mid-19th century for low-skill jobs in construction. Many recent migrants are first or second-generation immigrants who come to the US for higher education or advanced-skill jobs in technology. In comparison, immigrant Chinese in the Midwest mainly consists of well-educated and financially sufficient university students (e.g., undergraduates, graduates, and visiting scholars) and professional services providers (e.g., technical experts, language teachers, and researchers) (Zong & Batalova, 2017). Moreover, the living costs in the Midwest are also lower than in the coastal areas (McCann, 2018). Therefore, immigrant Chinese parents in the Midwest often have lower levels of economic stress but fewer culture-based parenting resources compared to their counterparts (Hsiao et al., 2018; Maskileyson & Semyonov, 2017). Parenting behaviors and choices are embedded in the social context, where social norms and cultural values endorse or oppose certain behaviors. Immigrant parents uphold their traditional values despite moving to new communities (Bornstein, 2017, 2016). Immigrant parents living in the Midwest face unique challenges because, in this context, the new communities’ parenting norms are predominant, and their traditional parenting notions and practices are seen as divergent. Evaluating and negotiating two notions can be a more significant stressor than parents living in a more culturally diverse context. For example, several studies with Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino parents reported that these immigrant parents find it challenging to raise children in a context with limited ethnic resources. They also expressed the difficulty to maintain their cultural way of parenting and children’s attachment to the heritage culture (Endo, 2013; Garcia & de Guzman, 2017; Wang et al., 2021). It is worth investigating how immigrant parent view and address these contextual challenges. According to the development niche framework (Super & Harkness, 1986), these unique characteristics of the Midwestern immigrant Chinese parents and the Midwest context may lead to different parenting experiences, further shaping their parental notions and practices. The continuities and changes of their parenting may be different from those of parentings residing in developed areas. However, immigrant Chinese parents in the Midwest context are under studied. Therefore, this study seeks to understand immigrant Chinese parenting in the Midwest by exploring the continuities and changes of parenting beliefs and practices to fit the migrant context.

Method

This study was part of a larger study aiming to investigate culture and parenting among various Asian American groups, including Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Korean, and Vietnamese. Each smaller study followed the same design and procedures. During the study design, at least one bilingual researcher from each ethnic group participated in designing the interview protocol based on research findings and their cultural experiences and observations. They also participated in translating the interview protocol from English to the target languages. The translated instruments allowed participants to understand the questions and answers without language barriers. Regarding the participants, the inclusion criteria for this study included being an adult, self-identified Asian, or Asian American, and having a child 12 years or younger. One Asian parent in transnational families was also considered as fitting the inclusion criteria. This study used the purposive snowball sampling with several recruiting strategies simultaneously. First, the research team disseminated fliers of the study to local establishments frequently used by Asian Americans (e.g., libraries, ethnic markets, and restaurants). The team also placed ads in newsletters of Asian American groups. Second, researchers intentionally participated in cultural festivals and gatherings among ethnic groups that helped developed relationships and trust with potential participants. Lastly, given the small Chinese population poll, only approximately 2% of the population was Chinese American in the studied cities (US Census Bureau, 2017); a purposive snowball sampling was used to engage individuals from a hard-to-reach population (Creswell & Poth, 2018; Spring et al., 2003). Namely, researchers within each ethnic group used their social connections to identify and contact potential participants. Trust and rapport existed because of the shared ethnic background and network. Nonetheless, all the participants reported joining the study because of personal contact in their social network (i.e., snowball sampling). Trained bilingual researchers then conducted the interview and data analysis.

Participants

Table 1 lists the demographic information of the participants. The researchers identified nine immigrant Chinese parents (eight mothers and one father) who fit the inclusion criteria and agreed to participate in the research. The study interviewed nine immigrant Chinese parents living in two Midwestern states, among whom two were a couple from the same household. The mothers’ average age was 37.4 years, ranging from 31 to 43. Seven mothers and the father were born in mainland China, and one mother was born in Taiwan. They all self-reported as Chinese or Chinese American. Their stay in the US ranged from 4 months to 13 years. Most of them had no religious affiliation, but two mothers self-identified as Christians. The parents were generally well-educated, with six having received degrees beyond college (e.g., Ph.D., MA, or J.D.), two having received college degrees, and one having received an associate degree. They migrated to the US mainly for education (of themselves or their partners) or work. Five mothers were full-time or half-time employees in schools as Chinese language teachers or research scientists; two mothers held dependent visas, which did not allow them to work in the US, and were unemployed as housewives; both of the couples were visiting scholars. Their household income varied, with the highest estimated household income being six times the lowest. Three households earned more than the median income of USD 53,217 at the time; four earned less than the median; and the couple reported incomes in Chinese, which was above the median in their hometown. All the participants had one or two children living with them in the US.

Table 1.

Demographic Information of Participants.

Characteristic	Participant
Name	Bai	Chen	Fan	Hong	Juan	Ling	Mei	Mrs. Wong	Mr. Wong
Age	42	36	43	31	38	41	31	—	—
Birthplace	China	China	China	China	Taiwan	China	China	China	China
Years in the US	10	4	13	7	13	2.5	1	0.3	0.3
Religion	Christian	None	Christian	—	None	—	None	None	None
Education	Beyond college	Associate	College	College	Beyond college	Beyond college	Beyond college	Beyond college	Beyond college
Employment	Full-time research scientist	No job	Part-time mentor in public school	No job	Part-time teacher in public school	Full-time Chinese language teacher	Full-time Chinese language teacher	Visiting scholar specializing in childhood education	Visiting scholar (full-time university administrator in China)
Household income	$90,000	$14,400	$70,000	$60,000	$40,000	$36,000	$35,000	¥80,000 ($12,024)	¥80,000 ($12,024)
Number of children	2	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1
Age of children	8 and 4	5 and 1	7	5 and 4	7	6	3	4	4

Note. Participant’s name is a pseudonym for ethical consideration.

