Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Relations Between Academic Adjustment and Parental Psychological Control of Academically Gifted Chinese American and European American Students

  • Published:
Child Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Most studies on parenting and adolescent development address the effect of parenting on adolescent outcomes. Little research has examined how adolescent outcomes may influence parenting. Drawing on longitudinal data over a two-year period (ninth to tenth grade), this study examines the reciprocal relations between parenting and adolescent outcomes—specifically, between parental psychological control and adolescent academic adjustment. The participants were 339 academically gifted high school students from Chinese American and European American families. Our findings suggest that the reciprocal relationship between psychological control and academic adjustment is similar for academically gifted Chinese and European American students. Regarding the child’s effect, low levels of earlier academic efficacy predicted later psychological control for both groups. Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not find parental effects for either group, suggesting that psychological control does not bring about negative academic adjustment outcomes for either ethnicity. Implications and directions for future research are also discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adelson, J. L. (2007). A “perfect” case study: perfectionism in academically talented fourth graders. Gifted Child Today, 30(4), 14–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aunola, K., & Nurmi, J.-E. (2004). Maternal affection moderates the impact of psychological control on a child’s mathematical performance. Developmental Psychology, 40, 965–978.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barber, B. K. (1996). Parental psychological control: revisiting a neglected construct. Child Development, 67(6), 3296–3319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, D. J. (2005). The role of nonlinear factor-to-indicator relationships in tests of measurement equivalence. Psychological Methods, 10(3), 305–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chao, R. K. (2001). Extending research on the consequences of parenting style for Chinese Americans and European Americans. Child Development, 72(6), 1832–1843.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, F. F., Sousa, K. H., & West, S. G. (2005). Testing measurement invariance of second-order factor models. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 12(3), 471–492.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chua, A. (2011). Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. New York: Penguin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • d’Ailly, H. (2003). Children’s autonomy and perceived control in learning: a model of motivation and achievement in Taiwan. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 84–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feld, L. D., & Shusterman, A. (2015). Into the pressure cooker: Student stress in college preparatory high schools. Journal of Adolescence, 41, 31–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, Y. L., Kasser, T., & Jahng, S. (2010). Differences in life satisfaction and school satisfaction among adolescents from three nations: the role of perceived autonomy support. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21, 649–661.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harter, S. (1985). The Self-perception Profile for Adolescents. Unpublished manuscript. Denver: Department of Psychology, University of Denver.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huck, S. (2004). Reading Statistics and Research (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, S. Y., Wang, Y., Orozco-Lapray, D., Shen, Y., & Murtuza, M. (2013). Does “tiger parenting” exist? parenting profiles of Chinese Americans and adolescent developmental outcomes. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 4(1), 7–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kline, R. B. (2010). Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krane, S. (2001). New York City Specialized Science High Schools Admission Test. ARCO.

  • Mackinnon, D. P., Fairchild, A. J., & Fritz, M. S. (2007). Mediation analysis. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 593–614.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClain, M. C., & Pfeiffer, S. (2012). Identification of gifted students in the United States today: a look at state definitions, policies, and practices. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 28(1), 59–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCoach, D. B., & Siegle, D. (2003). Factors that differentiate underachieving gifted students from high-achieving gifted students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 47(2), 144–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLeod, J. D., Uemura, R., & Rohrman, S. (2012). Adolescent mental health, behavior problems, and academic achievement. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 53(4), 482–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L., & Muthén, B. (1998–2012). Mplus: Statistical Analyses with Latent Variables. User’s Guide. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.

  • Muthén, L., & Muthén, B. (2005). Chi-square Difference Testing Using the S-B Scaled Chi-square (Note on Mplus website). Retrieved from www.statmodel.com/chidiff.shtml.

