HOW COLLECTIVISM AND FAMILY CONTROL INFLUENCE DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN ASIAN AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS

Year 2016, Volume: 15 Issue: 57, 0 - 0, 15.04.2016

Ayşe Ayçiçeği Dınn Catherine L Caldwell-harrıs

https://doi.org/10.17755/esosder.44308

Abstract

The impact of individualism and collectivism on depression in Asian heritage students was investigated.  Results replicated the existing finding of greater report of high parental control and depressive symptoms among AsianAmerican students compared to EuropeanAmerican.  Depressive symptoms were linked to failures of personal achievement in both groups, but family control and vertical collectivism (VC) were associated with depressive symptoms only for AsianAmericans. VC values were endorsed by AsianAmericans twice as frequently as they were by EuropeanAmericans.  VC emphasizes duty and subordinating of one's own goals to those of authority figures; therefore, it may be a risk factor for depression for AsianAmericans, as they often must integrate family expectations of goal subordination while living in a society which values individual expression.  Assessments of students' own views about what experiences can cause depression revealed both groups cited failures of personal achievement as likely causes of depression, while only AsianAmericans cited family control as likely to cause depression

References

• Aycicegi-Dinn, A. & Caldwell-Harris, C.L. (2011). Individualism-collectivism among Americans, Turks and Turkish immigrants to the U.S. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35: 9-16.
• Beck, A.T., Steer R.A. & Brown, G.K. (1996). Beck Depression Inventory manual (2nd ed). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corp.
• Belle, D. (1982). Lives in stress: Women and depression. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
• Bettencourt, B.A. & Dorr, N. (1997). Collective self-esteem as a mediator of the relationship between allocentrism and subjective well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23: 963-9.
• Cornwall, P.L., Scott, J., Garland, A. & Pollinger, R. (2005). Beliefs about depression in patients and their partners. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 33:131-138.
• Diener, E. & Suh, E.M. (2000). Culture and subjective well-being. Cambridge, MIT Press.
• Furnham, A. & Kuyken, W. (1991). Lay theories of depression. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 6: 329-342.
• Furnham, A. & Malik, R. (1994). Cross-cultural beliefs about "depression". International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 40: 106-123.
• Greenberger, E. & Chen, C. (1996). Perceived family relationships and depressed mood in early and late adolescence: A comparison of European and Asian Americans. Developmental Psychology, 32: 707–716.
• Hsu, F.L.K. (1983). Rugged individualism reconsidered. Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press
• Hui, C.H. & Villareal, M.J. (1989). Individualism–collectivism and psychological needs: Their relationships in two cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 20: 310–323.
• Juang, L.P, Qin, D.B. & Park, I.J.K. (2013). Deconstructing the myth of the “Tiger Mother”: An introduction to the special issue on tiger parenting, Asian-heritage families, and child/adolescent well-being. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 4: 1–6.
• Kagitcibasi, C. (1997). Individualism and collectivism. Berry, J.W, Segall, M.H., Kagitcibasi, C (Eds). Handbook of cross-cultural psychology, Volume 3: Social behavior and applications. Needham Heights, Allyn Bacon.
• Kanazawa, A., White, P.M. & Hampson, S.E. (2007). Ethnic variation in depressive symptoms in a community sample in Hawaii.Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13: 35-44.
• Kim, S.Y., Wang, Y., Orozco-Lapray, D., Shen, Y. & Murtuza, M. (2013) Does “Tiger Parenting” exist? Parenting profiles of Chinese Americans and adolescent developmental outcomes. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 4: 7-18.
• Kuyken, W., Brewin, C.R., Power, M.J. & Furnham, A. (1992). Causal beliefs about depression in depressed patients, clinical psychologists and lay persons. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 65: 257-268.
• La Greca, A,M & Harrison, H.M. (2005). Adolescent peer relations, friendships, and romantic relationships: do they predict social anxiety and depression? Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34: 49–61.
• Lay, C., Fairlie, P., Jackson, S., Ricci, T., Eisenberg, J., Sato, T., Teeaar, A. & Melamud, A. (1998). Domain-specific allocentrism-idiocentrism: A measure of family connectedness. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 29, 434-460.
• Lee, R.M. & Liu, H. (2001). Coping with intergenerational family conflict: Comparison of Asian American, Hispanic, and European American college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48: 410-419.
• Okazaki, S. (1997). Sources of ethnic differences between Asian American and White American college students on measures of depression and social anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106: 52-60.
• Oyserman, D., Coon, H.M. & Kemmelmier, M. (2002). Rethinking individualism and collectivism: Evaluation of theoretical assumptions and meta-analyses. Psychological Bulletin, 128: 3-72.
• Qin, D.B. (2008). Doing well vs. feeling well: Understanding family dynamics and the psychological adjustment of Chinese immigrant adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37: 22–35.
• Rippere, V. (1997). Commonsense beliefs about depression and anti-depressive behaviour. A study of social consensus. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 15: 465-473.
• Suh, E.M. (2007). Downsides of an overly context-sensitive self: implications from the culture and subjective well-being research. Journal of Personality, 75: 1321-1343.
• Supple, A. & Cavanaugh, A.M. (2013). Tiger mothering and among American parent-adolescent relationships. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 4: 41–49.
• Tafarodi, R.W. & Smith, A.J. (2001). Individualism–collectivism and depressive sensitivity to life events: the case of Malaysian sojourners. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 25: 73–88, 2001
• Triandis, C.H., Bontempo, B., Villareal, J.M., Asai, M. & Lucca, N. (1988). Individualism and collectivism: Cross-cultural perspectives on self-in group relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54: 323-338.
• Triandis, H.C., Chen, X.P. & Chan, D.K.S. (1998). Scenarios for the measurement of collectivism and individualism. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 20: 275-289.
• Triandis, H.C. (1995). Individualism and collectivism. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• Triandis, H.C.(2000). Cultural syndromes and subjective well-being. Diener, E. & Suh, E.M. (Eds). Culture and subjective well-being. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Tseng, W.S., Lin, T.Y. & Yeh, E.K. (1995). Chinese societies and mental health. Lin, T.Y., Tseng, T.S. & Yeh, .EK. (Eds).Chinese societies and mental health. Hong Kong, Oxford University Press.
• Verkuyten, M. & Lay, C. (1998). Ethnic minority identity and psychological well-being: The mediating role of collective self-esteem. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28: 1969-1986.
• Waterman, A.S. (1984). The psychology of individualism. New York, Praeger.
• Ying Y, Han M. (2007). Familism and mental health: Variation between Asian American children of refugees and immigrants. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 4: 333-348.
• Ying, Y.W., Lee, P.A. & Tsai, J.L. (2007). Predictors of depressive symptoms in Chinese American college students: parent and peer attachment, college challenges and sense of coherence. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77: 316-323.