With the increasing number of interracial marriages in the United States, the development of mixed-race adolescents is an important issue for consideration. Two or more different cultures are integrated, providing adolescents with unique experiences that shape their world view. Many scholars have studied the ethnic identity formation and self-esteem of mixed adolescents. However, these studies do not adequately explain the influences of cultures on development. This research paper has three purposes: 1) to apply an ecological framework to understanding how interactions among family members in interracial and multicultural families influence the development of identity formation and self-esteem; 2) to discover whether multi-cultures, including host cultures, influence the psychosocial development; and 3) to provide understanding of how cohesion within the family influences multiracial adolescents’ ethnic identity formation and self-esteem. This research used the mixed methods approach because it provides different levels of data and information through which to explore the complicated processes of ethnic identity formation and self-esteem. For the quantitative section, Children of Immigrant Longitudinal Study (CILS) data are used for doing research. The sample size is 1,185. The statistical methods used are as follows: 1) The Structural Equation Model is used to examine the effects of parents’ backgrounds on adolescents’ self-esteem in wave 1 and wave 2; and 2) The multinomial logistical regression is used to examine the effects of parents’ ethnic backgrounds on adolescents’ ethnic identity formation. For the qualitative section, five college students from Michigan State University were recruited for in-depth multiple case study interviews.The main quantitative findings for self-esteem show that father’s education has significant effects on adolescents’ self-esteem in wave 1, and both father’s education and mother’s education have significant influence on adolescents’ self-esteem through adolescents’ English proficiency in wave 2. The results reveal the impact of host American society on adolescents’ development. The main quantitative findings for ethnic identity formation show that foreign language proficiency is significant for adolescents to identify with a specific nationality. Fathers’ and mothers’ ethnic identity are important for adolescents’ identity formation. The main qualitative findings describe the participants’ experiences within their family context and the American societal context, and their relationships to self-esteem and ethnic identity formation in mixed young adults. Mixed children tend to identify themselves as hyphenated Americans, and some struggle for self-identity. The reciprocal interactions between parents and adolescents help adolescents and young adults to be more adaptable and flexible in perceiving their environments. The findings of the mixed methods approach demonstrate the influences of host American society and family of origin contexts. The findings also indicate that interracial and multi-cultures develop more flexibility for adolescents’ and young adults’ development. It is essential to apply an ecological perspective when conducting research on the development of adolescents and young adults within interracial and multicultural families. Using a mixed methods approach enables more levels of data to be extracted, providing a more holistic view perspective on mixed adolescents’ and young adults’ development of ethnic identity formation and self-esteem.
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