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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (11 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2019)
Cultural values and social status are two salient factors in the psychological experiences of immigrant families, and both have been associated with immigrant parents' patterns of emotional expression in previous studies. The present study examined how endorsement of cultural values (collectivism and conformity) and social status were uniquely associated with immigrant parents' emotional expressivity in the family. First-generation Chinese American immigrant parents (N = 239, 80% mothers; M = 41.31 years old) of elementary-age children reported on their endorsement of values of collectivism and conformity, their patterns of emotional expressivity in the family context, and their family income and education levels. Path analyses indicated unique positive associations between family income and all domains of parents' emotional expressivity and negative associations between family income and parents' endorsement of collectivism and conformity. Parents' endorsement of collectivism was negatively associated with negative-dominant expressivity. We discuss implications of our findings for theories of culture and emotion, as well as for future intersectional approaches with Asian American populations.
    Cover page: Cultural Values, Social Status, and Chinese American Immigrant Parents’ Emotional Expressivity
    • Thesis
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2012)

    The present dissertation used a developmental, sociocultural models approach to culture and emotion, and examined the prospective relations of immigrant parents' cultural orientations and their expression of emotion in the family context. Chinese American immigrant parents (n=210) with elementary-aged children were assessed at two time points approximately two years apart. Parents reported on their own and their children's patterns of engagement in both Chinese and American cultural domains. Parents also reported on their patterns of emotional expression in the family context (positive, negative dominant, and negative submissive emotion), and their endorsement of emotion-relevant values (collectivism, conformity, emotional control, and ideals toward high/low arousal positive and negative affect).

    Main analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling. Results indicated that parents' greater engagement in Chinese cultural domains predicted their lower expression of negative emotion in the family context. Parents' engagement in cultural domains positively predicted their endorsement of emotion-relevant values; however, across models, parents' endorsement of emotion-relevant values did not mediate prospective effects of parents' cultural engagement on their emotional expression. Finally, differences between parents' and children's orientations to Chinese culture predicted parents' lower expression of positive and negative submissive emotion in the family context.

    Results underscore the relevance of the family context in the transmission of cultural norms toward emotional expression. Implications of these findings for developmentally-informed approaches to the study of culture and emotion are discussed.

