Cultural communication competence and psychological adjustment -: A study of Chinese immigrant children's cross-cultural adaptation in Canada

Cross-cultural adaptation starts with communication, proceeds in and through communication, and is revealed in host communication competence. Based on this conceptualization, this study examines the relationship between psychological adjustment and cultural communication competence among members of immigrant families. Participants included 124 seventh- and eighth-grade Chinese-Canadian adolescents, together with 48 fathers and 64 mothers. The adolescents were group-administered the adolescent version oft he Host and Native Communication Competence Scale, the Hour-I-Feel questionnaire, and the Children's Depression Inventory Parents completed questionnaires concerning their own host and native communication competence and their children's psychological adjustment. Adolescents' host communication competence was correlated negatively with psychological problems, whereas their native communication competence was nonsignificantly associated with psychological problems. In addition, interactions between adolescents' host and native communication competence and parents' host and native communication competence were found to predict adolescents' psychological adjustment. Implications of findings are discussed.