Procedures

Researchers obtained content from the participants to audio-record the interview and then asked participants to complete a short demographic survey. Two trained researchers interviewed them in Chinese—the language participants preferred. The interview lasted from one to two hours. The interview protocol included open-ended questions about children, parenting, culture, and migration. In this semi-structured interview design, the researchers provided prompts after each question to help participants understand and organize answers if they had difficulties answering the central questions. Upon completing the interview, each participant received 20 US dollars as an appreciation of their participation. The university Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved the project.

Data Analysis

Four researchers working in the US conducted the data analyses: three Chinese researchers were bilingual in Chinese and English, and one researcher from another Asian culture was bilingual in their native language and English. The research team consisting of multiple Chinese members validated the cultural translation including a non-Chinese researcher reduced biased analysis due to some pre-assumptions and beliefs of native Chinese. Audio-recorded responses were transcribed verbatim by three bilingual Chinese researchers and coded in Dedoose 7.0.23 (2016), a web-based program to analyze qualitative data. Two Chinese researchers conducted a qualitative thematic analysis to describe, classify, and interpret the raw data into English codes and themes (Creswell & Poth, 2018).

Specifically, the data coding was guided by the English codebook developed in the project design stage with an extensive literature review. First, due to the semi-structured interview, parents had added information to their previous responses when answering other questions. The two trained bilingual Chinese researchers grouped parents’ responses to questions representing the highest-level codes in the codebook. These questions included how to raise children in the US, how the two cultures and the US context influence their parenting (i.e., parenting goals and practices, division of parenting roles in a family, and expectations on children), what the differences are between parenting in the Midwest and other areas, and how to parent in the Midwestern context. Second, the Chinese researchers coded each response by its meaning into lower level codes in Chinese. They also translated these lower level codes into English so everyone on the team could understand. Third, the researchers grouped the translated codes into higher-level codes and further collapsed the groups into categories by comparing them with those in the codebook. The matched higher-level codes reflected similar parenting practices across settings, and unmatched ones reflected the unique cultural parenting practices among immigrant Chinese parents in the Midwest. To ensure the credibility of the coding, the two Chinese researchers coded 30% of the data independently at the first level code to identify similarities and disparities. They divided up the codes after agreeing with at least 80% of the initial codes. Two Chinese researchers also translated the Chinese excerpts into English for discussion. Finally, all four researchers conducted a cross-analysis of the English codes to detect common themes across participants.

Results

The thematic analysis culled five themes of parenting, including (1) teaching children Chinese language and culture; (2) integrating American and Chinese parenting; (3) communicating expectations with children; (4) adjusting parenting in the Midwestern context; and (5) maintaining connections to Chinese families and friends. Related excerpts presented in this paper were English translations of parents’ Chinese responses.

Theme I: Teaching Children Chinese Language and Culture

Immigrant Chinese parents were found to teach their children the Chinese language and culture intentionally. The parents saw language and culture are related to ethnic identity and future opportunities. They mentioned that knowing the Chinese language and culture was a long-term benefit, for it would help their children establish ethnic identity and prepare for future challenges and opportunities. Thus, they sent their children to language school each weekend and spoke Chinese with children at home.

Chinese Ethnic Identity

The parents generally said a Chinese ethnic identity would help children address identity confusion and reduce the sense of isolation in the new context. For example, a mother mentioned that her son was confused because his classmates had blond hair and white skin, and he was the only one with black hair. To answer this question, she used physical appearance as a starting point to talk about ethnic identity and helped her son learn about his Chinese heritage. Another mother, Hong, 7 years in the US, shared that she liked children to experience “a cultural shock,” as she saw the benefits of “the interactions of Chinese and American cultures.” Other parents also expressed that they encouraged their children to explore and embrace the differences and helped them understand and appreciate their cultures. Below is Hong’s sharing:

Having Chinese peers helped my daughter gain a sense of identity and stopped her from wondering why [she was different] when all other students in her school were white children except for her and an adopted black child with white parents. Similarly, my daughter did not understand why she was the only kid to learn and speak Chinese in the neighborhood and classroom. After attending a Chinese language school and being exposed to a Chinese cultural environment, she gained a Chinese ethnic identity.

The children stayed connected to their ethnic group, gained a sense of belonging, and remained accessible to ethnic resources and support. Similarly, Fan, 13 years in the US, talked about her understanding of ethnic identity and her daughter’s understanding:

It is essential to learn about Chinese culture. We know that kids will have questions about cultural confusion. We will tell her that she is both an American and Chinese because she was born in the US and her parents come from China... We speak Chinese at home and send her to a Chinese language school. Last Thanksgiving, when a teacher asked everyone to write a sentence to express gratitude, my daughter wrote that she would like to thank her family and China. She is aware of and proud of her background in two cultures.

In these examples, the parents seem to adopt an enculturation approach to help the children develop their Chinese ethnic identity. They showed equal appreciation of both Chinese and American cultures. They also integrated a series of cultural learning into daily parenting practices to help children understand the differences between two cultures, gain a sense of belonging, and cultivate cultural pride. They perceived that these practices might help their children develop a well-rounded Chinese ethnic identity.

