Epidemiological Research on Parent-child Conflict in the United States: Subgroup Variations by Place of Birth and Ethnicity, 2002-2013

Background: Chronically escalated parent-child conflict has been observed to elicit maladaptive behavior and reduced psychological well-being in children and youth. In this epidemiological study, we sought to estimate the occurrence of escalated parent-child conflict for United States (US) adolescent subgroups defined by (a) ethnic self-identification, and (b) nativity (US-born versus foreign-born).

Methods: US study populations of 12-to-17-year-olds were sampled, recruited, and assessed for the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 2002-2013 ( = 111, 129). Analysis-weighted contingency table analyses contrasted US-born versus foreign-born who self-identified as: (a) Hispanic, (b) non-Hispanic African-American, (c) non-Hispanic Asian, and (c) non-Hispanic White.

Results: Frequently escalated parent-child conflict was most prevalent among US-born non-Hispanic White adolescents, from 18% at age 12 (95% CI [17.6%, 18.9%]) to 29% at age 17 (95% CI [28.3%, 29.7%]), followed by US-born Hispanic and non-Hispanic Asian children. Estimated prevalence proportions were markedly lower for African-American children, from 8% at age 12 (95% CI [6.8, 8.5]) to 16% at age 17 (95% CI [14.3, 16.7]). Broad and sometimes overlapping CI indicate that larger sample sizes are needed for complete evaluation of an apparent excess occurrence of frequent parent-child conflict among US-born versus foreign-born. Nonetheless, in the larger subgroups, the US-born show a clear excess occurrence of frequent parent-child conflict. For example, US-born Mexican children have 1.7 times higher odds of experiencing frequent parent-child conflict than foreign-born Mexican children (OR = 1.7, 95% CI [1.5, 2.0], -value < 0.001).

Discussion: The main discovery from this multi-ethnic sample investigation is a rank-ordering of parent-child conflict prevalence estimates from high (non-Hispanic White) to low (non-Hispanic African-American). The pattern also suggests a possibly generalizable excess associated with US-born sub-groups. The epidemiological estimates presented here merit attention in future cross-cultural research focused on parent-child conflict.