Family, School, and Neighborhood: Links to Chinese American

Adolescent Perceptions of Racial/Ethnic Discrimination

Linda P. Juang and Alvin N. Alvarez
San Francisco State University
The purpose of the study was to examine how family, school, and neighborhood factors
contributed to Chinese American adolescent perceptions of discrimination. The sample
included 185 Chinese American adolescents (mean age 16.8 years, SD .81; 58%
female; 70% U.S.-born) and their parents. As hypothesized, the results showed that
greater parent perceptions of discrimination, more negative school environment, and
less availability of cultural resources were related to greater adolescent perceptions of
discrimination. Contrary to the hypothesis, parent/adolescent subjective perceptions of
ethnic density were related to greater adolescent perceptions of discrimination. The
ndings suggest that adolescent perceptions of discrimination are related to both within
and outside family factors, supporting an ecological approach to understanding racial/
ethnic discrimination.
Keywords: racial/ethnic discrimination, Chinese American adolescent, family
Experiencing racial/ethnic discrimination is a
part of life for many Asian Americans (Alvarez
& Juang, 2010; Alvarez, Juang, & Liang, 2006;
Goto, Gee, & Takeuchi, 2002; Grossman &
Liang, 2008; Liang, Grossman, & Deguchi,
2007; Way, Santos, Niwa, & Kim-Gervey,
2008; Ying, Lee, & Tsai, 2000). This is a cause
for concern as racial/ethnic discrimination is
consistently linked to poorer adjustment for
Asian American adolescents (in terms of lower
self-esteem, less school engagement, poorer
grades, and greater depressive symptoms, alien-
ation, somatization, and loneliness) (Benner &
Kim, 2009a; Greene, Pahl, & Way, 2006; Juang
& Alvarez, 2010; Juang & Cookston, 2009) and
for Asian American college students and adults
(in terms of lower social competence, social
connectedness, self-esteem, and greater sub-
stance abuse, depressive symptoms, psycholog-
ical distress, risk for chronic illnessheart
disease, pain, and respiratory illnessesand sui-
cidal ideation and attempts) (Alvarez & Juang,
2010; Cheng et al., 2010; Gee, Ro, Shariff-
Marco, & Chae, 2009; Gee, Spencer, Chen, &
Takeuchi, 2007; Lee, 2005; Noh & Kasper,
2003; Ying et al., 2000; Yip, Gee, & Takeuchi,
2008). Although there is a growing literature
documenting the negative effects associated
with experiencing racial/ethnic discrimination
among Asian Americans, little is known about
the particular contexts of discrimination (Niwa,
Way, Qin, & Okazaki, in press). To address this
gap in the literature, we focus on family, school,
and neighborhood contexts that contribute to
Chinese American adolescent perceptions of
discrimination.
We draw on ecological systems theory
(Bronfenbrenner, 1979) to provide a framework
for our study. This theoretical approach empha-
sizes the interplay between adolescents indi-
vidual characteristics and contexts that range
from the microsystem to the macrosystem. An
important principle is that children are active
producers of their developmentthey not only
live within multiple, embedded contexts, but,
based on their personal characteristics, they also
shape the contexts in which they live. Based on
this approach, we focus on several key contexts
to understand adolescent perceptions of dis-
crimination: family, school, and neighborhood.
We chose to focus on the family because,
unequivocally, parents and families are impor-
tant sources of socialization and support during
adolescence (Moore, Chalk, Scarpa, & Vandiv-
Linda P. Juang, Department of Psychology, San Fran-
cisco State University; Alvin N. Alvarez, Department of
Counseling, San Francisco State University.
Correspondence concerning this article should be ad-
dressed to Linda P. Juang, Department of Psychology, 1600
Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132. E-mail:
ljuang@sfsu.edu
Asian American Journal of Psychology 2011 American Psychological Association
2011, Vol. 2, No. 1, 112 1948-1985/11/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0023107
1
ere, 2002). Thus, focusing on the family is
developmentally appropriate. Another reason is
that for Chinese-heritage individuals, there is a
strong emphasis on the importance of the family
(e.g., family obligation and lial piety are cen-
tral cultural values) (Bond & Hwang, 1986;
Uba, 1994). As such, to understand the devel-
opment of Chinese American adolescents, one
must take into account the key role of the fam-
ily. We also focus on the school context be-
cause, apart from the family, adolescents spent
a considerable amount of time in school. In
school, adolescents are exposed to peer victim-
ization in various forms (Smith, 2004), includ-
ing race- and ethnic-based discrimination (e.g.,
Rosenbloom & Way, 2004). Finally, we fo-
cused on the neighborhood context to tap into
another ecological level that has been missing
from studies of discrimination. Most studies
have included objective measures of neighbor-
hood (such as number of coethnics) (e.g., Alva-
rez et al., 2006) and not subjective perceptions
of neighborhood (with the exception of Goto et
al., 2002) in relation to discrimination. In our
study, we include both objective and subjective
perceptions of the neighborhood. Thus, we ex-
amine Chinese American adolescents percep-
tions of discrimination as a function of their
personal characteristics (such as immigration
status) and key contexts (i.e., the family, school,
and neighborhood).
Parent Perceptions of Discrimination
Scholars of various disciplinespsycholo-
gists, sociologists, and anthropologistshave
long emphasized the important role of the fam-
ily, and especially parents, to child and adoles-
cent development. For instance, challenges that
parents face (such as experiencing nancial dif-
culties) and resultant stress, can and do affect
their children (Mistry, Benner, Tan, & Kim,
2009). One important challenge for ethnic mi-
nority parents is dealing with racial/ethnic dis-
crimination (Hughes et al., 2006). Although
there is a robust literature on adult experiences
of discrimination and growing literature on ad-
olescent experiences of discrimination, very
few studies have examined how discrimination
may be linked within members of the same
family. The few studies linking parent experi-
ences of discrimination to adolescent experi-
ences of discrimination have focused on racial
