Parent-Youth Acculturation Gaps and Well-Being of Immigrant Youth and Families in the UK: Differential Roles of Mothers and Fathers

According to the acculturation gap-distress model, the acculturation gap between immigrant parents and their offspring is a risk factor for immigrant members and family well-being. Most studies, however, focus on either an acculturation gap between offspring and mothers or a gap between offspring and one parent without a gender specification. As a result, it is unclear whether such a gap-distress relationship exists the same way in both mother-offspring and father-offspring dyads. Using an ethnic diverse sample of 340 immigrant adolescents and young adult offspring ( M age = 20.70, range: 12–34, 56% female) and their parents ( N mother = 175, N father = 123) living in the UK, the present study examined relationships between both youth-mother and youth-father acculturation gaps and youth well-being as well as family adjustment. A series of multilevel linear models showed that father-youth acculturation gap was negatively associated with youth well-being (i.e., flourishing and depressive symptoms), whilst mother-youth cultural gap was related to less family closeness. These findings highlight the different but complementary roles of fathers and mothers in the acculturation gap–distress relationship and underscore the importance of differentiating parent–youth dyads in future research and interventions.