Existing literature presents Asian Americans as a monolithic group despite significant cultural and ethnic differences, and there is limited qualitative research on mental health beliefs and behaviors in the Chinese American population. This mixed methods study aimed to identify Chinese American experiences and understanding of mental health, illness, common sources of distress, and coping behaviors to inform further development of effective, culturally sensitive mental health care. An anonymous Qualtrics survey link was distributed to participants and forwarded using snowball sampling. Quantitative data and demographic information were analyzed using Excel. Thematic analysis was used to identify commonly occurring codes in the qualitative data. Out of 25 total participants, 25 completed the quantitative section and 22 provided qualitative responses. Identified themes included internal and external factors, conflict and adversity, and reactions to distress. Positive adaptation/reappraisal, self-regulation, and prosocial/altruistic behaviors were the most prominent coping styles in both qualitative and quantitative portions. Withdrawal was the least preferred coping style. Coping preferences and mental health literacy varied between demographic groups compared to the overall sample. More information is needed to generalize findings to the entire Chinese American population. However, this study identifies some areas of interest for future research: influence of prominent internal/external values, coping preferences, and exposure to life and education in China. The effects of these factors on mental health attitudes and behaviors may be relevant to addressing mental health and illness disparities experienced by Chinese Americans. Future development of effective and culturally sensitive strategies may be informed by these findings.
LeAnne Ding (Sun,) studied this question.