socialization and parental stress. Studies of
Black youth have found that parents experi-
ences with discrimination shaped parents racial
socialization practices that then inuenced chil-
drens perceptions of discrimination (Steven-
son, Cameron, Hererro-Taylor, & Davis, 2002).
Along the same lines, Asian American college
students whose parents prepared them for racial
bias tended to demonstrate a greater awareness
of racism (Alvarez et al., 2006). In addition, a
study by Benner and Kim (2009b) showed that
Chinese American parents experiences of dis-
crimination were linked to adolescent experi-
ences of discrimination via parental stress. The
authors argued that parents experience with
discrimination created a stressful family con-
text, which was then transmitted into greater
adolescent perceptions of discrimination. Our
study extends these previous studies by exam-
ining simultaneously how both within family
factors (i.e., parent perceptions of discrimina-
tion) and outside family factors (i.e., the school
and neighborhood contexts), contribute to ado-
lescent perceptions of discrimination.
School Environment
Studies with Asian American adolescents
have shown that a supportive school environ-
ment is associated with positive adolescent
well-being. For example, a longitudinal study of
Black, Latino, and Asian American adolescents
found that more positive perceptions of the
school environment was related to increases in
self-esteem and decreases in depressive symp-
toms (Way & Robinson, 2003). Another study
of Chinese American, Chinese, and European
Americans found that adolescents who reported
more negative perceptions of the school also
reported greater depression and social stress
(having stressful social relationships and feeling
isolated from social activities) (Zhou, Peverly,
Xin, Huang, & Wang, 2003). Notably, Chinese
American adolescents had more negative per-
ceptions of their school compared to Chinese
(from Mainland China) and European American
students. Based on this literature, we hypothe-
sized that adolescents reporting a less support-
ive school environment would experience and
perceive greater racial/ethnic discrimination.
Within the school context, Asian American ad-
olescents report higher levels of peer discrimi-
nation compared to African and Latino adoles-
2 JUANG AND ALVAREZ
cents (Fisher, Wallace, & Fenton, 2000; Greene
et al., 2006; Rosenbloom & Way, 2004).
Neighborhood Ethnic Density and
Availability of Cultural Resources
Ethnic density (i.e., the number of same-
ethnic members in ones neighborhood) can
also contribute to adolescent perceptions of dis-
crimination. A study of Filipino adults found
that Filipinos in Honolulu perceived less dis-
crimination compared to Filipinos in San Fran-
cisco. Filipinos made up a larger percent of the
population in Honolulu (12%) than in San Fran-
cisco (5%) (Gee et al., 2006). And, in another
study of Asian American college students,
Filipinos reported greater perceptions of dis-
crimination compared to Chinese in San Fran-
cisco, a city with a much higher density of
Chinese (20%) compared to Filipino (5%)
(Alvarez et al., 2006; City and County of S.F.
Human Rights Commission, 2006). Finally,
in a study of Chinese Americans, adults per-
ceived greater discrimination if they lived in a
neighborhood with few Chinese (Goto et al.,
2002). These studies suggest that living
among fewer coethnics may expose individu-
als to greater experiences of racial/ethnic dis-
crimination. However, another study of Asian
American college students reported that
Asian American college students living on the
West Coast (with a greater density of Asians)
reported higher levels of discrimination than
those living on the East Coast (Liang, Alva-
rez, & Juang, 2007). These conicting nd-
ings emphasize the need for more attention to
the role of ethnic density to perceptions of
discrimination. We know of no studies that
have examined how neighborhood ethnic den-
sity relates to adolescent perceptions of
discrimination.
Another important community variable is the
availability of cultural resources (Nguyen,
2000). Cultural resources such as access to eth-
nic media, ethnic-based community centers, and
ethnic-based churches, provide opportunities
for connection and a sense of belonging to the
ethnic community (Phinney, 2003). Having ac-
cess to greater cultural resources may offer sup-
ports that reduce the likelihood of experiencing
racial/ethnic discrimination. Thus, we hypothe-
sized that adolescents living in a neighborhood
with more coethnics and greater availability of
cultural resources, will perceive less racial/
ethnic discrimination.
Immigration Status and Discrimination
Chinese American adolescents are a diverse
group. One meaningful point of variation is
immigration status (Berry, Phinney, Sam, &
Vedder, 2006). For instance, a study of Chinese
American college students reported that for-
eign-born students perceived higher levels of
discrimination than U.S. born students (Ying et
al., 2000). Another study of Asian American
adults found that immigration status moderated
the link between discrimination and mental
healththe negative effects of discrimination
were less pronounced for foreign-born com-
pared to U.S. born Asian Americans (Yip et al.,
2008). Nonetheless, a recent review of the em-
pirical literature on Asian Americans experi-
ences of racial discrimination found only four
studies that investigated the role of immigration
status as a moderator (Gee et al., 2009). The
results across these four studies were inconsis-
tent. In our study, we explored whether immi-
gration status moderated the effects of family,
school, and neighborhood contexts on adoles-
cent perceptions of discrimination. Because of
the limited number of studies, we had no spe-
cic predictions about how immigration status
would moderate the predictor variables. There-
fore, these analyses are considered exploratory.
Summary of Hypotheses
We hypothesized that (1) greater parent re-
ports of discrimination; (2) more negative per-
ceptions of the school environment; (3) lower
numbers of coethnics (less ethnic density) and
fewer available cultural resources, would pre-
dict greater adolescent perceptions of discrimi-
nation; and (4) immigration status would
moderate the effects of parent, school, and
neighborhood variables on adolescent percep-
tions of discrimination.
