Abstract
Although Asian Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, they are relatively invisible in behavioral health service delivery. Asian Americans generally have been overlooked in federal behavioral health policies. Underutilization of mental health services has also contributed to Asian Americans’ invisibility. Therapist–client ethnic matching, increasing therapist cultural competence, cultural adaptations of interventions, and providing alternative services to traditional behavioral health interventions (e.g., movement-based interventions) have been approaches to making behavioral health services culturally relevant for Asian Americans. Future directions include the consideration of within-group variability among Asian Americans and of cultural influences that are proximal to treatment outcomes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abe-Kim, J., Takeuchi, D. T., Hong, S., Zane, N., Sue, S., Spencer, M. S., … AlegrĂa, M. (2007). Use of mental health-related services among immigrant and US-Born Asian Americans: Results from the National Latino and Asian American Study. American Journal of Public Health, 97, 91–98. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.098541
American Council of Education. (2017). College presidents, by race/ethnicity. Retrieved from http://www.aceacps.org/minority-presidents-dashboard/
American Psychological Association. (2015). 2005–13: Demographics of the U.S. psychology workforce. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/workforce/publications/13-demographics/index.aspx
Barringer, H. Gardner, R. W., & Levin, M. J. (1995). [Table 2.1: Immigration to the United States from Asia, 1820–1990]. Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Retrieved from https://www.russellsage.org/sites/default/files/Barringer_Tables%20%Figures.pdf
Bellas, M. L., & Toutkoushian, R. K. (1999). Faculty time allocations and research productivity: Gender, race, and family effects. The Review of Higher Education, 22(4), 367–384.
Berman, E. (2017). A comprehensive guide to the Ghost in the Shell controversy. Retrieved from http://time.com/4714367/ghost-in-the-shell-controversy-scarlett-johansson/
Bernal, G., & Sáez-Santiago, E. (2006). Culturally centered psychosocial interventions. Journal of Community Psychology, 34(2), 121–132.
Burris, K., Ayman, R., Che, Y., & Min, H. (2013). Asian Americans’ and Caucasians’ implicit leadership theories: Asian stereotypes, transformational, and authentic leadership. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 4(4), 258–266.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017a). Adult obesity facts. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017b). Cancer rates by race/ethnicity and sex. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/data/race.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Study finds racial and ethnic disparities in US cancer screening rates. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2012/p0126_cancer_screening.html
Chae, D. H., Lee, S., Lincon, K. D., & Ihara, E. S. (2012). Discrimination, family relationships, and major depression among Asian Americans. Journal of Immigrant Minority Health, 14, 361–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-011-9548-4
Digest of Education Statistics. (2011). Table 260. Employees in degree-granting institutions, by race/ethnicity, sex, employment status, control and level of institution, and primary occupation: Fall 2009. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012001_3a.pdf
Espenshade, T. J., Chung, C. Y., & Walling, J. L. (2004). Admission preferences for minority students, athletes, and legacies at elite universities. Social Science Quarterly, 85(5), 1422–1445.
Farrell, R. (2011). 23 traits of good leaders. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/08/03/good.leader.traits.cb/index.html
Finkelstein, M. J., Conley, V. M., & Schuster, J. H. (2016). Taking the measure of faculty diversity. Retrieved from https://www.tiaainstitute.org/sites/default/files/presentations/2017-02/taking_the_measure_of_faculty_diversity.pdf
Fiske, S. T. (2012). Warmth and competence: Stereotype content issues for clinicians and researchers. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 53(1), 14–20. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026054
Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 878–902. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.82.6.878
Fong, T. P. (2002). The contemporary Asian American experience: Beyond the model minority (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Gee, G. C., Spencer, M. S., Chen, J., & Takeuchi, D. (2007). A nationwide study of discrimination and chronic health conditions among Asian Americans. American Journal of Public Health, 97, 1275–1282. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.091827
Gee, G. C., Ro, A., Gavin, A., & Takeuchi, D. T. (2008). Disentangling the effects of racial and weight discrimination on body mass index and obesity among Asian Americans. American Journal of Public Health, 98, 493–500. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2007.114025
Gupta, A., Szymanski, D. M., & Leong, F. T. L. (2011). The “Model Minority Myth”: Internalized racialism of positive stereotypes as correlates of psychological distress, and attitudes toward help-seeking. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 2(2), 101–114. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024183
Hall, G. C. N., Ibaraki, A. Y., Huang, E. R., Marti, C. N., & Stice, E. (2016). A meta-analysis of cultural adaptations of psychological interventions. Behavior Therapy, 47, 993. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2016.09.005
Hall, G. C. N., & Malony, H. N. (1983). Cultural control in psychotherapy with minority clients. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 20(2), 131–142. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0088484
Hansen, N. D., Pepitone-Arreola-Rockwell, F., & Greene, A. F. (2000). Multicultural competence: Criteria and case examples. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 31(6), 652–660. https://doi.org/10.1037//0735-702831.6.652
Hays, P. A. (2001). Addressing cultural complexities in practice: A framework for clinicians and counselors. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Heron, M. (2016). Deaths: Leading causes for 2014. National Vital Statistics Reports, 65(5), 1–96. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr65/nvsr65_05.pdf
Hinton, D. E., Pham, T., Tran, M., Safren, S. A., Otto, M. W., & Pollack, M. H. (2004). CBT for Vietnamese refugees with treatment-resistant PTSD and panic attacks: A pilot study. Journal of Trauma Stress, 17(5), 429–433. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOTS.0000048956.03529.fa
Hirschman, C., & Wong, M. G. (1986). The extraordinary educational attainment of Asian Americans: A search for historical evidence and explanations. Social Forces, 65(1), 1–27.
