An investigation of the psychological well-being of unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids in the United States

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AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF
UNACCOMPANIED TAIWANESE MINORS/PARACHUTE KIDS
IN THE UNITED STATES
by
Chong-Li Edith Chung
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(Counseling Psychology)
December, 1994
Copyright 1994 Chong-Li Edith Chung
UMI Number: 9600966
UMI Microform 9600966
Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved.
This microform edition is protected against unauthorized
copying under Title 17, United States Code.
UMI
300 North Zeeb Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90007
This dissertation, written by
Chong-Li Edith Chung
under the direction of hST.....;... Dissertation
Committee, and approved by all its members,
has been presented to and accepted by The
Graduate School, in partial fulfillment of re
quirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
CLi^^C /^-~
Dean of Graduate Studies
ilj.a/.M.
Date
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
ii
DEDICATION
To my grandmother who taught me love
My parents who supported my education
and to the dedicated young people and their families
who made this research possible
iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A research such as this one could have been written only with the help
of many people who have given me both constructive criticism and
encouragement during the process. To all of these individuals, too numerous
to list, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for their
assistance.
Foremost acknowledgment must be given to my committee members.
My advisor, Dr. Scott Whiteley, gave generously of his time, insightful
comments, invaluable suggestions, encouragement and exceptional trust
throughout the whole process, from proposal to the finished paper. My
heartfelt appreciation to him is beyond description. I would also like to
express my appreciation to Drs. Rodney Goodyear and David Lopez-Lee for
their enthusiastic interest, helpful comments and valuable contributions.
A special acknowledgment goes to the young people who participated
in this investigation for their willingness to trust an interested stranger. In
addition, I am indebted to those adolescents, anonymous parents, guardians,
and others who voluntarily devoted their time and energy during the subject
iv
recruitment process. For reasons of confidentiality, they cannot be thanked
by name.
I would like to thank my fellow graduate students and friends: Betty
Gross, Li-Chun Li, Naomi Chao, Wan-Ching Hsu, Si-Ying Lee, Teresa Lin,
Allen Yao, Rocco Cheng, Kuo-Jen Shen, Jenny Chang and Simon Lu for their
enduring help and support throughout my dissertation experience. A special
debt is owed to both Sunny Lin and Hwa-Jen Chiou who helped in the data
analysis and provided emotional support and intellectual discussion.
I am indebted especially for Cheryl Kostelnik's immense effort in
providing helpful editorial assistance and valuable comments besides a
sisterly support. Norman BorisofPs vital interest of this study, proof-reading
my previous graduate papers and persistent nurturance over the last few years
have meant a lot to me. They both deserve special credit. Thanks to the
mentors who enhanced my potential and faithfully believed in me at the
Student Counseling Services of USC. I am also grateful to my two sisters,
Jonnie and Christal whose genuine love and caring reassured my belief and
encouraged me to pursue my career.
V
Allen Shen, my husband, for his contribution to the completion of this
work absolutely deserves the greatest thanlcs of all. In addition to driving me
around over hundreds of miles to collect data, his devoted and enduring belief
in me and my abilities pulled me through five very challenging graduate
school years. My appreciation for his love and support is deep and lasting.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VI
DEDICATION ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS hi
LIST OF TABLES ix
ABSTRACT x
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE... 1
Introduction 1
Review of Literature 7
Multidisciplinary Views of Adolescence 7
Biological View 8
Sociopsychoanalytical View 10
Cognitive View 13
Psychosocial View 15
Issues in Adolescence 17
Emotional Risks 17
Family Role 19
Peer Role 21
Immigration and Immigrants 23
Psychosocial Impact on Immigrant Adolescents 30
Immigrants' Mental Health 33
Asian Adolescent Immigrants 36
Southeast Asian Unaccompanied Minors 38
Unaccompanied Taiwanese Minors/Parachute Kids 40
Statement of the Problems 52
Research Questions and Hypotheses 53
vii
CHAPTER II. METHOD 57
Subjects 58
Instrumentation 59
Demographic Information Form 60
Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) 61
Brief Symptom Inventory (B SI) 62
Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS) 63
Procedures 66
Subject Recruitment 66
Instructions 67
Administration Settings 67
Mailing Services 68
Research Design and Data Analysis 69
Limitations 72
CHAPTER III. RESULTS 76
Research Findings 76
Research Question 1 76
Hypothesis la 76
Hypothesis lb 78
Research Question 2 80
Hypothesis 2a 80
Hypothesis 2b 81
Research Question 3 84
Hypothesis 3a 84
Hypothesis 3b 85
Summary of Research Questions Findings 87
Non-Hypothesized Findings 88
Characteristics of the Parachute Kids 88
