Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Words and Hugs: Emotional Support for Latino and Asian Children of Immigrants Compared to their White Counterparts with Native-Born Parentage

  • Published:
Race and Social Problems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Previous research highlights parental psychological and personal resources as determinants of children’s emotional support. Less emphasis is placed on the social forces that may be equally important in shaping children’s emotional sustenance. Consequently, I examine the case of Latino and Asian children of immigrants, leveraging instrumental (advice) and affective (cheering up) emotional domains. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999 and quantitative methods, I find that Latino children of immigrants are less likely receive advice from their parents compared to white children with native-born parentage and Asian children with immigrant parentage, and I find that Latino and Asian children of immigrants are less likely to report cheering up from their parents compared to their white counterparts with native-born parentage. In addition, I find that, compared to whites in native-born families, Latino children of immigrants are more likely to receive emotional support from relatives (as opposed to parents), and Latino and Asian children of immigrants are more likely to receive emotional support from siblings (as opposed to parents). Although differences in parental resources explain some of these propensities, gaps remain, especially in the case of cheering up. I argue that parental resources and racialized discursive frames that dictate “normal” family functioning, including emotional performance, shape emotional support receipt differences between white children with native-born parentage and Latino and Asian children of immigrants, which can be detrimental for Latino and Asian children and may be implicated in deepening racial/ethnic inequalities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amato, P. R. (2005). The impact of family formation change on the cognitive, social, and emotional well-being of the next generation. The Future of Children,15(2), 75–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Artis, J. E., & Pavalko, E. K. (2003). Explaining the decline in women’s household labor: Individual change and cohort differences. Journal of Marriage and Family,65(3), 746–761.

    Google Scholar 

  • Azmitia, M., Cooper, C. R., & Brown, J. R. (2008). Support and guidance from families, friends, and teachers in latino early adolescents’ math pathways. The Journal of Early Adolescence,29(1), 142–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandelj, N. (2009). Emotions in economic action and interaction. Theory and Society,38(4), 347–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbalet, J. (2006). Emotion. Contexts,5(2), 51–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benner, A. D., & Kim, S. Y. (2009). Intergenerational experiences of discrimination in Chinese American families: Influences of socialization and stress. Journal of Marriage and Family,71, 862–877.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergelson, Y. P., Kurman, J., & Roer-Strier, D. (2015). Immigrant’s emotional reactions to filial responsibilities and related psychological outcomes. International Journal of Intercultural Relations,45, 104–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blair, S. L., & Cobas, J. (2006). Gender differences in young Latino adults’ status attainmnet: Understanding bilingualism inthe familial context. Family Relations,55(3), 292–305.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonilla-Silva, E. (2001). White supremacy and racism in the post-civil rights era. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonilla-Silva, E. (2015). The structure of racism in color-blind, “Post-Racial” America. American Behavioral Scientist,59(11), 1358–1376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of judgment of taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J.-C. (1990). Reproduction in education, society and culture (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. N. (2003). Critical race theory speaks to the sociology of mental health: Mental health problems produced by racial stratification. Journal of Health and Social Behavior,44(3), 292–301.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buriel, R. (1993). Childrearing orientations in mexican american families: Influences of generation and sociocultural factors. Journal of Marriage and the Family,55, 98–1000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burton, L. (2007). Childhood adultification in economically disadvantaged families: A conceptual model. Family Relations,56(4), 329–345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calarco, J. M. (2014). Coached for the classroom. American Sociological Review,79(5), 1015–1037. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122414546931.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chávez, N. R., & French, S. E. (2007). Ethnicity-related stressors and mental health in Latino Americans: The moderating role of parental racial socialization. Journal of Applied Social Psychology,37(9), 1974–1998.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheshire, T. C. (2001). Cultural transmission in Urban American Indian families. American Behavioral Scientist,44(9), 1528–1535.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chin, T. (2000). “Sixth Grade Madness” parental emotion work in the private high school application process. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography,29(2), 124–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/089124100129023855.