ABSTRACT
This study examined the effects of parent-adolescent relationships on school performance to provide a clearer understanding of why authoritative parenting does not have as beneficial effects for Asian Americans as it does for European Americans. Over 500 adolescents of Chinese- (148 first and 176 second generation) and European-descent (208 primarily third generation or more) families from seven different high schools completed measures of (1) parenting style, (2) parent-adolescent closeness (cohesion subscale from the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Environment Scales II and relationship satisfaction), and (3) school performance. Positive effects of both authoritative parenting and relationship closeness on school performance were found for European Americans and, to some extent, second-generation Chinese, but not first-generation Chinese. These effects were also stronger for European Americans than first-generation Chinese. Through examination of the mediating role of parent-adolescent relationships, this study also found that among European American families, the beneficial effects of authoritative parenting are explained through relationship closeness.
Subject(s)
Interpersonal Relations , Parent-Child Relations , Parenting , China/ethnology , Europe/ethnology , Female , Humans , Male , United States/epidemiologyABSTRACT
This study addresses a paradox in the literature involving the parenting style of Asians: Chinese parenting has often been described as "controlling" or "authoritarian". These styles of parenting have been found to be predictive of poor school achievement among European-Americans, and yet the Chinese are performing quite well in school. This study suggests that the concepts of authoritative and authoritarian are somewhat ethnocentric and do not capture the important features of Chinese child rearing, especially for explaining their school success. Immigrant Chinese and European-American mothers of preschool-aged children were administered standard measures of parental control and authoritative-authoritarian parenting style as well as Chinese child-rearing items involving the concept of "training." After controlling for their education, and their scores on the standard measures, the Chinese mothers were found to score significantly higher on the "training" ideologies. This "training" concept has important features, beyond the authoritarian concept, that may explain Chinese school success.
Subject(s)
Authoritarianism , Child Rearing/ethnology , Cultural Characteristics , Educational Status , Emigration and Immigration , Mothers/psychology , Parenting/ethnology , Adult , Child, Preschool , China/ethnology , Europe/ethnology , Female , Humans , Internal-External Control , Los Angeles , MaleABSTRACT
An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for detection of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in nasal secretions from infants with respiratory disease. RSV was detected in 23 of 29 secretions positive for RSV by tissue culture and in one of 36 samples negative for RSV by tissue culture. The ELISA was a simple rapid, and surprisingly sensitive test for identification of RSV infection in infants.
Subject(s)
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Immunoenzyme Techniques , Nasal Mucosa/metabolism , Respiratory Syncytial Viruses/isolation & purification , Child, Preschool , Humans , Nasal Mucosa/microbiology , Nasopharynx/microbiology , Respiratory Tract Infections/microbiologyABSTRACT
Fifty infants younger than six months, hospitalized for infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), were studied by examination of serial samples of nasal secretion. Secretory neutralizing activity was measured by plaque reduction and secretory antibody by indirect fluorescence using conjugated antiserum to human IgA, IgG, or IgM. Secretory neutralizing activity during infection rose or fell fourfold with approximately equal frequency (20% and 26%, respectively). In contrast, levels of IgA antibody to RSV in secretions rose fourfold in 56%--65% of the infants and fell in none. The frequency of such rises in titer of antibody was directly related to age. In individual secretions the correlation between neutralizing activity and IgA antibody to RSV was poor: neutralizing activity was often found in the absence of detectable antibody, and IgA antibody to RSV was often nonneutralizing. Nevertheless, the development of IgA antibody to RSV correlated in time with the disappearance of virus from the respiratory tract. The timing of this secretory response is consistent with the hypothesis that antibody contributes significantly to cure of infection.
