Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, Population Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
J Adolesc. 2023 Aug;95(6):1258-1273. doi: 10.1002/jad.12200. Epub 2023 Jun 6.
The "model minority" stereotype disguises heterogeneity among Asian American youth, many of whom are harmed by policies and attitudes that assume this population to be uniformly high achieving and "problem free." The current study uses an intersectional lens to disaggregate this population by ethnicity and sexual orientation subgroups to demonstrate differences in academic performance and substance use behavior among Asian American youth. This study also investigates the extent to which racial/ethnicity and sexual orientation-based bullying may explain such links.
Participants included 65,091 Asian American youth (46.41% Southeast Asian; 37.01% East Asian; 16.58% South Asian) in grades 6-12, who were part of the California Healthy Kids Survey (2015-2017). Participants were 49.4% female and about a third each were in grades 6-8, grades 9-10, and grades 11-12. School-based surveys were administered. Youth reported on substance use, grades, and bias-based bullying experiences in the past 12 months.
Generalized linear mixed-effects model results showed that outcomes varied widely across youth ethnicity and sexual orientation subgroups. Inclusion of racial/ethnic and sexual orientation bullying in these models attenuated the direct effects between ethnic and sexual identities and academic performance and substance use outcomes.
Implications of this work suggest that research and policy should not treat Asian American students as uniformly high-performing and low-risk, because the experiences of those who deviate from these assumptions will be left undetected. Interventions targeting bias-based bullying may be able to reduce disparities in academic and substance use outcomes among Asian American youth.
“模范少数族裔”的刻板印象掩盖了亚裔美国青年之间的异质性，他们中的许多人因政策和态度而受到伤害，这些政策和态度假设这一群体的成就始终很高，且“不存在问题”。本研究采用交叉视角，通过族裔和性取向亚组对这一人群进行细分，以展示亚裔美国青年在学业成绩和物质使用行为方面的差异。本研究还探讨了基于种族/族裔和性取向的欺凌行为在多大程度上可以解释这些关联。
参与者包括加利福尼亚健康儿童调查（2015-2017 年）中 6-12 年级的 65091 名亚裔美国青年（46.41%为东南亚裔；37.01%为东亚裔；16.58%为南亚裔）。参与者中 49.4%为女性，约三分之一的参与者分别处于 6-8 年级、9-10 年级和 11-12 年级。采用基于学校的调查方式。青年报告了过去 12 个月的物质使用、成绩和基于偏见的欺凌经历。
广义线性混合效应模型的结果表明，不同族裔和性取向的青年亚组之间的结果差异很大。在这些模型中纳入种族/族裔和性取向欺凌行为，减弱了族裔和性认同与学业成绩和物质使用结果之间的直接关系。
这项工作的意义表明，研究和政策不应将亚裔美国学生视为统一的高成就和低风险群体，因为那些偏离这些假设的人的经历将无法被发现。针对基于偏见的欺凌行为的干预措施可能能够减少亚裔美国青年在学业和物质使用方面的差距。