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiu, M. L., Feldman, S. S., & Rosenthal, D. A. (1992). The influence of immigration on parental behavior and adolescent distress in Chinese families residing in two western nations. Journal of Research on Adolescence,2(3), 205–239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chung, A. Y. (2016). Saving face: The emotional costs of the asian immigrant family myth. London: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, P. H. (1990). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Boston: Unwin Hyman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coltrane, S., & Adams, M. (2008). Gender and families. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conger, R. D., Elder, G. H., Lorenz, F. O., Conger, K. J., Simons, R. L., & Whitebeck, L. B. (1990). Linking economic hardship to marital quality and instability. Journal of Marriage and Family,52(3), 643–656.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crane, D. R., Ngai, S. W., Larson, J. H., & Hafen, M. (2005). The influence of family functioning and parent-adolescent acculturation on North American Chinese adolescent outcomes. Family Relations,54(3), 400–410.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, W. (2015). The happiness industry: How the government and big business sold us well-being. London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Reus, L. A., Few, A. L., & Blume, L. B. (2005). Multicultural and critical race feminism: Theorizing families in the third wave. In V. L. Bengtson, A. C. Acock, K. R. Allen, P. Dilworth-Anderson, & D. M. Klein (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theory and research (pp. 1–23). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeVault, M. (1999). Comfort and struggle: Emotion work in family life. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,561, 52–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • DiMaggio, P. (1997). Culture and cognition. Annual Review of Sociology,23, 263–287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dinh, K. T., & Nguyen, H. H. (2006). The effects of acculturative variables on Asian American parent-child relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relaitonships,23(3), 407–426.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dinh, K. T., Sarason, B. R., & Sarason, I. G. (1994). Parent-child relationships in Vietnamese immigrant families. Journal of Family Psychology,8(4), 471–488.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, G. J., & Murmane, R. J. (Eds.). (2011). Whither opportunity? Rising inequality, schools, and children’s life chances. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N., Liew, J., & Pidada, S. (2001). The relations of parental emotional expressivity with quality of indonesian children’s social functioning. Emotion,1, 116–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emirbayer, M., & Desmond, M. (2015). The racial order. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enriquez, L. (2011). “Because we feel the pressure and we also feel the support”: Examining the educational success of undocumented immigrant Latina/o students. Harvard Educational Review,81(3), 476–500.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erickson, R. J. (2005). Why emotion work matters: Sex, gender, and the division of household labor. Journal of Marriage and Family,67(2), 337–351.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estrada, E. (2012). Changing household dynamics: Children’s American generational resources in street vending markets. Childhood,20(1), 51–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farver, J. A., Narang, S. K., & Bhadha, B. R. (2002). East meets west: Ethnic identity, acculturation, and conflict in Asian Indian families. Journal of Family Psychology,16(3), 338–350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feagin, J. (2013). The white racial frame: Centuries of racial framing and counter-framing (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Kelly, P. (2014). Spanish as a vehivle of adaptation betwen first and second generation immigrants in the United States. In J. A. Alonso, J. Durand, & R. Gutiéreez (Eds.), The future of Spanish in the United States: The language of Hispanic migrant communities (pp. 153–212). Madrid: Fndación Telefónica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glick, J. E., & Van Hook, J. V. W. (2002). Parents’ coresidence with adult children: Can immigration explain race and ethnic variation. Journal of Marriage and Family,64, 240–253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glick, J. E., & Van Hook, J. (2011). Does a house divided stand? Kinship and the continuity of shared living arrangements. Journal of Marriage and the Family,73(5), 1149–1164. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2011.00869.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzales, N. A., Deardorff, J., Formoso, D., Barr, A., & Barrera, M. J. (2006). Family mediators of the relation between acculturation and adolescent mental health. Family Relations,55, 318–330.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, A., Wilson, M., Pine, C., Chan, S., & Buriel, R. (1990). Family ecologies of ethnic minority children. Child Development,61, 347–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herz, L., & Gullone, E. (1999). The relationship between self-esteem and parenting style: A cross-cultural comparison of Australian and Vietnamese adolescents. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology,30(6), 742–761.