Korean American adolescent ethnic-identity pride and psychological adjustment: Moderating effects of parental support and school environment

Researchers have consistently reported positive relationships between psychological adjustment and ethnic identity or related elements such as ethnic-identity pride. However, few efforts have been made to determine whether such links are context-dependent. Here we apply person- environment fit theory to examine whether associations between ethnic-identity pride and psychological adjustment (in terms of depression and self-esteem) vary across families and school environments for a sample of 225 Korean American adolescents (M_age = 13.97 years). Results indicate a positive relationship between ethnicidentity pride and self-esteem, but only in the context of strong parental support. No association between the same 2 factors was noted for the school support context. No variance was found for patterns involving ethnic-identity pride and depression for either family or school environment contexts.