No abstract

This paper presents ethnic and gender differences in reported stressful life events (SLE) in a sample of 70 Southeast Asian (SEA) adolescents. The ranking of five SLEs with the highest percentage reporting Some or A Lot of stress showed differences in qualitative life events among Cambodian, Hmong, and Vietnamese adolescents. Cambodians ranked strict discipline in social life by parents as most stressful. Hmong and Vietnamese adolescents reported doing house chores and academic pressure to do well, respectively, as most stressful. In other stressor domains, academic performance (i.e. studying for a test, personal pressure to get good grades) and parental expectations (i.e. high expectations from parents to do well, fear of failure to meet family expectations) show similarity across ethnic groups. T-tests show that female adolescents reported higher stress on eight out of 10 life events females than males. Personal pressure to get good grades had the highest percentage mean for females. For males, worrying about where to live or getting a job after graduation were the two most endorsed stressful life events. Important implications for social work practice in schools and with parents in SEA families are discussed. Further research into parental involvement and family distress is also recommended.

This paper reports findings on depression in a sample of 38 Vietnamese adolescents. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to examine the empirical use of psychosocial variables and stressful life event measures in predicting depression. Self-esteem (Esteem) and SLEs scales were entered in blocks and explained for 68 percent of the total variance in depression (CES-D scale). Esteem accounts for 30 percent of the overall variance. The SLE block contributes another 39 percent above and beyond in the prediction of depression. Death, PTSD, and Peer stress scales were significant predictors (p < .01). The mean CES-D depression score was 16.32 (SD = 10.95). A cutoff score of 16 was used to classify those adolescents who were depressed from those who were not depressed (Radloff, 1977).

No abstract

No abstract