Abstract
Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health problems in young children but there has been a dearth of studies focusing on Asian American children. This study examines the patterns and the predictors of childhood anxiety and related symptoms in young children in a diverse Asian American (ASA) sample (n = 101). Findings indicate that ASA children are at higher risk for anxiety, somatization, and depressive problems than their peers. Parents’ level of acculturation (i.e., American identity, English competence), parental negative emotion socialization, conflicted parent–child relationship, child emotional knowledge and adaptive skills, as well as teachers’ ethnic background and school class types were all associated with ASA children’s anxiety. A combination of cultural, family, and school factors explained from 17 to 39 % of the variance in anxiety symptoms. Findings inform prevention services for young ASA children.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Costello EJ, Egger HL, Angold A (2005) The developmental epidemiology of anxiety disorders: phenomenology, prevalence, and comorbidity. Child Adol Psychiatric Clin North Am 14:631–648
McDonnell MA, Glod C (2004) Prevalence of psychopathology in preschool-age children. J Child Adol Psychiatric Nurs 16:141–152
Turner SM, Beidel DC, Borden JW, Stanley MA, Jacob RG (1991) Social phobia: axis I and II correlates. J Abnorm Psychol 100:102–106
Rapee RM, Sanderson WC, Barlow DH (1988) Social phobia features across the DSM-III-R anxiety disorders. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 10:287–299
Angold A, Costello EJ, Erkanli A (1999) Comorbidity. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 40:57–87
Spence SH, Rapee RM, McDonald C, Ingram M (2001) The structure of anxiety symptoms among preschoolers. Behav Res Therapy 39:1293–1316
Ialongo N, Edelsohn G, Werthamer-Larsson L, Crockett L et al (1995) The significance of self-reported anxious symptoms in first grade children: Prediction to anxious symptoms and adaptive functioning in fifth grade. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 36:427–437
Duchesne SP, Vitaro F, Larose S, Tremblay RE (2008) Trajectories of anxiety during elementary-school years and the prediction of high school noncompletion. J Youth Adolesc 37:1134–1146
Ialongo N, Edelsohn G, Werthamer-Larsson L, Crockett L et al (1994) The significance of self-reported anxious symptoms in first-grade children. J Abnorm Child Psychol 22:441–455
Langley AK, Bergman RL, McCracken J, Piacentini JC (2004) Impairment in childhood anxiety disorders: preliminary examination of the child anxiety impact scale-parent version. J Child Adol Psychopharmacol 14:105–114
Merikangas KR, Mehta RL, Molnar BE, Walters EE, Swendsen JD, Aguilar-Gaziola S et al (1998) Comorbidity of substance use disorders with mood and anxiety disorders: results of the International Consortium in Psychiatric Epidemiology. Addict Behav 23:893–907
Westenberg PM, Siebelink BM, Treffers PDA (2001) Psychosocial developmental theory in relation to anxiety and its disorders. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
US Census Bureau (2011) Asian/Pacific American heritage month. US Census Bureau
US Census Bureau (2008) An older and more diverse nation by Midcentury. US Census Bureau
Huang K-Y, Calzada E, Cheng S, Brotman LM (2012) Physical and mental health disparities among young children of Asian immigrants. J Pediatr 160:331–336
Gee CB (2004) Assessment of anxiety and depression in Asian American Youth. J Clin Child Adol Psychol 33:269–271
Weine AM, Phillips JS, Achenbach TM (1995) Behavioral and emotional problems among Chinese and American children: parent and teacher reports for ages 6 to 13. J Abnorm Child Psychol 23:619–639
Farver JM, Xu Y, Bhadha BR, Narang S, Lieber E (2007) Ethnic identity, acculturation, parenting beliefs, and adolescent adjustment: a comparison of Asian Indian and European American families. Merrill-Palmer Q 53:184–215
Beiser M, Hamilton H, Rummens JA, Oxman-Martinez J, Ogilvie L, Humphrey C et al (2010) Predictors of emotional problems and physical aggression among children of Hong Kong Chinese, Mainland Chinese and Filipino immigrants to Canada. Social Psychiatric Epidemiol 45:1011–1021
Han WJ, Huang CC (2010) The forgotten treasure: Bilingualism and Asian children’s emotional and behavioral health. Am J Public Health 100:831–838
Farver JAM, Narang SK, Bhadha BR (2002) East meets west: Ethnic identity, acculturation, and conflict in Asian Indian families. J Fam Psychol 16(3):338–350
Juang LP, Alvarez AA (2010) Discrimination and adjustment among Chinese American adolescents: family conflict and family cohesion as vulnerability and protective factors. Am J Public Health 100:2403–2409
Chao R, Tseng V (2002) Parenting of Asians. In: Bornstein MH (ed) Handbook of parenting: vol 4 social conditions and applied parenting, 2nd edn. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, pp 59–93
Shek DTL (2006) Perceived parental behavioral control and psychological control in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. Am J Family Ther 34:163–176
Lau S, Lew WJF, Hau K-T, Cheung PC, Berndt TJ (1990) Relations among perceived parental control, warmth, indulgence, and family harmony of Chinese in mainland China. Dev Psychol 26:674–677
Quach A (2008) Gender differences in parenting, adolescent functioning, and the relation between parenting and adolescent functioning in urban Mainland Chinese families. University of Maryland, College Park
Tao A, Zhou Q (2010) Parental reactions to childrens’ negative emotions: prospective relations to Chinese children’s psychological adjustment. J Family Psychol 24:135–144