Preparation for Future Challenges and Opportunities

Immigrant Chinese parents indicated that teaching their children the Chinese language and culture would prepare them for future challenges and opportunities by cultivating their ethnic pride, moral development, and bilingual ability. Specifically, the parents appraised specific merits of Chinese cultural values, such as emphasizing education and respecting parents, teachers, and elders. Bai, 10 years in the US, mentioned “Traditional Chinese culture urges people to show respect and humility. This virtue should be taught to children rather than be forgotten.” They expected that bilingualism and cultural diversity would advantage their children in future competitions with peers in the long term. Meanwhile, the parents acknowledged the challenges because of the complexity of the Chinese language and the English-speaking social environment. When children were occasionally reluctant to learn Chinese or other languages, the parents would motivate them with potential benefits. For example, a mother Fan said, “Being a Chinese kid means she has more opportunities [than others], so we tell our daughter that her sky would be unlimited. We have also encouraged her to learn Spanish so someday she can travel around the world.”

Theme II: Integrating American and Chinese Parenting

Immigrant Chinese parents adjusted their parenting to address contextual differences by evaluating and integrating their perceived best practices from American and Chinese cultures. A clear pattern is that the parents tailor their parenting by dancing between the two cultures. For example, a mother said she endorsed American parents to give unconditional love to children and disagreed with Chinese parents raising children as an investment for their elder life. Ling, 2.5 years in the US, shared a discussion with her husband about integrating two cultures in parenting: “Each culture has its value. My husband and I discussed whether we should raise our children with Chinese or American culture, and we agreed that we would take the merits of both. We liked Chinese culture emphasizing respect for parents, teachers, and elders; we also endorsed Western culture valuing equality and encouraging free opinions from children.” The immigrant parents also highlighted the differences in education and parental interventions. They shared their opinions and practices in balancing two cultures when raising their children. Notably, when the parents could not decide which one between the two conflicting values would benefit their children more, immigrant Chinese parents tend to stay with their inherited culture.

Education

The immigrant Chinese parents compared education in the two contexts. They mentioned that education in the US was flexible, with a handful of homework and emphasized cultivating children’s interests. In contrast, education in China was demanding, with extensive homework and various school programs. The parents said education in China would benefit children’s academic performance but decrease creativity and even lead to dogmatic thinking. Therefore, the parents incorporated the strengths of the two educational systems and overcome their disadvantages. They retained high expectations of children’s academic performance as other Chinese parents did. Meanwhile, the parents also sent children to various extra-curricular activities as other American parents did. They explained that extra curriculum activities based on children’s interests were necessary for learning outside of school, which benefits child development and school performance. The activities often included language learning (e.g., Chinese, Japanese), fine arts training and performance (e.g., singing, drawing, playing the piano, and dancing), sports (e.g., swimming, basketball, marathon, rope skipping, and soccer), and events and interest groups (e.g., heritage night, Bible study group, and reading club). Regarding the responsibilities of child education, the mothers assumed the primary roles in monitoring child learning after school, and fathers supported them. The father in this study also shared that he was proactively involved in parenting and child education. The parents stressed learning and engaged in child education by choosing appropriate programs for their children, collaborating with teachers to monitor children at home, and participating in school activities. For example, Bai, ten years in the US, shared her opinions and practices:

I think parents are important in pre-school preparation. Children will feel isolated if they feel their parents are no longer their partners once they go to school. Although parents are not schoolteachers, they are children’s abecedarians and educational supports outside schools. My husband and I often spare time to attend school activities, but I went to school more times [than my husband]. We both checked homework and talked to teachers during the biannual teacher-parent conference. We shared the parenting responsibility but depended on who had time—I often stayed with my daughter on daily learning. My husband cooked after work, and sometimes he read stories for the two kids and made handcrafts with them.

Autonomy Development

Another clear pattern was that although the parents became more flexible in parenting after being influenced by the host culture, they assumed their authoritative role in guiding the children and expected them to listen. They favored certain Chinese cultural customs but pointed out that other customs did not fit the new context. For instance, the parents valued respect and humbleness but disagreed with deemphasizing individual differences, overemphasizing hierarchy, and allowing parental spanking. Many parents were also concerned that “Chinese customs make children over conservative and cautious, who can quickly pick adults’ moods and conform to expectations.” Some parents further shared their observations of children from the two cultures, “American children tend to be more self-regulated (e.g., eat regularly, show good manners in speech, and well behaved) and more caring toward others (e.g., respond to parents, love siblings) than Chinese children.” Therefore, the parents endorsed certain American parenting customs to encourage children to pursue their interests, respect children, and avoid parental spanking. Meanwhile, although the parents acknowledged that their Chinese parenting and discipline were harsh and straightforward, they justified that low autonomy granting was necessary in certain situations. Below is how Juan, a mother from Taiwan, 13 years in the US, justifies her parenting:

I think American culture emphasizes individualism: children have to decide what they want. Yet, it might be challenging for American children to make decisions from too many options parents offer. A professor I worked with shared an interesting example: An American mother asked a two-year-old girl, “Do you want a cherry pie, apple pie, peach pie, or pecan pie?” Who knows the answer? Such a young girl? Perhaps providing multiple options is common and perceived as beneficial in the US. Still, we should know parental guidance is necessary when children are too young to make decisions themselves. I appreciate that American parents offer opportunities to help children figure out their preferences, but I hope to find a balance. Thus, I give my son both choices and advice, and he can decide whether to follow my advice and take the consequences, which leads to the best result.

