Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

Purpose: Vietnamese comprise the fourth largest Asian ethnic group in the United States. In spite of their significant volume, the mental health literature on this group is extremely sparse. This study focuses on Vietnamese American adolescents and assesses the contribution of multi-dimensions of self construal that have recently been demonstrated to influence the mental health of adolescents. Self-construal refers to how individuals perceive themselves in the context of relationships with others. People with independent self construal emphasize autonomy and assertiveness. By contrast, people with interdependent self construal perceive themselves as more integrated into a situational context and attempt to fit in. In mental health literature, self construal is widely considered as dichotomy. Given the increased diversity of the U.S. population, the two aspects of self construal may co-exist. The main purposes of this study are: (1) to examine the number and types of self construal based on the two dimensions, interdependent and independent self construal, using cluster analysis, and (2) to explore the predicted differences among different types of self construal in mental health outcomes and in the family, peer, community relationships, attitudes toward substance abuse in this population.

Method: Participants were 152 Vietnamese students in grades 8 -12, recruited from a high school in California (mean age 16 years, 56% female). Study variables were interdependent self (M=4.71, SD=1.04, alpha=.76; range 1-7) and independent self (4.30, SD=.91, alpha=.79; range 1-7); Anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety) (M=2.0, SD=.37, alpha=.82; range 1-4); Self-esteem (RSE) (M=1.85, SD=.35, alpha=.74; range 1-4); Depression (CES-D) (M=2.50, SD=2.50; alpha=.87; range 1-4); Family cohesion (FACES) (M=3.20, SD=.71, alpha=.88; rang 1-5); peer support (SSQ) (M=4.9, SD=.93; alpha= .88; range 1-6); pro-substance attitudes were assessed by several items such as “kids that mess around with drugs or alcohol s seem to be better off emotionally” (M=1.51, SD=.52, range 1-4); Sense of community was assessed by the extent to which participants indicated they feel they were an important part of this community (M=2.00, SD=.48, range 1-4)

Results: Interdependent and independent self construal scores were entered into the hierarchical cluster analysis using Ward's method to combine groups. Examination of the dendogram and the error sum of square suggested that 4 cluster solutions would best fit the data, with one group high in both interdependent and independent self (bicultural-31.6%[n=48]), low in both interdependent and independent self (marginals-5.3% [n=8]), high in interdependent and lower in independent (interdependent-33.6%[n=51]); high in independent and lower in interdependent (independent -29.6%[n=45]). The bicultural adolescents reported greater perceived adjustment across all measures except anxiety when compared to other groups: Self-esteem: CE (contrast estimate)=-.92 (SE=.21), p<.01; Depression: CE= -.93, SE=.30),p<.002; Cohesion: CE=1.14 (SE=.32), p=.001; sense of community: CE=1.04 (SE=.33, p<.05; prosubstance attitude: CE=-.61; SE=.25,p<.01.

Implications: The study suggests that an adolescent's self orientation is important to a sense of well being, and that lack of identity with different types of self construal may jeopardize emotional stability. These findings suggest the need for community based programs to increase the awareness of the potential influence of self construal on group identity and adolescents' emotional wellbeing.