Cumulative Neighborhood Risk and Subsequent Internalizing Behavior among Asian American Adolescents

• In Event: Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Topic - Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

The prevalence of mental health problems in Asian American adolescents is a growing concern (Huang, Calzada, Cheng, & Brotman, 2012), given that Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing ethnic minority groups and the second largest foreign-born group in the U.S. (Colby & Ortman, 2015). Neighborhood may represent a key understudied developmental context shaping psychological adjustment in Asian American youth. Specifically, it is unknown in what functional ways neighborhood disadvantage influences internalizing problems (Tam & Freisthler, 2015). Relatedly, it is unknown whether co-ethnic density, often regarded as a protective factor in other ethnic minority groups (Lee & Martinez, 2009), also functions as an agent fostering social support and ethnic identity, or as a risk factor linked to enculturation stress. Additionally, it is less known whether previous findings of gender moderation in other groups (Ludwig et al., 2013) may also apply to Asian American adolescents. The current study sought to test the hypotheses that, in Asian American adolescents, 1) cumulative exposure to neighborhood risk is associated with subsequent internalizing behavior; and 2) this relationship varies by gender and co-ethnic density.

Data came from a sub-sample of the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) with a sample (N = 177; 45.2% female) of Asian American adolescents. To capture cumulative neighborhood risk, scores were created at each wave by dichotomizing 8 census-tract characteristics (e.g., rates of poverty, public assistance utilization, etc.) for risk at the mean level, summing these categorical risk indicators, and then creating an average risk score across 5th, 6th, 7th, and 9th grades. Internalizing behaviors were measured with an adapted version of Child Behavior Checklist in 10th grade. The average proportion of Asian Americans in the neighborhood during 5th, 6th, 7th, and 9th grades was the measure of co-ethnic density. Covariates included family SES and gender, and multiple regression was the main modeling strategy.

Cumulative neighborhood risk (M = 4.17, SD = 2.37) was significantly associated (b = .03, p = .006) with 10th grade internalizing behavior (M = .78, SD = .31), controlling for gender (p = .122), family SES (p = .620), and immigrant generation status (p = .991).There were no significant interactions between cumulative neighborhood risk and gender (p = .797) or co-ethnic density (p = .667), and thus no evidence of moderation.

Our study findings suggest that cumulative exposure to disadvantaged neighborhoods during a critical developmental period in early adolescence may contribute to subsequent internalizing behavior among Asian American youth, accounting for the role of family SES. Co-ethnic density was not found to mitigate nor exacerbate the effect of neighborhood disadvantage, which may suggest the need for further research on different moderating processes for Asian American adolescents. Gender differences in the above relationship were also not found and thus may prompt caution in extending patterns found in other racial/ethnic groups. Our study findings provide implications for developing policy and practice strategies that target neighborhood processes during a critical developmental period in addressing Asian American adolescents’ internalizing behavior and exploring other culturally protective mechanisms and interventions.

Authors

• Woo Jung Lee, University of Southern California
  Presenting Author

• Daniel A Hackman, University of Southern California
  Non-Presenting Author

• Katarina Guttmannova, University Of Washington
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rick Kosterman, University of Washington
  Non-Presenting Author

• J. David Hawkins, University of Washington
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jungeun Olivia Lee, University of Southern California
  Non-Presenting Author