Like this mother, other immigrant parents raising children in two cultural contexts tried to find a balance between two sets of childrearing customs and adjust their psychology in parenting their young kids.

Theme III: Communicating Expectations with Children

The current study asked parents’ expectations for children in the responses to questions about what made them feel proud of their children, what made a good child in general, and their expectations for children and strategies to communicate those expectations.

Expectations for Character, Education, and Future

The interviewed immigrant Chinese parents identified three expectations related to children’s personalities and traits, educational attainments, and future life. Specifically, they expected children to have good traits valued in both cultures, including kindness, honesty, self-regulation, diligence, and politeness. They also emphasized loyalty to family, highlighted in traditional Chinese culture, and leadership, emphasized in American culture. Other expectations included relationship-building skills and learning skills. For instance, the parents expected children to develop and maintain good relationships with others (e.g., family members, teachers, and peers), to respect elders (i.e., parents and grandparents), and to care about younger ones (i.e., siblings). They also praised learning attributes such as focus, persistence, diligence, and daily organization skills. A mother said self-motivated and independent learning was meaningful because parents could not always help children. Lastly, the immigrant Chinese parents mentioned like all Chinese parents, they valued knowledge and wanted their children to have high educational attainment (e.g., at least college degrees; gain intact and structural knowledge). The parents explained that this expectation would help children make friends of similar socioeconomic status, catch up with familial role models, and avoid the challenges parents had experienced. A mother, Fan, 13 years in the US, said: “A good child listens to teachers and performs well in school...I encourage my daughter to pursue a Ph.D. like her grandfather, so she will not have to follow my path going back to school after working for many years.”

Regarding expectations for children’s future, the immigrant Chinese parents stressed both personal achievements and overall well-being. The parents wished their children to achieve personal goals and become useful to society. They also indicated that emotional and physical well-being would be more important than career and social status should their children be financially independent. All parents said they would respect their children’s choices of future residency and spouses if their children were happy and loved. Nevertheless, a mother mentioned she still hoped her child would stay in the same country as her. Juan, Taiwanese, 13 years in the US, said:

I want him to be happy and useful to society. Not sure if I am right about it. Sometimes I explain to him why we expect good school performance: it is not only about the high grade now, but also about high income and life quality in the future.

The mothers indicated that fathers might hold different opinions. Fan, 13 years in the US, shared, “I do not think income determines life. Rather than pushing my daughter to pursue a high income, I think above average is fine, so I encourage her to follow her gut and do whatever she likes. However, her father has the opposite opinion. Do you see? Opinions are different even between people in the same household.” Parents would communicate and adjust expectations based on the children’s strengths. For example, the father, Mr. Wong, .3 years in the US, said before his daughter’s birth, he wanted her to be gentle and kind; however, he realized the daughter was active and aggressive after childbirth, so he began to foster her leadership. Overall, all parents expect their children to become all-around persons with good character and high educational attainment.

Strategies to Communicate Expectations

The parents mentioned several strategies to communicate parental expectations with children. These strategies included direct communication by telling the children what they wanted, indirect communication by setting role models and depicting potential positive and negative outcomes, and a mix of direct and indirect communication. From their examples, indirect communication and a mix seemed more common than direct communication. Ling, 2.5 years in the US, provided an example of motivating her son through setting role models, “I shared the news with my son when my students get offers from top universities. He was motivated and said he also would like to study at a top university. I often encourage him to work for this dream.” Chen, four years in the US, talked about how she pictured the potential outcomes. “Sometimes I told her, ‘If you work hard, we can move to a large house and buy a new car, and you will not have to go to work early every day and come back very late as your father does.’ Then she knew she needed to work hard on writing and transcribing storybooks.” Hong, seven years in the US, would use a mix of direct and indirect communication with her daughter. “Tell her about my expectations first. I would also say, ‘If you play the piano well, you can perform on different stages at school; if you do not know how to play the piano, you will be an audience sitting offstage and watching other kids performing’.”

Theme IV: Adjusting Parenting in the Midwestern Context

The immigrant Chinese parents indicated that parenting in the Midwest was challenging but manageable. They acknowledged that the Midwestern context benefits children with its environment and local resources, such as kind people, good public education, safe neighborhood, and low life stress). Meanwhile, the parents were concerned by the limited ethnic resources, such as Chinese community activities, cultural museums, Chinese books, and the Chinese language environment. To address the challenge, the parents shared several strategies to help their children continue learning the Chinese language and culture in the Midwest. For instance, they sent children to a language school during weekends for systematic and structural learning. Among the nine parents interviewed, five parents reported sending their children to Chinese language schools; two did not send their children to a language school because they were Chinese language teachers; the couple did not send their daughter because she grew up in China and just arrived in the US 4 months ago.

The parents also intentionally set a Chinese home environment for contextual learning. Each parent valued the family environment helping children learn the Chinese language and culture. They spoke Chinese, told Chinese stories and poems, and celebrated traditional Chinese festivals with children. Many parents also used local resources that included Chinese elements, such as borrowing English books about Chinese culture from local libraries. On traditional Chinese festivals, the parents and children would do traditional Chinese activities (e.g., writing couplets) and celebrate innovatively with prevailing American activities (e.g., creating posters). Juan, Taiwanese, 13 years in the US, described their parenting in the Midwest:

My son’s primary language is English because I tell him English is the dominant language in the US. He also speaks Japanese with my husband and Chinese with me because I have encouraged him [to speak different languages] since he was very young. We have established a Chinese calligraphy brush pen routine to write spring festival couplets at each Lunar New Year. My son also knows we will eat mooncakes at the Mid-Autumn Festival. I add the Dragon-Boat Festival to our family calendar, telling my son about the story of Quyuan [of whom the festival is in memory] and creating a poster with him to introduce the festival to others.

