Citation

Kane JC, Johnson RM, Iwamoto DK, Jernigan DH, Harachi TW, Bass JK. J. Ethn. Subst. Abuse 2018; ePub(ePub): 1-21.

Affiliation

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health , Baltimore , Maryland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15332640.2018.1428709

PMID

29452050

Abstract

A difference in degree of acculturation between immigrant parents and children, known as intergenerational cultural dissonance (ICD), is a risk factor for adolescent alcohol use. We used path analysis with 292 Vietnamese and Cambodian adolescents from immigrant families in the United States to measure potential mediators (family conflict, parental involvement/monitoring, association with deviant peers) of the ICD-alcohol use relationship. The hypothesized model was an adequate data fit among both groups. Among Cambodian adolescents, higher ICD levels significantly predicted increased family conflict, which in turn was associated with reduced parental involvement/monitoring, increased association with deviant peers, and a subsequently higher risk of alcohol use (p < .05 for all coefficients). We also found significant indirect effects of ICD on alcohol use among Vietnamese adolescents through family conflict and parental involvement/monitoring (p < .05 for all coefficients) but not through peer behavior. For both groups, there was no direct effect of ICD on alcohol use outside these pathways. Identification of significant mediators provides potential targets for preventing alcohol use among these populations. In addition, differences in path coefficients between Vietnamese and Cambodian adolescents underscore the importance of conducting analyses stratified by Asian ethnic group.

Language: en

Keywords

Acculturation; Asian; adolescent; alcohol; intergenerational cultural dissonance; mediators; path analysis