Leong Frederick T., Johnson Mark C.
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 1885 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Asian Am Pac Isl J Health. 1994 Winter;2(1):31-48.
The goal of the present article is to provide information useful to clinical caseworkers and mental health professionals on the nature and correlates of psychological distress as well as highrisk factors related to the adaptation of mothers of Vietnamese Amerasians (MVAs) in the United States. METHODOLOGY: By using a series of psychological distress instruments, the psychological distress levels of MVAs were compared to that of Amerasian adolescents. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The data enabled us to identify possible highrisk factors related to the adaptation and adjustment of MVAs in the United States. The MVAs as a group were experienceing about equal levels of distress as the Amerasian adolescents. However, differences began to emerge when we used the clinical cutoff method and found that there were differences between the two groups in two of the measures. The MVAs had a significantly higher proportion who were in the clinical range as compared to the Amerasian adolescent group. The conditions that were found to put the MVAs at higher risk for psychological distress include: Feeling distant from Amerasian child, feeling close to Vietnamese child, having no relatives in the United States, higher number of years of schooling, lower income, higher number of times with serious illness, missing work due to serious illness, higher number of months at the resettlement camp, greater amount of knowledge about American husband, not being officially married to American husband, and lack of support from American husband. CONCLUSIONS: The psychological instruments used in this study were not refined enough to be used for diagnosis of specific psychological disorders. Differences between Amerasian adolescents and MVAs pointed out the importance of examining both the groups' level of distress and the propotions in each grouop who were experiencing clinical levels of distress. The high risk factors identified in the current study may be used to examine potential sources of psychological distress for MVAs. RELEVANCE TO ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER POPULATIONS: This article is particularly relevant to Vietnamese and Amerasian. KEY WORDS: Psychological distress, high risk factors, MVAs, Ameriasian adolescents.
本文旨在为临床工作者和心理健康专业人士提供有用信息，内容涉及心理困扰的本质及相关因素，以及与在美国的越南美亚混血儿母亲（MVAs）适应情况相关的高危因素。方法：通过使用一系列心理困扰测量工具，将MVAs的心理困扰水平与美亚混血青少年的进行比较。主要发现：数据使我们能够确定与MVAs在美国的适应和调整相关的可能高危因素。作为一个群体，MVAs所经历的困扰程度与美亚混血青少年大致相同。然而，当我们采用临床临界值方法时，差异开始显现，发现在两项测量中两组之间存在差异。与美亚混血青少年组相比，处于临床范围的MVAs比例显著更高。被发现使MVAs面临更高心理困扰风险的情况包括：与美亚混血子女关系疏远、与越南子女关系亲密、在美国没有亲属、受教育年限较长、收入较低、患重病次数较多、因重病缺勤、在难民营停留时间较长、对美国丈夫了解较多、未与美国丈夫正式结婚以及缺乏美国丈夫的支持。结论：本研究中使用的心理测量工具不够精细，不足以用于诊断特定的心理障碍。美亚混血青少年与MVAs之间的差异指出了检查两组困扰水平以及每组中处于临床困扰水平的比例的重要性。当前研究中确定的高危因素可用于检查MVAs心理困扰的潜在来源。与亚裔美国人和太平洋岛民群体的相关性：本文与越南人和美亚混血儿特别相关。关键词：心理困扰；高危因素；MVAs；美亚混血青少年