The parents also reported they seek each opportunity to expose their children to the Chinese context and teach children about their original culture, thus intriguing children’s interests in Chinese culture when the Midwest had limited ethical resources available. For example, some mothers indicated they also took children to Chinese or Asian churches, language schools, and Chinese associations to celebrate with other Chinese. Sending children back to China to gain cultural experiences was also an option if the parents had extended family or close relatives in China and they could afford the costs. A few mothers mentioned that they did so. The parents are also sensitive to ethnic culture. When encountering Chinese cultural elements, the parents would explain the origins and meanings of Chinese traditions. A mother mentioned that whenever the family watched TV together and saw any Chinese elements, parents would highlight them to their daughter. Ling, 2.5 years in the US, said:

The city we live in occasionally has some Chinese events, which can help my son learn about Chinese culture. I have taken his to a Chinese artist’s presentation and exhibition.

Theme V: Maintaining Connections to Chinese Families and Friends

Another shared parenting belief among these immigrant parents in the Midwest was valuing connections to Chinese origins. These parents noted they perceived these connections as good resources for the family, thus maintaining close connections to Chinese families and friends in China and in the US. They contacted people in China on a regular and frequent basis via phone calls and messages on social network software (e.g., QQ and WeChat). They also visited families and friends in person when they occasionally returned to China. Despite being uncommon among all immigrant Chinese, some parents invited their parents or parents-in-law to live with them in the US and help them take care of the children. Even if grandparents and other extended families were not in the US, the parents still relied on their information and valued their suggestions as indispensable parts of immigrant parenting. For example, one mother mentioned that the grandparents would remind them of celebrating festivals with children when they forget. In the US Midwest, the parents stayed connected with other immigrant Chinese by regularly attending ethnic group activities held by reading clubs, Chinese churches, and other communities. They also talked to other parents in the Chinese language school. For example, Bai, ten years in the US, said:

I call my family in China every month or every other month. Chinese alum friends who live nearby in the Midwest are also important to me. We attend activities held by a church every Friday, which offer tea, meals, learning sessions, and opportunities for children to meet. Of course, most participants are Chinese… The Chinese language school opens on Sunday afternoon, Chinese parents will go there, and some will stay after class... We also attended several Spring-Festival celebrations held by the student organization, the Chinese Association, Taiwan Student Organization, and Asian Association in the city.

Regarding children’s relationships, the parents all agreed that having friends from different cultures was important for their children. The parents pointed out the reasons. Chinese friends shared similar cultural values and backgrounds with their children, helping children develop ethnic identity. American friends introduced their children to local cultures, helping children get accepted in the new context. Friends from other countries cultivated a sense of diversity and inclusion for their children, preparing children to team with different people. Bai, ten years in the US, described her daughter spending time with Chinese friends:

My daughter often with a kid named Wenwen in our apartment building on Saturday afternoons, and they go to the same Chinese language school and learn Chinese dancing together though they follow different school schedules. She also likes Tiantian, her classmate from the same Chinese language school. She wants me to talk with Tiantian’s mom because she wants to be invited to their home to play together.

Discussion

Informed by the developmental niche framework (Super & Harkness, 1986), this study aimed to explore immigrant parenting in the Midwestern United States using a cultural-bound approach. The three research questions asked about the continuities and changes in traditional parenting beliefs and practices among immigrant Chinese parents in the Midwestern context and the unique features of immigrant Chinese parenting in the Midwest. Findings revealed that respondents valued the Chinese language and culture for perceived benefits for their children, such as fostering a positive sense of Chinese identity, developing bilingual abilities, benefiting autonomy development, and emphasizing educational attainment. The parents believed these gains would help their children living in the US deal with the challenge of identity confusion, gain ethnic support, and prepare for future challenges and opportunities as international citizens. Following this belief, immigrant Chinese parents in the Midwest seek cultural experiences for their children. For instance, they sent their children to language school to structurally learn Chinese, maintained connections to Chinese families and friends in China and the US, and some parents even sent their children back to China despite the high cost. In addition to maintaining culturally embedded parenting, the parents adopted some American parenting beliefs and practices to fit in the new context. Despite maintaining high educational expectations for children, immigrant Chinese parents in the Midwest stress multiple dimensions of child well-being (e.g., physical, emotional, and social). Immigrant Chinese parents also tried to avoid spanking children after migration because this legally and culturally acceptable discipline in China might be considered physical abuse in the US, prohibited by law and childrearing customs. Although still playing supportive roles, immigrant fathers in the US also shared significant amounts of household chores (e.g., cooking) and parenting responsibilities (e.g., reading for kids and checking homework) regardless of traditional Confucianism defined men as breadwinners and women as homemakers (Kim et al., 2018; Luo et al., 2013).

