Asian American Families Research Articles

Factor Structure and Predictive Validity of Questionnaire Reports on Family Problem Solving

This study examined mother, father, and youth (mean age 14) questionnaire reports on family problem solving in 55 Asian American and Pacific Island American families. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test whether the ratings could be best represented in terms of behaviors, perceptions, relationships, or a family problemsolving style. The predictive validity of the family problem-solving ratings was evaluated with tests for associations with youth delinquency and selfesteem. Perceptions linked to the respondent's family role best accounted for the pattern of ratings. Predictive validity depended on family role. Mothers' perceptions of family problem solving predicted youth delinquency, and the youths' perceptions predicted self-esteem. Key Words: family assessment, minority families, parent-child relations, problem solving, structural equation models. Research and theory in several disciplines have maintained that families have distinctive strategies or styles for solving problems (Haley, 1976; Klein & Hill, 1979; Reiss, 1981; Straus, 1968). Work in this area has grown, in part, because family problem solving has been linked to important outcomes for family members, including psychological adjustment, school achievement, delinquency, social competence, and psychopathology (Coughlin & Vuchinich, 1996; Forgatch, 1989; Grotevant & Cooper, 1986; Hauser et al., 1984; Lamborn, Dornbusch, & Steinberg, 1996). Such evidence has been the basis for prevention and intervention components, that seek to improve outcomes by influencing family problem solving (Forgatch & Patterson, 1989; Haley, 1976; Hibbs & Jensen, 1996; Kazdin, Siegel, & Bass, 1992; Robin & Foster, 1989; Spoth, Redmond, Haggerty, & Ward, 1995). As the research and applications have expanded, however, variations in and controversies about the measurement of family problem solving have emerged (Keiran, Maguire, & Hurlbut, 1996; Lamborn et al., 1996; Rueter & Conger, 1995a; Tallman, 1988; Vuchinich, Angelelli, & Gatherum, 1996). Such measurement controversies limit the extent to which research on this family concept can accumulate and provide guidance for better applications. The goal of this article is to clarify key measurement issues by briefly reviewing how family problem solving has been conceptualized and measured, and by examining the factor structure and predictive validity of questionnaire reports by family members on dyadic family problem solving. MEASURING FAMILY PROBLEM SOLVING Like other family-level constructs, such as cohesion, adaptability (Olson, 1986), family environment (Moos & Moos, 1976), or family decisionmaking (Lamborn et al., 1996), family problem solving usually refers to a characteristic of a family that is distinct from the characteristics of any of the individuals or any dyadic relationship within the family (Sabatelli & Bartle, 1995). Over the years, there has been growing consensus that this family-level characteristic refers to the ability of the family as a group to openly address difficulties within the family or problems imposed from outside the family, to consider alternative ways of adapting to the situation, and to settle on a reasonable approach to the issue at hand. The concept of families having a distinct problem-solving strategy or style is consistent with several different theoretical approaches to family life (Haley, 1976; Reiss, 1981; Robin & Foster,1989). For example, a family's problem-solving strategy may be based on behavioral learning (Forgatch & Patterson, 1989), a shared worldview (Reiss, 1981), or intrafamily structural alignments (Haley,1976). Research on most family-level constructs (e.g., cohesion, adaptability, family environment) has used responses to forced-choice questionnaires from one, and occasionally from more than one, family member to assess family characteristics (e.g., Sabatelli & Bartle, 1995). …

Intergenerational Relationships among Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Americans

