Chinese American adolescents: perceived parenting styles and adolescents' psychosocial health.

BACKGROUND: Asian Americans are one of the fastest-growing minority groups in the USA, and Chinese constitute the largest group. Evidence suggests that Asian American adolescents experience higher levels of depressive symptoms than their same-gender white counterparts. Quantitative findings suggest associations between parenting factors and Chinese American adolescents' mental health. A qualitative understanding regarding Chinese American adolescents' perceived parenting styles and its relationship with adolescents' psychosocial health is warranted. AIM: To gain an in-depth understanding of Chinese American adolescents' perceived parenting styles and how parenting styles might influence adolescents' psychosocial health. METHODS: In this qualitative study, we recruited 15 Chinese American adolescents aged 12-17 years in a southwest metropolitan area. We conducted two focus group interviews. Participants also filled out a brief questionnaire that included their socio-demographic information, immigration history and level of acculturation. RESULTS: Participants reported perceiving that parents had high expectations about academic performance and moral values. They also perceived stricter family rules regarding choices of friends compared with their non-Asian peers. Parents tended to be more protective of girls than of boys. Both Chinese American boys and girls reported poor or ineffective communication with their parents, which contributed to increased conflict between parents and adolescents and emotional distress of the adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide evidence for nurses to develop linguistically and culturally tailored resources (e.g. parent support groups, programs aimed to improving parent-child communication) or connect these families with existing resources to enhance parenting skills and consequently reduce emotional distress of their adolescent children.

Hurricane Katrina: prior trauma, poverty and health among Vietnamese-American survivors.

BACKGROUND: The flooding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina revealed the disproportionate vulnerability of ethnic minority communities for emergency preparedness, disaster relief and health. Nurses need to analyse Katrina's health consequences for the most vulnerable segments of our society. AIM: To examine factors contributing to differential health outcomes among the New Orleans Vietnamese community in response to Katrina. METHODS: A sample of 113 adult Vietnamese Katrina survivors from New Orleans was recruited. A mixed-method approach, including survey and focus groups, was used to collect data. Survey questions were modified from standardized instruments to evaluate survivors' health status and factors contributing to health outcomes. Multivariate and content analysis were used to investigate effects of prior trauma, financial strain, social support and acculturation level in predicting survivors' health outcomes. RESULTS: Findings suggested financial strain was the strongest risk factor for Vietnamese survivors' post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and physical and mental health post-disaster; while social support was a strong protective factor for health. Survivors who perceived higher impact from previous traumatic experiences had poorer physical health, but not PTSD symptoms or poor mental health after controlling for financial strain and social support, suggesting complex relationships among these measures in predicting PTSD symptoms and health. Less-acculturated individuals also reported higher levels of PTSD symptoms and poorer physical health. CONCLUSIONS: Catastrophic events like Katrina can result in disproportionate risk of negative health outcomes among vulnerable populations. Nurses should take into account prior trauma, financial strain, social support network and acculturation level, to adequately address survivors' needs.