Adolescents’ Problem Behaviors and Parent-Adolescent Conflicts in Hmong Immigrant Families

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether Hmong adolescent problem behaviors and school difficulties influence parent-adolescent conflicts above and beyond the variables of adolescents’ embarrassment about their parents, the acculturation gap between parents and adolescents, and age of adolescents. The sample included 209 Hmong adolescents living in Minnesota. There were 123 males and 86 females, ages 12 to 25 years. A survey was administered in several community agencies to adolescents that included their perspectives on the frequency and intensity of parent-adolescent disagreements on 28 issues and the problem behaviors of delinquent peer affiliation, gang involvement, truancy, and school performance. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated the set of problem-behavior independent variables explained 26% of the variance in the frequency-intensity of father-adolescent conflicts and 21% of the variance in the frequency-intensity of mother-adolescent conflicts. Ideas for parent education in the Hmong community are discussed.