The Relations of Acculturation and Parenting Behaviors of Korean-Chinese Mothers in Yanbian Area to Adjustment of their Children

연변 조선족 어머니의 문화접변 및 양육행동과 청소년의 적응간의 관계

This study examined the relations of acculturation and parenting behaviors of 279 Korean-Chinese mothers living in Yanbian Area in China to Adjustment of their eighth- and ninth-grade children. The mothers completed a questionnaire consisted of items regarding daily eating habits(food life) and language use, the acculturation scale, and the parenting scale, and their children completed the depression, self-esteem, and social competence scale. While most of mothers preferred Korean food to Chinese food, they preferred Chinese to Korean in daily language use. The mothers'ethnic identity was negatively related to depression of their children, whereas their out-group orientation was positively related to social competence of their children. In general, the relation between mothers'acculturation and adjustment of their children was not mediated by their parenting behaviors. But maternal warmth and acceptance partly mediated the relation between their out-group orientation and social competence of their children. These results imply that their acculturation tends to have direct effects on adjustment of their children.