Age-Varying Associations Between Chinese American Parents’ Racial–Ethnic Socialization and Children’s Difficulties During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Parental racial–ethnic socialization (RES) can be an important resource for Chinese American youth as they navigate the highly racialized and Sinophobic context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. We used time-varying association models to examine Chinese American parents’ engagement in six types of racial–ethnic socialization (RES) practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and their associations with child difficulties across child ages 4–18 years and child gender. Five hundred Chinese American parents (Mage = 43.5 years, SD = 6.5; 79% mothers) with 4–18-year-old children (Mage = 11.7 years, SD = 3.9; 48% girls) reported on their RES practices and children’s adjustment difficulties. Parents’ use of maintenance of heritage culture and cultural pluralism RES did not vary for children at different ages, whereas they used more awareness of discrimination RES for older children than younger children. Parents engaged in more maintenance of heritage culture RES during early adolescence and more concealing Chinese connection RES during middle adolescence with their daughters than sons. Maintenance of heritage culture and cultural pluralism RES contributed to fewer child difficulties during early to middle adolescence, respectively. However, avoidance of outgroups and concealing Chinese connection RES strategies contributed to more child difficulties across most child ages. Awareness of discrimination and awareness of COVID-19 discrimination RES were associated with more child difficulties during early to middle adolescence during the pandemic, with the association peaking at around child age 14. Findings highlight the role of child age and gender in parents’ RES and implications for their adjustment during COVID-19, and inform culturally and developmentally tailored interventions.