This study compared the perceived and actual degree of family assimilation disparity among 50 Hispanic refugee parent-adolescent dyads. Participants completed a behaviour questionnaire requiring them to rate the acceptability of prototypical assimilative adolescent behaviours from both their own perspective and that of the other family member. Dependent sample t-tests revealed that the Hispanic parents and adolescents significantly underestimated or overestimated the actual degree of intergenerational gaps. These findings attest to the existence of health-promoting and health-compromising beliefs about assimilation disparity, as incongruence between parents' and adolescents' levels of assimilation is associated with a variety of negative individual and family outcomes. Implications for counselling are discussed. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

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