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Objectives: To investigate patterns of cultural stress (racial discrimination and COVID stress) and their impact on ethnic identity and civic engagement among Asian American college students. Method: 491 undergraduate students who self-identify as Asian American (female = 63.50%; Mage = 20.40, SD = 3.64) were recruited from seven college campuses. Results: We identified four distinct cultural stress profiles: COVID-related stress, discrimination stress, double pandemic stress (high in both), and low combined COVID–discrimination stress. Double pandemic profile members were more likely to be immigrants and reported higher ethnic identity, civic behaviors, and belief in civic participation, whereas low combined COVID–discrimination stress participants reported significantly lower beliefs in civic participation compared to those in the double pandemic profile. Conclusions: Findings reaffirm the need to focus on Asian Americans' experiences and expand current conceptualizations of cultural stress to include macrolevel structural processes (COVID stress and racial discrimination) and its implications for identity and civic engagement. Public Significance Statement: Asian American college students face unique cultural stressors, including navigating the double pandemic of racial discrimination and COVID stress. This makes them more likely to report higher ethnic identity and greater civic engagement behaviors and beliefs. Our results underscore the importance of addressing structural stressors and the challenges faced by Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Black and Asian American emerging adults are at higher risk of experiencing racial/ethnic discrimination and related distress. Racial/ethnic discrimination may increase vulnerability for depressive symptoms by diminishing individuals' positive self-concept. While low global self-esteem has been noted as a crucial process linking discrimination and depressive symptoms, it is unclear if it plays a unique role beyond other relevant aspects of one's self-concept: racial/ethnic private regard and centrality. Moreover, although different racial/ethnic groups are known to experience discrimination in distinctive ways, little is known about how relative processes of self-esteem and racial/ethnic identity may differ across these groups. We investigated the generalizability and specificity of discrimination to distress linkages across Asian and Black Americans. Method: Undergraduate Black (N = 109) and Asian American (N = 90) students self-reported racial/ethnic discrimination, depressive symptoms, and self-concept. Results: Global self-esteem indirectly linked the association between discrimination and depressive symptoms among Black Americans beyond the effects of racial/ethnic identity. Only among Black Americans, discrimination was associated with lower private regard. Conclusions: Finding highlight group-specific processes underlying Black and Asian Americans' experiences of discrimination and depressive symptoms. Findings also demonstrate shared processes of discrimination–depressive symptoms linkage across groups and underscore the need to address the pervasive issues of racism and discrimination. Public Significance Statement: This study illustrates that Black and Asian American emerging adults may have different self-concept processes through which they experience racial/ethnic discrimination and depressive symptoms. Whereas racial/ethnic discrimination was linked to lower personal self-worth and mood among Asian Americans, for Black Americans discrimination was associated with both lower personal and racial/ethnic self-concept, and lower self-esteem was in turn related to higher depressive symptoms. Regardless of group differences, the negative association between racial/ethnic discrimination and Asian and Black American emerging adults' emotional health was palpable and calls for continued attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The relationship between emotion expressivity and psychological symptoms varies by race/ethnicity, and reduced expression of emotions has been implicated in risk for suicidal ideation. The present study examined differences in the relation between emotion expressivity and suicidal ideation through well-documented correlates of suicide risk (i.e., hopelessness, depressive symptoms) among Asian American subgroups compared with White emerging adults. Method: A sample of 829 emerging adults, Ages 18 to 28 years, identifying as Asian American (27% East Asian, 18% South Asian, 11% Southeast Asian) or White (44%) completed measures of emotion expressivity, hopelessness, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. Results: Lower emotion expressivity was statistically associated with higher levels of suicidal ideation, via hopelessness and depressive symptoms, among White, East Asian, and South Asian American emerging adults, but not among Southeast Asian Americans, though this difference in mediation was not statistically significant. Conclusion: A focus on Asian Americans as a homogenous group occludes important ethnic differences in the relation between emotion expressivity and vulnerability to suicidal ideation. Ethnic differences in the function of emotion expressivity should be considered in suicide prevention and interventions among Asian American emerging adults. Public Significance Statement: This study found ethnic differences in emotion expressivity, hopelessness and depressive symtpoms, but not suicidal ideation. Emotion expressivity may increase risk for suicidal ideation via hopelessness and depressive symptoms across