Clinical Psychology Program, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA,
J Youth Adolesc. 2009 Apr;38(4):572-86. doi: 10.1007/s10964-008-9358-8. Epub 2008 Nov 11.
This study examined the role of adolescents' and mothers' self-reports of English and heritage language proficiency in youth's academic and emotional adjustment among 444 Chinese American families. Adolescents who were proficient in English tended to exhibit higher reading achievement scores, math achievement scores, and overall GPA. Mothers who were English proficient tended to have children with higher academic achievement and fewer depressive symptoms. Results also indicated that adolescents' heritage language maintenance was associated with positive adjustment, particularly amongst foreign-born youth and for youth whose parents were highly proficient in the heritage language. Mother-adolescent match in heritage language proficiency was related to higher math achievement scores and overall GPA. Additionally, higher heritage language proficiency was associated with fewer depressive symptoms for foreign-born but not U.S.-born youth. Overall, the findings suggest that proficiency in both the English and heritage language may confer advantages to Chinese American youth.
本研究考察了青少年和母亲对英语和母语熟练程度的自我报告在 444 个华裔美国家庭中青少年学术和情感适应方面的作用。英语熟练的青少年往往表现出更高的阅读成绩、数学成绩和总体 GPA。英语熟练的母亲往往有更高学术成就和更少抑郁症状的孩子。研究结果还表明，青少年对母语的保持与积极的适应有关，特别是对于那些出生在国外的青少年和父母对母语非常熟练的青少年。母亲和青少年在母语熟练程度上的匹配与更高的数学成绩和总体 GPA 有关。此外，对于出生在国外的青少年而言，较高的母语熟练程度与较少的抑郁症状有关，但对于美国出生的青少年则没有这种关系。总的来说，这些发现表明，英语和母语的熟练程度都可能给华裔美国青少年带来优势。
