IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v66y2020i6p584-592.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Engaging South Asian youth and families: A clinical review

Author

Listed:
  • Neha Sharma
  • Deepika Shaligram
  • Grace H Yoon

Abstract

Objective: South Asians (SAs), a rapidly growing minority group in the United States are underrepresented in mental health research. They represent a unique sub-group of Asian immigrants in that their journey to the United States in the last 50 years was driven by the pursuit of academic and career opportunities. Our goal is to provide a topical overview of factors contributing to the mental health challenges of South Asian American (SAA) youth and to describe culturally sensitive approaches that would provide effective treatment for SAA youth and their families. Methods: We conducted a review of published literature in PubMed and PsycInfo search engines using the key words South Asian immigrants, South Asian Americans, psychological, psychiatric, mental health treatment, therapy and interventions. Results: The challenges faced by these highly educated families are distinctive in that there is a struggle to maintain ethnic identity based on collectivism while embracing American ideals of individualism. These opposing values along with model minority expectations put SAs at high risk for mental health concerns and acculturative family distancing. Furthermore, mental health stigma impedes help-seeking. Mental health practitioners must navigate the different value systems of the parent–child dyad without ostracizing either generation and deliver effective care. Hence, culturally adapted family therapy and community-based approaches may be particularly relevant in SA youth. Conclusion: Our article outlines common family attitudes and issues pertinent to mental health in youth and discusses useful clinical approaches to dealing with SAA youth and their families.

Suggested Citation

  • Neha Sharma & Deepika Shaligram & Grace H Yoon, 2020. "Engaging South Asian youth and families: A clinical review," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(6), pages 584-592, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:66:y:2020:i:6:p:584-592
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764020922881
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764020922881
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0020764020922881?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bradby, Hannah & Varyani, Maya & Oglethorpe, Rachel & Raine, Wendy & White, Ishbel & Helen, Minnis, 2007. "British Asian families and the use of child and adolescent mental health services: A qualitative study of a hard to reach group," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(12), pages 2413-2424, December.
    2. Yin Paradies & Jehonathan Ben & Nida Denson & Amanuel Elias & Naomi Priest & Alex Pieterse & Arpana Gupta & Margaret Kelaher & Gilbert Gee, 2015. "Racism as a Determinant of Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-48, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Samta P. Pandya, 2023. "High-Skilled South Asian Immigrants to the USA: Integration Through Spiritual Training Lessons and Story Writing Workshops," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 313-347, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yuqi Wang & Laurent Reyes & Emily A. Greenfield & Sarah R. Allred, 2022. "Municipal Ethnic Composition and Disparities in COVID-19 Infections in New Jersey: A Blinder–Oaxaca Decomposition Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-25, October.
    2. Malat, Jennifer & Mayorga-Gallo, Sarah & Williams, David R., 2018. "The effects of whiteness on the health of whites in the USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 148-156.
    3. Caryn N. Bell & Jordan Kerr & Jessica L. Young, 2019. "Associations between Obesity, Obesogenic Environments, and Structural Racism Vary by County-Level Racial Composition," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Ricci B Harris & James Stanley & Donna M Cormack, 2018. "Racism and health in New Zealand: Prevalence over time and associations between recent experience of racism and health and wellbeing measures using national survey data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-22, May.
    5. Nazan Ulusoy & Anja Schablon, 2020. "Discrimination in In-Patient Geriatric Care: A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Employees with a Turkish Migration Background," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-14, March.
    6. Lubna Rashid & Silvia Cepeda-García, 2021. "Self-Categorising and Othering in Migrant Integration: The Case of Entrepreneurs in Berlin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-14, February.
    7. Fabienne Jaeger & Mazeda Hossain & Ligia Kiss & Cathy Zimmerman, 2012. "The health of migrant children in Switzerland," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 57(4), pages 659-671, August.
    8. Uršula Lipovec Čebron, 2021. "Language as a Trigger for Racism: Language Barriers at Healthcare Institutions in Slovenia," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, March.
    9. D'Costa, Ieta & Truong, Mandy & Russell, Lynette & Adams, Karen, 2023. "Employee perceptions of race and racism in an Australian hospital," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 339(C).
    10. Bastos, João L. & Harnois, Catherine E. & Paradies, Yin C., 2018. "Health care barriers, racism, and intersectionality in Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 209-218.
    11. Jill Furzer & Boriana Miloucheva, 2020. "The Long Arm of the Clean Air Act: Pollution Abatement and COVID-19 Racial Disparities," Working Papers tecipa-668, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    12. Chen, Shanting & Mallory, Allen B., 2021. "The effect of racial discrimination on mental and physical health: A propensity score weighting approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    13. Rachel Hennein & Jessica Bonumwezi & Max Jordan Nguemeni Tiako & Petty Tineo & Sarah R. Lowe, 2021. "Racial and Gender Discrimination Predict Mental Health Outcomes among Healthcare Workers Beyond Pandemic-Related Stressors: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-14, September.
    14. Ana Isabel Maldonado & Carol B. Cunradi & Anna María Nápoles, 2020. "Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration in Latino Men: The Mediating Effects of Mental Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-17, November.
    15. Susan B. Sisson & Adrien Malek-Lasater & Timothy G. Ford & Diane Horm & Kyong-Ah Kwon, 2023. "Predictors of Overweight and Obesity in Early Care and Education Teachers during COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-16, February.
    16. Katrina D Hopkins & Carrington C J Shepherd & Catherine L Taylor & Stephen R Zubrick, 2015. "Relationships between Psychosocial Resilience and Physical Health Status of Western Australian Urban Aboriginal Youth," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-16, December.
    17. Gilbert, Paul A. & Zemore, Sarah E., 2016. "Discrimination and drinking: A systematic review of the evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 178-194.
    18. Scholaske, Laura & Brose, Annette & Spallek, Jacob & Entringer, Sonja, 2019. "Perceived discrimination and risk of preterm birth among Turkish immigrant women in Germany," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 1-1.
    19. Neighbors, Harold W. & Mattingly, Delvon T. & Johnson, Janay & Morse, Kayla, 2023. "The contribution of research to racial health equity? Blame and responsibility in navigating the status quo of anti-black systemic racism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    20. S. Michelle Ogunwole & Habibat A. Oguntade & Kelly M. Bower & Lisa A. Cooper & Wendy L. Bennett, 2023. "Health Experiences of African American Mothers, Wellness in the Postpartum Period and Beyond (HEAL): A Qualitative Study Applying a Critical Race Feminist Theoretical Framework," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(13), pages 1-29, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:66:y:2020:i:6:p:584-592. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.