142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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307994
Responsibilities and Emotion Work as Antecedents of Health Risk for Hmong American Adolescents

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Laurie Meschke, PhD , Public Health, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
Background.  Hmong American adolescent mental health concerns are estimated at two times that of the general population. Refugee stress can lead parents to rely on sons and daughters to take on developmentally challenging roles and responsibilities that exceed the adolescents’ abilities and threaten adolescent mental health. Yet in addition to depression, such responsibilities have also been related to academic achievement.  These inconsistent outcomes may be clarified by emotion work; the effort expended to induce or suppress feelings in order to portray an outward appearance that promotes another’s desired emotional state. Greater emotional dissonance between the emotion experienced and emotion displayed is argued to threaten mental health. This is the first study to investigate emotion work during adolescence.

Methods.  Data from 21 12-14 year old Hmong American adolescents included a demographic survey, the Children’s Depression Index, a family genogram, an adapted version of the Emotional Labour instrument by Brotheridge and Grandey (2002), and a semi-structured interview that allowed youth to share their experienced and displayed emotions and their family responsibilities. 

Results.  Preliminary correlations revealed that the number of feelings discussed with parent(s) and chores identified by the youth as rewarding (p<.10) were positively related to adolescent depression (p<.05). The greater number of chores appreciated by parents (p<.05) were related to lower levels of depression.

Discussion.  Further multivariate analyses, including confirmation of the emotional work scales and their relation to depression, are anticipated to provide an empirical foundation to guide effective, pioneering mental health promotion efforts for Hmong American adolescents.

Learning Areas:

Diversity and culture

Learning Objectives:
Describe the mental health challenges facing Hmong American adolescents with family refugee histories Identify the moderation effect of emotion work on the relation between developmentally challenging roles and responsibilities and depression. Discuss the inclusion of emotion work as a strategy to reduce depression among Hmong American adolescents.

Keyword(s): Adolescents, Mental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have conducted research on Hmong American adolescents for over a decade. Topics of interest have included teen pregnancy, parent-adolescent relationships, and depression. Toward this end I have served as the research consultant on Federal, state, and foundation grants.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4391.0: Poster Session: Adolescent & Young Adult Health