Ho, C., & Jackson, J. W. (2001). Attitudes toward Asian Americans: Theory and measurement. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 31(8), 1553–1581.
Hong, S., Walton, E., Tamaki, E., & Sabin, J. A. (2014). Lifetime prevalence of mental disorders among Asian Americans: Nativity, gender, and sociodemographic correlates. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 5(4), 353–363. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035680
Huynh, V. W. (2012). Ethnic microaggressions and the depressive and somatic symptoms of Latino and Asian American adolescents. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 41, 831–846. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9756-9
Huynh, Q. L., Devos, T., & Smalarz, L. (2011). Perpetual foreigner in one’s own land: Potential implications for identity and psychological adjustment. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 30(2), 133–162. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2011.30.2.133
Hwang, W. C. (2006). The psychotherapy adaptation and modification framework. American Psychologist, 61(7), 702–715.
Ibaraki, A. Y., & Hall, G. C. N. (2014). The components of cultural match in psychotherapy. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 33, 936–953.
Ibaraki, A. Y., Hall, G. C. N., & Sabin, J. A. (2014). Asian American cancer disparities: The potential effects of model minority health stereotypes. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 5(1), 75–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036114
Kang, S. K., DeCelles, K. A., Tilcsik, A., & Jun, S. (2016). Whitened resumes: Race and self-presentation in the labor market. Administrative Science Quarterly, 61(3), 469–502. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839216639577
Kaw, E. (1993). Medicalization of racial features: Asian American women and cosmetic surgery. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 7(1), 74–89.
Kawai, Y. (2005). Stereotyping Asian Americans: The dialectic of the model minority and the yellow peril. Howard Journal of Communications, 16(2), 109–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646170590948974
Khalid, A. (2015). South Korea? Trump’s “Where are you from” moment. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/10/15/448718726/south-korea-trumps-where-are-you-from-moment
Kim, J. E., Park, S. S., La, A., Chang, J., & Zane, N. (2016). Counseling services for Asian, Latino/a, and White American students: Initial severity, session attendance, and outcome. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 22(3), 299–310.
Kim, B. S. K., Brenner, B. R., Liang, C. T. H., & Asay, P. A. (2003). A qualitative study of adaptation experiences of 1.5-generation Asian Americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 9(2), 156–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.9.2.156
Kim, S. Y., Wang, Y., Deng, S., Alvarez, R., & Li, J. (2011). Accent, perpetual foreigner stereotype, and perceived discrimination as indirect links between English proficiency and depressive symptoms in Chinese American adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 47(1), 289–301. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020712
Lee, S., Wong, N. W. A., & Alvarez, A. (2009). The model minority and perpetual foreigner: Stereotypes of Asian Americans. In N. Tewari & A. N. Alvarez (Eds.), Asian American Psychology: Current Perspectives (pp. 69–84). New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Lee, S., Juon, H. S., Martinez, G., Hsu, C. E., Robinson, S., Bawa, J., & Ma, G. X. (2009). Model minority at risk: Expressed needs of mental health by Asian American young adults. Journal of Community Health, 34, 144–152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-008-9137-1
Leong, F. T. L. (1986). Counseling and psychotherapy with Asian-Americans: Review of the literature. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 33(2), 196–206.
Le Meyer, O., Zane, N., Cho, Y. I., & Takeuchi, D. T. (2009). Use of specialty mental health services by Asian Americans with psychiatric disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77(5), 1000–1005. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017065
Lilienfeld, S. (2017). Microaggressions: Strong claims, inadequate evidence. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(1), 138–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616659391
Lin, M. H., Kwan, V. S. Y., Cheung, A., & Fiske, S. T. (2005). Stereotype content model explains prejudice for an envied outgroup: Scale of anti-Asian American stereotypes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31(1), 34–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167204271320
Maddux, W. M., Galinsky, A. D., & Cuddy, A. J. C. (2008). When being a model minority is good and bad: Realistic threat explains negativity toward Asian Americans. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(1), 74–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167207309195
Maramba, G. G., & Hall, G. C. (2002). Meta-analyses of ethnic match as a predictor of dropout, utilization, and level of functioning. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 8, 290–297. https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.8.3.290
Milkman, K. L., Akinola, M., & Chugh, D. (2015). What happens before? A field experiment exploring how pay and representation differentially shape bias on the pathway into organizations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(6), 1678–1712.