The findings have three implications. First, the results corroborate the developmental niche framework that settings, childrearing customs, and caregiver psychology dynamically interact to keep the system’s balance in response to the large human ecology. Specifically, the migration from China to the US has exposed families to the changes in the physical and social settings of parenting. The migration context has also exposed the parents to two different, sometimes conflictual, parental notions and childrearing customs from their inherited Chinese culture and the new US culture. With two components (i.e., settings and childrearing customs) being changed in the niche, immigrant parents have to adjust the third component (i.e., their parenting) to maintain the balance of the niche and respond to the human ecology. In this process, immigrant Chinese parents in the Midwest continue some traditional parenting beliefs and practices but also change some traditional ways of parenting to fit into the new context. In other words, these parents have used integration as their acculturating strategy (Berry, 2005). Similar to immigrant Chinese parents residing in other parts of the US, those in the Midwest also upheld some traditional Confucian values to emphasize good personalities and traits, educational achievements, family responsibilities, and social relationships (Guo, 2013; Huang & Lamb, 2015; Luo et al., 2013; Ren & Pope Edwards, 2016; Ren & Treiman, 2016; Yu et al., 2016). The integration of traditional parenting beliefs and practices and new parenting after migration also appeared in other immigrant parenting (e.g., Filipino, Korean, and Latino parenting) in the US (Cheah et al., 2013; Cote et al., 2015; Garcia & de Guzman, 2017; Hernandez & Moreno, 2018).

Second, the findings suggest that the developmental niche is subject to caregivers’ characteristics. Motivated by education and high-skill jobs, immigrant Chinese parents who migrate to the Midwest have higher education and financial independence before and after migration than immigrant Chinese parents who live in US coastal areas and diversified immigrant history. This unique socioeconomic background may have allowed immigrant parents in the Midwest to critically evaluate parenting customs in China and the US and then adjust their cultural thinking and practices to acculturate their parenting in the new land to benefit their children. Unlike early migrants and their children who view the Chinese language as a stigma, these recent immigrant Chinese view the traditional culture as a strength (Zhang, 2010). The parents have also engaged in parenting practices that help build their children’s Chinese identity and maintain connections to Chinese parents and friends. Although prior research shows opposite associations between enculturating approach and adjustment in the new land (Conroy et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2019), these immigrant Chinese parents endorsed the approach regarding building children’s ethnic identity may also be related to their high socioeconomic status. All the parents interviewed could name the differences, strengths, and limitations of two parenting (i.e., traditional Chinese parenting and US parenting). They have provided robust reasons for endorsing certain parenting beliefs and practices instead of following the herd. This awareness and evaluation capabilities are different from the passive adaption to environmental changes. In addition to the individual variations, such as socioeconomic status and education, among the immigrant parents, macro-level social changes may also partially explain the differences in immigrant parenting between earlier and current migrants. For example, a cross-cultural study reveals that Chinese parents’ perceived social changes mediate the relationship between parenting practices and family relations (Fung et al., 2017). These current immigrant Chinese parents have experienced drastic social and economic changes in China since the reform in the 1970s. The overall quality of life and educational attainment of Chinese has also improved over the last decades (Shek et al., 2022). Future studies may investigate how these social changes contribute to parental attitudes toward the value of heritage culture and language. Our comparisons of the responses show that their parental notions and practices are not varied by length of immigration. It may also be related to the unique Midwestern context, which attracts immigrant parents of similar high socioeconomic status. However, our qualitative research and the small simple size are insufficient to render the conclusion. Future research may examine how the length of stay in the migration context may affect parental notions and practices. Furthermore, the parents are innovative in integrating the perceived merits of two different parenting notions and practices and find the balance. For example, the mother provides her child with both options as American parents often do and guidance as Chinese parents often do, letting the child make decisions and take consequences. Another example is that the parents encourage children to make friends from diversified cultural backgrounds and those from the US and China. These differences in individual characteristics, parenting beliefs, and practices suggest future research to examine whether and how caregivers’ demographic characteristics or motivations for migration affect immigrant parenting beliefs and practices.

Third, the development niche is also subject to specific migration contexts. Immigrant Chinese parenting in the Midwestern context has some unique features, which might be related to the less diversified immigrant history, fewer ethnic resources, and lower living economic stress in this area compared to the US coastal areas (Hsiao et al., 2018; Maskileyson & Semyonov, 2017). Immigrant parents in the Midwest seek ethnic experiences and incorporate local resources to maintain cultural traditions with children when ethnic resources are inadequate and local people have limited knowledge about Chinese culture. For example, the parents take children to ethical events (e.g., Chinese exhibitions and traditional festivals celebrations), borrow English books about Chinese culture from libraries, celebrate traditional Chinese festivals (e.g., creating posters), and explain to children when encountering Chinese culture in everyday life (e.g., watching TV programs). They create posters with children to celebrate traditional Chinese festivals and communicate with the local people about the cultural traditions. They also seek tremendous ethnic support by maintaining frequent contact with Chinese families and friends in China and the US. In terms of expectations for children, immigrant Chinese parents in the Midwest value children’s physical and emotional well-being rather than overemphasizing culturally endorsed career well-being and educational attainment. They encourage children to participate in preferred extra-curricular activities and sports and choose their future residency and intimate partner relationship as long as they are happy. It is unclear whether and how much the low-stress Midwest living environment and the parents’ well-educated status has contributed to this parenting belief. Future studies comparing the changes of the contexts in the niche may help better understand immigrant parenting and provide the most in need. Although the current study includes participants only from two Midwestern cities, other ethnographic studies on immigrant parenting also highlighted parental challenges of rearing bicultural children in a context lacking ethnic resources, and parents encouraged their children to maintain strong attachments to their heritage culture (Endo, 2013; Garcia & de Guzman, 2017; Wang et al., 2021). The results suggest that immigrant parenting in general is embedded in their contexts.

These findings helped gain an in-depth understanding of immigrant parenting in the Midwest but also had several limitations. First, the study relied exclusively on mothers’ reports, and only one father was included, which might lead to a biased and incomplete picture of immigrant parenting. Research has revealed that gender influenced parenting views and practices among immigrant families (Chuang & Tamis-LeMonda, 2009), and grandparents also played essential roles in many Chinese families. The couple in this study was also a specific case. The mother specialized in child education, which was a reason for the father to follow the mother’s suggestions in parenting. Other fathers might have different opinions and practices. Future studies should include reports from fathers and grandparents and observations to get a comprehensive understanding of immigrant parenting. Second, this study was bounded to two Midwestern cities, which might not reflect the variations within Chinese parents in other cities in this area considering the intragroup differences. Other metropolitan cities in the Midwest might have more ethnic resources, whereas microcities might have fewer local resources. Similarly, the immigrant parents might also have diversified characteristics. Studies on immigrant parenting should incorporate unique individual features and parenting contexts. Third, although generalization was not the purpose of qualitative research, a more diversified sample of immigrant Chinese parents might provide more insights for future quantitative design. Fourth, the purposive snowball sampling may contribute to shared parenting notions and practices due to participants’ social networks with others having similar backgrounds. The interpretation of the findings is also subject to this sampling method. Fifth, our study did not directly ask about parents’ immigration intention and status (e.g., short visits or permanent immigration), which may affect their parenting. Their years of stay and employment status may reflect this information, but we did not find significant differences in their responses. Future research should consider including the information and investigate how it may affect the findings.

Overall, this study implies a need to understand immigrant parenting by including parents’ demographic characteristics, original culture, and new contexts. It adds literature about immigrant Chinese parenting in a region where the number of immigrants is small but growing fast. It also sheds light on understanding immigrant parenting by exploring the dynamic changes in the context, childrearing customs, and caretakers’ characteristics.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Dan Wang

Maria Rosario de Guzman

References

Berry

J. W.

(2005). Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(6), 697–712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.07.013

Bornstein

M. H.

(2016). Determinants of parenting. In Cicchetti

(Ed.), Developmental psychopathology: Risk, resilience, and intervention. Wiley.

Bornstein

M. H.

(2017). Parenting in acculturation: Two contemporary research designs and what they tell us. Current Opinion in Psychology, 15, 195–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.03.020

Cheah

C. S.

Leung

C. Y.

Zhou

(2013). Understanding “tiger parenting” through the perceptions of Chinese immigrant mothers: Can Chinese and US parenting co-exist? Asian American Journal of Psychology, 4(1), 30–40. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031217

Chen

J. J.

Sun

(2017). A comparative study on parenting of preschool children between the Chinese in China and Chinese immigrants in the United States. Journal of Family Issues, 38(9), 1262–1287. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513x15619460

Chen

S. H.

Main

Zhou

Bunge

S. A.

Lau

Chu

(2015). Effortful control and early academic achievement of Chinese American children in immigrant families. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 30, 45–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.08.004

Chuang

S. S.

Glozman

Green

D. S.

Rasmi

(2018). Parenting and family relationships in Chinese families: A critical ecological approach. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 10(2), 367–383. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12257

Chuang

S. S.

Tamis-LeMonda

(2009). Gender roles in immigrant families: Parenting views, practices, and child development. Sex Roles, 60(7–8), 451–455. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9601-0

Conroy

Frech

Sanchez

A. L.

Hagan

M. B.

Bagner

D. M.

Comer

J. S.

(2021). Caregiver stress and cultural identity in families of preschoolers with developmental delay and behavioral problems. Infant Mental Health Journal, 42(4), 573–585. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21923

10.

Cote

L. R.

Kwak

Putnick

D. L.

Chung

H. J.

Bornstein

M. H.

(2015). The acculturation of parenting cognitions: A comparison of South Korean, Korean immigrant, and European American mothers. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46(9), 1115–1130. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022115600259

11.

Creswell

J. W.

Poth

C. N.

(2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Sage.

12.

D’Andrade

R. G.

Strauss

(Eds.), (1992). Human motives and cultural models. Cambridge University Press.

13.

Endo

(2013). Realities, rewards, and risks of heritage-language education: Perspectives from Japanese immigrant parents in a Midwestern community. Bilingual Research Journal, 36(3), 278–294. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2013.845117

14.

Fung

Kim

J. J.

Jin

Fang

Lau

A. S.

(2017). Perceived social change, parental control, and family relations: A comparison of Chinese families in Hong Kong, mainland China, and the United States. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1671. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01671

15.

Garcia

A. S.

de Guzman

M. R. T.

(2017). Filipino parenting in the USA: The experiences of Filipino mothers in northern Nevada. Psychology & Developing Societies, 29(2), 264–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/0971333617716848

16.

Guo

(2013). Ideals and realities in Chinese immigrant parenting: Tiger mother versus others. Journal of Family Studies, 19(1), 44–52. https://doi.org/10.5172/jfs.2013.19.1.44

17.

Hernandez

Moreno

(2018). Latino youth, acculturation, and parenting. In Brief interventions for adolescent alcohol and substance abuse. The Guilford Press.

18.

G. W.

(2014). Acculturation and its implications on parenting for Chinese immigrants: A systematic review. Journal of Transcultural Nursing: Official Journal of the Transcultural Nursing Society, 25(2), 145–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659613515720

19.

