Acculturation, Enculturation, Parental Adherence to Asian Cultural Values, Parenting Styles, and Family Conflict Among Asian American College Students

The present study examined the relations between perceived parenting styles and family conflict with data from 149 Asian American college students. Ratings of parenting styles were highest for authoritarian style, followed by authoritative and permissive styles. Tests of mediation revealed that authoritarian parenting significantly explained why parents' adherence to Asian cultural values was associated with increased family conflict. Tests of moderation showed that as permissive parenting increased, more acculturated participants reported lower family conflict, although the reverse was true for their less acculturated counterparts. When authoritarian parenting increased, integrated, separated, and assimilated participants reported increased family conflict, whereas the marginalized group reported lower family conflict. Finally, assimilated participants reported less family conflicts at higher levels of authoritative parenting in comparison to the integrated, separated, and marginalized groups.