Associated Factors with Depressive Symptoms and Substance Use Among Korean American Adolescents

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation study was to examine the relationships among perceived parental warmth, intergenerational family conflict, and racial discrimination distress, and how they are associated with depressive symptoms and substance use in Korean American adolescents. The specific aims were to (a) test the hypothesized model predicting the effects of perceived parental warmth on depressive symptoms among Korean American adolescents, as mediated by intergenerational family conflict; (b) examine relationships between racial discrimination distress and substance use among Korean American adolescents, potentially moderated by perceived parental warmth; and (c) explore Korean American adolescents' perception of parental warmth with the use of open-ended questions. Using convenience and networking sampling methods, 101 Korean American adolescents, ages 14 to 18, were recruited from the Pacific Northwest area. Measurement scales included the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD)-10, the Child Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (CPARQ), the Adolescent Discrimination Distress Index (ADDI), and the Asian American Family Conflicts Scale (AAFCS). A substance use index created by the researcher was also used. Open-ended questions were constructed to assess how Korean American adolescents perceive acceptance and rejection from their parents. The first paper examines the mediating effects of intergenerational family conflict between perceived parental warmth and depressive symptoms. It reveals that mother-adolescent conflict was significantly mediating between perceived maternal warmth and depressive symptoms among Korean American adolescents in the study. The second paper describes how Korean American adolescents perceive racial discrimination distress and their patterns of substance use, followed by an examination of the moderating effect of perceived parental warmth between two variables. The outcome demonstrated an association between perceived racial discrimination distress and substance use, but perceived parental warmth did not moderate between two variables. The third paper uses content analysis to present the main themes of when and how the adolescents felt loved or not loved by their parents. It also examines the similarities and differences between the answers of open-ended data and survey data. The results showed that the Korean American adolescents perceived parental acceptance through verbal affirmation, acts of service and/or sacrifice, time spent together, physical contact, gift-giving, and parental prayer. Parental rejection was perceived when participants experienced verbal hostility, neglect, uncaring behavior, physical punishment, and argument engagement. These findings suggest that health care professionals and counselors should screen for depressive symptoms and substance use in Korean American adolescents. This dissertation study will contribute to developing culturally and developmentally appropriate interventions for Korean American adolescents and their parents.