      Cover page: Cultural Orientation and Parent Emotion in the Chinese American Immigrant Family:
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2019)
      Research in developmental psychology has traditionally focused on parents' roles as agents of emotion socialization in their children's socioemotional development. By contrast, little longitudinal research has examined sociocultural mechanisms shaping parents' own emotional development. Immigrant parents are an ideal population in which to examine these processes and advance conceptual models of culture and continuing emotional development in adulthood. Using developmental functionalism and bioecological models of development as theoretical frameworks, the present study examined how immigrant parents' and children's cultural orientations were prospectively related to parents' self-reported emotional expressivity in the family context. Chinese American immigrant parents (n = 210) with elementary-aged children were assessed at two time points approximately 2 years apart. Path analyses using longitudinal panel models indicated that immigrant parents' cultural orientation in various cultural domains (language, social relationships, media) prospectively predicted their emotional expressivity in the family context. Parents' emotional expressivity was also predicted by children's cultural orientation and by discrepancies between their own and their children's cultural orientations. Our results underscore pathways through which immigrants' interactions with the family and broader sociocultural context can contribute to continued emotional development in adulthood. We discuss implications of our findings for developmentally informed approaches to the study of culture and emotion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
        Cover page: Longitudinal Relations of Cultural Orientation and Emotional Expressivity in Chinese American Immigrant Parents: Sociocultural Influences on Emotional Development in Adulthood
        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2021)
        Though a number of language socialization processes are theorized to promote children's heritage language proficiency (HLP), little research has considered these processes in a single study and examined their prospective relations to multiple domains of HLP in school-age children. In a two-wave longitudinal study of Chinese American children of immigrant parents (N = 258, age = 7-11 years), language socialization processes (e.g., adult HL use at home, parental attitudes towards HL, child participation in HL classes or extracurricular activities) were assessed using parent reports and behavioral observation at Time 1 (1st to 2nd grade). Children's HLP (Cantonese or Mandarin) was assessed using vocabulary and literacy tests at Time 2. Results of structural equation modeling showed that adults' Chinese language use with children at home predicted children's higher Chinese receptive and expressive vocabulary two years later, and children's participation in Chinese language extra-curricular activities predicted their higher Chinese receptive and expressive vocabulary and higher Chinese word reading. By contrast, parental valuing of Chinese language and children's exposure to Chinese media did not predict children's Chinese proficiency. These findings provided support for the benefits of HL use at home and HL classes in promoting HL development in children in immigrant families.
          Cover page: Heritage language socialization in Chinese American immigrant families: prospective links to children’s heritage language proficiency
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UC Merced Previously Published Works (2015)
          The present study examined 2 measures of Chinese American immigrant parents' emotional expression in the family context: self-reported emotional expressivity and observed emotional expression during a parent-child interaction task. Path analyses were conducted to examine the concurrent associations between measures of emotional expression and (a) parents' American and Chinese cultural orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social affiliation domains, and (b) parents' and teachers' ratings of children's emotion-related regulation. Results suggested that cultural orientations were primarily associated with parents' self-reported expressivity (rather than observed emotional expression), such that higher American orientations were generally associated with higher expressivity. Although parents' self-reported expressivity was only related to their own reports of children's regulation, parents' observed emotional expression was related to both parents' and teachers' reports of children's regulation. These results suggest that self-reported expressivity and observed emotional expression reflect different constructs and have differential relations to parents' cultural orientations and children's regulation.
            Cover page: Chinese American Immigrant Parents’ Emotional Expression in the Family: Relations With Parents’ Cultural Orientations and Children’s Emotion-Related Regulation
            • Article
            • Peer Reviewed
            UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2014)
            The present study examined whether bilingualism-related advantages in self-regulation could be observed: (a) among Chinese American immigrant children with varying levels of Chinese and English proficiencies, and (b) across different domains of self-regulation in laboratory, home, and classroom contexts. A socioeconomically diverse sample of first- and second-generation Chinese American immigrant children between ages 7 and 10 (n = 223) was administered assessments of Chinese and English language proficiencies and a multi-method, multi-informant battery of self-regulation measures. Multiple regression analyses suggested that controlling for covariates (child age, gender, and SES), children's bilingualism-related advantages were limited to higher performance only on computerized tasks of cognitive flexibility, and only among children with higher degrees of fluency in both Chinese and English. By contrast, proficiencies in one language (either Chinese or English) were uniquely and positively associated with other domains of self-regulation, including parent and teacher-reported effortful control. These results suggest that the bilingual advantage for self-regulation may be observed as a continuous variable among immigrant children with varying levels of bilingual fluency; however, this advantage may not extend across all domains and contexts of self-regulation.
              Cover page: Variations on the bilingual advantage? Links of Chinese and English proficiency to Chinese American children's self-regulation
              • Article
              • Peer Reviewed
              UC Davis Previously Published Works (2007)

              Background

              The lymphatic system complements the blood circulatory system in absorption and transport of nutrients, and in the maintenance of homeostasis. Angiopoietins 1 and 2 (Ang1 and Ang2) are regulators of both angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis through the Tek/Tie-2 receptor tyrosine kinase. The response of endothelial cells to stimulation with either Ang1 or Ang2 is thought to be dependent upon the origin of the endothelial cells. In this study, we examined the effects of the angiopoietins on lymphatic, venous and arterial primary endothelial cells (bmLEC, bmVEC and bmAEC, respectively), which were isolated and cultured from bovine mesenteric vessels.

              Results

              BmLEC, bmVEC and bmAEC cell populations all express Tie-2 and were shown to express the appropriate cellular markers Prox-1, VEGFR3, and Neuropilin-1 that define the particular origin of each preparation. We showed that while bmLECs responded slightly more readily to angiopoietin-2 (Ang2) stimulation, bmVECs and bmAECs were more sensitive to Ang1 stimulation. Furthermore, exposure of bmLECs to Ang2 induced marginally higher levels of proliferation and survival than did exposure to Ang1. However, exposure to Ang1 resulted in higher levels of migration in bmLECs than did to Ang2.