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, N. E., & Bush, K. R. (2001). Relationships between parenting environment and children’s mental health among African American and European American mothers and children. Journal of Marriage and Family,63, 954–966.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hondagneu-Sotelo, P., & Messner, M. A. (2008). Gender displays and men’s power: The “new man” and the Mexican immigrant man. In H. Brod & M. Kaufman (Eds.), Theorizing masculinities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hordge-Freeman, E. (2015). The color of love: Racial features, stigma, and socialization in Black Brazilian families. Austin: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, D., Rodriguez, J., Smith, E. P., Johnson, D. J., Stevenson, H. C., & Spicer, P. (2006). Parents’ Ethnic-racial socialization practices: A review of research and directions for future study. Developmental Psychology,42(5), 747–770.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huynh, V. W., & Fuligni, A. (2008). Ethnic socialization and the academic adjustment of adolescents from Mexican, Chinese, and European backgrounds. Developmental Psychology,44(4), 1202–1208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Illouz, E. (1997). Who will care for the caretaker’s daughter? Towards a sociology of happiness in the era of reflexive modernity. Theory, Culture, and Society,14(4), 31–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiménez, T. R. (2010). Replenished ethnicity: Mexican Americans, immigration, and identity. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • KanaIaupuni, S. M., Donato, K. D., Thompson-Colón, T., & Stainback, M. (2005). Counting on kin: Social networks, social support, and child health status. Social Forces,83(3), 1137–1164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, V. S. (2014). Kids in the middle: How children of immigrants negotiate community interactions for their families. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kibria, N. (1993). Family tightrope: The changing lives of Vietnamese families. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, A., & Pyke, K. (2015). Taming tiger dads. Gender & Society,29(4), 509–533.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kremer, K. P., Flower, A., Huang, J., & Vaughn, M. G. (2016). Behavior problems and children’s academic achievement: A test of growth-curve models with gender and racial differences. Children and Youth Services Review,67, 95–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanuza, Y. R. (2017). Who helps? Immigrant-native differences in patterns of homework assistance. Sociological Perspectives,60(2), 293–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lareau, A. (2011). Unequal childhoods: Race, class, and family life, with an update a decade later (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lau, A. S., McCabe, K. M., Yeh, M., Garland, A. F., Wood, P. A., & Hough, R. L. (2005). The acculturation gap-distress hypothesis among high-risk Mexican American Families. Journal of Family Psychology,19(3), 367–375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leidy, M. S., Guerra, N. G., & Toro, R. I. (2010). Positive parenting, family cohesion, and child social competence among immigrant Latino families. Journal of Family Psychology,24(3), 252–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, O. (1966). La Vida: A Puerto Rican family in the culture of poverty. San Juan and New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim, S.-L., Yeh, M., Liang, J., Lau, A. S., & McCabe, K. (2008). Acculturation gap, intergerational conflict, parenting style, and youth distress in immigrant Chinese American Families. Marriage and Family Review,45(1), 84–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • López, S. R., Ramírez García, J. I., Ullman, J. B., Kopelowicz, A., Jenkins, J., Breitborde, N. J. K., et al. (2009). Cultural variability in the manifestation of expressed emotion. Family Process,48(2), 179–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Louie, V. (2011). Complicating the story of immigrant integration. In M. Suárez-Orozco, V. Louie, & Roberto Suro (Eds.), Writing immigration: scholars and journalists in dialogue (pp. 218–235). Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Louie, V. (2012). Keeping the immigrant bargain: The costs and rewards of success in America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLoyd, V., & Smith, J. (2002). Physical discipline and behavior problems in African American, European American, and Hispanic children: Emotional support as a moderator. Journal of Marriage and Family,64, 40–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menjívar, C. (2000). Fragmented ties: Salvadoran immigrant networks in America. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menjívar, C., Abrego, L. J., & Schmalzbauer, L. C. (2016). Immigrant families. Malden, MA: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orellana, M. F. (2009). Translating childhoods: Immigrant youth, language and culture. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osajima, K. (1993). The hidden injuries of race. In L. Revilla, G. Nomura, S. Wong, & S. Hune (Eds.), Bearing dreams, shaping visions: Asian pacific American perspectives (pp. 81–91). Pullman, WA: Washington State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oznobishin, O., & Kurman, J. (2009). Parent-child role reversal and psychological adjustment among immigrant youth in Israel. Journal of Family Psychology,23(3), 405–415.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, J. Z. (2008). Second-generation Asian American pan-ethnic identity: Pluralized meanings of a racial label. Sociological Perspectives,51(3), 541–561.