Experiences of perceived racial discrimination are all too common for Asian Americans living in the United States. While there is research demonstrating the negative impact of discrimination on individual well-being, there is a scarcity of literature addressing the potential associations between discrimination and family relationships outcomes, particularly the relationships between Asian American emerging adults and their parents. Drawing from family and stress theories, it was hypothesized that perceived discrimination, including blatant and subtle forms of discrimination, would be negatively associated with various aspects of relationship quality and that these associations would be mediated by general stress. The present study collected data from 137 Asian American parent-adult children dyads to examine the associations between discrimination, general stress, and parent-child relationship quality. Actor and partner associations were also tested in order to account for the interdependence of dyadic data. Results showed support for the negative direct association between discrimination and relationship quality for both children and parents, as well as the mediator role of stress. Findings from this study also have important implications for counseling to promote the mental health of Asian American emerging adults and families.

Despite the increasing number of Asian international students in the United States, American society remains discriminatory against the population. Asian international students are exposed to ethnic-racial discrimination against Asians, as well as language discrimination against non-native English speakers. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the two types of discrimination relate to Asian international students’ regard, which refers to their positive or negative evaluations about Asians in American society. It was hypothesized that language discrimination, a particularly relevant form of discrimination for non-native English-speaking immigrants, will be associated with public and private regard, after controlling for ethnic-racial discrimination and English proficiency. The present study tested two hypotheses by conducting hierarchical multiple regression with a sample of 195 self-identified Asian international students. The results supported the first hypothesis, which predicted higher levels of language discrimination would explain a significant amount of additional variance in negative public regard after controlling for ethnic-racial discrimination and English proficiency. The second hypothesis was not supported—language discrimination was not significantly associated with positive private regard after controlling for ethnic-racial discrimination and English proficiency. Limitations, implications, and future directions are discussed.