Social and Emotional Functioning of Older Asian American Adolescents

This study identified a constellation of psychosocial problems reported by older Asian American adolescents that was different from their Caucasian peers. When compared to 386 Caucasian American adolescents from the same community, Asian American students performed better academically and reported fewer delinquent behaviors. However, these Asian American youth reported higher levels of depressive symptomatology, withdrawn behavior, and social problems. They also perceived themselves more poorly and were more dissatisfied with their social support. These differences highlight the unique mental health needs of older Asian American youth. Practice recommendations are made that consider traditional Asian values and the role that family members can play in the development of effective treatment plans.     

Race,Ethnicity, and Deviance: A Study of Asian and Non-Asian Adolescents in America

This study shows that Asian American adolescents commit less deviance in the form of school misbehavior than white, black, Hispanic, or Native American adolescents. Social control and social learning theories receive support as the observed differences are explained primarily by race/ethnic differences in family backgrounds and school bonding. These variables' explanatory ability tends to be invariant across four regional groups of Asian Americans. This study applies OLS regression to self-reported data from a nationally representative sample.     

Correlates of Ethnicity‐related Dating Preferences among Asian American Adolescents across the High School Years

Ethnicity‐related dating preferences among Asian American adolescents and the links between preferences (i.e., for a same‐ethnic dating partner) and ethnic identity centrality and regard, American identity centrality and regard, parent – adolescent closeness, and perceptions of discrimination were investigated. Data from 175 self‐identified Asian American high school students were collected yearly for four consecutive years. Higher levels of ethnic identity centrality and regard and parent – adolescent closeness averaged across four years were associated with preferring a same‐ethnic partner. Moreover, foreign‐born adolescents were less likely to prefer a same‐ethnic partner when they encountered a higher than average level of discrimination on any given year. Results highlight variability in the developmental and individual‐level factors that shape how adolescents navigate their dating relationships.     

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Experiencing Parents’ Marital Disruption During Late Adolescence

Using panel data from 9,252 adolescents in the National Education Longitudinal Study, this study finds that among children who experience parents’ marital disruption during late adolescence, European, Asian, and African American adolescents exhibit wider and greater maladjustment both before and after the disruption than their Hispanic American counterparts. This finding lends general support to the hypothesis of prevalence of disadvantages, although it is less consistent with the hypothesis of prevalence of divorce. Moreover, whereas Asian American adolescents in predisrupted families are more vulnerable to a shortage of family social resources, their African American peers are affected more by a shortage of financial/human resources. Finally, postdisruption effects on non‐Hispanic American adolescents are either completely or partially attributable to predisruption factors.     

Academic achievement of Vietnamese American adolescents: A community perspective

This article investigates influences on academic achievement among Vietnamese American high school students. Theorists have offered a variety of explanations for Asian American academic success, and characteristics of individual families have received particular attention in many of these explanations. Here, it is argued that the academic success of Vietnamese American students may be understood as the product of “social capital,” or tightly integrated sets of associations, within Vietnamese American communities. If this is the case, it is further argued, high levels of scholastic performance among Vietnamese American youth should be proportionate to their involvement with an ethnic community. The article uses data from a specific Vietnamese American community to find whether community involvement by adolescents and their families is in fact associated with academic achievement. Participation in an ethnic church, proportion of friends who are Vietnamese, and attendance at after‐school Vietnamese classes are used as indicators of adolescents’ community involvement. Membership in ethnic community organizations is used as an indicator of parental community involvement. Findings support the contention that the involvement of Vietnamese American adolescents and of their parents in the ethnic community are strong predictors of academic achievement and that the structure of individual families promotes scholastic performance primarily by promoting community involvement.     

SCHOOL RACIAL COMPOSITION AND BIRACIAL ADOLESCENTS' SCHOOL ATTACHMENT

Despite extensive research on multiracial youth in recent years, to date, no empirical studies have analyzed how racial context may affect biracial adolescents' sense of belonging in a social institution beyond families. In this study, we examine how the racial makeup of the student body affects self-identified biracial adolescents' school attachment. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we find that the proportions of white or black students in school significantly affect the school attachment of Hispanic/black, Asian/black, and American Indian/black biracial adolescents, but school racial composition in general has little influence on biracial adolescents with a partial-white identification (i.e., black/white, Hispanic/white, Asian/white, and American Indian/white). Our analyses also show that on average, students of most biracial groups display lower school attachment than their corresponding monoracial groups, but the differences from the monoracial groups with the lower school attachment are generally small. We discuss the implications of our findings for biracial adolescents' perceived racial boundaries and contemporary American race relations.     