Demographic Characteristics of the Three Groups 89
Correlations Among Dependent Measures 96
viii
CHAPTER IV. DISCUSSION 98
Summary of Research Findings 99
Level and Nature of Anxiety 102
Level and Nature of Distress 103
Level and Nature of Self-Concept 105
Summary of Non-Hypothesized Findings 108
Characteristics of the Parachute Kids 108
Family Background 109
Emotional Support Ill
Time Spent with Parent(s) 113
Happiness and Imagined Choice 114
Notification of Immigration Plan 115
Characteristics of Comparison Groups 117
Implications For Education, Counseling and Social Policies 120
Limitations 122
Recommendations for Future Research 123
Conclusion 127
REFERENCES 130
APPENDIXES 153
Appendix A. Demographic Infonnation Questionnaire (English) 153
Appendix B. Demographic Information Questionnaire (Chinese) 154
Appendix C. Codebook of the Demographic Questionnaire 155
Appendix D. Consent to Participate (English version) 156
Appendix E. Consent to Participate (Chinese version) 158
LIST OF TABLES
ix
Table 1. Internal Consistency Reliabilities (Cronbach's alpha)
of Subscales of RCMAS, BSI and TSCS 65
Table 2. Hypotheses, Instruments and Statistical Analysis 75
Table 3. Means and Standard Deviations for the Three Groups
onTAS 77
Table 4. Means and Standard Deviations for Scales of
(a) Physiological Anxiety, (b) Worry/Oversensitivity and
(c) Social Concerns/Concentration for the Three Groups 78
Table 5. Means and Standard Deviations for the Three Groups
onGSI 81
Table 6. Means and Standard Deviations for Scales of Nine
Symptomatological Measures for the Three Groups 83
Table 7. Means and Standard Deviations for the Three Groups
onTPS 85
Table 8. Means and Standard Deviations of Eight Subscales of
TSCS for the Three Groups 86
Table 9. Frequency Analyses of Demographic Characteristics of
the Three Groups 93
Table 10. Chi-square Analysis on Demographic Characteristics
of the Three Groups 95
Table 11. Correlation Matrix of RCMAS, BSI and TSCS Variables 97
X
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychological well-being
of the unaccompanied immigrant adolescents from Taiwan . The focus is two
fold: (a) to examine the differences in psychological well-being among three
adolescent groups: American-born Chinese, accompanied immigrant
Taiwanese adolescents and unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute
kids; (b) to explore the characteristics of the unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids and then compare them with the other two groups.
Subjects of this study were 162 adolescents, who were classified into
the three groups based on their immigration backgrounds and living
arrangements. Multivariate Analyses of Variance, univariate F-tests and post
hoc procedures were used to examine the group differences in these
variables: anxiety level, distress symptomatology and self-concept.
Frequencies and chi-square were reported to compare the characteristics of
all subjects.
The study showed that the anxiety level and distress level of
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids were higher than the other
two comparison groups. There were no significant differences among the
xi
tliree groups on self-esteem and self-concept scores. In terms of the nature of
the anxiety, unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids had higher
worry/oversensitivity and social concerns/concentration anxiety than
American-born Chinese. With regard to the nature of the distress symptoms,
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids had higher somatization
and anxiety symptomatology than American-born Chinese; unaccompanied
Taiwanese minors/parachute kids had higher depression, paranoid ideation
and anxiety symptomatology than accompanied Taiwanese immigrant
adolescents.
Based on this study, recommendations for further research include:
exploring the impact of separation from parental guidance and emotional
support on the unaccompanied immigrant Taiwanese minors and their
personality development; examining gender differences among the sample
population; incorporating various perceptions of parents, guardians, teachers,
school counselors and friends to better understand these unaccompanied
minors and their needs; and comparing immigrant Taiwanese adolescents
with their counterparts in Taiwan.
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Introduction
In many Asian countries, such as Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, it is
not uncommon to send children who are under age fourteen abroad to study.
Taiwan is perhaps the best example (Chen, E. 1991a, 1991b; Chen, J. 1986;
Cheng, 1991; Lin, 1992). During the last decade, the number of "Little
Overseas Students" (Hsiao Liu Hsue Sheng) from Taiwan has increased
dramatically. According to the Taiwan Interior Ministry's report entitled
"Number of Taiwanese Under Age of 18 in the U.S." released in 1991, the
number of these students who went abroad in 1990 was estimated to be
approximately 15,000. This figure is five times more than the estimated
3,000 back in 1984. Another source (Hwang & Watanabe, 1990) estimated
that there were about 30,000 to 40,000 Taiwanese little overseas students,
aged 8 to 18, living in the United States. Another report estimated that about
10,000 of these little overseas students were living on the West Coast of the
United States (Kuo, 1991). No official statistics, however, are available
from either the United States or Taiwanese governments.
