Family-peer incongruence in cultural socialization and adolescent adjustment

Using a sample of 8th graders, the current study explored cultural socialization practices by families and peers, and investigated the link between family-peer incongruence in cultural socialization and adolescent adjustment. On average, peers engaged in less heritage cultural socialization but similar levels of mainstream cultural socialization than did youth's families. Incongruence in family and peer cultural socialization was associated with poor socioemotional and academic adjustment only when peers performed greater cultural socialization (either the heritage or mainstream culture) than their parents. The link between incongruence and socioemotional stress can be explained in part by adolescents' feelings of being caught between their families and peers. The detriments of feelings of being caught on school outcomes were buffered by adolescents' active coping and withdrawal, peer support, and similar feelings of being caught shared in the peer network.