Asian Immigrant Parents' Language Use and Perceptions of Parent-Child Relationship Quality

Research on Asian immigrant families has primarily focused on the influence of cultural factors, such as acculturation, on parent-child relationships, yet emerging research suggests that language use may play a critical role, especially when multiple languages (e.g., English and/or a heritage language; HL) may be used in the parent-child communication context. This exploratory study investigated the associations between parent language use and perceived parent-child relationship quality (i.e., positive relationship, parent-child conflict) among Asian immigrant parents (N = 90) of early adolescents ages 9-13. A MANCOVA was conducted to examine these associations, controlling for parent and child sociodemographic factors. Results indicated that parent-reported language use was significantly associated with perceived parent-child conflict: English-speaking parents reported higher levels of parent-child conflict (M = 1.65, SE = 0.29) than their HL-speaking (M = 0.61, SE = 0.30) and bilingual counterparts (M = 0.81, SE = 0.19; F(2, 80) = 4.04, p = 0.021, partial η² = 0.09). When comparing the English language group against the bilingual language group, perceived parent-child conflict was statistically significant (p = 0.048). Parent-reported language use was not associated with perceived positive relationships. Findings highlight language use as an important mechanism in shaping parent-child relationships in Asian immigrant families, above and beyond the effects of acculturation. Greater attention to language use may strengthen future research and family interventions aimed at improving parent-child relationships in Asian immigrant families.