Acculturation, Discrimination, and Depressive Symptoms among Chinese American Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study

This study focused on the perceptions of discrimination for Chinese American adolescents: how perceptions changed over time, how generational status and acculturation were related to these changes, and whether earlier discrimination experiences were related to subsequent depressive symptomatology. The sample included 309 Chinese American adolescents who participated in a 2 year, three-wave longitudinal study. Findings suggest that perceptions of discrimination became more acute over time for the majority of Chinese American adolescents in our study, that greater initial levels of perceptions of discrimination predicted a slower orientation to U.S. culture, that discrimination was not related to orientation to Chinese culture, and that an increase in perceptions of discrimination was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms. Greater orientation to Chinese culture was also related to fewer depressive symptoms. The findings are discussed in light of the unique cultural context of the study.