Psychosocial Aspects of the Asian-American Experience

Diversity Within Diversity

Namkee G Choi

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9780789011503
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317720041
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Discover intervention strategies for issues affecting Asian Americans!This important book examines the childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and aging stages of Asian Americans to help researchers and practitioners offer better services to this ethnic group. Psychosocial Aspects of the Asian-American Experience will help you understand the ethnic and cultural diversity within the Asian-American population and offers both quantitative and qualitative research that may impact social policies and social services for Asian Americans.Representing Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Koreans, Asian Indians, Vietnamese, Hmong, Cambodians, and native-born Hawaiians, this helpful book covers a wide span of individual ethnic identities in order to represent the scope of the Asian-American subculture.The topics and problems examined in Psychosocial Aspects of the Asian-American Experience include:

• ethnic identity, acculturation, and cultural orientation
• psychological adjustment of adoptees
• attitudes and behavior of adolescents regarding academic achievement
• social network composition
• depression and other mental health problems
• dating violence and domestic abuse
• substance abuse
• aging In addition to analyzing these problems, this book also presents culturally competent intervention strategies to assist human services practitioners in offering their clients relevant services that are appropriate for their ethnic backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences. This book is also a valuable resource for researchers, policymakers, and graduate students and faculty members in the areas of social work, sociology, psychology, and ethnic studies.

Stress, Coping, and Depression Among Elderly Korean Immigrants

Ada C. Mui

SUMMARY. The effects of life stresses and social support on depressive symptoms in older Korean Americans (n = 67), recruited at senior centers and meal sites, were examined. Those who reported poorer health, who had more stressful life events, who were dissatisfied with help received from family members, and who reported few good friends were more likely to be depressed than those who did not. The impact of these factors on the quality of life of elderly Korean immigrants can be understood in the context of their immigration experience and Korean cultural values. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: <getinfo@haworlhpressinc. com > Website: <http://www.HaworthPress. com > © 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

KEYWORDS. Korean, immigrant, depression, elderly, mental health

The Asian and Pacific Islander (API) population in the United States grew by 141 % between the censuses of 1970 and 1980 while the total U.S. population increased by only 11%. The population growth rate in the 1980-1990 decade was 10% for the total U.S. population and almost 100% for APIs (U.S. Bureau of Census, 1991). Researchers project that the API populations will rise to almost 10 million in the next decade and to almost 20 million by the year 2030. The API population is composed of at least 26 census-defined ethnic subgroups, some of which have been in the United States since the 1850s, while substantial numbers of them immigrated to this country only in the past three decades. The API elderly population constitutes the fastest growing racial group aged 65 and older in the United States, but it has been neglected in many national studies (Mui, 1996b). When the data on API are collected, API subgroups are often not broken down and the sample size is often too small for meaningful analysis (Mui 1996b; Tanjasiri, Wallace, & Shibata, 1995). Therefore, there are substantial knowledge gaps regarding the state of API elders due to a lack of empirical data (LaVeist, 1995). Numerous medical, psychological, social, and biological research questions remain unanswered because data on these populations are scarce (Gibson, 1989; Jackson, 1989; Mui 1996a).

Ada C. Mui, PhD, ACSW, is Associate Professor, Columbia University School of Social Work, 622 West 113th Street, New York, NY 10025 (E-mail: acm5@columbia. edu).

This study was supported by the 1996-1997 Columbia University School of Social Work Faculty Innovative Research Award.

[Haworth co-indexing entry note]: “Stress, Coping, and Depression Among Elderly Korean Immigrants.” Mui, Ada C. Co-published simultaneously in Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment (The Haworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 3, No. 3/4, 2001, pp. 281-299; and: Psychosocial Aspects of the Asian-American Experience: Diversity Within Diversity (ed: Namkee G. Choi) The Haworth Press, Inc., 2001, pp. 281-299. Single or multiple copies of this article are available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service [1-800-342-9678, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (EST). E-mail address: [email protected]].

© 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

The API population is extremely diverse, and there are a lot of withingroup cultural variations in family values, beliefs, norms, language, healthseeking behavi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Copyright Page
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Asian Americans in the Twentieth Century
• Adoptive Parents and Identity Development for Chinese Children
• Asian American Adolescents’ Academic Achievement: A Look Behind the Model Minority Image
• Depression Level in Inner-City Asian American Adolescents: The Contributions of Cultural Orientation and Interpersonal Relationships
• Causal Modeling Predicting Psychological Adjustment of Korean-Born Adolescent Adoptees
• Network Composition, Social Integration, and Sense of Coherence in Chinese American Young Adults
• Cultural Orientation of Hmong Young Adults
• Filipino American Dating Violence: Definitions, Contextual Justifications, and Experiences of Dating Violence
• “Being Indian,” “Being American”: A Balancing Act or a Creative Blend?
• The Current State of Mental Health Research on Asian Americans
• Is an Independent Self a Requisite for Asian Immigrants’ Psychological Well-Being in the U.S.? The Case of Korean Americans
• Model Minority Demystified: Emotional Costs of Multiple Victimizations in the Lives of Women of Japanese Descent
• Acculturation, Premigration Traumatic Experiences, and Depression Among Vietnamese Americans
• Somatic Complaint and Social Suffering Among Survivors of the Cambodian Killing Fields
• Culturally Competent Substance Abuse Treatment for Asian/Pacific Islander Women
• Stress, Coping, and Depression Among Elderly Korean Immigrants
• Diversity Within Diversity: Research and Social Work Practice Issues with Asian American Elders