Hsiao

Y. L.

Bindewald

Bailey

L. E.

(2018). Educational experiences of Chinese immigrants in smalltown, USA: Acculturation and the intersections of class, religious norms, and race. Religion and Education, 45(2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2018.1425075

20.

Huang

C. Y.

Lamb

M. E.

(2015). Acculturation and parenting in first-generation Chinese immigrants in the United Kingdom. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46(1), 150–167. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022114555763

21.

Kim

B. S. K.

(2008). Acculturation and enculturation. In Leong

F. T. L.

Inman

A. G.

Ebreo

Yang

Kinoshita

(Eds.), Handbook of Asian American psychology (2nd ed.). Sage.

22.

Kim

S. W.

Cho

Song

(2018). Revisiting the explanations for Asian American scholastic success: A meta-analytic and critical review. Educational Review, 71(6), 1–21).https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2018.1471664

23.

Leyendecker

Cabrera

Lembcke

Willard

Kohl

Spiegler

(2018). Parenting in a new land. European Psychologist, 23(1), 57–71. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000316

24.

Luo

Tamis-LeMonda

C. S.

Song

(2013). Chinese parents’ goals and practices in early childhood. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(4), 843–857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2013.08.001

25.

Maskileyson

Semyonov

(2017). On race, ethnicity and on the economic cost of immigration. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 50, 19–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2017.06.003

26.

McCann

(2018). 2018’s most and least stressed states. Retrieved from: https://wallethub.com/edu/most-stressful-states/32218/

27.

F. F. Y.

Pomerantz

E. M.

Deng

(2014). Why are Chinese mothers more controlling than American mothers? “My child is my report card”. Child Development, 85(1), 355–369. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12102

28.

Omori

(2016). Educated and staying at home: Asian immigrant wives' labor force participation in the US. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 47(4), 463–481. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.47.4.463

29.

Quinn

Holland

(1987). Culture and cognition. In Cultural models in language and thought. Cambridge University Press.

30.

Ren

Pope Edwards

(2016). Contemporary Chinese parents’ socialization priorities for preschoolers: A mixed methods study. Early Child Development and Care, 186(11), 1779–1791. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2015.1132418

31.

Ren

Treiman

D. J.

(2016). The consequences of parental labor migration in China for children’s emotional wellbeing. Social Science Research, 58, 46–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2016.03.003

32.

Rose

Roman

Mwaba

Ismail

(2018). The relationship between parenting and internalizing behaviours of children: A systematic review. Early Child Development and Care, 188(10), 1468–1486. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2016.1269762

33.

Rowe

M. L.

Denmark

Harden

B. J.

Stapleton

L. M.

(2016). The role of parent education and parenting knowledge in children’s language and literacy skills among White, Black, and Latino families. Infant and Child Development, 25(2), 198–220. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.1924

34.

Shek

D. T. L.

Peng

Zhou

(2022). Editorial: Children and adolescent quality of life under socialism with Chinese characteristics. Applied research in quality of life, 17(5), 2447–2453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-021-09999-3

35.

Spring

Westermeyer

Halcon

Savik

Robertson

Johnson

D. R.

Butcher

J. N.

Jaranson

(2003). Sampling in difficult to access refugee and immigrant communities. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 191(12), 813–819. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nmd.0000100925.24561.8f

36.

Super

C. M.

Harkness

(1986). The developmental niche: A conceptualization at the interface of child and culture. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 9(4), 545–569. https://doi.org/10.1177/016502548600900409

37.

Tully

L. A.

Hunt

(2016). Brief parenting interventions for children at risk of externalizing behavior problems: A systematic review. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25(3), 705–719. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0284-6

38.

United States Census Bureau . (2017). 2017 national population projections datasets. Retrieved from: https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/2017/demo/popproj/2017-popproj.html

39.

Wang

Bordon

J. J.

Wang

K. T.

Yeung

J. G.

(2019). Acculturation, enculturation, perceived discrimination, and well-being: A comparison between US-raised and non–US-raised Asian students. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 10(1), 22–32. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000117

40.

Wang

S. C.

Plano Clark

V. L.

Fan

S. K.

(2021). How do we raise Chinese kids here? A qualitative study on the cultural translation of immigrant Chinese parents in the midwestern us context. In Conceptual and methodological approaches to navigating immigrant ecologies. (pp. 155–176). Springer.

41.

Yamamoto

Liu

J. L.

(2016). Does socioeconomic status matter for Chinese immigrants’ academic socialization? Family environment, parental engagement, and preschoolers’ outcomes. Microscopy (Oxford, England), 65(2), 191–198. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmicro/dfv373

42.

Yee

A. Z.

Lwin

M. O.

S. S.

(2017). The influence of parental practises on child promotive and preventive food consumption behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14(1), 47. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0501-3

43.

Cheah

C. S.

Calvin

(2016). Acculturation, psychological adjustment, and parenting styles of Chinese immigrant mothers in the United States. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 22(4), 504–516. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000091

44.

Zhang

(2010). Language maintenance and language shift among Chinese immigrant parents and their second-generation children in the US. Bilingual Research Journal, 33(1), 42–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235881003733258

45.

Zhou

(2014). Segmented assimilation and socio-economic integration of Chinese immigrant children in the USA. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 37(7), 1172–1183. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2014.874566

46.

Zong

Batalova

(2017). Chinese immigrants in the United States. Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved from: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/chinese-immigrants-united-states