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Culturally Specific Parent Mental Distress, Parent–Child Relations and Youth Depression among Korean American Families

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Abstract

The study examined the interrelationships between parental distress, family processes, and child depressive symptoms among Korean American families. Path analyses was used to examine the effects of parents’ culturally specific and somatic symptoms of mental distress on parent–child relationships and child mental health outcomes among a sample of Korean American youth (N = 220), mothers (N = 272), and fathers (N = 164). Independent analyses for fathers and mothers revealed that for Korean American fathers, both cultural symptoms and somatic symptoms were directly related to youth-reported dimensions of family process and indirectly with youth depression. For mothers, direct and indirect pathways between parental distress (i.e., culturally specific and somatic symptoms) and youth depression were non-significant. Our findings suggest that family interventions with Korean immigrant families should consider cultural and gender-specific factors in both parental mental health and family relationships.

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Author Contributions

M.Y.: designed and executed the study, assisted with the data analyses, and wrote the paper. T.Y.K. analyzed the data and wrote part of the results. Y.C.: assisted with the data analyses, collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health (#K01 MH069910).

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  1. University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration, Chicago, IL, USA

    Miwa Yasui & Yoosun Choi

  2. City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Tae Yeun Kim

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  1. Miwa Yasui
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Correspondence to Miwa Yasui.

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Yasui, M., Kim, T.Y. & Choi, Y. Culturally Specific Parent Mental Distress, Parent–Child Relations and Youth Depression among Korean American Families. J Child Fam Stud 27, 3371–3384 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1151-z

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