An assessment of intergenerational conflict and adjustment in Indian American college students and an empirical evaluation of self-construal theory.

摘要

The present study was motivated by the limited inclusion of Indian Americans in the current mental health literature. While our knowledge of Asian Americans has significantly increased in the last decade, findings cannot be extended to Indian Americans because they were rarely included in study samples. This study is an effort to begin to address a number of existing gaps in the literature for second generation Indian Americans and included two comparison groups, both Caucasian and Asian Americans. The sample included 66 Indian Americans, 58 Asian Americans (Chinese, Korean, and Taiwanese Americans), and 56 Caucasian American college students from medium-large sized universities in a large southeastern city in the United States.; This was the first study to systematically evaluate the psychological adjustment of second generation Indian Americans. It was found that Indian American students endorsed similar levels of depressive, anxiety, and somatic symptomatology when compared to Caucasian and Asian Americans. In addition, the research project evaluated the prevalence, severity, and specific domains (i.e., dating and marriage, education and career, and family expectations) of intergenerational conflict. The study found that Indian Americans students do in fact experience conflict with parents and a trend was found with Indian Americans endorsing significantly greater overall family conflict as compared to Caucasian American students, but not their Asian American counterparts. Group differences in conflict were found between Indian Americans and the other two groups when specific domains of conflict were evaluated, and qualitative differences between groups were apparent as well. Furthermore, the relation between family conflict and indices of adjustment was assessed. It was found that for Indian American students family conflict is associated with depressive, anxiety, and somatic symptomatology. Finally, Markus and Kityama's model (1991) of self-construal was evaluated. While this model is often used in the literature to explain ethnic group differences, the model was not supported when quantitatively evaluated.; Findings from this project may be useful for therapists working with Indian American college students. Clinical implications of findings, as well as future directions for this research area will be discussed.