Asian American subgroups and White emerging adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Asian Americans are often perceived as perpetual foreigners even when they are born and raised in the country. Such national exclusion is particularly evident when considering implicit biases that reveal American is more strongly associated with White than Asian identity. In the current research, we examined if living in a region where people implicitly associate American nationality more strongly with White over Asian identity predicts the political participation of Asian Americans living within the same region. Method: Data from 36,838 participants through Project Implicit between 2004 and 2008 provided context-level information on implicit and explicit national exclusion (i.e., American = White belief), while data from 3,748 Asian Americans through the 2008 National Asian American Survey provided an index of political participation. Results: Using data from 61 U.S. counties, multilevel modeling revealed that in counties with higher levels of implicit national exclusion of Asian Americans, Asian Americans reported higher (not lower) political participation. This effect emerged even after controlling for several additional county-level variables. Similar analyses using an explicit measure of context-level national exclusion yielded convergent findings. Conclusions: Asian Americans reported greater political participation in counties with higher aggregate-levels of implicit and explicit American = White associations. Possible mechanisms accounting for the unexpected and counterintuitive relation between the national exclusion of Asian Americans and political participation among Asian Americans are discussed. Public Significance Statement: Living in U.S. counties where people strongly associate American nationality with White over Asian American racial identity is related to greater political participation among Asian Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Past studies on language brokering have examined how various individual and contextual factors influence the association between language brokering and mental health outcomes, but few studies have assessed how racial/ethnic discrimination or perceptions of how society treats one's racial/ethnic group (i.e., cultural mistrust) affects mental health outcomes. The goal of this study was to examine how reports of racial/ethnic discrimination and perceptions of cultural mistrust influencemental health outcomes for adolescent language brokers. Method: Multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the moderating role of racial/ethnic discrimination and cultural mistrust on the associations between language brokering frequency and depressive and social anxiety symptoms in 1,044 Latino and Asian American adolescents (57.5% female, Mage = 15.12 years, SD = 0.41). Results: Findings indicated that brokering more frequently was associated with more depressive and social anxiety symptoms for youth who reported racial/ethnic discrimination from adults in school and more depressive symptoms for youth who had high levels of cultural mistrust. Differences in racial/ethnic groups were also explored. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that reports of racial/ethnic discrimination and perceptions of cultural mistrust exacerbate psychological challenges among Latino and Asian American adolescent language brokers and highlight the importance of further examining how discrimination influences the psychosocial development of brokering youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The literature on Asian Americans yields mixed findings regarding the protective effects of ethnic identity on the racial discrimination-psychological distress link (Park, Schwartz, Lee, Kim, & Rodriguez, 2013). This study introduces metastereotype awareness (MSA; the awareness one has regarding stereotypes others hold of their group) into this relationship, focusing on the stereotype of Asians as unsociable.Method: We examined a 3-way interaction between racial discrimination, ethnic identity commitment, and MSA on a latent psychological distress variable among a sample of Asian American emerging adults attending predominantly White universities (N = 276, 60% female, mean age = 20).Results: Structural equation modeling suggested a significant 3-way interaction in which the protective role of ethnic identity commitment varied depending on the level of MSA. Specifically, high levels of ethnic identity commitment buffered the racial discrimination-psychological distress link for individuals reporting high levels of MSA. Furthermore, low levels of ethnic identity commitment buffered the discrimination-psychological distress link for Asian American students reporting low levels of MSA. In contrast, a positive link between discrimination and psychological distress persisted for Asian American students reporting a combination of high ethnic identity and low MSA and vice versa.Conclusion: In summary, Asian American college students who had high levels of both ethnic identity commitment and MSA or low levels on both variables were protected from psychological distress associated with racial discrimination. These findings illuminate the nuanced relationship between racial discrimination, ethnic identity commitment, and MSA in predicting psychological distress outcomes for Asian Americans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Using item response theory, we sought to evaluate measurement invariance of language brokering extent and attitudes in 3 linguistic minority groups of adolescents.Method: The sample included 765 (302 Chinese American, 