Psychosocial Correlates and Consequences of Adolescents’ Self‐Generated Academic Goals and Appraisals

The current study examined whether characteristics of adolescents (i.e., externalizing problems) and their environments (i.e., social support, adverse childhood experiences) relate to academic goal setting, appraisals, and outcomes. Adolescents (n = 99; 87% Black/African American) 13–16 years old completed baseline interviews, and 80% also completed follow‐up interviews. Adolescents with more externalizing problems set fewer academic goals, and youth with social networks characterized by greater support (and less strain) appraised their academic goals as more supported and achievable. Adolescents’ appraisals of their academic goals, but not how many academic goals they had, predicted grades at follow‐up. Increasing social support (and reducing social strain) may foster adolescents’ positive appraisals of their academic goals, which may promote academic achievement.     

Role rehearsal and efficacy: two 15-month evaluations of a ninth-grade alcohol education program.

A ninth-grade alcohol education program aimed at reducing drinking, drinking and driving, and riding with a drinking driver was developed on the basis of problem behavior theory, social cognitive theory and role theory. In Year 1 the program was taught by Social Studies teachers to half of the eighty-four ninth-grade classes in all nine junior high schools in a single school system; the other half served as controls. In Year 2 the program was taught to the ninth-grade students of the same school system by English teachers. Students' knowledge, skills and practices were measured before and four-six weeks and one year after the program. Results indicated significant increases in knowledge and perceived ability to resist pressures to drink among experimental students. No significant differences were noted for the drinking or the drinking and driving practices of either group. One year after the program, significantly fewer students in the experimental classes reported riding with a driver who had been drinking. Results suggested that English teachers were more effective than Social Studies teachers in teaching this program.     

Kinship Support,Family Relations,and Psychological Adjustment Among Low‐Income African American Mothers and Adolescents

The association of kin social support with mothers' adjustment and family relations was assessed among 204 African American mothers and adolescents who were on average 14.45 years of age. Also examined was the association of mothers' adjustment with family relations and adolescents' adjustment. Findings revealed that kin social and emotional support was positively associated with mothers' optimism. Poor relations with kin were positively associated with mothers' depression. Kin advice and counseling and kin social and emotional support were positively linked to family routine. Poor relations with kin were positively associated with parent/adolescent communication problems. Mothers' optimism was positively associated with family routine and mediated the association of kin social and emotional support with family routine. Parent/adolescent communication problems were positively associated with adolescents' depression. The findings were discussed in light of their support for theoretical and empirical work on family processes among poor African American families.     

Single Asian American Women as a Result of Divorce

This article reveals findings of an exploratory study of the psychological and social experiences following divorce among Asian American women. In depth interviews were conducted with 50 women who were divorced within the last five years residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. The article focuses on neglecting dimensions of the adjustment problems among divorced Asian American women by mvestigating the perceptions, thoughts, and feelings over a broad range of questions. The study findings suggest that the newly divorced are significantly more depressed. This increased depression is affected by greater economic problems, lower perceived standard of living and lesser availability of close confiding relationships. Despite its increases, divorce remains an event that brings economic and emotional hardship to these women: The greater depressive effect reflects their worsened life conditions. These divorced Asian American women face complex problems of emotional, personal and social adjustment requiring further attention by researchers.     

