Psychological Adjustment in Young Korean American Adolescents and Parental Warmth

PROBLEM: The relation between parental warmth and psychological adjustment is not known for young Korean American adolescents. METHODS: One hundred and three Korean American adolescents’ perceived parental warmth and psychological adjustment were assessed using, respectively, the Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire and the Child Personality Assessment Questionnaire. FINDINGS: Low perceived maternal and paternal warmth were positively related to adolescents’ overall poor psychological adjustment and almost all of its attributes. When maternal and paternal warmth were entered simultaneously into the regression equation, only low maternal warmth was related to adolescents’ poor psychological adjustment. CONCLUSION: Perceived parental warmth is important in predicting young adolescents’ psychological adjustment as suggested in the parental acceptance–rejection theory.