327 Korean American, and 136 Mexican American; 57% females) ninth graders from immigrant families.Results: Differential item functioning was detected for several items, and we retained items with equivalent parameters across 3 groups. The final items showed adequate internal consistency reliability and criterion validity.Conclusion: The refined scale is cross-ethnically invariant and appropriate for use with Chinese-American, Korean-American, and Mexican-American adolescents to compare their language brokering experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Abundant research has shown that Asian Americans tend to score higher on standardized social anxiety measures than do European Americans. The current study explored how this cultural difference in social anxiety may be explained by cultural differences in self-construals and threat appraisal between Asian Americans and European Americans.Method: Participants were 310 Asian Americans and 249 European Americans recruited from a large university in Hawaii who completed questionnaires online in exchange for course credit. Using structural equation modeling, we compared a series of competing models in which cultural differences in social anxiety were specified to be mediated by cultural differences in self-construals and threat appraisal.Results: Compared with European Americans, Asian Americans scored higher on measures of social anxiety, threat appraisal, and interdependent self-construal, and lower on independent self-construal. We found support for the mediating roles of both self-construals and threat appraisal. Specifically, higher interdependent and lower independent self-construal reported by Asian Americans were related to higher threat appraisal, which were, in turn, associated with higher social anxiety. Higher interdependent and lower independent self-construal were also directly related to higher social anxiety over and above the influence of threat appraisal.Conclusions: These findings provide initial evidence on how cultural group differences in beliefs about the self in relation to others may shape what is attended to in a social situation, and contribute to cultural differences in subsequent affective response between Asian Americans and European Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The current study sought to examine the prospective relationship between anxiety and depressive symptoms among Asian American (AA) early adolescents, a crucial period for the development of depression among youth. Further, as guided by cultural-ecological frameworks, a second aim of this study was to identify protective factors (i.e., parent support, peer support, teacher support, and school engagement) that might buffer the relationship between anxiety and depressive symptoms among this understudied population.Method: Participants included AA youth (N = 186; Mage = 12.50, SD = 1.16; 51.1% male) who completed questionnaires on 2 occasions with a 1-year interval.Results: Results from path analysis indicated that high anxiety symptoms were related to increased depressive symptoms over time. Further, teacher support was related to decreased depressive symptoms over time. Additionally, teacher and parent support moderated the association between adolescents' anxiety and depressive symptoms.Conclusions: Findings contribute to our understanding of the development of depression among early adolescent youth and have implications for the development of programming for Asian American youth with anxiety and depression. (PsycINFO Database Record [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To develop a measure of parental racial-ethnic socialization that is appropriate for Asian American families.Method: To test the reliability and validity of this new measure, we surveyed 575 Asian American emerging adults (49% female, 79% U.S. born).Results: Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the results show 7 reliable subscales: maintenance of heritage culture, becoming American, awareness of discrimination, avoidance of other groups, minimization of race, promotion of equality, and cultural pluralism. Tests of factorial invariance show that overall, the subscales demonstrate, at minimum, partial metric invariance across gender, age, nativity, educational attainment, parent educational attainment, geographic region of residence, and Asian-heritage region. Thus, the relations among the subscales with other variables can be compared across these different subgroups. The subscales also correlated with ethnic identity, ethnic centrality, perceptions of discrimination, and pluralistic orientation, demonstrating construct validity.Conclusion: In an increasingly complex and diverse social world, our scale will be useful for gaining a better understanding of how Asian American parents socialize their children regarding issues of race, discrimination, culture, and diversity. (PsycINFO Database Record [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is limited research examining psychological correlates of a uniquely racialized experience of the model minority stereotype faced by Asian Americans. The present study examined the factor structure and fit of the only published measure of the internalization of the model minority myth, the Internalization of the Model Minority Myth Measure (IMA; Yoo et al., 2010), with a sample of 155 Asian American high school adolescents. We also examined the link between internalization of the model minority myth types (i.e., myth associated with achievement and myth associated with unrestricted mobility) and psychological adjustment (i.e., affective distress, somatic distress, performance