Ethnic Differences in the Effect of Acculturation, Self-Esteem and Perceived Discrimination on Depressive Symptoms for Cuban and Vietnamese Youth

Background and Purpose: Vietnamese (1.8 million) are the fourth largest ethnic group of Asians, and Cubans (2.0 million) are the third largest ethnic group of Hispanics, and both are part of the fastest growing race groups in the US. Vietnamese and Cuban American youth differ from one another in language and culture, but are similar in that most have parents or grandparents who arrived as refugees.

This study examined the differences in the effect of social determinants on depressive symptoms for a population sample of Vietnamese and Cuban youth. Because of the intergenerational impact of refugee experiences on youth outcomes, it is hypothesized that factors such as acculturation, self-esteem, family attitudes and perceived discrimination will have statistically significant yet different effects on depressive symptoms among Vietnamese and Cuban youths.

Methods: This study used the 1995 Wave 2 data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS), which included children born in the US with at least one foreign-born parent or born abroad but brought to the US at an early age. Multivariate regression analyses were conducted separately for Vietnamese (n=149) and Cuban (n=578) youths to examine differences in the impact of acculturation, self-esteem, family attitudes and perceived discrimination on depressive symptoms. Variables included gender, household income, years in the US, English ability, perceived discrimination, family attitudes, and speaking another language at home.

Results: Analysis revealed that English ability and speaking another language at home had no effect on depressive symptoms for either sample. Cuban youth who lived in the US for five to nine years, compared to those born in the US, had less depressive symptoms (β=-.08, p<.05). This protective effect became non-significant for Cuban youth who are in the US for 10 years or more. Higher self-esteem was associated with lower depressive symptoms for Cuban youth (β= -.18, p<.001), but not for Vietnamese youth. Higher perceived discrimination was associated with higher depressive symptoms for Vietnamese youth (β=.27, p<.01), but not Cuban youth. Family cohesion was associated with lower depressive symptoms for both Vietnamese (β=-.18, p<.05) and Cuban (β=-.16, p<.001) samples. Female gender was associated with higher depression for Cuban youth (β = .09, p<.001), but not for Vietnamese.

Conclusions and Implications: Results revealed that self-esteem buffered against depressive symptoms for Cuban but not Vietnamese youth. Perceived discrimination emerged as the strongest predictor of depressive symptoms for Vietnamese youth, but had no effect for the Cuban sample. Cubans were largely welcomed into the US, while Vietnamese were not as well-received, due to the unpopularity of the Vietnam War. Future research should examine how societal attitudes towards race, culture and nationality can impact behavioral health outcomes for youth from refugee families. Social work educators and practitioners must be sensitive to differences in how youth from refugee backgrounds are discriminated based on their national and cultural identity, likely nuanced by the socio-political circumstances of their migration. Behavioral health interventions must be framed with this larger social, global context in mind, in order to better address the needs of these vulnerable youth populations.