Growing Up Too Soon? Parentification among Immigrant and Native Adolescents in Germany

Autor/in	Titzmann, Peter F.
Titel	Growing Up Too Soon? Parentification among Immigrant and Native Adolescents in Germany
Quelle	In: Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41 (2012) 7, S.880-893 (14 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0047-2891
DOI	10.1007/s10964-011-9711-1
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Immigrants; Adolescents; Role; Family Structure; Parent Child Relationship; Acculturation; Mothers; Self Efficacy; Adjustment (to Environment); Adolescent Development; Germany + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Immigrant; Immigrantin; Immigranten; Adolescent; Adolescence; Adoleszenz; Jugend; Jugendalter; Jugendlicher; Rollen; Familienkonstellation; Familiensystem; Parents-child relationship; Parent-child-relation; Parent-child relationship; Eltern-Kind-Beziehung; Akkulturation; Mother; Mutter; Self-efficacy; Selbstwirksamkeit; Deutschland
Abstract	Parentification (adolescents' adoption of adult family roles by providing instrumental or emotional support for their parents) is assumed to be higher in immigrant than native families. An often discussed reason for parentification is the adolescent-parent acculturation gap in immigrant families whereby immigrant adolescents acculturate faster and outperform their parents socio-culturally. The aim of this multi-informant, multi-group study was to investigate levels, predictors, and psychosocial outcomes of instrumental and emotional parentification. The sample comprised 197 native (adolescents: mean age 14.7 years, 52% female) and 185 ethnic German immigrant (adolescents: mean age 15.7 years, 60% female) mother-adolescent dyads. Results revealed higher levels of emotional and instrumental parentification among immigrant adolescents. Parents' partnership dissatisfaction predicted instrumental and emotional parentification only in the native German sample. Among immigrants, language brokering related to instrumental and emotional parentification, and a larger mother-adolescent acculturation gap was associated with higher levels of emotional parentification. The positive psychosocial outcome, self-efficacy, was predicted by instrumental parentification in both adolescent groups. Exhaustion, the negative outcome, however, was related to higher levels of instrumental and lower levels of emotional parentification only in the immigrant group. The results of this study highlight that family systems can change due to migration to another country, with adolescents becoming more responsible for family matters than is normative for their age. However, only some of these premature responsibilities carry a risk of maladaptation, with others seeming to provide opportunities for positive developmental growth. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Springer. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: service-ny@springer.com; Web site: http://www.springerlink.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10