Suveg C, Zeman J, Flannery-Schroeder E, Cassano M (2005) Emotion socialization in families of children with an anxiety disorder. J Abnorm Child Psychol 33:145–155
Feng X, Shaw DS, Silk JS (2008) Developmental trajectories of anxiety symptoms among boys across early and middle childhood. J Abnorm Psychol 117:32–47
Coombs CH, Coombs LC, McClelland GH (1975) Preference scales for number and sex of children. Popul Stud 29:273–298
Beidel DC, Turner SM, Hamlin K, Morris TL (2000) The social phobia and anxiety inventory for children (SPAI-C): external and discriminative validity. Behav Ther 31:75–87
Golda SG, Wendy KS (2000) Gender role orientation and fearfulness in children with anxiety disorders. J Anxiety Disord 14:57–67
Belsky J, Vandell DL, Burchinal M, Clarke-Stewart KA, McCartney K, Owen MT et al (2007) Are there long-term effects of early child care? Child Dev 78:681–701
Saft EW, Pianta RC (2001) Tachers’ perceptions of their relationships with students: effects of child age, gender, and ethnicity of teachers and children. School Psychol Q 16:125–141
Pianta RC, Nimetz SL (1991) Relationships between children and teachers: associations with classroom and home behavior. J Appl Dev Psychol 12:379–393
Bronfenbrenner U (1986) Ecology of the family as a context for human development: research perspectives. Dev Psychol 22:723–742
Brown JR, Dunn J (1996) Continuities in emotional understanding from 3 to 6 years. Child Dev 67:789–802
Gerlsma C, Emmelkamp PMG, Arrindell WA (1990) Anxiety, depression, and perception of early parenting: a meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev 10:251–277
McLeod BD, Wood JJ, Weisz JR (2007) Examining the association between parenting and childhood anxiety: A meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev 27:155–172
van der Bruggen CO, Stams GJ, Bögels SM (2008) Research review: the relation between child and parent anxiety and parental control: a meta-analytic review. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 49:1257–1269
Reynolds C, Kamphaus RW (2004) BASC-2 behavioral assessment system for children manual, 2nd edn. American Guidance Services, Inc., Circle Pines
Zea MC, Asner-Self KK, Birman D, Buki LP (2003) The abbreviated multidimensional acculturation scale: empirical validation with two Latino/Latina samples. Cult Div Ethnic Minor Psychol 9:107–126
Pianta RC (1992) Child-parent relationship scale. University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Fung H (1999) Becoming a moral child: the socialization of shame among young Chinese children. Ethos 27:180–209
Wang Q (2001) “Did you have fun?” American and Chinese mother-child conversations about shared emotional experiences. Cogn Dev 16:693–715
O’Neal CR, Magai C (2005) Do parents respond in different ways when children feel different emotions? The emotional context of parenting. Dev Psychopathol 17:467–487
Garner PW, Jones DC, Miner JL (1994) Social competence among low-income preschoolers: emotion socialization practices and social cognitive correlates. Child Dev 65:622–637
Li J-H, Lau W-y, Au T-f (2011) Psychometric properties of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale in a Hong Kong Chinese community sample. J Anxiety Disord 25:584–591
Gouley KK, Brotman LM, Huang K-Y, Shrout P (2007) Construct validation of the social competence scale in preschool-age children. Soc Dev 17:380–398
Gershoff ET, Grogan-Kay A, Lansford JE, Chang L, Zelli A, Deater-Deckard K et al (2010) Parent discipline practices in an international sample: associations with child behaviors and moderation by perceived normativeness. Child Dev 81:487–502
Wood JJ, McLeod BD, Sigman M, Hwang WC, Chu BC (2003) Parenting and childhood anxiety: theory, empirical findings, and future direction. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 44:134–151
Deater-Deckard K, Dodge KA (1997) Externalizing behavior problems and discipline revisited: nonlinear effects and variation by culture, context, and gender. Psychol Inq 8:161–175
Garcia Coll CT, Lamberty G, Jenkins R, MacAdoo HP, Cinic K, Wasik BH et al (1996) An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Dev 67:1891–1914
Brotman LM, Calzada E, Huang K-Y, Kingston S, Dawson-McClure S, Kamboukos D et al (2011) Promoting effective parenting practices and preventing conduct problems among ethnic minority families from low-income, urban communities. Child Dev 82:258–276
Fox JK, Masia Warner C, Lerner AB, Ludwig K, Ryan JL, Colognori D et al. (2012) Preventive intervention for anxious preschoolers and their parents: strengthening early emotional development. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. doi:10.1007/s10578-012-0283-4
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by a grant to the first author from the National Research Center of Excellence – NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health supported by the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (P60 MD000538-05). We thank the participating families, Pre-K programs and volunteer research assistants Jenny Moy, Xem Bui, Melissa Mak, Stefani Kim, Sadia Hussain, Sarah Bakar, Tiffany Anderson, Anne Kay and Pavita Singh.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Huang, KY., Cheng, S., Calzada, E. et al. Symptoms of Anxiety and Associated Risk and Protective Factors in Young Asian American Children. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 43, 761–774 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-012-0295-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-012-0295-0