This study describes the construction and initial validation of the Asian American Family Conflicts Scale (FCS) with 3 samples of Asian American college students. The scale consists of 10 typical Asian American family conflicts that are rated for likelihood of occurrence (FCS–Likelihood) and seriousness of conflict (FCS–Seriousness). In Study 1, FCS–Likelihood and FCS–Seriousness had sound internal reliability, stability, and construct validity. In Study 2, FCS–Likelihood correlated with socioeconomic and cultural orientation variables. Ethnic, generation, and language differences, as well as the parent–child acculturation gap hypothesis, also were confirmed for FCS–Likelihood. In Study 3, FCS–Likelihood correlated with measures of family cohesion, adaptability, and parent–child communication. Although further validation is necessary, FCS–Likelihood in particular is a potentially useful research and clinical instrument for assessing the quality of Asian American parent–child relationships.

As psychologists become more sensitive to the mental health needs of racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States, there is a growing awareness and concern over the psychological and social effects of family conflicts within immigrant families (Rumbaut, 1994; Ying, 1998a). Chen, Greenberger, Lester, Dong, and Guo (1998), for instance, recently reported that parent–adolescent conflicts in Chinese American families, compared with European American families and Chinese families in China and Taiwan, were more highly correlated with school misconduct, antisocial behavior, and at-risk behaviors (e.g., cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol). Relatedly, within the counseling setting, it is not uncommon for Asian American students to attribute psychological distress to their relationships with their parents (Lee, 1997; Uba, 1994). For example, a Korean American high school student who is acting out in school reports feeling confused and...