Previous studies that have focused on Asian American intergenerational relationships used the cultural concept of filial obligation to explain an adult child's commitment to his/her elderly parents. Using data gathered from 628 Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Americans and their elderly parents, this study found that such financial and structural factors as an adult child's income and his/her parent's need for assistance significantly influenced the frequency of an adult child's support for his/her parents. The effects of filial obligation on an adult child's provision of support for his/her parents change depending on several of these financial and structural factors. The magnitude of these relationships varies, however, among three groups of Asian Americans. It is therefore necessary to examine interaction effects of cultural, financial, and structural factors on Asian American intergenerational relationships as well as the diversity of these relationships within the Asian American population. The Asian American population grew by 141% between the censuses of 1970 and 1980 while the total U.S. population increased by only 11%. The corresponding growth for the 1980-90 decade was 10% for the general population and 99% for Asian Americans. Demographers project that the Asian American population will rise to almost 10 million in the next decade and to almost 20 million by the year 2030 (Barringer, Gardner, & Levin, 1993). Despite this dramatic population growth, we know little about Asian American families and their intergenerational relationships, in particular. Studies that examined Asian American families focused primarily on how these families contributed to the educational and occupational success of their children (e.g., Nee & Wong, 1985; Yao, 1985). Researchers often attribute Asian Americans' relative success to emphasis on education, a strong parent-child bond, and Asian cultural values. Other studies found that Asian Americans seldom take advantage of counseling and mental health services (e.g., Gim, Atkinson, & Kim, 1991) which may be interpreted as Asian Americans are capable of caring for their family members without any outside assistance. These findings not only support the model minority myth placed on Asian Americans (see Suzuki, 1977 for the critique) but also gives rise to another myth: Asian Americans have ideal families. Included in the ideal family myth is that Asian Americans have great respect for their elderly family members. It has long been assumed that Asian American adult children feel more obligated to their parents, provide more financial aid to their parents, and interact more frequently with their parents than White adult children do (e.g., Osako, 1976). Research has also found a prevalence of intergenerational coresidence among Asian Americans. Using 1980 Census data, Kamo and Zhou (1994) found that coresidence between Chinese American and Japanese American elderly parents and their married adult children is higher than that of their White counterparts. They concluded that Asian American intergenerational coresidence is strongly influenced by the traditional value of filial responsibility. Therefore, elderly Asian Americans are often considered integrated into their supportive kin network. This rosy picture, however, may not always hold. Osako and Liu (1986), for example, found that Japanese American elderly parents who resided with their children were not necessarily less lonely than those who maintained an independent residence. Moreover, there is tremendous diversity in intergenerational relationships among Asian Americans due to generational differences and immigration experiences. Therefore, it may be too simplistic to characterize Asian American intergenerational relationships by the concept of filial obligation. It may also be premature to conclude that Asian American elderly need little outside support because of their children's strong sense of filial obligation. …

School Consultation with Asian American Children and Families

A significant number of California public school students are of Asian decent. School consultation is an effective service model for school psychologists to assist the growing number of Asian-American students who require services, yet little information is available in relation to school consultation with Asian-American children and families. This article describes some traditional Asian-American cultural characteristics as these interact with existing consultation skills as well as modifications to school consultation approaches which are culturally appropriate for Asian-American children and families in the school setting.

The power of place: urban landscapes as public history

Winner, 1995, category of Archeology and Anthropology, Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc.Based on her extensive experience in the urban communities of Los Angeles, historian and architect Dolores Hayden proposes new perspectives on gender, race, and ethnicity to broaden the practice of public history and public art, enlarge urban preservation, and reorient the writing of urban history to spatial struggles.In the first part of Power of Hayden outlines the elements of a social history of urban space to connect people's lives and livelihoods to the urban landscape as it changes over time. She then explores how communities and professionals can tap the power of historic urban landscapes to nurture public memory.The second part documents a decade of research and practice by The Power of Place, a nonprofit organization Hayden founded in downtown Los Angeles. Through public meetings, walking tours, artists's books, and permanent public sculpture, as well as architectural preservation, teams of historians, designers, planners, and artists worked together to understand, preserve, and commemorate urban landscape history as African American, Latina, and Asian American families have experienced it.One project celebrates the urban homestead of Biddy Mason, an African American ex-slave and midwife active betwen 1856 and 1891. Another reinterprets the Embassy Theater where Rose Pesotta, Luisa Moreno, and Josefina Fierro de Bright organized Latina dressmakers and cannery workers in the 1930s and 1940s. A third chapter tells the story of a historic district where Japanese American family businesses flourished from the 1890s to the 1940s. Each project deals with bitter memories--slavery, repatriation, internment--but shows how citizens survived and persevered to build an urban life for themselves, their families, and their communities.Drawing on many similar efforts around the United States, from New York to Charleston, Seattle to Cincinnati, Hayden finds a broad new movement across urban preservation, public history, and public art to accept American diversity at the heart of the vernacular urban landscape. She provides dozens of models for creative urban history projects in cities and towns across the country.

DIVORCE MEDIATION AMONG ASIAN AMERICANS

This article explores the Asian American use of mediation and the effects of increasing divorce rates on the Asian American family. It examines mediation across cultural settings and documents the need for mediators to be versed in understanding persons from many different cultures.

Kindred Spirits: The Contemporary Asian American Family on Television

Kindred Spirits: The Contemporary Asian American Family on Television

The Caregiving Roles of Asian American Women

Asian Americans are the fastest growing subgroup of elderly in the United States. When Alzheimer's D~sease strikes Asian American families, women are usually the caregivers. In depth interviews with Asian American caregivers and professionals reveal common themes of family centrality, balance of multiple obligations, and norms of reciprocity and competence.

Racial and Cultural Variations among American Families: A Decennial Review of the Literature on Minority Families

This article is a review and assessment of the past decade's literature on AsianAmerican, black, Chicano, and Native American families. The authors report that, prior to 1970, minority families were subject to negative stereotypes which were not empirically supported. In the case of blacks and Chicanos, the family literature of the 1970s represented an improvement because it depicted the positive aspects of their family life. Theory and research on Asian and Native American families remained too limited to make any generalizations about their family lifestyles. The insider-outsider perspective continued to be a source of controversy in the study of minority families.