2
The term little overseas students was originally created to identify
minors who were taken to a foreign land by one or both parents, then the
parents returned to Taiwan leaving the minor with a relative, legal guardian,
or an acquaintance. Most of these parents visit their children once or twice a
year and stay with them for a brief period—a few days to a few weeks (Chen,
E. 1991a, 1991 b; Chen, J. 1986; Hwang & Watanabe, 1990; Lin, 1992).
Unexpectedly, this term was misinterpreted by many people to include those
minors who emigrated to a foreign country with their parents. In order to
distinguish group differences within the little overseas student population, the
terms "Unaccompanied Minors" and "Parachute Kids" were introduced
(Hwang & Watanabe, 1990). Parachute kids metaphorically describes
unaccompanied minors, children who are left to live in the United States
while their parents remain in their homeland (Fu, 1994; Hamilton, 1993;
Hwang & Watanabe, 1990; Kuo, 1991).
Recently, a survey (Cheng, 1991) about "Who Sent the Children
Abroad Unaccompanied?" was conducted in Taiwan with 932 families. The
findings revealed that of these families, 21.4% indicated that they had been
thinking about sending their children under the age of eighteen abroad.
3
Within these families, 5.6% of them had actually done so; 12.7% of them
were in the planning stages, and 3.1% of them had eventually changed their
minds. In terms of the ideal locations for these children, 54.1% of these
parents thought of the United States as their primary choice. Other options
mentioned were: Canada (10%), Australia (8.8%), England and Japan (3.5%
each), Singapore (1.8%) and France (0.6%). In terms of the kinds of living
arrangements for them, 35.1% of the surveyed parents considered leaving
their children with their relatives; 33.9% of these parents thought about
registering them in boarding schools or placing them in foster homes and
25.7% of these parents believed that it was better to have the whole family
emigrate to a foreign country.
Parents appeared to be motivated by a number of factors in their
decision for their children: (a) evasion of mandatory military service; (b)
avoidance of high school and college entrance exams (too competitive); (c)
concern about the political climate at home; (d) belief there is a better quality
of both life and education in the United States and; (e) desire to gain
permanent resident status in the States (Cheng, 1991; Hwang & Watanabe,
1990; Kuo, 1991; Lin, 1992).
4
Clinical observations (Lin, 1992) suggested that these unaccompanied
minors may be particularly vulnerable to psycho-social upheaval. They
experience multiple life transitions which necessitate complex and
simultaneous social, physical and cultural adaptations. Even in the best of
circumstances, psychologists have identified adolescence as being a type of
marginal existence (Georgas & Kalantzi-Azizi, 1992). At age thirteen an
adolescent's intelligence is more developed than one's reasoning abilities,
verbal abilities and emotional growth. This gap often produces a great deal of
instability and uncertainty, because one's values, morals, and character are
still in a formative stage. Leaving one's native environment to study in a
foreign educational system could intensify the perplexity of this difficult
period.
In the United States, an article appearing in the Los Angeles Times
(June 24, 1993) featured a report on parachute kids in Southern California.
The interviews described not only the unique lifestyle of this population but
disclosed the potential emotional and psychological problems of these
children. A briefcase is cited from this article.
5
Patty has lived with relatives since she was 12. She said, "I
don't want you to stress how the parents are bad, but I want
to express the harsh reality and suffering. It looks happy on
the outside, but inside the kids are hurting. I wish people
wouldn't do this to their kids." She puts on a brave front for
her parents, but "in my heart there was a dark place." Now,
her 14-year-old brother, who arrived two years ago, comes
into her room at night sobbing, "Patty, I want Mommy.
Sometimes, we hug each other and we cry; it's all we can
do," Patty said. "But ... we don't tell anyone. We don't
want to put pressure on our parents. I have to stand
strong." (Hamilton, 1993)
Hamilton also noted that some parents provide generous financial
support to make up for their absence and long-distance care. "That trade-off
suits the teenager just fine, parachute kids said. But in unguarded moments,
their words ring with resentment." (Hamilton, 1993, p. A16) One of those
that he interviewed, who has been on his own for four years, said, "If they're
going to dump me here and not take care of me, they owe me something.
That's my right." (p. Al6)
In view of the rapidly increasing number of unaccompanied little
overseas students in the United States, it is surprising that very little research
has been done to explore this peculiar phenomenon and the lifestyles
6
involved. The only research based on organized/systematic, or empirical
studies is that done by Hwang & Watanabe (1990) and Kuo (1991). The
journalistic articles, and other investigations mentioned thus far have been
essentially anecdotal.
The purpose of this study is to take a step toward investigating the
general psychological well-being of these unaccompanied minors in the
United States. In particular, an attempt will be made to understand the types
of psychological distress, if any, these unaccompanied minors have
encountered. This finding could assist mental health providers in providing
appropriate interventions for this vulnerable and deserving population. It is
also intended that this study will serve as a basis for future theoretical work
concerned with identity formation in individuals, who make the transition
from adolescent to adult in a different culture with limited parental guidance
and emotional support.
