Handbook Of Mental Health And Acculturation In Asian American Families

Asian Americans are the fastest growing minority group in the United States. When Asian immigrants arrive in the United States, they regularly encounter a vast number of difficulties integrating themselves into their new culture. In Handbook of Mental Health and Acculturation in Asian American Families, distinguished researchers and clinicians discuss the process of acculturation for individuals and their families, addressing the mental health needs of Asian Americans and thoroughly examining the acculturative process, its common stressors, and characteristics associated with resiliency. This first-of-its-kind, multi-dimensional title synthesizes current acculturation research, while presenting those concepts within a clinical framework. In addition to providing an in-depth look at both past and present research and offering directions for future topics to explore, the book also offers a range of practical tools such as research scales to measure levels of acculturation, interview techniques, and clinical approaches for special populations including children, the elderly, and their families. Thought-provoking and informative, Handbook of Mental Health and Acculturation in Asian American Families will enhance the understanding of the clinical and sociocultural problems Asian Americans face, providing clinicians with all the necessary insights to better care for their patients.

Featuring contributed chapters from experts in the field, Handbook of Asian American Families provides readers with a developmental systems-based approach to understanding contemporary Asian American families. The book examines the intricacies of family relationships and dynamics within Asian American families and the structural factors that hinder or promote family functioning and the well-being of Asian immigrants and their descendants. The chapters present theoretical, conceptual, empirical, and practical discussion on the interworking of Asian American families with each focusing on key aspects of family relationships. Opening chapters introduce readers to the developmental systems-based perspective of the book, discuss the effects of immigration on Asian American families, and explore specific relationship dynamics, including motherhood, intimate relationships, coparenting, and multigenerational and intergenerational relationships. Readers learn about the dynamics of divorced families, stepfamilies, adoption, and multiracial families. Additional chapters cover the acculturation gap in Asian American families, mental health, racial-ethnic socialization, religion and interfaith relationships, and combating stereotypes, microagressions, racism, and the model minority myth. The closing chapter looks to the future, discussing opportunities for further research, theories, practices, and policies. Handbook of Asian American Families is part of the Cognella Series on Families and Social Justice, a collection of textbooks that support core curriculum within family-related disciplines with emphasis on issues related to social justice, diversity, and equity.

This chapter provides an overview of research on acculturation and mental health in multicultural individuals. The principle frameworks of acculturation are reviewed and distinctions are drawn between the acculturation experiences of immigrants and refugees. This chapter also highlights various methodological considerations relevant to the assessment of acculturation and reviews existing acculturation measures developed with Latinos, Asian Americans, African Americans, and American Indians. Research examining the relationships between acculturation and mental health with emphasis placed on Latino and Asian American populations are presented. This chapter concludes with recommendations for future acculturation research and underscores areas in need of additional empirical inquiry.

This project is unique in the field for a number of reasons, both in structure and in content. Specifically, it will have leading experts on specific age groups (Childhood to Adolescence, Young Adulthood to Middle Age, and The Elderly) within the cultural groups of interest (European-Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Native Americans) contribute a chapter covering current research on both positive and negative functioning for each population. Each chapter will present basic demographic information, strengths that contribute to resilience, and three significant challenges each group faces to maintaining mental health. Each chapter will then include an integrative section, where ideas are advanced about how the strengths of each group can be harnessed to address the challenges that group faces. To conclude, each chapter will propose future directions for research which addresses integrative approaches to mental health for each group, and the implications that such approaches could have for future treatment. The main points of each section of each chapter will be visually summarized in a concluding table.

Leading experts provide a critical appraisal of existing research and theory as they relate to issues surrounding the diagnosis, etiology, and treatment of major mental disorders among Asian adults.

Asian Americans encounter a range of health issues often unknown to the American public, policy makers, researchers and even clinicians. National research often combines Asian Americans into a single category, not taking into account the differences and complexity among Asian ethnic subgroups. The definition of Asian American derives from the U.S. Census Bureau’s definition of Asian, which includes peoples from all the vast territories of the Far East, Southeast Asia and the South Asian Subcontinent. While Census classifications determine demographic measurements that affect equal opportunity programs, the broad rubric “Asian-American” can never describe accurately the more than 50 distinct Asian American subgroups, who together comprise multifaceted diversity across cultural ethnicities, socio-economic status, languages, religions and generations. This volume rectifies that situation by exploring the unique needs and health concerns of particular subgroups within the Asian American community. It consolidates a wide range of knowledge on various health issues impacting Asian Americans while also providing a discussion into the cultural, social, and structural forces impacting morbidity, mortality and quality of life. The volume is designed to advance the understanding of Asian American health by explaining key challenges and identifying emerging trends faced in specific ethnic groups and diseases/illnesses, innovative community-based interventions and the future needed areas of research.

The Oxford Handbook of Prevention in Counseling Psychology presents a lifespan approach to prevention that emphasizes strengths of individuals and communities, integrates multicultural and social justice perspectives, and includes best practices in the prevention of a variety of psychological problems in particular populations.