Method
Setting
The data for this study was taken from a
2-year, three-wave longitudinal study of Chi-
nese American adolescents and their parents
3 ADOLESCENT PERCEPTIONS OF RACIAL/ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION
from San Francisco, an ethnically diverse city
with 43.6% European Americans, 30.9% Asian
and Pacic Islanders, 7.8% African Ameri-
cans, 14.1% Latino Americans, 1.2% Native
Americans, and 10.8% other/mixed race (City
and County S.F. Human Rights Commission,
2006). We recruited adolescents from two high
schools where over half of the student bodies in
each school were from Chinese immigrant
backgrounds. Overall, the school contexts re-
ected a diversity of ethnic groups, as did the
broader community, but the schools included an
overrepresentation of Asians, and in particular,
students of Chinese backgrounds. To achieve an
adequate sample size with sufcient power for
multivariate analyses, we targeted these two
schools precisely because they had a higher
proportion of Chinese students. Thus, these two
schools do not represent the ethnic distribution
of the broader San Francisco community. These
unique school and community contexts must be
kept in mind when interpreting the results of the
study and considering its generalizability.
Procedure
The rst author made announcements to
school assembles and afterschool clubs geared
toward students of Chinese background and by
posting iers in the two high schools. The rst
author told students that we were interested in
their experiences as Chinese and Chinese Amer-
ican adolescents. Adolescents who obtained a
signed guardian/parent consent form and signed
an assent form were invited to participate. The
survey was completed during classroom hours
or immediately after school. Parents were not
present at the time. Adolescents were told their
responses were condential and that responses
would not be shared with either the parent or
other adolescents. When adolescents completed
the survey they were given a parent survey with
an addressed, stamped envelope to take home
and have parents mail back. Parents and adoles-
cents were each compensated $15 for partici-
pating in each of the rst two waves (Times 1
and 2) and $20 for the third wave (Time 3) of
data collection.
Surveys were offered in English and Chinese.
The English version was translated into Chinese
by three bilingual adults who were uent in both
English and Chinese. All of the adults were
born outside of the U.S. (two in Taiwan and one
in Hong Kong) and had subsequently immi-
grated to the U.S. in adolescence and young
adulthood. Translators of different age ranges
were chosen (one translator was over 60 years
old, the other two between 25 and 30 years old)
and who were familiar with both Mandarin and
Cantonese to account for variations in the Chi-
nese language because of cohort and geograph-
ical differences. All study procedures and mea-
sures were approved by the authors university
institutional review board.
Participants
For this study, only Time 3 data were used
(with the exception of one variableadolescent
perception of discrimination at Time 1) because
of the additional adolescent school and commu-
nity measures that were included at Time 3. The
sample was further restricted to those adoles-
cents whose parents completed the survey. The
nal sample consisted of 185 (59% of the larger
adolescent sample of 316 at Time 1) Chinese
American adolescents and their parents. The
adolescents mean age was 16.8 years (SD
.81), ranged from 15 to 19 years, and 58% were
female. A majority (70%) of the adolescents
were U.S. born while 30% percent were for-
eign-born. Most of the adolescents grew up with
both parents (90%).
Mostly mothers (69%) lled out the parent
survey. Almost all (93%) parents were born
outside the U.S. and the mean age was 48.3
years (SD 4.48). Concerning maternal edu-
cation, 7% completed elementary school or less,
11% attended middle school, 15% attended
some high school, 30% graduated from high
school, 16% attended some college or univer-
sity, and 20% graduated from college/university
or more. Concerning paternal education, 8%
completed elementary school or less, 17% at-
tended middle school, 13% attended some high
school, 28% graduated from high school, 15%
attended some college or university, and 20%
graduated from college/university or more. Ma-
ternal and paternal education were correlated at
r .69 ( p .001). A new variable was created
(parent education) representing the highest level
of education attained by either parent. This vari-
able was used in all analyses.
To test whether the adolescents with parent
data differed from adolescents without parent
data, adolescents were compared on age, gender
4 JUANG AND ALVAREZ
distribution, immigration status (U.S. born vs.
foreign-born), parent education, and adolescent
perceived discrimination. The results showed
that adolescents with parent data did not differ
from adolescents without parent data concern-
ing age, t(257) .06, p .95, gender distri-
bution,
2
(1) .26, p .61, immigration sta-
tus,
2
(1) 1.56, p .21, mother education,
t(245) .40, p .69, father education,
t(239) .30, p .78, or adolescent perceived
discrimination, t(255) .68, p .50.
Measures
The measures for discrimination, availability
of cultural resources, and perceptions of neigh-
borhood ethnic density were completed sepa-
rately by the adolescent and parent. The mea-
sure for school environment was completed by
the adolescent only. Adolescent discrimination
measured at Time 1 was used as a control vari-
able. All other variables included in analyses
were measured at Time 3.
Perceived discrimination. Adolescents
and parents perceptions of discrimination (Gil
& Vega, 1996) were measured by three items:
How often have you been treated unfairly be-
cause you are Asian? How often do people
dislike you because you are Asian? and How
often have you seen friends or family be treated
unfairly because they are Asian? Respondents
answered on a scale ranging from (1) never to
(5) always. Mean scores were calculated so that
a higher score indicated greater discrimination.
At Time 1, Cronbachs alpha for adolescent
discrimination was .83. At Time 3, Cronbachs
alpha for adolescents was .82, and for parents,
.89.
School environment. Negative percep-
tions of the school environment were measured
by three items based on two dimensions impor-
tant in assessing the school environment
perceptions of safety and positive/negative ex-
periences in school (Brand, Felner, Shim,
Seitsinger, & Dumas, 1993). The items were
Some students think their school is safe but
others think their school is unsafe. Do you think
your school is . . .. Some students think their
school is friendly but others think their school is
unfriendly. Do you think your school is . . ..
Some students are nervous when they are in
school but others are relaxed. When you are in
school are you . . . The response scales ranged
from (1) very safe to (3) not at all safe, (1) very
friendly to (3) not at all friendly, and (1) very
relaxed to (3) not at all relaxed, respectively.
Mean scores were calculated so that a higher
score indicated more negative perceptions of the
school environment. Cronbachs alpha was .81.
Availability of cultural resources. Ado-
lescent and parent perceptions of cultural re-
sources available in their community were
measured by seven items (Juang, 2004). The
respondents were presented with a list of cul-
tural resources (i.e., Chinese-based businesses
such as stores and restaurants, community cen-
ters, community events such as street fairs and
parades, language schools, organization/clubs,
places of worship such as churches and temples,
and media such as TV and newspapers), and
were asked to indicate whether these resources
were available in the community. The response
scale ranged from (1) not available to (5) easily
available. Mean scores were calculated so that a
higher score indicated greater availability of
cultural resources. Cronbachs alpha for adoles-
cents was .88, and for parents, .88. Parent and
adolescent scores correlated at r .29 ( p
.001).
Ethnic density of neighborhood. The eth-
nic density of the youths neighborhood was
measured in two ways. First, parents and ado-
lescents were asked about their subjective per-
ception of their neighborhood: How do you
describe the ethnic composition of your neigh-
borhood? (Phinney, Fergusen, & Tate, 1997).
The response scale ranged from (1) Nearly all
from different groups, (2) Mostly from different
groups, (3) About equal, own and other groups,
(4) Mostly from own group, and (5) Nearly all
from own group. This item has been linked to
peer interactions, acculturation, and language
use (Berry et al., 2006; Phinney et al., 1997).
We combined and averaged parent and adoles-
cent scores so that higher scores indicated more
same-ethnic members in the neighborhood. Par-
ent and adolescent scores correlated at r .39
( p .001). The second measure of ethnic den-
sity was calculated from using zip code data,
based on the addresses of the families. Based on
city statistics, the percentage of Asian Ameri-
cans residing in each zip code district was as-
signed to each adolescent, ranging from 12% or
less, to 63% or greater. Thus, for ethnic density
we had a subjective measure (adolescent and
parent perceptions of their neighborhood), and
5 ADOLESCENT PERCEPTIONS OF RACIAL/ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION
an objective measure (zip code data). These two
scores were correlated at r .42 ( p .001).
Results
Preliminary Analyses and Descriptives
There were few data missing (no greater than
5%) for each variable. Littles MCAR test in
SPSS (SPSS 17.0) showed that the data were
missing completely at random (
2
21.93,
df 39, p .998). Thus, in all further analyses
we used listwise deletion. However, to ensure
that missingness was not a problem, we also
used SPSS Multiple Imputation and reran anal-
yses (hierarchical regression) with missing data
imputed. The pooled results replicated the orig-
inal data results with listwise deletion. We re-
port the results using listwise deletion here.
See Table 1 for descriptives and zero-order
correlations of the main study variables. Ado-
lescent discrimination was positively correlated
with parent discrimination and negative school
environment. To test how demographic vari-
ables (adolescent age, school, gender, years
lived in the U.S., immigration status, and parent
education) related to adolescent perceptions of
discrimination, bivariate correlational analyses
(two-tailed) were used if the demographic vari-
ables were ordinal and independent t-tests if
they were nominal. Adolescents gender, years
lived in the U.S., and parent education did not
relate to adolescent perceptions of discrimina-
tion. Adolescents age was positively correlated
with adolescent perceptions of discrimination
(r .17, p .02). School was also related such
that adolescents from one school (M 2.23,
SD .84) reported higher perceptions of dis-
crimination than adolescents from the other
(M 1.86, SD .74), t(174) 3.06, p
.003. Finally, immigration status was also re-
lated, such that foreign-born adolescents
(M 2.20, SD .90) reported higher discrim-
ination compared to U.S. born adolescents
(M1.94, SD .75), t(180) 2.08, p .039.
In light of these signicant ndings, we con-
trolled for age, school, and immigration status
in subsequent analyses. Finally, parents
(M 2.51, SD .81) reported higher levels of
discrimination than adolescents (M 2.02,
SD .80).
Testing the Hypotheses
We used hierarchical multiple regression to
test the hypotheses. All variables included in
interactions were rst centered to reduce multi-
collinearity. In Step 1, the demographic and
control variables were entered as a block
adolescent age, school, immigration status, and
adolescent discrimination at Time 1. In Step 2,
the parent discrimination variable was entered.
In Step 3, the school environment variable was
entered. In Step 4, the community variables
were entered as a blockadolescent percep-
tions of availability of cultural resources, parent
perceptions of availability of cultural resources,
parent/adolescent subjective perceptions of eth-
nic density, and ethnic density based on zip
code data. Finally, in Step 5, six interactions
were entered as a block testing whether adoles-
cent immigration status interacted with family,
school and neighborhood variables. We used
stepwise hierarchical regression to examine
how each contextual level (family, school,
neighborhood) accounted for variance in the
Table 1
Bivariate Correlations and Descriptives of Main Study Variables
Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mean (SD) Range
1. Perceived discrimination (A) 2.02 (.80) 15
2. Perceived discrimination (P) .17

2.51 (.82) 15
3. School environment (A) .25

.14 1.75 (.41) 13

4. Available cultural resources (A) .13 .17

.17

3.65 (.87) 15
5. Available cultural resources (P) .04 .01 .07 .30

3.22 (.87) 15
6. Neighborhood ethnic density (P/A) .06 .01 .05 .24

.25

3.14 (.96) 15
7. Neighborhood ethnic density
a
.10 .13 .12 .16

.13 .42

46.34 (8.01) 1563

Note. A adolescent report, p parent report.
a
Percentage of Asians by zip code district.

p .05.

p .01.

p .001.
6 JUANG AND ALVAREZ
dependent variable (adolescent perceptions of
discrimination at Time 3).
The results showed that the model was sig-
nicant for Step 1 (R
2
.24, F(4, 167)
change 13.3, p .001); age and immigration
status did not predict adolescent discrimination
at Time 3 but school and adolescent discrimi-
nation at Time 1 did. One school reported
greater perceptions of discrimination than the
other and adolescent perceptions of discrimina-
tion at Time 1 were linked to greater adolescent
perceptions of discrimination at Time 3. The
model was signicant for Step 2 (R
2
.03,
F(1, 166) change 5.95, p .016); greater
parent discrimination predicted greater adoles-
cent discrimination. The model was signicant
for Step 3 (R
2
.04, F(1, 165) change 8.66,
p .004); a more negative school environment
predicted greater adolescent discrimination. The
model was signicant for Step 4 (R
2
.06,
F(4, 161) change 3.89, p .005); adolescent
perceptions of lower availability of cultural re-
sources and parent/adolescent subjective per-
ceptions of greater ethnic density predicted
more adolescent discrimination. The model was
signicant for Step 5 (R
2
.07, Total R
2

.44, F(6, 155) change 2.99, p .009). The

only interaction that emerged was immigration
status by parent discrimination. To clarify this
interaction, we ran separate regressions by im-
migration status. Post hoc analyses showed that
parent discrimination was related to adolescent
discrimination for foreign-born adolescents
(b .52, p .001), but not for U.S. born
adolescents b .02, p .85) (see Figure 1).
An examination of the regression coefcients
and change in R
2
showed that adolescents per-
ception of discrimination at Time 1 was the
strongest predictor of adolescent discrimina-
tion 2 years later at Time 3. When Time 1
discrimination was accounted for, parent/
adolescent subjective perceptions of neighbor-
hood ethnic density and the immigration status
by parent discrimination interaction showed the
next largest effect sizes.
In summary, as hypothesized, greater parent
perceptions of discrimination (at least for for-
eign-born adolescents), more negative school
environment, and less availability of cultural
resources were related to greater adolescent per-
ceptions of discrimination. Contrary to the hy-
pothesis, however, greater ethnic density was
related to greater adolescent perceptions of dis-
crimination. See Table 2 for a summary of
regression results.
Discussion
Although a growing number of studies have
documented the negative consequences of ex-
periencing racial/ethnic discrimination among
Asian American populations, far fewer studies
have explored the contexts in which discrimi-
nation is perceived (Niwa et al., in press). The
purpose of the study was to examine how fam-
ily, school, and neighborhood factors related to
Chinese American adolescent perceptions of
discrimination. The results showed that parent
discrimination, negative school environment,
availability of cultural resources, and subjective
perceptions of ethnic density were linked to
adolescent perceptions of discrimination.
We found that parents reported higher levels
of discrimination than adolescents, similar to
Benner and Kim (2009b). This could be because
of the greater percentage of foreign-born in the
parent sample compared to the adolescent sam-
ple. Other studies of Asian Americans have
documented that foreign-born individuals report
higher instances of discrimination compared to
U.S. born (Ying et al., 2000). Perhaps foreign-
born individuals are more visible targets of dis-
crimination because of characteristics (e.g.,
having an accent) that may mark them as
other (Ancheta, 2001). It may also be the case
that foreign-born individuals are primed to ex-
perience discrimination as they know they are
the ones who must adjust to a new country.
Figure 1. Regression lines for relations between parent
discrimination and adolescent discrimination as moderated
by adolescent immigration status (a two-way interaction).
b unstandardized regression coefcient.
7 ADOLESCENT PERCEPTIONS OF RACIAL/ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION
As hypothesized, parent discrimination posi-
tively related to adolescent discrimination, over
and above adolescent discrimination reported at
Time 1. Our ndings support other studies re-
porting a positive relation between parent and
adolescent discrimination (Brenner & Kim,
2009b). Previous studies have suggested that
this link may be explained by parent racial
socialization (Hughes et al., 2006; Stevenson et
al., 2003) and parental stress (Benner & Kim,
2009b). However, in our study, parent discrim-
ination related to adolescent discrimination only
for adolescents who were foreign-born, and not
U.S. born. Parents (almost all were foreign-
born) and their foreign-born adolescents may
share greater similarities with one another
having to learn the English language, becoming
familiar with U.S. customs and values, and en-
gaging in greater efforts in adapting and adjust-
ing to a new countrycompared to parents and
their U.S. born adolescents. These similarities
may underlie comparable (or linked) percep-
tions of discrimination for parents and their
foreign-born adolescents. For instance, both
may be more likely to be experience discrimi-
nation because of language skills or accent than
a U.S. born adolescent. U.S. born adolescents
who speak English uently and are intimately
knowledgeable about the U.S. culture may dif-
fer considerably from their parents in experi-
ences of discrimination. Thus, commonalities in
experiences of discrimination between parents
and their foreign-born children may reect com-
monalities in experiences as immigrants. Our
ndings highlight the need to consider immi-
gration status in studies of discrimination and
also the importance of examining experiences
of discrimination as a family.
We also found that adolescents who reported
more negative school environment also reported
greater discrimination. We did not have data
concerning the source of discrimination but
other research has suggested that experiencing
discrimination by peers in school is a common
experience, particularly for Chinese American
adolescents (Grossman & Liang, 2008; Niwa et
al., in press; Rosenbloom & Way, 2004). It is
not surprising then that greater perceptions of
discrimination are related to a more negative
perception of the school. Because we only had
cross-sectional data with the school environ-
ment variable, however, we could not test the
direction of effects. Future research could ex-
plore whether it is a poor school environment
that leads to greater perceptions of racial/ethnic
discrimination, or the other way around. Either
Table 2
Hierarchical Multiple Regression of Family, School, and Neighborhood Variables Predicting Adolescent
Perceived Discrimination at Time 3, Final Model
Variable and step B (SE) R
2
Step 1: Adolescent age .01 (.07) .01 .24

School
a
.32 (.11) .20

Immigration status
b
.25 (.13) .14
Discrimination at time 1 (A) .51 (.08) .43

Step 2: Parent discrimination (P) .17 (.07) .16

.03

Step 3: School environment (A) .29 (.13) .15

.04

Step 4: Availability of cultural resources (P) .05 (.06) .05 .06

Availability of cultural resources (A) .18 (.06) .20

Neighborhood ethnic density (P/A) .19 (.06) .23

Neighborhood ethnic density (zip code data) .01 (.01) .01

Step 5: Immigration status discrimination (P) .52 (.15) .23

.07

Immigration status school environment (A) .19 (.28) .05

Immigration status cultural availability (P) .25 (.14) .14
Immigration status cultural availability (A) .01 (.01) .03
Immigration status ethnic density (P/A) .20 (.14) .10
Immigration status ethnic density (zip code data) .15 (.14) .08
Note. A Adolescent report, P parent report.
a
School was dummy-coded as 1 School 1, 2 School 2.
b
Immigration status was dummy-coded as 1 foreign-born
and 2 U.S. born.

p .05.

p .01.

p .001.
8 JUANG AND ALVAREZ
way, knowing that Chinese American adoles-
cents who perceive their school as an unfriendly
and unsafe place, may also indicate that they are
at risk for experiencing racial/ethnic discrimi-
nation.
Aspects of the neighborhood also related to
adolescent perceptions of discrimination. Ado-
lescents who perceived greater availability of
cultural resources perceived less discrimination.
Having access to cultural resources may facili-
tate connection to ones ethnic group and sup-
port for ones cultural background (Phinney,
2003), which may offset or protect adolescents
from discrimination. In a different context with
fewer cultural resources availablewhere be-
ing Chinese may be more difcult and less
valuedadolescents may be at risk for experi-
encing greater discrimination.
Our objective measure of ethnic density
(based on zip code data) did not relate to per-
ceptions of discrimination. However, the sub-
jective perceptions of ethnic density by parents
and adolescents did. After controlling for ado-
lescent discrimination at Time 1, this ethnic
density variable and the immigration status by
parent discrimination interaction variable were
the strongest predictors of adolescent discrimi-
nation at Time 3. Contrary to the hypothesis,
perceptions of greater ethnic density were re-
lated to more rather than less discrimination.
Living among greater numbers of Asians may
sensitize community members and heighten an
awareness of racial/ethnic discrimination. A
study of Chinese American college students
showed that ethnic density was positively re-
lated to ethnic identity (Juang & Nguyen,
2010). And a stronger ethnic identity has been
linked to a greater awareness of racial/ethnic
discrimination (Sellers & Shelton, 2003). Thus,
the link between ethnic density and perceptions
of discrimination may be indirect, through a
strengthening of ethnic identity and awareness
of ethnic issues. Our results also point to the
limitations of simply focusing on number of
coethnics. Numbers do not reveal the level of
connection, support, or involvement with other
coethnics. Future research should go beyond
ethnic density and examine community bonds
by focusing on connections between adoles-
cents, their families, and people in the surround-
ing community (e.g., Zhou & Kim, 2006).
Limitations and Future Research
There were several limitations to the current
study that future research could address. One
limitation is the use of primarily cross-sectional
data. We at least included adolescent discrimi-
nation at Time 1 as a control variable. Impor-
tantly, this Time 1 variable accounted for the
greatest amount of variance explained for ado-
lescent discrimination at Time 3, and yet we
identied further family, school, and neighbor-
hood factors that contributed above and beyond
adolescents prior perceptions of discrimina-
tion. Nonetheless, our primarily cross-sectional
data does not allow us to test for causal relations
and pathways.
Another limitation is that we did not have
enough complete parent data across the three
time points to examine dynamic parent-
adolescent interactions, in other words, how
changes in parent discrimination may relate to
changes in adolescent discrimination. Future re-
search should follow both the parent and ado-
lescent to examine how they experience and
perceive discrimination over time.
Another limitation is that although we found
that parent, school, and neighborhood factors
were associated with adolescent discrimination,
we did not directly test for explanations for
these associations. One important next step
would be, for instance, to examine how parents
experiences of discrimination relate to their ra-
cial/ethnic socialization goals, beliefs, and prac-
tices and how these, in turn, explain the link to
adolescent discrimination. Apart from African
American parents, we know very little of how
parents of other ethnic groups socialize their
children in regards to discrimination (Hughes et
al., 2006). We do know, however, that Asian
heritage parents may be especially reticent con-
cerning discussions of discrimination. In one
study, Japanese parents engaged in racial social-
ization less than African American and Latino
parents (Phinney & Chavira, 1995). Another
study found that Chinese American adolescents
reported their parents engaged in less cultural
socialization than Black and Puerto Rican ado-
lescents (Rivas-Drake, Hughes, & Way, 2008).
We do not know what consequences, if any, this
may have on their children. It will be important
to explore how Asian heritage parents deal with
discrimination and, in turn, how these experi-
ences inform the way parents socialize their
9 ADOLESCENT PERCEPTIONS OF RACIAL/ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION
children in terms of awareness of and response
to discrimination (Hughes & Chen, 1999;
Hughes et al., 2006). Doing so would add to our
understanding of how parents can help their
adolescents cope with and make meaning of
experiences with discrimination. As evidence
steadily accumulates concerning the negative
effects of racial/ethnic discrimination on the
physical and psychological health of Asian
Americans, we need to continue to broaden our
knowledge of discrimination within different
social contexts, search for mechanisms to ex-
plain how and why these contexts matter, and,
importantly, identify potential buffers that can
mitigate the negative effects of racial/ethnic dis-
crimination.
References
Alvarez, A., & Juang, L. (2010). Filipino Americans
and racism: A multiple mediation model of coping.
Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57, 167178.
Alvarez, A., Juang, L., & Liang, C. (2006). Asian
Americans and racism: When bad things happen to
model minorities. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic
Minority Psychology, 12(3), 477492.
Ancheta, A. (2001). Race, rights, and the Asian
American experience. NJ: Rutgers University
Press.
Benner, A. D., & Kim, S. Y. (2009a). Experiences of
discrimination among Chinese American adoles-
cents and the consequences for socioemotional and
academic development. Developmental Psychol-
ogy, 45(6), 16821694.
Benner, A. D., & Kim, S. Y. (2009b). Intergenera-
tional experiences of discrimination in Chinese
American families: Inuences of socialization and
stress. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 71(4),
862877.
Berry, J., Phinney, J., Sam, D., & Vedder, P. (2006).
Immigrant youth in cultural transition: Accultura-
tion, identity and adaptation across national con-
texts. New Jersey: Erlbaum.
Bond, M. H., & Hwang, K. (1986). The social psy-
chology of Chinese people. In M. H. Bond (Ed.),
The psychology of the Chinese people (pp. 213
266). London: Oxford University Press.
Brand, S., Felner, R., Shim, M., Seitsinger, A., &
Thaddeus, D. (1993). Middle school improvement
and reform: Development and validation of a
school-level assessment of climate, cultural plural-
ism, and school safety. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 95, 570588.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human
development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
Cheng, J. K. Y., Fancher, T. L., Ratanasen, M.,
Conner, K. Duberstein, P. R., Sue, S., & Takeuchi,
D. (2010). Lifetime suicidal ideation and suicide
attempts in Asian Americans. Asian American
Journal of Psychology, 1(1), 1830.
City and county of San Francisco human rights com-
mission. (2006). San Francisco demographic re-
port. San Francisco.
Fisher, C. B., Wallace, S. A., & Fenton, R. E. (2000).
Discrimination distress during adolescence. Jour-
nal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 679695.
Gee, G. C., Chen, J., Spencer, M., See, S., Kuester,
O., Tram, D., & Takeuchi, D. (2006). Social sup-
port as a buffer for perceived unfair treatment
among Filipino Americans: Differences between
San Francisco and Honolulu. American Journal of
Public Health, 96(4), 677684.
Gee, G. C., Ro, A., Shariff-Marco, S., & Chae, D.
(2009). Racial discrimination and health among
Asian Americans: Evidence, assessment, and di-
rections for future research. Epidemiologic Re-
views, 31, 130151.
Gee, G. C., Spencer, M. S., Chen, J., & Takeuchi, D.
(2007). A nationwide study of discrimination and
chronic health conditions among Asian Ameri-
cans. American Journal of Public Health, 97(7),
12751282.
Gil, A., & Vega, W. (1996). Two different worlds:
Acculturation stress and adaptation among Cuban
and Nicaraguan families. Journal of Social and
Personal Relationships, 13(3), 435456.
Goto, S., Gee, G., & Takeuchi, D. (2002). Strangers
still? The experience of discrimination among Chi-
nese Americans. Journal of Community Psychol-
ogy, 30(2), 211224.
Greene, M. L., Way, N., & Pahl, K. (2006). Trajec-
tories of perceived adult and peer discrimination
among Black, Latino, and Asian American adoles-
cents: Patterns and psychological correlates. De-
velopmental Psychology, 42(2), 218238.
Grossman, J., & Liang, B. (2008). Discrimination
distress among Chinese American adolescents.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(1), pp.
111.
Hughes, D., & Chen, L. (1999). The nature of par-
ents race-related communications to children: A
developmental perspective (pp. 467490). In L.
Balter & C. S. Tamis-LeMonda (Eds.), Child psy-
chology: A handbook of contemporary issues. New
York: Psychology Press.
Hughes, D., Rodriquez, J., Smith, E. P., Johnson,
D. J., Stevenson, H. C., & Spicer, P. (2006). Par-
ents ethnic-racial socialization practices: A re-
view of research and directions for future study.
Developmental Psychology, 42, 5, 747770.
Juang, L. (2004). Ethnic resource availability scale.
Unpublished measure, San Francisco State Univer-
sity.
10 JUANG AND ALVAREZ
Juang, L., & Alvarez, A. (2010). Discrimination and
adjustment among Chinese American adolescents:
Family conict and family cohesion as vulnerabil-
ity and protective factors. American Journal of
Public Health, 100, 24032409.
Juang, L., & Cookston, J. (2009). Acculturation, dis-
crimination, and depressive symptoms among Chi-
nese American adolescents: A longitudinal study.
Journal of Primary Prevention, 30, 475496.
Juang, L., & Nguyen, H. (2010). Ethnic identity
among Chinese-American youth: The role of fam-
ily obligation and community factors on ethnic
engagement, clarity, and pride. Identity, 10, 20
38.
Lee, R. M. (2005). Resilience against discrimination:
Ethnic identity and other-group orientation as pro-
tective factors for Korean Americans. Journal of
Counseling Psychology, 52(1), 3644.
Liang, B., Grossman, J. M., & Deguchi, M. (2007).
Chinese American middle school youths experi-
ences of discrimination and stereotyping. Qualita-
tive Research in Psychology, 4, 187205.
Liang, C. T. H., Alvarez, A., Juang, L. P., & Liang,
M. X. (2007). The role of coping in the relation-
ship between perceived racism and racism-related
stress for Asian Americans: Gender differences.
Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54(2), 132
141.
Mistry, R., Benner, A. D., Tan, C. S., & Kim, S. Y.
(2009). Family economic stress and academic
well-being among Chinese-American youth: The
inuence of adolescents perceptions of economic
strain. Journal of Family Psychology, 23(3), Spe-
cial issue: On new shores: Family dynamics and
relationships among immigrant families, 279290.
Moore, K. A., Chalk, R., Scarpa, J., & Vandivere, S.
(2002). Family strengths: Often overlooked but