  • Ng, F. F.-Y., Pomerantz, E. M., & Deng, C. (2014). Why are Chinese mothers more controlling than American mothers? “my child is my report card”. Child Development, 85(1), 355–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Padilla, A. M. (2004). Quantitative methods in multicultural education research. In J. Banks & C. Banks (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education (2nd ed., pp. 127–145). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pastorelli, C., Caprara, G. V., Barbaranelli, C., Rola, J., Rozsa, S., & Bandura, A. (2001). The structure of children’s perceived self-efficacy: a cross-national study. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 17(2), 87–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, J., Duncan, N., & Canady, K. (2009). A longitudinal study of negative life events, stress, and school experiences of gifted youth. Gifted Child Quarterly, 53(1), 34–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillipson, S. (2013). Parental expectations. In S. Phillipson, K. Y. L. Ku, & S. N. Phillipson (Eds.), Constructing Educational Achievement: A Sociocultural Perspective (pp. 87–104). Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pomerantz, E. M., & Eaton, M. M. (2001). Maternal intrusive support in the academic context: transactional socialization processes. Developmental Psychology, 37(2), 174–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qin, D. B. (2006). “Our child doesn’t talk to us anymore”: alienation in immigrant Chinese families. Anthropology Education Quarterly, 37, 162–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qin, D. B. (2008). Doing well vs. feeling well: understanding family dynamics and the psychological adjustment of Chinese immigrant adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(1), 22–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qin, D. B., Way, N., & Mukherjee, P. (2008). The other side of the model minority story: the familial and peer challenges faced by Chinese American adolescents. Youth & Society, 39, 480–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reis, S. M., & McCoach, D. B. (2000). The underachievement of gifted students: what do we know and where do we go? Gifted Child Quarterly, 44(3), 152–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhtkonen, K. (2005). Parents’ causal attributions concerning children’s school achievement: a longitudinal study. Merril-Larmer Quarterly, 51(4), 494–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothbaum, F., & Trommsdorff, G. (2007). Do roots and wings complement or oppose one another: The socialization of relatedness and autonomy in cultural context. In J. Grusec & P. Hastings (Eds.), Handbook of Socialization (2nd ed., pp. 461–489). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, S. T., Crockett, L. J., & Chao, R. K. (2010). Asian American Parenting and Parent–adolescent Relationships. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sameroff, A. (2009). The transactional model. In A. Sameroff (Ed.), The Transactional Model of Development (pp. 3–22). Washington, DC: American Psychology Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sher-Censor, E., Parke, R. D., & Coltrane, S. (2011). Parents’ promotion of psychological autonomy, psychological control, and Mexican-American adolescents’ adjustment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40, 620–632.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silk, J. S., Morris, A. S., Kanaya, T., & Steinberg, L. (2003). Psychological control and autonomy granting: opposite ends of a continuum or distinct constructs? Journal of Research on Adolescence, 13, 113–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soenens, B., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2010). A theoretical upgrade of the concept of parental psychological control: proposing new insights on the basis of self-determination theory. Developmental Review, 30, 74–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L., Lamborn, S. D., Dornbusch, S. M., & Darling, N. (1992). Impact of parenting practices on adolescent achievement: authoritative parenting, school involvement, and encouragement to succeed. Child Development, 63, 1266–1281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Q., Pomerantz, E. M., & Chen, H. (2007). The role of parents’ control in early adolescents’ psychological functioning: a longitudinal investigation in the United States and China. Child Development, 78, 1592–1610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Q., Chan, H. W., & Lin, L. (2012). Antecedents of Chinese parents’ autonomy support and psychological control: the interplay between parents’ self-development socialization goals and adolescents’ school performance. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(11), 1442–1454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Widaman, K. F., Ferrer, E., & Conger, R. D. (2010). Factorial invariance within longitudinal structural equation models: measuring the same construct across time. Child Development Perspectives, 4(1), 10–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Worrell, F. C. (2002). Global and domain-specific self-concepts in academically talented Asian American and White adolescents. Gifted Child Quarterly, 46(2), 90–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, C., & Chao, R. K. (2011). Intergenerational cultural dissonance in parent–adolescent relationships among Chinese and European Americans. Developmental Psychology, 47(2), 493–508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamamoto, Y., & Holloway, S. D. (2010). Parental expectations and children’s academic performance in sociocultural context. Educational Psychology Review, 22(3), 189–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Y., & Green, S. B. (2011). Coefficient alpha: a reliability coefficient for the 21st century? Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 29(4), 377–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman, B. J. (1995). Self-efficacy and educational development. In A. Bandura (Ed.), Self-efficacy in Changing Societies (pp. 202–231). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman, B. J., Bandura, A., & Martinez-Pons, M. (1992). Self-motivation for academic attainment: the role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goal setting. American Educational Research Journal, 29(3), 663–676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Environmental Studies, Central Michigan University, EHS Building 460, Mt Pleasant, MI, 48859, USA

    Tzu-Fen Chang

  2. Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Michigan State University, 7 Human Ecology Bldg., East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Desiree B. Qin

Authors
  1. Tzu-Fen Chang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Desiree B. Qin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tzu-Fen Chang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chang, TF., Qin, D.B. Relations Between Academic Adjustment and Parental Psychological Control of Academically Gifted Chinese American and European American Students. Child Ind Res 10, 715–734 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-016-9403-1

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-016-9403-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation