This first-of-its-kind, two-volume set examines physical, psychological, social, and environmental factors that undermine—or support—healthy development in Asian American children.
How do skin color, culture, racial and ethnic identities, politics, economics, and environment influence children’s mental health and academic success? Asian American and Pacific Islander Children and Mental Health spotlights these forces and more. This unique, two-volume work examines a wide range of factors that affect children, including family conditions and economic status, child abuse, substance abuse, gangs, and community stability, as well as prejudices such as the common expectation that Asian Americans are a “model minority” and their children “whiz kids.”
Since education is key to success, contributors consider the factors affecting Asian American children largely in the context of educational readiness and academic adjustment. However, the set is not limited to exploring problems. It also looks at factors that help Asian American children be mentally healthy, engaged, and successful at school and in later life. Volume one of the set explores development and context, while volume two looks at prevention and treatment.
Features
- Contributions from top scholars/researchers in the field nationwide
Frederick T.L. Leong, PhD, is professor of psychology in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, in the industrial/organizational and clinical psychology programs. He is also director of the Consortium for Multicultural Psychology Research at MSU. He has authored or coauthored numerous journal articles and book chapters and also edited or coedited ten books. Leong is editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Counseling and editor of the APA Division 45 book series on cultural, racial and ethnic psychology. He is a fellow of the Asian American Psychological Association and the International Academy for Intercultural Research.
Linda Juang, PhD, is associate professor in the Department of Psychology at San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA. Her research focuses on Asian American adolescent development in context, addressing key issues relevant to Asian American youth such as acculturation, ethnic identity, adolescent-parent relationships, and adolescent mental health. She is the principal investigator for an NIH-sponsored three-year longitudinal study of Chinese American adolescents and their families. Juang is coauthor of the textbook Culture and Psychology (4th edition), and has published in journals including the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Journal of Primary Prevention, and Journal of Family Psychology.
Desiree Baolian Qin, PhD, is assistant professor of human development and family studies at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI,. After completing her doctorate at Harvard Graduate School of Education, she conducted postdoctoral research at New York University and was the minority postdoctoral fellow at Teachers College, Columbia University. Qin's research focuses on psychosocial adjustment of children and adolescents from immigrant families. The main question underlying her work has been how immigration, culture, gender, and ecological contexts (e.g., family, school, and peer environments) impact adolescent development. Her research project "Psychosocial adjustment of high-achieving Asian American Students" has been supported by the William T. Grant Foundation.
Hiram E. Fitzgerald, PhD, is associate provost for University Outreach and Engagement and university distinguished professor of psychology at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, and adjunct professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. Fitzgerald is a member of the national research consortium and steering committee guiding the national evaluation of Early Head Start and is a scientific advisor to the steering committee of the American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start Research Center at the University of Colorado, Denver, and the Seasonal/Migrant Head Start research task force (Administration for Children and Families). From 1992-2008, he served as executive director of the World Association for Infant Mental Health. Fitzgerald is the author of more than 60 books and is series editor for the Praeger series Child Psychology and Mental Health.
