Stress Ideations of Vietnamese Youth in North America

This study examined the stress ideations of a sample of Vietnamese refugees living in Canada and the United States. It was predicated on the assumption that most Vietnamese refugees were under acute stress prior to leaving their home country and are experiencing greater stress arising from their search for identity and consolidation in a new country. Factorial analysis of the contents of interviews with 150 Vietnamese youth revealed four major factors contributing potentially to stress: a sense of hopelessness, low self-esteem, social isolation, and general anxiety. These perceptual data are interpreted in terms of their relevance to the Vietnamese involvement in mainstream vocational and occupational agencies.