Advancing AANHPI Youth Mental Health
Mental health in an understudied population
Have you heard about the rise of youth mental health issues across America more frequently on the news recently? Is this a worrying trend to be seeing and is there anything that can be done to address it? Youth poor mental health diagnoses are on the rise across America. This rise in prevalence disproportionately impacts specific communities, like Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) youth. The main reasons this disproportionate impact occurs include a lack of research on the topic and a lack of culturally competent care available. So what can we do to help these communities?
IPHS has partnered with Vibrant Emotional Health to conduct a state of the art study on AANHPI youth mental health and the consequences of not taking action on this prevalent issue. Through conducting a literature review as well as holding semi structured interviews, this study aims to analyze how we can help AANHPI youth in their quest for better mental health. The study also aims to shed light on this under researched topic in the hopes of increasing awareness and research in the future.
Read the full report here
References and tables
How much do you know about Asian Health?
- AANHPI Population: represent 7% of the U.S. population.
- Diversity: AANHPI represents a highly diverse subgroups with a range in cultural heritage, language, traditions, and immigration patterns. This makes it challenging to properly study all the unique ethnic groups.
- Youth: AANHPI youth have one of the highest rates of mental illness but the lowest rate of seeking out healthcare as well as help seeking behaviors.
- Suicide: Is the leading cause of death for AANHPI youth ages 10-24 and they are the only racial/ethnic group within this age group with this being the case.
- Treatment: Only 25% of Asian adults with a mental illness receive treatment.
Purpose of Study
This study goes into depth regarding AANHPI mental health and thus the methods are very comprehensive in terms of making sure a full picture viewpoint is achieved. IPHS and Vibrant want to make sure that this study can spur future action.
These aims are achieved through conducting a literature review and finding the gaps that exist within the current research by conducting interviews with key stakeholders.
Research Methods
The study uses two main methods to achieve its goals:
- Systematic Literature Review:
- Uses key search terms within relevant journals related to: AANHPI health, mental health, appropriate age groups, and specific AANHPI groups.
- Selected studies to use based on the following: empirical studies, mental health as a variable, AANHPI youth being the target population, published in a peer-reviewed journals in English.
- Stakeholder Semi-Structured Interviews:
- Conducted interviews with twenty organizations who worked with diverse populations.
- Transcribed and analyzed the interviews looking for themes that provided depth to the report.
Key Findings
What are the existing gaps in research – and what can be done in the future to help address the gaps that exist? Our study found some of the existing findings and gaps below:
General Findings:
- Prevalence of The Issue:
- Mental health issues among AANHPI youth vary by race
- Risky And Protective Factors:
- Individual Level: Cultural identity, race, and discrimination
- Family level: Parental SES, intergenerational solidarity, family functioning, conflict and control
- Community Level: Social and physical environment
- School Level: Supportive school environment, school as well as peer stress, and teacher support
- Intervention Gaps That Exist:
- Inadequate historical as well as current interventions that have limited effects at the individual level.
- Consequences And Risky Health Behaviors:
- Youth mental illness leads to increased risky health behaviors
Interview Findings
- Stakeholders Found:
- High levels of: Anxiety, stress, and depression.
- Cultural differences of AANHPI youth: Lead to bullying, targeting, and discrimination which exacerbate already prevalent mental health issues.
- High parental stigma: About mental health and a level of difficulty discussing mental health with parents.
- Cultural Significance: There is a different cultural significance of mental illness across generations as well as immigrant communities, which hinders healthy coping mechanisms.
- Access to Care: Limited amounts of care availability, long waitlists, and an overall need for more culturally competent care.
- No Support: Lack of support systems within communities.
- Systems-level barriers: long wait times at clinics, high costs of care, and limited insurance coverage.
“In Asian American community, our cultures tend to be very paternalistic. So I think there’s also the kind of machismo as well but particularly for men that you need to be strong. You’re head of the family.”
“You get a high school kid that you know theparents want them to be a doctor or an engineer, and what they really love is art and theater, you know, and like these are not and that can be hard on a kid like that pressure being successful is slowly killing me.”
Recommendations
What do IPHS recommend the next steps to be in this field? And how can the greater community help to achieve the desired health outcomes in mental health?
- Increase Research:
- Conduct more studies on AANHPI youth mental health to build a comprehensive database.
- Address the current lack of quality research to better evaluate intervention effectiveness.
- Expand Culturally Appropriate Care:
- Develop care that aligns with the cultural norms of the AANHPI community.
- Fill gaps in education and encourage leaders to address these issues.
- Policy Investment:
- Invest at the state as well as local levels to identify and fill gaps in support.
- Increase resources, research and people dedicated to AANHPI mental health.
- Overall Future Goals:
- Ensure AANHPI youth and communities receive the necessary support to thrive and be the best versions of themselves.
“There does need to be a greater depth of understanding about how policies and how schools are handling […] events that might be experienced differently by different communities.”
“A lot of times, you know, Asian-American, particularly parents, they don’t know how therapy works […] They don’t know why it would be helpful to talk to a stranger.”