7
Review of Literature
Multidisciplinarv Views of Adolescence
Adolescence should be defined and understood from many
perspectives such as chronological (age), physical and physiological, legal,
psychological, sociological, cultural and historical (Lemer & Spanier, 1980).
Adolescent development has been described as a transitionary period in the
life span (Matter, 1984; Petersen & Tayler, 1980). In their shift from status
as a child to status as an adult, young people must adjust to a variety of
biological, psychological, and social stressors that place them at some risk.
These risks include lower self-esteem, poor school performance and
behavioral problems, especially during the period of early adolescence
(Hamburg, 1974; Petersen & Crockett, 1985; Simmons, Burgeson, Carlton-
Ford & Blyth, 1987). Although researchers (e.g., Offer, Ostrov, & Howard,
1989) have reported the many conflicts and dilemmas faced by adolescents,
the teenage years have also been described as a rewarding, relaxing and
exciting time of life. Even though it is difficult to define a "typical"
adolescent, some of the common physical, cognitive and psychosocial
8
changes that most adolescents experience have been identified. These are
examined in the following sections.
Biological View
A strictly biological view of adolescence emphasizes the period as one
of physical and sexual maturation when important growth changes take place
in the child's body. The biological view also emphasizes the biogenetic
factors as the primary causes of any behavioral and psychological changes in
the adolescent. G. Stanley Hall (1864-1924), one of the most influential
exponents of biological theory and the father of the child study movement in
the United States, proposed (1904) that physical maturation not only changes
the adolescent's size and physiology but also changes the young person's
way of seeing the world.
Hall described adolescence as a period of intense and fluctuating
emotions. He asserted that adolescence is a period of emotional stress,
resulting from the rapid and extensive physiological changes occurring at
pubescence. Puberty is the stage of human biological development in which
sexual reproduction can first occur. According to Hall, puberty is a time of
great upset, emotional maladjustment, and instability in which the
9
adolescent's moods fluctuate betwee n energy and indifference, gaiety and
depression, egotism and bashfulness. He also emphasized that the teenage
years, filled with youthful idealism and concerns about sexual development,
were doomed to be a turbulent period (Hall & Lindzay, 1970). Some
psychologists (e.g., Freeman, 1983) have supported Hall's views that the
teenage years are stressful. MacFarlane, for example, found in retrospective
interviews of adults, that most reported their adolescent years to be a time of
confusion and despair (MacFarlane, 1964).
On the other hand, other theorists and researchers (e.g., Ellis, 1979)
have criticized several of Hall's views of adolescence. First, Hall's
biological, genetic explanation of human behavior disregarded the role of
environment. Second, his belief that behavior at each stage is universal,
unchangeable, and predisposed by biological drives has been refuted by
cultural anthropologists. Third, he suggested that parents must be permissive
and tolerate socially unacceptable behavior during the various stages of
development. Finally, he overemphasized adolescence as an inevitable period
of "storm and stress" (Ellis, 1979).
10
In fact, other psychologists are not convinced that adolescence is a
uniquely troublesome period. Over the past two decades, research on large
samples of young people has led to the conclusion that most adolescents,
most of the time, were calm, predictable, and purposeful rather than storm-
tossed, unpredictable and lost (Hill, 1987; Offer et al., 1989; Offer & Offer,
1974). The majority of adolescents did not encounter serious problems in
personal adjustment, nor did they hold sharply negative attitudes toward their
parents (Hill, 1987; Offer et al, 1989). Most developmental researchers did
not think that adolescence necessarily corresponds to the popular image of a
period of storm and stress.
Sociopsychoanalvtical View
Two prominent theorists have stressed the importance of developing a
true and independent sense of self during the adolescent years. One was
Sigmund Freud, who believed that adolescents have to lessen their
dependency on parents and begin to function autonomously. In the process of
achieving autonomy, Freud believed that parent-child conflicts would escalate
and were inevitable (Freud, 1953). Erik Erikson (1963) modified Freud's
theory of psychosexual development, combining sociopsychology and
11
anthropology in his theory of psychosexual development. He proposed eight
stages of human development: infancy, early childhood, play age, school age,
adolescence, young adult, adulthood and mature age. In each of the eight
stages, the individual has a psychosocial task to master. For example, in the
period of adolescence, the major task is achieving identity versus identity
diffusion then resolving the conflict of identity versus identity confusion.