Psychological and Social Adjustment of Russian-Born and Israeli-Born Jewish Adolescents

This study compares the social, school, behavioral and psychological functioning of high school students who immigrated from the Commonwealth Independent States (CIS) to that of Israeli-born children whose parents emigrated from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the sixties and the seventies. In most areas of life, no significant differences were found between the two groups. The majority of the Israeli-born and immigrant adolescents functioned well in terms of social and educational functioning and tended to avoid involvement in dangerous behavior, such as drug use and delinquency. Concerning psychological functioning, the results pointed to an interesting phenomenon: even though no significant differences were found between the two research groups, the adolescents in both groups expressed higher emotional distress when compared to norms of Israeli adolescents who are not of Russian origin. In addition, the results showed that among the immigrant adolescents, the longer they resided in Israel the more the economic status of their parents improved, their self-esteem rose, the more likely it was that their levels of somatization, paranoia and general emotional stress decreased. At the same time, however, the frequency of alcoholic consumption increased, the longer they lived in Israel. A discussion of the results sums up the article.     

A women's support group for Asian international students

International students underuse counseling services, which are grounded in Western cultural values. The authors describe a support group for Asian international students that they launched at a large midwestern university to help students feel at ease with American university life, address homesickness, language problems, and academic and social stressors. Co-leaders created a safe and culturally sensitive atmosphere where the women could network, socialize, and address their issues. Group treatment offers many advantages over individual counseling and can enhance the health of international students.     

Majority Rules? The Effects of School Ethnic Composition on Substance Use by Mexican Heritage Adolescents

This article examines key aspects of the school environment - its composition by ethnicity and acculturation - as important social contexts for understanding Mexican immigrant and Mexican American adolescents' drug use norms and behaviors. Results are presented based on surveys completed by Mexican-background students from 35 Phoenix. Arizona middle schools, whose enrollment ranged from a numerical minority to an overwhelming majority. Multivariate mixed models tested for the influence of school ethnic composition measures on substance use outcomes, while accounting for individual level predictors and for the nesting of data at the school level. The proportional representation of Latinos in the school was not a factor in an individual's drug use norms or drug use for the sample overall. Once students were broken down by acculturation status, however, ethnic composition had an effect. Less acculturated Mexican heritage students in schools with higher proportions of Latino students reported less substance use and less adherence to pro-drug norms. Further investigation using other measures of ethnic composition suggested that these effects were attributable to the larger presence of less acculturated Latinos in the school rather than more acculturated Latino students. These school-level effects support the individual-level results indicating that less acculturated Mexican American students face less daunting substance use risks. The results suggest that ethnic group size, but not necessarily numerical predominance, matters and that within-group differences influence the effect of a particular ethnic group's presence in the school. In other words, the majority does not always rule. These findings are interpreted using the concepts of segmented assimilation and school level social capital.     

What they wish they would have known: Support for comprehensive sexual education from Mexican American and White adolescents' dating and sexual desires

Focus groups were conducted to assess what Mexican American and White male and female adolescents wished they had known about romantic and sexual relationships. Relevant gender and ethnic differences emerged in adolescents' desires and findings across all groups supported a need for comprehensive sexual education that contextualizes sexual activity within a framework that emphasizes socio-emotional skills and well-being. Adolescents' desires were emotional, relational, physical and interpersonal in nature. Youth preferred parents and school educators as key sources of information and support. Recommendations for prevention programming and policy are discussed.     

Depression Level in Inner-City Asian American Adolescents

Summary

This study examines the effects of cultural orientation and interpersonal relationships on depression among inner-city Asian American adolescents, controlling for demographic variables. Data were obtained from 144 high school students. The mean CES-D was 19.24. Cultural orientation and interpersonal relationships were significant predictors of depression. Individuals who were separated (had a high orientation towards ethnic culture and low orientation towards mainstream culture) experienced greater depression than those who were assimilated (had a high orientation towards American culture and low orientation towards ethnic culture). In addition, the presence of a more positive parent and peer relationship predicted lower depression levels. None of the demographic variables were significant predictors of depression in the overall model, although late immigrants (those who immigrated after the age of 12) were more depressed than American-born adolescents in the bivariate analysis. Implications of findings are discussed.     

