This research examined a cultural transmission model in which differences in Chinese and American parents’ socialization goals foster differences in children’s emotional distress via parents’ responses to children’s performance. 397 Chinese and American mothers and their children (mean age = 13.19 years) participated in a 2-wave study spanning a year. Mothers reported on their self-improvement (i.e., children striving to improve) and self-worth (i.e., children feeling worthy) goals, as well as their responses to children’s performance. Children reported on their emotional distress (e.g., anxiety and depression). Chinese (vs. American) mothers’ greater endorsement of self-improvement goals predicted their more frequent use of failure-focused responses (e.g., highlighting children’s mistakes), which accounted for Chinese (vs. American) children’s heightened emotional distress over early adolescence