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, L. (2005). Consuming citizenship: Children of Asian immigrant entrepreneurs (Asian America). Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2001). Legacies: The story of the immigrant second generation. California: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pyke, K. (2000). “The Normal American Family” as an interpretive structure of family life among children of Korean and Vietnamese immigrants. Journal of Marriage and Family,62(1), 240–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pyke, K., & Dang, T. (2003). “FOB” and “Whitewashed”: Identity and internalized racism among second generation Asian Americans. Qualitiative Sociology,26(2), 147–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reay, D. (2004). Gendering Bourdieu’s concept of capitals? Emotional capital, women, and social class. In L. Adkins & B. Skeggs (Eds.), Feminism after Bourdieu (pp. 57–74). Malden: Blackwell Publishing Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez, M. M. D., Donovick, M. R., & Crowley, S. L. (2009). Parenting styles in a cultural context: Observations of “Protective Parenting” in first-generation Latinos. Family Process,48(2), 195–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth, W. (2016). The multiple dimensions of race. Ethnic and Racial Studies,39(8), 1310–1338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, D. B. (1996). Multiple imputation after 18+ years. Journal of the American Statistical Association,91, 473–489.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sallquist, J. V., Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., Reiser, M., Hofer, C., Liew, J.,…, Eggum, N. (2009). Positive and negative emotionality: Trajectories across six years and relations with social competence. Emotion, 9(1), 15–28.

  • Schmalzbauer, L. (2014). The last best place? Gender, family and migration in the New West. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skeggs, B. (1997). Formations of class and gender: Becoming respectable. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, D. (1993). The standard North American family: SNAF as an ideological code. Journal of Family Issues,14(1), 50–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Song, M. (1999). Helping out. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suarez-Orozco, M. (1989). Central American refugees and U.S. high schools: A psychosocial study of motivation and achievement. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swidler, A. (2001). What anchors cultural practices. In K. K. Cetina, R. R. Schatzki, & E. von Savigny (Eds.), The practice turn in contemporary theory (pp. 74–92). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tardif, C. Y., & Geva, E. (2006). The link between acculturation disparity and conflict among Chinese Canadian Immigrant mother-adolescent dyads. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology,37(2), 191–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsai, J. L., Chentsova-Dutton, Y., Freire-Bebeau, L., & Przymus, D. E. (2002). Emotional expression and physiology in European Americans and Hmong Americans. Emotion,2, 380–397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsai, J. L., Levenson, R. W., & McCoy, K. (2006). Cultural and temperamental variation in emotional response. Emotion,6, 484–497.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valenzuela, A. (1999a). Subtractive schooling: U.S.-Mexican youth and the politics of caring. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valenzuela, A. (1999b). Gender roles and settlement activities among children and their immigrant families. American Behavioral Scientist,42(4), 720–742.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasquez, J. (2011). Mexican Americans across generations: Immigrant families, racial realities. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Hipple, P. T. (2007). Regression with Missing y’s: An improved strategy for analyzing multiple imputed data. Sociological Methodology,37(1), 83–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waters, M. C. (1999). Black identities: West Indian immigrant dreams and American realities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yau, J., & Smetana, J. G. (1996). Adolescent-parent conflict among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. Child Development,67(3), 1262–1275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, A. A. (2004). The minds of marginalized men: Making sense of mobility, opportunity, and future life chances. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, M. (1998). “Parachute Kids” in Southern California: The educational experience of Chinese children in transnational families. Educational Policy,12(6), 682–704.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, M. (2009). Conflict, coping, and reconciliation: Intergenerational relations in Chinese immigrant families. In N. Foner (Ed.), Across generations: Immigrant families in America (pp. 21–46). New York: NYU Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Miami, 5202 University Drive, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA

    Yader R. Lanuza

Authors
  1. Yader R. Lanuza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yader R. Lanuza.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lanuza, Y.R. Words and Hugs: Emotional Support for Latino and Asian Children of Immigrants Compared to their White Counterparts with Native-Born Parentage. Race Soc Probl 12, 112–132 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-020-09283-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-020-09283-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation