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JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, 26(4), 979–990

Family Emotional Support and the Individuation Process Among Asian- and Latino-Heritage College-Going Emerging Adults Kimberley A. Radmacher

Margarita Azmitia

California State University–Dominguez Hills

University of California–Santa Cruz

This study examined whether discrepancies in emerging adults’ perceptions of their own and their parents’ value of education were associated with their individuation from family, and whether this relationship was mediated by family emotional support. A total of 82 Asian- and Latino-heritage emerging adults completed a survey assessing their and their parents’ value of education, family emotional support, and family engagement (our proxy for individuation). As predicted, larger discrepancies in the value placed on education were associated with less family engagement; this association was mediated by emerging adults’ perceptions of family emotional support. These findings suggest that family emotional support may play an important role in the individuation process of Asian- and Latino-heritage college-going emerging adults.

Although adolescents and emerging adults often share the same core values and beliefs as their parents (Smetana, 2005; Wyatt & Carlo, 2002), as they begin to navigate their peer, school, and community worlds on their own they encounter ideologies that differ from those of their parents. Increases in autonomy and cognition allow adolescents and emerging adults to think abstractly, reflect on their childhood ideologies, and reconsider the values and beliefs socialized by their parents and other key adults in their lives. Close relationships with family and friends provide the support and security, that is, a secure base, needed to revisit and formulate their own ideologies and develop their identities (Erikson, 1968). Individuation from family and friends, that is, balancing the need for autonomy with the need for connection in close relationships, is an important developmental task of adolescence and emerging adulthood (Azmitia, Syed, & Radmacher, 2013; Erikson, 1968; Grotevant & Cooper, 1998; Wintre & Yaffe, 2000). Individuation also plays a key role in identity development (Erikson, 1968). Developmental research has shown that the interplay between autonomy and connectedness, This research was funded by grants from UC-ACCORD, UCLMRI, UCSC’s Committee on Research, and the Spencer Foundation. We also acknowledge and thank our statistical consultant Douglas Bonnett, PhD, University of California-Santa Cruz, for his contribution to this article. An earlier version of this article was presented at the biennial meetings of the Society for Research in Adolescence, Vancouver 2012. Requests for reprints should be sent to Kimberley A. Radmacher, Child Development Program, California State University–Dominguez Hills, 1000 E. Victoria Street, Carson, CA 90747. E-mail: [email protected]

that is, individuation, can be an important mechanism in adolescents’ and emerging adults’ identity formation, family and peer relationships, and mental health (Adams & Marshall, 1996; Grotevant, 1987; Grotevant & Cooper, 1986, 1998; McElhaney & Allen, 2012). Erikson (1950) introduced the concept of individuation when he proposed that identity formation involves developing autonomy from significant others, defining autonomy as being able to have distinctive individual characteristics separate from significant others while maintaining a connection to them. Bowlby’s construct of autonomy–relatedness describes a similar process within attachment relationships (Murphey, Silber, Coelho, Hamburg, & Greenberg, 1963). Kagitcibasi (1996, 2005) has suggested that, in addition to separateness, the construct of autonomy should include individual agency, which allows people to negotiate a balance between autonomy and relatedness. Like Markus and Kitayama (1991, 2010), she argues that while cultures vary in their construal of this balance, in all cultures self-construals include autonomy and relatedness, two basic human needs (Brewer, 1991). Although researchers vary in their definition of autonomy, autonomy has generally been referred to as the ability to generate independent thought and make decisions for oneself that are separate from those encouraged by significant others. Erikson and other identity researchers have proposed that the exploration and expression of independent thoughts and behaviors allows us to formulate and © 2016 The Authors Journal of Research on Adolescence © 2016 Society for Research on Adolescence DOI: 10.1111/jora.12251

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RADMACHER AND AZMITIA

consolidate our unique identities and express our individuality (Erikson, 1968; Grotevant & Cooper, 1986, 1998). Connectedness refers to the need to be supported, accepted by and integrated into a larger social group and our meaningful relationships. Both autonomy and connectedness afford opportunities for personal identity exploration and a balance between the two fosters positive identity and social development (Adams & Marshall, 1996; Grotevant & Cooper, 1998; but see McElhaney & Allen, 2012). The theoretical development and empirical evidence of the individuation process has been advanced through both the identity and attachment literatures. Researchers have typically examined the interplay between autonomy and connectedness within interpersonal interactions or relationships with family and friends and identified behaviors that suggest that an adolescent or emerging adult is individuated (Allen, Hauser, Bell, & O’Connor, 1994; Allen, Moore, Kuperminc, & Bell, 1998; Grotevant, 1987; Grotevant & Cooper, 1986, 1998; McElhaney & Allen, 2012). Behavior characteristics of cognitive or behavioral autonomy involve asserting one’s point of view clearly, being open to others’ ideas, understanding differences and similarities between one’s and others’ points of view, explaining and taking responsibility for one’s opinions, and exhibiting confidence in one’s proposals (Allen et al., 1994, 1998; Grotevant & Cooper, 1998; McElhaney, Allen, Stephenson, & Hare, 2009). Behaviors that undermine autonomy include controlling behaviors such as coercing others to agree with one’s point of view using undue pressure or guilt and psychological withdrawal such as recanting one’s opinion without appropriate persuasion, stonewalling, or disengaging from the interaction (Allen et al., 1994, 1998; McElhaney & Allen, 2012). Connectedness, in contrast, is shown when adolescents are responsive to and show respect for family members’ and friends’ views and are able to take these views into consideration when expressing their own (Grotevant & Cooper, 1986). Feelings of emotional support, alienation, trust, and communication have also been used to measure the degree of emerging adults’ connectedness with others (Azmitia et al., 2013; McElhaney & Allen, 2012). This study builds on this work by examining the internal negotiations, or intrapersonal processes, that are part of the process of individuation and their associations with interpersonal relationships. Although unpleasant, intrapersonal conflict is essential for healthy identity development because

it signals that emerging adults are exploring their possible identities or selves (Erikson, 1968). An important part of this exploration is to consider the values of important agents in one’s lives, such as parents, and whether one accepts those values. After they grapple internally with the relation between their own and their parents’ values, we would expect that emerging adults who are individuated would eventually reconcile any discrepancies and, given a supportive family environment, maintain a sense of connection with their parents even if they disagree with their values (Grotevant & Cooper, 1998; Kerig, Swanson, & Ward, 2012). An important question to consider, however, is whether individuation is impeded during this time of internal conflict. It is possible that if emerging adults decide that the ideological differences between their values and those of their parents are too large, feelings of disconnection from family may intensify because the emerging adult believes that their disparate views may not be accepted by their family, hindering their individuation, identity development, and mental health. Hwang and Wood (2009) found, for example, that high levels of cultural value discrepancies between Latino and Asian college students and their parents were associated with depression and low self-esteem (see also Radmacher, Gills, & Azmitia, 2005). We aimed to extend this research by assessing whether the extent of discrepancy in viewpoints with important others would be related to emerging adults’ perception of the quality of those interpersonal relationships and their level of individuation. We operationalized autonomy as emerging adults’ perceptions of the discrepancy between their own and their parents’ values about education, connectedness as emerging adults’ perceptions of the emotional support they received from their family, and individuation as emerging adults’ perception of their overall family engagement. Latino- and Asian-heritage college students are ideal for studying the interplay between interpersonal and intrapersonal processes involved in individuation and identity development because the value discrepancy between home and college can be especially challenging for emerging adults from cultural communities that encourage close relationships and obligations to family, that is, interdependence (Azmitia, Syed, & Radmacher, 2008; Cooper, 2011; Orbe, 2008). These two cultural communities emphasize close family ties, that is, familism, discourage explicit conflict with parents, grandparents, and other extended family members, engage in gendered socialization wherein sons are given

FAMILY SUPPORT AND INDIVIDUATION

more freedom than daughters, and place high value on education, often emigrating to the United States so children and adolescents can attend better schools and have more opportunities than they would have in their home countries (Cooper, 2011; G andara, 1995; Grau, Azmitia, & Quattelbaum, 2009; McElhaney & Allen, 2012; Reis, Azmitia, Syed, Radmacher, & Gills, 2009). The college context introduces these emerging adults to new ideas, peers, activities, and opportunities for self-reflection that may allow them to reconsider the value systems they learned from their parents and may initiate intra- and interpersonal conflict and negotiation (Cooper, 2011; Luyckx, Goossens, & Soenens, 2006; Schachter, 2005; Tao, Pratt, Hunsberger, & Prancer, 2000). While their feelings of obligation to their families may motivate college-going Asian- and Latinoheritage emerging adults to succeed academically, the press for autonomy that occurs during emerging adulthood may lead to a discrepancy between the value emerging adults place on education and the importance it holds for their parents (Azmitia et al., 2013; Orbe, 2008). As they explore new opportunities and relationships in college, emerging adults may view academics as only one domain among several that are important in their lives, such as romantic relationships and sexuality, student organizations or clubs, and political causes (Azmitia et al., 2008). Moreover, self-exploration of these other domains of identity or participation in the nonacademic opportunities college offers may be of equal or more importance than academic achievement (Azmitia et al., 2013; Orbe, 2008). Discrepancies between the value and priority emerging adults and their parents place on education may contribute to emerging adults’ feelings of distance from their parents and desire to create “secret” identities that they do not share with their families (London, 1989; Ochberg & Comeau, 2001; Orbe, 2008). The perception that one cannot discuss university issues with one’s parents has a larger impact on females’ than males’ well-being and adjustment to college, perhaps because girls and women receive stronger socialization to be interdependent or connected to others (Wintre & Yaffe, 2000). Latino- and Asian-heritage emerging adults may feel more distant from their parents if they perceive profound differences between their and their parents’ views, and may feel such disconnect from family or friends that they become anxious or distressed (Hwang & Wood, 2009; Orbe, 2008; Tao et al., 2000). Nevertheless, emerging adults’ trust, security, and long-term feelings of parental support

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and encouragement may buffer them against these feelings of distance, alienation, and secrecy about their priorities and identities. It is important to understand the role that this support plays in the individuation process because family support has been linked to a variety of outcomes in adolescents and emerging adults, including physical and mental health, academic achievement, and school adjustment (Cooper, 2011; Reis et al., 2009; Rice, Cole, & Lapsley, 1990). The Present Study In this study, we focused on Asian- and Latinoheritage college students to assess how emerging adults from cultures that place relatively more emphasis on interdependence than independence perceive their own and their parents’ values about education and whether discrepancies between these values are associated with their felt individuation via their perceptions of family emotional support. Our primary goals were to (1) examine whether discrepancies in emerging adults’ perceptions of their own (SVOE) and their parents’ (PVOE) value of education were associated with their individuation from family; (2) assess whether this association was mediated by emerging adults’ perceptions of the emotional support they received from their families; and (3) explore gender and ethnic patterns in these associations. We focused on values related to education, that is, the importance of getting a college education, because Latino- and Asian-heritage parents emphasize education (Ceballo, Maurizi, Suarez, & Aretakis, 2014; Spera, Wentzel, & Matto, 2009; Valencia, 2002) and because there is stronger concordance between parents’ and adolescents’ values about education than between their values regarding other identity domains (Cooper, 2011; Youniss & Smollar, 1985). We predicted that emerging adults who perceived a larger discrepancy between SVOE and PVOE would feel less individuated from their family than emerging adults who perceived a smaller difference between their own and parents’ views. We also hypothesized that perceived emotional support from family would mediate the relationship between the relative difference in SVOE and PVOE and individuation from family. Given past research that has shown Latino and Asian adolescents and emerging adults express similarly high educational aspirations but Latino and Asian parents are more likely to discourage daughters than sons from going to college (Cooper, 2011; Gib-

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son & Bhachu, 1991), we hypothesized that women would report a greater discrepancy between SVOE and PVOE than men. Because we expected that a greater discrepancy in educational values would be associated with less individuation from family, we also hypothesized that women would report less individuation from family than men. Finally, because both Asian- and Latino-heritage families place importance on close family ties, we did not expect to find any between-ethnic differences in emerging adults’ perceptions of family emotional support and individuation.

METHOD Participants Participants included 82 Asian (primarily of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean heritage; n = 45) and Latino (primarily of Mexican heritage; n = 37) emerging adults (51 women; mean age = 17.95) who participated in a 4-year longitudinal study examining the role of close relationships in the transition to college. Participants’ generational status varied; 18 were immigrants (9 Latino and 9 Asian), 30 were first generation (11 Latino and 19 Asian), and 32 were second generation (14 Latino and 17 Asian). Even among second-generation emerging adults 14 participants had one parent who had immigrated to the United States. Socioeconomic status (SES) was computed as a composite of parents’ education and occupation using the Hollingshead Two-Factor Index of Social Position (Hollingshead, 1991/1957). Participants’ SES included 26 poor/working class, 30 middle class, 23 upper middle/upper class, with most Latinoheritage participants classified as poor/working (n = 18) and middle class (n = 10) and Asian-heritage participants falling mostly within the middle (n = 20) and upper middle class (n = 16) categories. For this study, we only included participants who completed all three measurement points during the first year of data collection and had complete data for all variables. In the analyses, one participant was excluded because the parents’ value of education scale was not completed, and three were excluded because socioeconomic information was missing. Measures Value of education (autonomy). Ochberg and Comeau’s (2001) value of education scale was used to assess participants’ perception of their

own (SVOE) and parents’ (PVOE) value of education during the winter quarter. Seventeen items evaluated the importance participants and their parents place on education; participants responded using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The scale includes both positive and negative statements about the benefits of a college education. Sample items include “The chances of getting a good job are slim without a college degree” and “A lot of what you learn in college has little practical application.” Negative statements were reverse-coded, and higher ratings on the index indicate that more value is placed on receiving a college education. We used the discrepancy between SVOE and PVOE to index emerging adults’ autonomy from parents. Cronbach’s alphas for both scales were moderate, with alphas of .61 for SVOE and .71 for PVOE. Emotional support (connectedness). Participants’ perception of the emotional support they received from family was measured using Procidano and Heller’s (1983) Perceived Social Support from Family measure during the fall and spring quarters (a = .94 for fall; a = .95 for spring). This measure of emotional support has been used in prior research with ethnic minority populations (Azmitia et al., 2013; Way, Cowal, Gingold, & Bissenssar, 2001). Sample items include “I rely on my family for emotional support” and “My family does not understand me.” Participants responded yes, no, or I don’t know to each item; yes responses were scored as 1, no responses were scored as 0, and I don’t know responses were excluded; this scoring procedure yields means for emotional support ranging between 0 and 1. Emerging adults’ perception of the emotional support they received from family indexed connectedness. Family engagement (individuation). Participants’ completed Ochberg and Comeau’s (2001) family engagement index during the winter quarter (a = .85); this measure served as our proxy for individuation. Eighteen items measured emerging adults’ perceptions of how college affected their relationship with their families, including their families’ acceptance of the emerging adults’ autonomy and their perceived level of connection with their families. The scale includes both positive and negative questions regarding family relationships; it is measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Positive questions were reverse-coded, and higher


scores on the index reflect less family engagement, that is, less individuation. Sample items include “My family often doesn’t understand the ups and downs of my college life”; “Even when we disagree, my family takes my point of view seriously”; and “Since I came to college, often my family and I just don’t know what to say to each other.” Procedure A random sample of potential participants was selected from a list of all self-identified ethnic minority first-year students admitted to the university for the fall of 2002 and who were invited by letter to participate in the longitudinal study the summer prior to entering the university. Those who returned a postcard indicating their desire to participate (approximately 50%) were contacted to schedule the fall data collection session. Additional participants were recruited through flyers posted on campus, a recruitment table in the student commons, and word of mouth. Emerging adults were paid $15 for their participation in the fall session and $20 for their participation in the winter and spring sessions. For this study, we selected students who identified as Latino or Asian heritage. Participants completed a survey during the fall, winter, and spring quarters of their first year of college. At each time of measurement, participants completed a survey individually and at their own pace in a university laboratory. Most participants completed the survey in 20–45 min. RESULTS The primary goal of this study was to examine whether discrepancies in emerging adults’ perceptions of their own (SVOE) and their parents’ value of education (PVOE) were associated with their individuation from family, as measured by family engagement, and whether this association was mediated by the emotional support they received from their family. A squared difference score (X Y)2 was computed to measure the discrepancy in emerging adults’ SVOE (X) and PVOE (Y). Edwards (2002) shows that a model with (X Y)2 as the sole predictor variable is equivalent to a model with five predictor variables (X, Y, XY, X2, and Y2) with slope coefficients that are subject to four constraints. Edwards argues that the four constraints should be justified before using a model with (X Y)2 as the sole predictor variable. A test of the four constraints indicated that these con-

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straints could not be rejected, F(4, 76) = 1.275, p = .287. The adjusted R2 for the five predictor variable model was .018 while and the adjusted R2 for our model was .039, which provides additional evidence that our model can be justified. SVOE, PVOE, and family engagement (our proxy for individuation) were measured in the winter quarter while family emotional support was measured in both the fall and spring quarters of the emerging adults’ first year of college. Because family emotional support was not measured in the winter quarter, we created a firstyear family emotional support variable (FES average) by averaging the scores from fall and spring. Because SES was correlated with ethnicity, we included the SES composite score as control variable in our analyses; higher scores refer to lower SES (Hollingshead, 1991/1957). Correlations, means, and standard deviations for all variables appear in Table 1. Gender and Ethnic Variations in Model Variables First, we performed individual 2 (Gender) 9 2 (Ethnicity) ANCOVAs to examine gender and ethnic variations in SVOE, PVOE, VOE squared difference, family emotional support average, and family engagement (individuation) while controlling for SES. Gender and ethnic differences on SVOE, VOE squared difference, family emotional support, and family engagement were not significant. There were also no ethnic differences for PVOE. A significant gender main effect for emerging adults’ perceptions of the value their parents placed on education was obtained. Women (M = 3.83; SD = 0.42) reported that their parents’ placed a higher value on education than men (M = 3.56; SD = 0.46), F(1, 78) = 5.63, p < .05 (Table 2). Finally, a paired sample t-test revealed that emerging adults’ perception of their PVOE (M = 3.72, SD = 0.45) was significantly higher than their SVOE (M = 3.29, SD = 0.37), t(81) = 8.92, p < .001. Mediation Analysis To test our hypothesis that family emotional support would be a mediator between the discrepancy in values and emerging adults’ individuation, we used a bootstrap sampling method proposed by Hayes (2013) and employed his PROCESS for SPSS macro, which tests for direct, indirect, and total effects (Hayes, 2014). We chose this method over the causal steps approach (Baron & Kenny, 1986) because it allows us to quantify the indirect effect

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TABLE 1 Correlations, Means, and Standard Deviations for Value of Education, Parents’ Value of Education, VOE Squared Difference, Family Engagement (Individuation), and Family Support (n = 78) Measure Gender Ethnicity SES Year 1 Family Support Family Engagement (Individuation) VOE Squared Difference EA VOE Parent VOE M SD

Gender –

.62 .49

Ethnic

SES

.203† –

Y1 FES

0.039 0.343** –

.45 .50

41.28 16.72

FE

VOE SqDiff

EA VOE

.159 .198† .012 –

0.022 0.108 0.202† 0.639** –

.214† .218† .068 .311** .225* –

0.060 0.045 0.134 0.023 0.115 0.352** –

.79 .22

2.36 0.51

.36 .45

3.29 0.37

PVOE 0.273* 0.147 0.088 0.214† 0.077 0.418** 0.473** – 3.72 0.45

†

p < .10; *p < .05; **p < .01.

TABLE 2 Means and Standard Deviations for Value of Education, Parents’ Value of Education, VOE Squared Difference, Family Engagement (Individuation), and Family Support by Ethnicity and Gender (n = 78) Ethnicity Latino Value of Education Parents’ Value of Education Value of Education Squared Difference Family Engagement (Individuation) Year 1 Family Emotional Support

3.33 3.65 0.25 2.31 0.83

(.36) (.53) (.29) (.46) (.17)

Gender Asian 3.26 3.78 0.46 2.44 0.74

(.37) (.38) (.54) (.54) (.25)

Women 3.28 3.83* 0.45 2.40 0.75

(.36) (.42) (.45) (.56) (.25)

Men 3.32 3.56* 0.24 2.35 0.83

(.38) (.46) (.44) (.43) (.15)

*p < .05.

through a direct inferential test and increases our statistical power given our small sample size (Hayes, 2013). We included gender, ethnicity, and SES as control variables because they were either correlated with at least one model variable or with each other. The simple mediation analysis revealed that the discrepancy in the value emerging adults and their parents placed on education (VOE squared difference) indirectly influenced emerging adults’ individuation (as measured by family engagement) through its effect on their perceived emotional support from family in their first year of college (Table 3). As predicted, emerging adults who perceived more discrepancy between their own and parents’ value of education also perceived less emotional support from their families (a = 0.128) and emerging adults who perceived less emotional support from their families felt less individuation (b = 1.445). A bias-corrected bootstrap confidence interval for the indirect of effect of family emotional support (ab = 0.184) based on 10,000 boot-

strap samples was above zero (0.025–0.406). The perceived discrepancy in value of education did not influence emerging adults individuation independent of its effect on family emotional support (cʹ = 0.032, p = .761). To guard against the possibility of a false positive (type I error), we also ran the analysis without the covariates (Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011). A bias-corrected bootstrap confidence interval for the indirect effect of family emotional support based on 10,000 bootstrap samples was above zero (0.074–0.449), and the indirect effect was slightly higher without controlling for the covariates (ab = 0.225; Table 4). We tested the reverse model with family emotional support mediating the effect of family engagement on the squared difference in value of education, but it was not a good fit for our data because the 95% confidence interval for this model included zero ( 0.024 to 0.345). We also tested the model with the squared difference in value of education mediating the effect of family emotional support on family engagement, which


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TABLE 3 Simple Mediation Analysis for Family Emotional Support Mediating the Association Between VOE Squared Difference and Family Engagement (Individuation) Among Emerging Adults and Controlling for Gender, Ethnicity, and SES (n = 78) Consequent M (AVG FES) Antecedent

Coefficient

X (VOE Squared Difference) M (AVG Family Emotional Support) C1 (Gender) C2 (Ethnicity) C3 (SES) Constant R2

a

.128 – f1 .038 f2 .066 f3 .001 i1 .869 .125 F(4, 73) = 2.607, p < .05

Y (Family Distance)

SE

p

Coefficient

.056 – .052 .054 .002 .075

.025 – .472 .228 .475