Identity has many components that make up the total concept of self:
physical, sexual, social, vocational, moral, ideological and psychological
characteristics. According to Erikson (1963), the search for identity
represents a basic human need and is a lifelong process; it comes into focus
during adolescence and may resume from tim e to time during adulthood. This
effort to make sense of the self and the world is a healthy, vital process that
contributes to the ego strength of the adult. The adolescent, confronted by all
the forces of change, is described as in a state of crisis, a state of search for
self-definition. Accordingly, the adolescent moves through his or her days
attempting to find a place or role in society. Erikson (1959) labeled this
search for self-definition and self-identification the "identity crisis." Erikson
12
stressed that adolescence is a normative crisis, a normal phase of increased
conflict.
Identity crises occur between the ages of twelve and twenty, and
involve the transition from childhoo d to adulthood. During this period of
time, in addition to creating a sense of themselves, adolescents are concerned
with the direction of their lives. The ego strength fluctuates during this period
of time. Adolescents gain self-confidence from past experiences. This self-
confidence enhances the sense of ability and the chance of accomplishment in
the future. In order to achieve this outcome, adolescents go through a period
of increasing self-awareness and self-consciousness, especially in relation to
their physical self-image and social relationships. If the conflict during this
stage is successfully resolved, a positive self-perception is built into the
personality. If the conflict is unresolved, the ego identity is damaged.
Sometimes the pressure to resolve the identity crisis is too great; instead of
exploring alternative roles, adolescents exclude their options, thereby
establishing a premature identity. Sometimes, adolescents choose values and
roles opposite those expected by parents and society, thus forming a negative
identity.
13
Adolescents who have a positive identity have developed a sense of
self-acceptance. Identity development is associated with the development of
intimacy. Adolescents are attracted to those with identity states similar to
their own (Goldman, Rosenzweig & Lutter, 1980). Identity achievement
helps in developing committed intimate relationships. Erikson's (1950, 1968,
1982) writings on identity formation have consistently stressed the need for
both researchers and clinicians to understand the psychosocial context in
which the developing adolescent's sense of identity is constructed.
Cognitive View
The biological changes of puberty are universal and visible.
Psychosocial development enables adolescents to attain a sense of self and
maturity. More important, another change that typically begins during
adolescence is the intellectual maturation that requires adolescents to think
logically.
Jean Piaget (1896-1980), is best known for his pioneering work on the
cognitive development of children. He identified four stages of children's
mental growth (Piaget, 1950): sensorimotor stage, pre-operational stage,
concrete operational stage and formal operational stage. In the sensorimotor
14
stage, occurring from birt h to age two, the child is concerned with gaining
motor control and learning about physical objects. In the pre-operational
stage, from age s 2 to 7, the child is preoccupied with verbal skills. At this
point, the child can name objects and reason intuitively. In the concrete
operational stage, from age s 7 to 12, the child begins to deal with abstract
concepts such as numbers and relationships. Finally, in the formal
operational stage, ages 12 to 15, the child begins to reason logically and
systematically.
Piaget was the first theorist to recognize what many psychologists now
consider the distinguishing feature of adolescent thought: the capacity to think
in terms of possibility rather than merely concrete reality (Piaget & Inhelder,
1969). Adolescents are able to engage in introspection and to think about
their thoughts. They have the capacity for formulating hypotheses and
examining the evidence for themselves. In other words, adolescents develop
a new flexibility and complexity of thinking (Piaget, 1970).
According to Piaget, cognitive development is the combined result of
environmental influences and the maturation of the brain and nervous system.
It is noteworthy that not all adolescents reach formal operational thinking, and
15
not all same-aged adolescents are at the same stage of development.
Similarly, this development is not universal. Adolescents from various
cultures have shown considerable variations in abstract reasoning abilities.
Social institutions, such as the family and school, accelerated or retarded the
development of formal operations (Carlson, 1973). For example, studies
(Dasen, 1972, Dulit, 1972) showed that underdeveloped societies did not
encourage advanced levels of cognitive development. Some cultures offered
more opportunities to adolescents for developing their abstract thinking than
others. These cultures provided rich verbal environments and situations that
facilitated the cognitive growth of adolescents by exposing them to problem-
solving situations (Miller, 1978).
Psychosocial View
Robert Havighurst (1972) developed a psychosocial theory of
adolescence by combining individuals' needs with societal demands. The
needs of the individual and the demands of the society create the individual's
developmental tasks. Havighurst proposed eight major tasks during the
adolescent period: (a) accepting one's figure and using the body effectively;
(b) achieving new and more mature relations with age-mates of both sexes;
16
(c) achieving a masculine or feminine social-sex role; (d) achieving emotional
independence from parents and other adults; (e) preparing for an economic
career; (f) preparing for marriage and family life; (g) desiring and achieving
socially responsible behavior and; (h) acquiring a set of values and an ethical
system as a guide to behavior—developing an ideology. In order to perform
these tasks, individuals have to acquire skills, knowledge, functions and
attitudes in their lives through physical maturation, social expectations and
personal effort. Mastering adolescent tasks results in maturity. Conversely,
failure to master adolescent tasks results in anxiety, social disapproval, and
inability to function as a mature person.
Social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) is concerned with the
relationship between social and environmental factors and their influence on
behavior. Albert Bandura and Richard Walters (1959) believed that children
learn through observing the behavior of others and by imitating via modeling.
Modeling becomes a socialization process by which habitual response
patterns develop. As children grow, they imitate different models from their
social environment (Hammen & Zupan, 1984; Kasolow, Stark, Printz,
Livingston & Tsai, 1992). In many studies, parents were listed as the most
17
significant adults in the lives of adolescents (Blyth, Hill & Thiel, 1982;
Galbo, 1983, 1984).
Social learning theorists emphasized that what adults do and the role
models they represent are more important in influencing adolescent behavior
than what they say. Bandura questioned the stage-theory assumption that
adolescence is inevitably a period of storm and stress, tension, and rebellion
(Bandura, 1964). He thought that the description of turmoil, anxiety, sexual
tensions, compulsive conformity, and acute identity crises applies to the
actual behavior of only a small deviant portion of the adolescent population.
Some research data (Ellis, 1979) indicated that the rate of emotional
disturbance for adolescents did not differ significantly from the population at
large.
Issues in Adolescence
Emotional Risks
Adolescents are confronted with a variety of sources of stress. A study
(Daniels and Moos, 1990) divided adolescent stress into the following eight
categories: financial stress, parent-adolescent relationship, interpersonal
relationships with siblings, relationships with relatives, school problems, peer
18
pressure, boyfriend/girlfriend stress, and negative life events such as parental
separation or divorce. Apparently, stress had a variety of effects on
adolescents (Garmezy & Rulter, 1983). Emotional disturbances was one of
the effects (Ingersoll & Orr, 1989; Powers, Hauser, & Kilner, 1989). Stress
had a negative effect on psychological well-being (Brown, Powell, & Earls,
1989). Adolescents who had a higher frequency of stressful events were
found to have higher rates of depression and conduct disorder (Jaffa &
Dezsery, 1989), and a higher number of symptoms involving post-traumatic
stress, somatic complaints, and substance abuse. Some selected emotional
disturbances found in adolescents are: mood disorders (Baron &
MacGillivray, 1989; Clark-Lempers, Lempers, & Netusil, 1990; Ehrenberg,
Cox & Koopman, 1990; Kovacs, 1989), anxiety disorders (Allsopp &
Verduyn, 1990; Apter & Tyano, 1988), disorders of impulse control
(Bartholomew, 1987; Wooden, 1985), psychological factors affecting
physical condition (Choquet & Menke, 1987), somatoform disorders
(Simonds, 1975), eating disorders (Mallick, Whipple, & Huerta, 1987;
Muuss, 1985) and schizophrenic disorder (Holzman & Grinker, 1974).
19
Based on the above findings, it appears that adolescents confronted
with stress often react to the stress by exliibiting various symptoms associated
with certain emotional disorders. The potential for emotional risk escalates
when adolescents in their search for an identity, and their desire to become
independent from parent s are drawn to peer groups. Before looking at the
development of companionship, the adolescent's relationship with parents is
briefly discussed.
Family Role
Most social scientists have acknowledged the profound impact of the
family on the development of the young child. But what about the impact on
the adolescent? Does the family play an important role in the socialization
and behavior of adolescents? Adolescents reported that the family had been
the most influential social system in their lives (Galbo, 1984; Grotevant &
Cooper, 1986; Maccoby & Martin, 1983; Steinberg, 1990; Youniss, 1988).
It has been proposed that (Boss & Greenberg, 1982; Bowlby, 1969; Cooper
et al., 1983; Dornbusch, Ritter, Leiderman, Bobert, Fraleign, 1987; Grotevant
& Cooper, 1986; Kantor & Lelir, 1975; Sroufe, 1979) the functions of
attachment for the young child involve the development of a sense of basic
20
confidence or trust. This permits the individual to interact with the
environment in appropriate and adaptive ways. Early attachment was viewed
as important for later social interaction competence and, possibly, for the
ability to form close relationships during adulthood (Sroufe, 1979).
Research has indicated that significant positive relationships were
found between family bonds and social competence. These included social
self-esteem, instrumentality, expressiveness, shyness and degree of
satisfaction/ease in same-and opposite-sex peer relationships (Bell & Avery,
1985; Collins, 1990; Cooper, Grotevant & Condon, 1983). Furthermore, a
number of researchers have found that the affective quality of family relations
during adolescence is associated with high levels of self-esteem (Bell, Avery,
Jenkins, Feld, & Schoenrock, 1985; Demo, Small & Savin-Williams, 1987).
Parental support, participation and control (Openshaw, Thomas, & Rollins,
1983), parental acceptance, communication (Barnes & Olson, 1985) and
shared satisfaction (Watkins & Estela, 1980) have all been allied with
adolescent self-esteem.
Although most adolescents do not achieve a sense of consolidation of
identity until later adolescence, research and clinical evidence suggested that
21
the family's ability to adapt to the changing needs of its young adolescents has
important implications for the process of identity formation (Grotevant,
1983). Young adolescents typically begin to seek changes in relationships
with their parents, moving from asymmetrica l to more peer-like relationships
(Hill, 1987; Youniss, 1980). This change has been documented by several
researchers (e.g. Steinberg, 1981) who found increased assertiveness
displayed in family interaction by early adolescents. Bios (1979) described
adolescence as a second individuation process requiring that the young person
seek new attachment objects outside the family. It seems apparent that the
family of an adolescent is also faced with a challenge to change. The change
sought by the adolescent typically involves increased autonomy. The
autonomy does not imply detachment from parenta l influence but rather a
transformation in the emotional bond with parents (Newman & Murray, 1983;
Steinberg, 1988).
Peer Role
An important source of support during the complex transition of
adolescence is young people's growing involvement with their peers (Brown,
Clasen, & Eicher, 1986; Fischer, Sollie, & Morrow, 1986; Yarcheski &
22
Mahon, 1984). During adolescence, rapid physical changes bring new
feelings, the need for emotional fulfillment and achieving autonomy and
independence from parent s (Coleman, 1980; Frankel, 1990; Newman, 1982;
Sebald, 1986). Research has indicated that young adolescents prefer to
disclose their emotional feelings to parents. Whether or not they do so
depends on the openness of family communication. However, as they get
older, adolescents look to their peers, who are going tlirough similar stages,
as resources for emotional support.
Studies showed that there is a significant correlation between
relationships with parents and the adolescents' social adjustments (Bell,
Comwell, & Bell, 1988; McCombs, Forehand, & Smith, 1988). A study
showed that the degree of connectedness adolescents experienced in their
family influenced the degree of connectedness they experienced in their
relationships with peers. The ability to establish close friendships i s partially
learned in the family with parents as role-models.
23
Immigration and Immigrants
The concept of the United States as the melting pot of the world is
worth considering in relation to adolescent personality development. "Melting
pot" was the metaphor for the notion that immigrants from all over the world
somehow mingle together here in America, producing a new and better
combination that blends the cultural contributions of each ethnic group. In
fact, American society is a tremendous mixture of subcultures, many of which
still maintain aspects of their heritage and original patterns of behavior.
Adolescents growing up in one of these groups are often influenced by a
number of different cultures. This phenomenon may apply specifically to
newly arrived immigrants. Before the impact of cross-culture on adolescent
development is examined, a brief and general review of the immigrant
psychological experience in the United States is presented.
The United States is populated by peoples from different national
origins, races, religions, cultures, and languages. According to Immigration
and Naturalization Service Census data (1990), 58 million people chose to
immigrate to the United States during the period between 1820 and 1989.
This number indicates only the legal immigrants. Additional millions entered
24
illegally. Currently, more than 650,000 individuals enter the country legally
every year. During the last decade (1980s), more than half of the 7 million
legal immigrants to the United States came from te n countries: Mexico,
Philippines, Vietnam, Korea, China, India, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, El
Salvador, and Cuba. Most of these immigrants were between the ages of 20
and 35 years (Jesso & Rosenzweig, 1990).
It has been widely asserted that movement from on e culture to another
is accompanied by challenge, stress, and an increased risk of negative
consequences such as emotional distress (Berry, Kim, Minde & Mok, 1987;
Funiliam & Bochner, 1986; Williams & Westermeyer, 1983). A numbers of
studies (e.g., Caplan, Whitmore, & Bui, 1985; Lin & Liu, 1993; Ou &
McAdoo, 1993; Owan, 1985) reported that it is not uncommon for
immigrants to encounter different levels of culture shock, language barriers,
underemployment and unemployment, maladjustment and stress, culture
conflict, discrimination, psychological isolation and alienation (Chan, 1992;
Karnow & Yoshihara, 1992; Takac, 1976). Therefore, acculturative stress
could influence the adjustment process of temporary sojourners as well as
pennanent immigrants. Some studies (Alexander, Workney, Klein, & Miller,
25
1976; Sue & Zane, 1985), for example, characterized foreign students as a
high-risk group under considerable stress.