              Conclusion

              Our results suggest that although both Ang1 and Ang2 can activate the Tie-2 receptor in bmLECs, Ang1 and Ang2 may have distinct roles in mesenteric lymphatic endothelial cells.
                Cover page: Differential response of lymphatic, venous and arterial endothelial cells to angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2
                • Article
                • Peer Reviewed
                UC Merced Previously Published Works (2014)
                Direct and indirect/mediated relations of (a) children's and parents' cultural orientations and (b) parent-child gaps in cultural orientations to children's psychological adjustment were examined in a socioeconomically diverse sample of 258 Chinese American children (age = 6-9 years) from immigrant families. Parents reported on children's and their own Chinese and American orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social relationships. Parents and teachers rated children's externalizing and internalizing problems and social competence. Using structural equation modeling, we found evidence for both the effects of children's and parents' cultural orientations and the effects of parent-child gaps. Specifically, children's American orientations across domains were associated with their better adjustment (especially social competence). These associations were partly mediated by authoritative parenting. Parents' English and Chinese media use were both associated with higher authoritative parenting, which in turn was associated with children's better adjustment. Furthermore, greater gaps in parent-child Chinese proficiency were associated with children's poorer adjustment, and these relations were partly mediated by authoritative parenting. Together, the findings underscore the complex relations between immigrant families' dual orientations to the host and heritage cultures and children's psychological adjustment.
                  Cover page: Parent–Child Cultural Orientations and Child Adjustment in Chinese American Immigrant Families
                  • Article
                  • Peer Reviewed
                  UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2015)
                  The present study examined the direct and indirect relations of family contextual factors, effortful control (EC), and the early math and English literacy skills of first and second-generation Chinese American immigrant children in early elementary school. Using a socioeconomically diverse sample of 258 Chinese American children (53% receiving free- or reduced-price school lunch), we assessed EC with a combination of parent and teacher reports, computerized neuropsychological tests, and a behavioral frustration task. Children's math calculation and English literacy skills were assessed with standardized achievement tests. Results of structural equation modeling suggested that: (a) EC was positively associated with both math and English literacy skills; (b) parents' enculturation was marginally and positively associated with children's EC, and EC mediated the link between parent's enculturation and children's achievement, (c) authoritarian parenting was marginally and negatively associated with children's EC, and EC mediated the link between authoritarian parenting and children's achievement; (d) parents' enculturation had a direct and negative link to children's English literacy skills; and (e) no evidence of an EC. ×. SES interaction was found. The findings highlight the need to consider joint influences of socioeconomic, interpersonal, and cultural factors on children's academic development in immigrant families; and provide support for promoting children's effortful control as an intermediate target of intervention.
                    Cover page: Effortful control and early academic achievement of Chinese American children in immigrant families
                    • Article
                    • Peer Reviewed
                    UC Merced Previously Published Works (2014)
                    Using data from a socioeconomically diverse sample of Chinese American children (n = 258, aged 6-9 years) in immigrant families, we examined the concurrent relations among neighborhood economic disadvantage and concentration of Asian residents, parenting styles, and Chinese American children's externalizing and internalizing problems. Neighborhood characteristics were measured with 2000 U.S. Census tract-level data, parents (mostly mothers) rated their own parenting styles, and parents and teachers rated children's behavioral problems. Path analysis was conducted to test two hypotheses: (a) parenting styles mediate the relations between neighborhood characteristics and children's behavioral problems, and (b) children's behavioral problems mediate the relations between neighborhood and parenting styles. We found that neighborhood Asian concentration was positively associated with authoritarian parenting, which in turn was associated with Chinese American children's higher externalizing and internalizing problems (by parents' reports). In addition, neighborhood economic disadvantage was positively related to children's externalizing problems (by parents' reports), which in turn predicted lower authoritative parenting. The current results suggest the need to consider multiple pathways in the relations among neighborhood, family, and child adjustment, and they have implications for the prevention and intervention of behavioral problems in Chinese American children.
                      Cover page: Neighborhood Characteristics, Parenting Styles, and Children’s Behavioral Problems in Chinese American Immigrant Families
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