Su Yeong Kim Explains How Parenting Perceptions Influence Language Brokering and Teen Mental Health

 

Understanding the Family Context: Su Yeong Kim’s Insights on Parenting Perceptions and Youth Well-Being

In immigrant families, the parent-child relationship is uniquely shaped by cultural and linguistic factors that influence adolescent development and emotional well-being. One critical but less explored family dynamic is the discrepancy in how mothers and adolescents perceive parenting behaviors such as warmth monitoring and reasoning. These differences in perceptions are not mere misunderstandings but have profound implications for adolescent mental health outcomes.

A recent study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence (2023) investigates this phenomenon within Mexican-origin immigrant families, a growing and vital population in the U.S. The research sheds light on how perceived parenting discrepancies relate to adolescents’ internalizing symptoms such as anxiety and depression through the mediating role of language brokering experiences.

What Is Language Brokering and Why Does It Matter?

Language brokering refers to the everyday practice where children of immigrant families translate and interpret between their heritage language Spanish and English often for their limited-English proficient parents. This form of communication is culturally salient and emotionally complex. It represents both a responsibility and a burden for many immigrant youth.

Language brokering is more than translation; it is a dynamic interaction embedded within family relationships and cultural adaptation. Adolescents’ feelings about brokering range from pride and excitement to embarrassment and frustration. These emotional experiences inevitably impact their mental health and are influenced by how adolescents experience parenting within their families.

The Study Exploring Perceived Parenting Discrepancies and Brokering Feelings

The study followed 604 Mexican-origin adolescents whose average age was about 13 and their mothers over one year. The participants were primarily low-income families in central Texas with most mothers born in Mexico and most adolescents born in the U.S.

Using reports from both mothers and adolescents the study identified three distinct patterns of perceived positive parenting:

  1. Both High Mothers and adolescents mutually agree that parenting is warm monitoring is consistent and reasoning is inductive
  2. Mother High Mothers rate their parenting more positively than their adolescents do
  3. Adolescent High Adolescents rate parenting more positively than their mothers do

The large majority of dyads fell into the Mother High group reflecting a common scenario where mothers perceive themselves as providing positive parenting but adolescents feel less supported.

Key Findings The Emotional Toll of Perceived Parenting Discrepancies on Brokering

The study found that adolescents in the Mother High group experienced significantly more negative feelings about language brokering one year later compared to their peers in the other groups. These negative feelings such as embarrassment, anger and sadness were linked to higher levels of anxiety symptoms.

Conversely adolescents in the Both High group reported more balanced emotional experiences during brokering with fewer negative and more positive feelings. This alignment suggests that mutual agreement about positive parenting creates emotional synergy that supports healthier adolescent adjustment.

Interestingly positive feelings about brokering were not significantly related to internalizing symptoms highlighting that negative emotional experiences may be the driving force behind anxiety and depression in these youth.

What This Means for Immigrant Families and Interventions

The findings underscore that discrepancies in perceived parenting are not just differences in viewpoints; they influence the emotional quality of parent-child communication especially around culturally specific tasks like language brokering. When mothers overestimate their positive parenting adolescents may feel misunderstood or unsupported, amplifying the stress and negative emotions tied to their brokering role.

This emotional strain partly explains why adolescents from discrepant dyads show more internalizing symptoms such as anxiety. Interventions aimed at improving adolescent mental health in immigrant families must therefore

  • Address discrepancies in parenting perceptions by fostering open empathetic communication between mothers and adolescents
  • Support positive language brokering experiences by validating adolescents’ feelings and sharing expectations around brokering roles
  • Promote mutual recognition of parenting strengths and adolescent needs to build family harmony and emotional resilience

Extending the Operations Triad Model in Immigrant Contexts

This research expands on the Operations Triad Model which examines parent-child discrepancies and adolescent adjustment by revealing how specific family interactions and language brokering in this case mediate the link between parenting perceptions and adolescent internalizing symptoms.

It highlights that culturally salient family processes are critical to understanding adolescent well-being in immigrant populations. The model suggests that when mother and adolescent views are discrepant especially when mothers’ views are more positive than adolescents’ the resulting emotional difficulties in brokering activities may precipitate anxiety underscoring a culturally nuanced pathway from family dynamics to adolescent mental health.

Looking Forward Directions for Future Research and Policy

To best support immigrant adolescents future studies should explore

  • How broader family members fathers siblings influence brokering emotions and parenting perceptions
  • Additional emotional dimensions of brokering including positive feelings such as pride and purpose
  • The role of negative parenting behaviors and complex family stressors in adolescent adjustment
  • How siblings’ roles and birth order affect brokering experiences

From a policy perspective culturally responsive family-based programs that

  • Align parenting perceptions
  • Reduce the emotional burden of language brokering
  • Enhance positive parent-adolescent communication

can be fundamental in preventing anxiety and depression among immigrant youth.

Conclusion

By illuminating the interplay between perceived parenting discrepancies, language brokering feelings and adolescent internalizing symptoms this research offers profound insights into the psychosocial challenges faced by Mexican-origin immigrant families. It also charts a path for culturally grounded interventions emphasizing the importance of empathy and shared understanding in promoting immigrant adolescent well-being.

Read the full research: Parental Discriminatory Experiences and Ethnic Minority Adolescent Adjustment: A Systematic Review of Family Perspectives

For further research updates and resources on immigrant family dynamics and adolescent development please visit suyeongkim.com | suyeongkimresearch.com

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