real. Child Trends (Research Brief). Washington,
DC.
Nguyen, H. (2000). Testing an ecological model of
acculturation: The role of cultural t, competence
and belongingness. Unpublished dissertation the-
sis, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI.
Niwa, E., Way, N., Qin, D., & Okazaki, S. (in press).
Hostile hallways: How stereotypes about Asian
Americans shape peer discrimination and the well-
being of Asian American adolescents in school. In
F. Leong, L. Juang, D. Qin, & H. Fitzgerald (Eds.),
Asian American Child Psychology and Mental
Health, Vol 1: Development and Context. Child
Psychology and Mental Health: Cultural and Ra-
cial Perspectives, H. E. Fitzgerald (Ed.). Westport,
CT: Praeger Press.
Noh, S., & Kasper, V. (2003). Perceived discrimina-
tion and depression: Moderating effects of coping,
acculturation, and ethnic support. American Jour-
nal of Public Health, 93, 232238.
Phinney, J. S. (2003). Ethnic identity and accultura-
tion. In K. M. Chun, P. B. Organista, & G. Marin
(Eds.), Acculturation: Advances in theory, mea-
surement, and applied research (pp. 6381).
Washington, DC: American Psychological Associ-
ation.
Phinney, J. S., & Chavira, V. (1992). Ethnic identity
and self-esteem: An exploratory longitudinal
study. Journal of Adolescence, 15, 271281.
Phinney, J. S., Ferguson, D. L., & Tate, J. D. (1997).
Intergroup attitudes among ethnic minority adoles-
cents: A causal model. Child Development, 68(5),
955969.
Rivas-Drake, D., Hughes, D., & Way, N. (2008). A
closer look at peer discrimination, ethnic identity,
and psychological well-being among urban Chi-
nese American sixth graders. Journal of Youth and
Adolescence, 37(1), 1221.
Rosenbloom, S. R., & Way, N. (2004). Experiences
of discrimination among African American, Asian
American, and Latino adolescents in an urban high
school. Youth and Society, 35, 420451.
Sellers, R., & Shelton, J. N. (2003). The role of racial
identity in perceived racial discrimination. Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1079
1092.
Smith, P. K. (2004). Bullying: Recent developments.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 98103.
Stevenson, H. C., Cameron, R., Herrero-Taylor, T.,
& Davis, G. Y. (2003). Development of the Teen-
ager Experience of Racial Socialization scale: Cor-
relates of race-related socialization frequency from
the perspective of Black youth. Journal of Black
Psychology, 28(2), 84106.
Uba, L. (1994). Asian Americans: Personality pat-
terns, identity, and mental health. London: Guil-
ford Press.
Waters, M. C. (1999). Black identities: West Indian
immigrant dreams and American realities. Cam-
bridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Way, N., & Robinson, M. G. (2003). A longitudinal
study of the effects of family, friends, and school
experiences on the psychological adjustment of
ethnic minority, low-SES adolescents. Journal of
Adolescent Research, 18(4), 324346.
Way, N., Santos, C., Niwa, E. Y., & Kim-Gervey, C.
(2008). To be or not to be: An exploration of ethnic
identity development in context. In M. Azmitia, M.
Syed, & K. Radmacher (Eds.), The intersections of
personal and social identities. New Directions for
Child Development, 120, 6179. Jossey-Bass: San
Francisco.
Ying, Y.-W., Lee, P., & Tsai, J. (2000). Cultural
orientation and racial discrimination: Predictors of
coherence in Chinese American young adults.
Journal of Community Psychology, 28(4), 427
442.
11 ADOLESCENT PERCEPTIONS OF RACIAL/ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION
Yip, T., Gee, G. C., & Takeuchi, D. T. (2008). Racial
discrimination and psychological distress: The im-
pact of ethnic identity and age among immigrant
and United States-born Asian adults. Developmen-
tal Psychology, 44(3), 787800.
Zhou, M., & Kim, S. S. (2006). Community forces,
social capital, and educational achievement: The
case of supplementary education in the Chinese
and Korean immigrant communities. Harvard Ed-
ucational Review, 76(1), 129.
Zhou, Z., Peverly, S. T., Xin, T., Huang, A. S., &
Wang, W. (2003). School adjustment of rst-
generation Chinese-American adolescents. Psy-
chology in the Schools, 40(1), 7184.
Received September 1, 2010
Revision received January 31, 2011
Accepted February 2, 2011
Asian American Journal of Psychology
Call for Papers
The Asian American Journal of Psychology (AAJP) is the ofcial publication of the Asian
American Psychological Association and is dedicated to research, practice, advocacy, education,
and policy within Asian American psychology.
The Journal publishes empirical, theoretical, methodological, and practice-oriented articles cov-
ering topics relevant to Asian American individuals and communities, including prevention,
intervention, training, and social justice. Whereas particular consideration is given to empirical
articles using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodology, the Journal will publish the full
range of articles including but not limited to empirical studies, short research reports, methodolog-
ical reviews, position papers, policy statements, case studies, and critical reviews. The Journal will
also consider proposals for special issues that address specic themes within the eld of Asian
American psychology.
For the Journal, Asian Americans are broadly dened as Americans of Asian descent residing in
the United States as either citizens or permanent residents. Also of interest are articles related to
Asian immigrants, refugees, and sojourners. In addition, the Journal will also consider articles about
Asians in Canada.
Submission Requirements
Authors should prepare manuscripts according to the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (6th Edition). Manuscripts may be copyedited for bias-free language.
Formatting instructions (all copy must be double-spaced) and instructions on the preparation of
tables, gures, references, metrics, and abstracts appear in the Manual.
Authors should submit their manuscripts electronically via the Manuscript Submission Portal,
located at www.apa.org/journals/aap. Complete instructions for preparation of your manuscript are
also featured on the Asian American Journal of Psychology webpage.
12 JUANG AND ALVAREZ