Nadal, K. L., Griffin, K. E., Wong, Y., Hamit, S., & Rasmus, M. (2014). The impact of racial microaggressions on mental health: Counseling implications for clients of color. Journal of Counseling & Development, 92, 57–66. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00130.x
Nakanishi, D. T. (1988). Seeking convergence in race relations research: Japanese-Americans and the resurrection of the internment. In P. A. Katz & D. A. Taylor (Eds.), Eliminating Racism. Perspectives in Social Psychology (A Series of Texts and Monographs) (pp. 159–180). Boston, MA: Springer.
National Center of Education Statistics. (2015). Table 306.10. Total fall enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by level of enrollment, sex, attendance status, and race/ethnicity of student: Selected years, 1976 through 2014. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_306.10.asp?current=yes
Nezu, A. M. (2010). Cultural influences on the process of conducting psychotherapy: Personal reflections of an ethnic minority psychologist. Psychotherapy Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 47(2), 169–176. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019756
Ngo, B., & Lee, S. J. (2007). Complicating the image of model minority success: A review of Southeast Asian American education. Review of Educational Research, 77(4), 415–453.
Office of Minority Health. (2017). Profile: Asian Americans. Retrieved from https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=3&lvlid=63
Ong, A. D., Burrow, A. L., Fuller-Rowell, T. E., Ja, N. M., & Sue, D. W. (2013). Racial microaggressions and daily well-being among Asian Americans. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(2), 188–199. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031736
Ong, A. D., Cerrada, C., Lee, R. A., & Williams, D. R. (2017). Stigma consciousness, racial microaggressions, and sleep disturbance among Asian Americans. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 8(1), 72–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000062
Petersen, W. (1966). Success story, Japanese American style. New York Times Magazine, pp. 20–21, 33, 36, 38, 40–41, 43.
Pew Research Center. (2012). The Rise of Asian Americans. Retrieved from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/06/19/the-rise-of-asian-americans/.
Pew Research Center. (2015). Fact sheets on Asians in the U. S. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/topics/asian-americans/
Qin, D. B., Way, N., & Rana, M. (2008). The “model minority” and their discontent: Examining peer discrimination and harassment of Chinese American immigrant youth. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2008(121), 27–42. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.221
Robinson, S. (1994, January 23). Asian-American women struggling to move past cultural expectations. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/23/us/asian-american-women-struggling-to-move-past-cultural-expectations.html
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2012). Results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental health findings (NSDUH Series H-42, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 11-4667). Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Sue, D. W., Bucceri, J., Lin, A. I., Nadal, K. L., & Torino, G. C. (2009). Racial microaggressions and the Asian American experience. Asian American Journal of Psychology, S(1), 88–101. https://doi.org/10.1037/1948-1985.S.1.88
Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A. M. B., Nadal, K. L., & Esquilin, M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist, 62(4), 271–286. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.4.271
Sue, S., Cheng, J. K. Y., Saad, C. S., & Chu, J. P. (2012). Asian American mental health: A call to action. American Psychologist, 67(7), 532–544. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028900
Sue, S., & Zane, N. (1987). The role of culture and cultural techniques in psychotherapy: A critique and reformulation. The American Psychologist, 42(1), 37–45.
U. S. Census Bureau. (2001). Census 2000 summary file 1 technical documentation. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf.
U. S. Supreme Court. (1978). Regents of University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265. Retrieved from https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/438/265/case.html
Walter, Y. (2007). Asian Americans and American immigration and naturalization policy. American Studies Journal, 49. Retrieved from http://www.asjournal.org/49-2007/asian-americans-and-american-immigration-and-naturalization-policy/
Wang, P. S., Lane, M., Olfson, M., Pincus, H. A., Wells, K. B., & Kessler, R. C. (2005). Twelve-month use of mental health services in the United States: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 629–640.
Webber, K. L., & Canché, M. G. (2015). Not equal for all: Gender and race differences in salary for doctoral degree recipients. Research in Higher Education, 56(7), 645–672.
Wilkins, C. L., Chan, J. F., & Kaiser, C. R. (2011). Racial stereotypes and interracial attraction: Phenotypic prototypicality and perceived attractiveness of Asians. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 17(4), 427–431. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024733
Wong, Y. J., Owen, J., Tran, K. K., Collins, D. L., & Higgins, C. E. (2012). Asian American male college students’ perceptions of people’s stereotypes about Asian American men. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 13(1), 75–88. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022800
Xin, K. R. (2004). Asian American managers: An impression gap? An investigation of impression management and supervisor-subordinate relationships. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 40(2), 160–181. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886304263853
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Huang, E.R., Hall, G.C.N. (2020). The Invisibility of Asian Americans in the United States: Impact on Mental and Physical Health. In: Benuto, L., Duckworth, M., Masuda, A., O'Donohue, W. (eds) Prejudice, Stigma, Privilege, and Oppression. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35517-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35517-3_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-35516-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-35517-3
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)