difficulty, academic expectations stress), and the potential moderating effect of academic performance (cumulative grade point average). Results suggested the 2-factor model of the IM-4 had an acceptable fit to the data and supported the factor structure using confirmatory factor analyses. Internalizing the model minority myth of achievement related positively to academic expectations stress; however, internalizing the model minority myth of unrestricted mobility related negatively to academic expectations stress, both controlling for gender and academic performance. Finally, academic performance moderated the model minority myth associated with unrestricted mobility and affective distress link and the model minority myth associated with achievement and performance difficulty link. These findings highlight the complex ways in which the model minority myth relates to psychological outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the direct and moderating role of cultural socialization in relation to same-race and cross-race friendships and social competence among Asian American late-adolescents (N = 146). We hypothesized that same-race and cross-race friendships would be uniquely associated with social competence, but that these associations would be moderated by cultural socialization practices targeting enculturation and preparation for bias. Using Pearson correlations, cross-race friendships were significantly correlated with social competence, whereas same-race friendships had a marginally significant relation. In moderator analyses, only preparation for bias was a significant moderator of cross-race friendships in relation to social competence. Specifically, for late-adolescents who reported a high level of preparation for bias, there was a positive relation between cross-race friendships and social competence. There were no significant interactions between same-race friendships and any dimension of cultural socialization in relation to social competence. The findings support the relevance of cultural socialization in Asian American late-adolescent social development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This three-study investigation examined risk and protective factors for poor academic performance among Asian American first-year undergraduates. Students were surveyed prior to starting college and their GPA was collected after their first semester in college. Family conflict as a significant risk factor for poor academic performance was examined in all three studies. The results indicate that higher family conflict prior to college was related to lower first-semester college GPA, after controlling for standardized test scores and high school rank (Studies 1-3). Even though psychological distress was related to both family conflict and GPA, it did not mediate the relationship between family conflict and GPA (Studies 2 and 3). In terms of protective factors, the results indicate that life satisfaction buffered the negative effects of family conflict on first-semester college GPA (Study 3). Together, these findings support the need to take into account family variables and psychological well-being in the academic performance of Asian American students as they transition from high school to college. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined whether perception of university environment mediated the association between minority status stress and college persistence attitudes after controlling for perceived general stress. Participants were 160 Asian American, African American, and Latino students who attended a predominantly White university. Results of a path model analysis showed that university environment was a significant mediator for the association between minority status stress and college persistence attitudes. Addition- ally, minority status stress was distinct from perceived general stress. Finally, the results from a multiple-group comparison indicated that the magnitude of the mediation effect was invariant across Asian American, African American, and Latino college students, thus supporting the generalizability of the mediation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construal of the self as independent or interdependent in relation to others has been found to correlate significantly with social anxiety symptom ratings, raising concerns about possible cultural bias in these measures for Asian Americans. To investigate the validity of self-reported social anxiety symptoms, we examined the role of ethnicity in the associations among social anxiety, self-construal, and adaptive social functioning in a sample of 229 Asian- and European American college students. Results revealed that ethnicity moderated the relationship between self-construal and social anxiety such that interdependent self-construal was associated with higher social anxiety only for first generation Asian Americans. However, there were no significant ethnic differences in the associations between social anxiety self-reports and several measures of social functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiculturalism constitutes an important element of school climate, but the relation between perceived multiculturalism and academic achievement has not been widely studied. This study examined the influence of students' perceptions of school support for multiculturalism on academic achievement among 280 Asian American and Hispanic youth, including ethnic identity and ethnocultural empathy as potential mediators. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that perceived multiculturalism was significantly positively related to ethnocultural empathy for Asian Americans and Hispanics, and that ethnocultural empathy, in turn, was predictive of academic achievement for Hispanics only. Results of bootstrapping to test for mediation effects revealed ethnocultural empathy to be a salient mediator for Hispanic youth. Although ethnic identity did not mediate the link between multiculturalism and academic achievement, ethnic identity was significantly predictive of achievement for Hispanics. On the whole, these findings suggest that fostering a school climate supportive of multiculturalism may improve empathy toward ethnic out-groups. Furthermore, schools that promote compassion and tolerance for diverse ethnic groups may achieve better academic outcomes among Hispanic youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has suggested that Asian Americans (AAs) are less likely to mobilize social support, and find support to be less helpful, when compared with European Americans (EAs). In a 10-day daily diary study of AA and EA college students, we hypothesized that AAs would activate support less frequently than EAs for both stressful and positive events, a cultural difference that would be mediated by group harmony values. We also predicted that AAs would find support to be less helpful, and we explored differences in the sources of support used. Results confirmed that cultural differences in support use were partially mediated by the value of maintaining group harmony through emotional restraint. AAs also perceived received support to be less helpful and more frequently used discretionary rather than kinship support sources. Findings suggest that naturalistic support experiences differ markedly for these groups, with implications for help-seeking behavior and mental health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation describes the validation of a measure of perceived racism developed to assess racial experiences of Asian American college students. In three studies across two different regions of the United States, there was strong evidence for the validation of the 8-item Subtle and Blatant Racism Scale for Asian American College Students (SABR-A²). The subtle racism subscale refers to instances of discrimination attributable implicitly to racial bias or stereotype, whereas the blatant racism subscale refers to instances of discrimination attributable explicitly to racial bias or stereotype. The two-subscale structure of the SABR-A² was supported by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and demonstrated discriminant, convergent, and incremental validity, as well as internal reliability and stability over 2 weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study extends the research on parental ethnic–racial socialization to Asian American late adolescents (N = 166). The authors specifically examined the factor structure, frequency, and correlates of a perceived ethnic–racial socialization measure. Ethnic identity was also hypothesized to function as a mediator in the relationship between perceived cultural socialization and social competence. The results supported a 3–factor model of perceived ethnic–racial socialization that included cultural socialization– pluralism, promotion of mistrust, and preparation for bias. Exploratory analyses revealed that ethnic– racial socialization messages were reported by large proportions of participants and were related to a number of demographic variables. The authors further found that perceived promotion of mistrust messages were inversely associated with social competence. They also found that perceived cultural socialization–pluralism was significantly related to social competence through ethnic identity. Results support the importance of perceived ethnic–racial socialization for Asian American development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Brickman et al.'s (1982) theoretical framework of responsibility attributions, the authors examined the relationships among adherence to Asian values, attributions about the cause of and solution to depression, and preferred coping strategies in a nonclinical sample of Asian Americans. Results of a path analysis (N = 238) indicate that attribution of cause fully mediated the relations between adherence to Asian values and use of coping strategies. Adherence to Asian values was positively related to attributing the cause of depression to internal factors, which was in turn associated with greater use of disengagement coping strategies and decreased use of engagement coping strategies. In addition, an internal attribution for the solution to depressive symptoms was related to more reliance on engagement coping strategies and a lower use of disengagement coping strategies. Practical implications of the results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adapting the theory of reasoned action, the present study examined help-seeking beliefs, attitudes, and intent among Asian American college students (N = 110). A multiple mediation model was tested to see if the relation between Asian values and willingness to see a counselor was mediated by attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help and subjective norm. A bootstrapping procedure was used to test the multiple mediation model. Results indicated that subjective norm was the sole significant mediator of the effect of Asian values on willingness to see a counselor. The findings highlight the importance of social influences on help-seeking intent among Asian American college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examined the impact of perceived racial discrimination on various mental health outcomes for Asian American and Latino college students