Interactive effects of individual and family resilience on anxiety in immigrant mother–child dyads in Hong Kong.

Immigrant mothers and children in Hong Kong are at a high risk of developing anxiety. The multidimensional model of resilience emphasizes the pivotal role of intergenerational interactions across resilience-supporting systems at both the individual and family levels in safeguarding mental health. However, the interacting processes by which the multilevel resilience of mothers and children mitigate their mental health risks remain unclear. This cross-sectional study examined the intergenerational dynamics between individual and family resilience in mitigating anxiety among 200 immigrant mother-child dyads in Hong Kong. The actor-partner interdependence moderation model was used to analyze how individual resilience interacted with family resilience to counteract the anxiety of immigrant mothers and children. The results showed that there was intergenerational interdependence between mothers' and children' individual resilience and family resilience. Mothers' individual resilience interacted with their family resilience to protect against their anxiety. Notably, the results demonstrated protective intergenerational effects from mothers to children, in which both mothers' and children's individual resilience interacted with mothers' family resilience to counteract children's anxiety. In conclusion, mothers' family resilience functions as a buffer against anxiety among mothers and children when they have low individual resilience. By clarifying the intergenerational interactions of multilevel resilience, our findings call for mother-child dyadic interventions targeting those with low individual and family resilience to promote their emotional well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).