Gambling and Correlates of Gambling Among Minnesota Public School Students

This study examines the prevalence of gambling and measures the relationships between gambling behavior and a number of demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral variables among Minnesota public school students. The sample includes 78,582 male and female Minnesota public school students enrolled in the 9th and 12th grades. Students were administered the 1998 Minnesota Student Survey, a 121-item, anonymous, self-administered, paper-and-pencil questionnaire that inquires about multiple health-related content domains, including gambling behavior. The majority of students were found to have gambled at least once during the past year, however, most students did not report gambling frequently, nor did they report problems associated with their gambling. Boys reported gambling more often than girls, and older students gambled more often than younger students. A larger percentage of Mexican/Latin American, African American, American Indian, and mixed race students gambled at weekly and daily rates than Asian American and Caucasian students. Variables associated with gambling frequency included antisocial behavior, gender (being a male), alcohol and tobacco use, age, feeling bad about the amount of money they bet, a desire to stop gambling, and increased sexual activity. Gambling appears to be related to other risk-taking behaviors and may be a part of the adolescent experimentation with adult behaviors.     

The Trajectories of Adolescents' Perceptions of School Climate, Deviant Peer Affiliation, and Behavioral Problems During the Middle School Years

This longitudinal study examined trajectories of change in adolescents' perceptions of four dimensions of school climate (academic support, behavior management, teacher social support, peer social support) and the effects of such trajectories on adolescent problem behaviors. We also tested whether school climate moderated the associations between deviant peer affiliation and adolescent problem behaviors. The 1,030 participating adolescents from 8 schools were followed from 6th through 8th grades (54% female; 76% European American). Findings indicated that all the dimensions of school climate declined and behavioral problems and deviant peer affiliation increased. Declines in each of the dimensions were associated with increases in behavioral problems. The prediction of problem behavior from peer affiliation was moderated by adolescents' perceptions of school climate.     

Same‐Race Friendships and School Attachment: Demonstrating the Interaction Between Personal Network and School Composition1

Previous research has demonstrated that students are strongly attached to school when many same‐race peers are present. This study extends the literature by considering students’ immediate social environment at school—egocentric friendship networks. I hypothesized that same‐race friendships contribute to school attachment by increasing the amount of support that students receive for their racial backgrounds in direct interactions. Further, the association between same‐race friendships and school attachment should be stronger when the school includes many same‐race peers because the organizational condition increases the ability of same‐race friendships to connect students to the major components of school‐wide networks and reduces perceived racial contrast between friends and nonfriend peers. Statistical analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) provided some support for these hypotheses, but white, black, Hispanic, and Asian students showed somewhat different patterns, suggesting group differences in how students develop and view same‐race friendships. The study highlights the importance of individual agency in navigating the multileveled social environment as well as the ability of organizational contexts to shift emotional consequences of personal relationships.     

Cultural Dimensions of Career Decision‐Making Difficulties

This study investigated cultural dimensions of career decision‐making difficulties using the Career Decision‐Making Difficulties Questionnaire. Career decision‐making difficulties were compared among White, African, Hispanic, and Asian American high school and university students at U.S. schools. Results indicated Asian American students perceived significantly more difficulties in career decision making than other groups, whereas White American students perceived the fewest difficulties. Asian American students reported more difficulties than White and Hispanic American students before the process and more difficulties than White and African American students during the process. Findings are discussed based on perspectives of cultural differences.     

The Psychological Well‐Being of Unaccompanied Minors: A Longitudinal Study of Adolescents Immigrating From Russia and Ukraine to Israel Without Parents

This paper examines the psychological well‐being of high school adolescents immigrating from Russia and Ukraine to Israel without parents. Data were collected in a 3‐year longitudinal study that covered the premigration through postmigration periods. Immigrant adolescents were compared with nonemigrating adolescents in Russia and Ukraine. Psychological well‐being of immigrants was highest in the premigration period. During the process of immigration, general self‐esteem, body image, social competence, school competence, and loneliness followed a U‐curve: they declined in the 1st year after immigration and improved in the 3rd year after immigration. Emotional and behavioral problems of immigrants increased in the 1st year after immigration and did not change in subsequent years. At the end of the 3‐year period, self‐esteem exceeded the premigration level, emotional and behavioral problems and loneliness remained below the premigration level, while body image, social competence, and school competence returned to the premigration level. Throughout the entire immigration period, the psychological well‐being of immigrants was higher than that of nonemigrating adolescents. Premigration psychological well‐being as well as perceived social conditions in the host country (discrimination and social support) predicted postmigration psychological well‐being. The results obtained are discussed in light of the stress‐coping model of immigration and ecological systems theory.