within an emic and etic framework. Results indicate that Asian American and Latino college students experienced similar exposure and reactions to various kinds of discrimination. However, Latino students were more likely than Asian American students to have been accused of doing something wrong, such as cheating and breaking the law, and more likely to appraise these experiences as stressful. Asian Americans evidenced higher risk for trait anxiety. Regardless of ethnicity, perceived racial discrimination was associated with several negative mental health outcomes, including higher psychological distress, suicidal ideation, state anxiety, trait anxiety, and depression. Findings highlight the need to address discrimination across multiple social and professional settings and to understand the broad array of mental health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation explores the perceptions of intergenerational family conflict among 93 Asian American college students from immigrant families in relation to reported discrepancies in Asian values with their parents, behavioral acculturation, gender, and ethnicity (Chinese and Korean). The study is unique in its examination of parent gender and specific dimensions of Asian values as predictors of perceived parent-child conflict. The findings indicated that as discrepancies in Asian values with either parent increased, reports of parent-child conflict also increased. Values discrepancies, but not behavioral acculturation, were significantly associated with perceived family conflicts. Independent hierarchical regression models revealed a significant association between conflict ratings and values discrepancies with mothers on the dimension of Conforming to Family Norms, and with fathers on the dimension of Education/Career Issues. However, interaction effects within a combined model to test beta coefficients differences between parents were not significant. Results also suggest that intergenerational conflict may be associated with discrepancy on Respecting Elders. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of level of acculturation and acculturative stress on the mental health of Asian American college students. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to clarify the relation between level of acculturation, acculturative stress, and mental health outcomes (psychological distress and clinical depression). Being less identified with mainstream United States culture was associated with higher psychological distress and clinical depression, but lost significance when acculturative stress was introduced into the model. Retention or relinquishing of identification with one's heritage culture was not associated with mental health outcomes. Although understanding level of acculturation can help us identify those at risk, findings suggest that acculturative stress is a more proximal risk factor and increases risk for mental health problems independently of global perceptions of stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interactive effects between interdependent and independent self-construal on family cohesion and mental distress were examined. Survey responses from 153 Asian American high school students supported the hypothesized moderation of interdependence by independence on family cohesion, which was found to further mediate the relationship between self-construal and mental distress. Specifically, interdependence was positively associated with family cohesion when independence was high and negatively associated with family cohesion when independence was low. Accounting for the mediator effects of family cohesion, mental distress was positively associated with interdependence and more so for those low on independence than those high on independence. The benefits of biculturalism and research implications for the bidimensional conceptualization of self-construal for ethnic minority populations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study the authors explored the relation of physical appearance, perception of group belonging, and perception of group exclusion to racial/ethnic identity in multiracial Japanese European Americans. Results indicate that physical appearance and social variables of sense of belonging and exclusion related to one monoracial racial/ethnic group significantly predicted self-identity with the corresponding monoracial group. There was also a significant relationship between Japanese American identity and multiracial appearance and social variables. Feelings of exclusion were shown to be the primary influence on all three racial/ethnic identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study investigated the use of individualistic and collectivistic coping strategies among Asian American family members of victims of the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks on September 11th, 2001. Interviews were conducted with 11 Asian Americans who had lost a member of their family in the WTC attacks. Using the Discoveiy-Oriented Research analysis (Mahrer, 1988), results indicated that Asian Americans utilized the following collectivistic coping methods to deal with their losses: individualistic coping familial coping, intracultural coping, relational universality, forbearance, fatalism/spirituality, and indigenous healing methods. Additionally, our research found that cultural stigmata, privacy issues, and lack of culturally responsive counselors were factors in participants not utilizing available mental health services. Implications for culturally appropriate services, counseling, and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the development and psychometric properties of the Asian American Multidimensional Acculturation Scale (AAMAS). The results of 3 separate studies provide strong evidence of the instrument's reliability and validity. The principles for the development of the AAMAS were orthogonality of cultural dimensions, inclusion of a pan-ethnic Asian American dimension, and ease of use across ethnic groups. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicate that within each cultural dimension (AAMA S-Culture of Origin, AAMAS-Asian American, and AAMAS-European American) there are 4 reliable acculturation domains of cultural identity, language, cultural knowledge, and food consumption. These features of the AAMAS allow for a more complex assessment of acculturation level of Asian Americans and its relationship to psychological functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation experiences of 1.5-generation Asian American college students (N = 10) were examined using the consensual qualitative research method. Results indicated 4 domains of adaptation experiences: preimmigration experiences, acculturation and enculturation experiences, intercultural relationships, and support systems. Participants reported that English proficiency played a significant role in their initial adjustment. Currently, most of the participants reported feeling identified with both the U.S. and Asian cultures. Some participants reported having experienced racism in the past. Many participants noted that they currently have no difficulty establishing friendships with culturally different persons. Participants reported currently feeling most close to friends of a similar background and that they usually seek support from friends, family, and religious organizations, but not from a psychologist or counselor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnic differences in perfectionism were examined among Asian American, African American, and Caucasian American college students. Analyses revealed that Asian American students scored significantly higher than the other groups on 3 of 6 perfectionism subscales. Minority students reported significantly higher parental expectations than Caucasian students. Significant correlations emerged for all 3 groups between depressive symptoms and concerns about making mistakes, perceived criticism from parents, and self-doubt. In regression analyses, perfectionism explained significant variance in depressive symptoms for Asian Americans and Caucasians and explained significant variance in cumulative grade point average for Asian Americans and African Americans. Self-doubt emerged as a robust individual predictor in these analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined differences in patterns of intergenerational conflict according to gender, ethnicity, and acculturation level of Asian American college students. A survey containing a measure of acculturation and intergenerational conflict was completed by 342 participants. A 2 (gender) x 5 (ethnicity) x 3 (acculturation) multivariate analysis of variance for the 3 subscales of the Intergenerational Conflict Inventory revealed significant F values for all 3 main effects, but none for the interactions. On the subscale of Dating and Marriage, male students reported less conflict than female students, and Japanese Americans reported less conflict than Chinese, Filipino, Korean, and Southeast Asian Americans. On the subscale of Family Expectations, Japanese Americans also reported less conflict than Koreans and Southeast Asians. On both of these and a 3rd subscale of Education and Career, the acculturated group reported lower conflict than both the low-acculturated and bicultural groups. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational success among Asian Americans has led to their being labeled the "model minority." At the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Asian American students have higher grade point averages (GPAs) than Hispanic and African American but not White students, supporting the notion that Asian Americans are more successful compared with other racial minorities. However, success in the classroom does not implicate effective functioning in life, and nonacademic criteria ought to be considered in assessing the validity of the model minority image. Given the increasing diversification of the United States, cross-racial engagement may be an additional contributor to overall competence. This was empirically tested in a group of 642 undergraduates at UCB, including 291 Asian, 197 White, 20 African American, 67 Hispanic, and 56 multiracial students. Overall competence was operationalized by sense of coherence, that is, the extent to which the world is experienced as comprehensible, manageable., and meaningful (A. Antonovsky, 1979, 1987). As predicted, Asian Americans had significantly feweasiar numbers of cross-racial groups represented in their friendship network than did students of all other races. Lower cross-racial engagement and being Asian (as compared with White) were related to a lower sense of coherence, whereas lower GPA was not. Within the Asian American subsample, cross-racial engagement was again significantly associated with greater coherence, whereas GPA again was not. Thus, extending the definition of success to overall competence, these findings raise questions about the applicability of the model minority label to Asian Americans, despite their academic achievement. Future studies need to assess the reasons for their limited cross-racial engagement and lower sense of coherence and to examine means to assist the development of these strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]