Loss of face, intergenerational family conflict, and depression among Asian American and European American college students.

Asian-American college students have reported higher scores of depression than European-American college students. This study examined the mediating effects of loss of face and intergenerational family conflict between race/ethnicity and depression and hypothesized that these variables would explain previously observed depression differences. The sample consisted of 488 undergraduate students: 209 self-identified as Asian American and 279 as European American. Participants filled out paper-and-pencil questionnaires. As predicted, the study found that Asian Americans reported higher scores on depression, loss of face, and intergenerational family conflict than European Americans. Loss of face explained more variance in depression among Asian Americans than European Americans. However, intergenerational family conflict explained equal levels of variance in depression for both groups. A structural equation model revealed that the relationship between race/ethnicity and depression was fully mediated by loss of face and intergenerational family conflict. In conclusion, using the disentangling approach, differences in depression scores between Asian-American and European-American college students can be explained by differences in culturally relevant constructs, such as loss of face and intergenerational family conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)

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