The concept of culture shock is varied. Handlin (1951) believed that
immigrants experience shock because of severe feelings of personal
inefficacy, normlessness, role instability and role displacement. Eisenstadt
(1954) suggested that immigrants are disturbed by the experience of living in
an unstructured, incompletely defined society. Oberg (1960) pointed out that
since value conflicts cause an immigrant to misinterpret cues of social
interaction, daily life cannot be taken for granted, and they become
overwhelmed. In spite of different emphases, culture shock theory suggests
that those immigrants entering a society extremely different from their native
community find it more difficult to adjust than immigrants from a similar
cultural background (Chan, 1992; Gibson, 1983; Goldberg, 1980; Harris,
1991).
The theory of social isolation inferred that migration involves not only
physical separation from th e homeland, but also deprivation of one's familiar
native cultural orientation, rights, obligations, and social networks. This
change may cause the most turbulent and destructive experiences associated
26
with immigration. In the process of adjusting to acculturation, immigrants
often experience strong feelings of loneliness, alienation and desocialization,
low self-esteem and an inability to cultivate or sustain social relationships
(Nicassio, 1985; Nicassio, LaBarbera, Coburn, & Finley, 1986; Williams &
Westermeyer, 1983).
Another unique aspect of the immigrant's adjustment problem is
unfulfilled expectations. Among foreign immigrants from les s urbanized and
industrialized societies, the first generation s usually experience lower goal-
striving stress than their children. The newly arrived immigrants maintain a
reasonable level of ambition, evidenced in their struggle for survival. In
contrast, their children may continue to strive just as hard as their parents did,
but suffer an unexpected setback: a much higher level of unfulfilled aspiration
resulting from th e socialization experience in the new society. These second
generation children believe their opportunities for success are equal to those
of the dominant group members, but, in fact, they cannot overcome the
consequences of segregation and other forms of discrimination (Ou &
McAdoo, 1993).
27
Similarly, the reasons for their immigration play an important role in
the attitudes of immigrants toward their adopted country. The attitudes of
immigrants who come to the United States for economic betterment or
because of an insupportable political situation in the homeland are different
from those of refugees who come to escape danger. Research (e.g., Esquivel
& Keitel, 1990; Koplow & Messinger, 1990) indicated that many immigrants
suffer social confusion: they do not know what to expect from others; they
are unsure about other people's expectations for them. This confusion
becomes severe when fear, either present or residual, is present (Sheely,
1986). Emotional problems, including symptoms of "depression, impaired
memory, panic, severe insomnia, periods of disorientation and confusion,
reliving of war experiences, separation anxiety, family conflicts, isolation, and
suicide" (National Coalition of Advocates for Students, 1988) are heightened
by guilt over survival when members of the family have been killed, and by
separation when family members remain in the endangered area (Harris,
1991).
Cultural psychologists have offered a number of hypotheses on how
immigration affects mental health. Both geographical distance and the extent
28
to which the immigrants face a new environment should be taken into account
when trying to understand the level of adjustment difficulties of immigrants
(Verdonk, 1979). In fact, some researchers (Kantor, 1969; Verdonk, 1982)
postulated that immigration, per se, does not precipitate the development of
mental illness or generate psychiatric vulnerability. Immigration, however,
does involve changes in environment which require adjustments on the part of
the immigrant. These adjustments may be reflected in improved or worsened
mental health. Nevertheless, under certain circumstances, there is an
increased risk of the development of emotional disturbance among immigrant
groups. These conditions can be specified in terms of characteristics of the
sending and receiving communities, characteristics of the immigrants
themselves, immigrants' pre-existing vulnerability and circumstances under
which the immigration occurs.
The social and emotional maladjustment resulting from a n immigrant
background often become obvious during adolescence and early adulthood
rather than in the earlier years of childhood. The degree to which the parents
adjust to the new society could affect the adolescent's way of adjusting. If
parents continue to maintain most of the behavior and the value patterns of
29
the country or culture of their origin, they will probably transmit these
patterns to their children.
When children from thi s rigid kin d of environment reach adolescence,
their conflicts may be particularly intense. While they try to adjust to the
values of the new society, they are still limited in bringing these adjustments
into their home environment. They may have to develop two sets of values
and two sets of behavior patterns to deal with this conflict. It may be difficult
or even impossible for them to accommodate both sets of values in a
meaningful way. They may be in a state of constant anxiety as a result of
attempts to determine which values and which actions are appropriate in a
given situation (Rick & Forward, 1992; Serafica, 1990; Sung, 1985).
A study by Koplow and Messinger (1990) reported that the parents'
inability to adapt to the new culture and to establish a meaningful framework
for parenting was relative to the distorted ego development of their children.
Children's problems in the separation-individuation phase of development
was reflective of the problems encountered by parents during their separation
process from the mother country. The reactions of adults to immigration
30
impact their relations with their children and may shape their children's
personality development.
Psychosocial Impact on Immigrant Adolescents
A number of researchers studied the consequences of intranational
residential mobility on children's adjustment. Residential mobility appeared
to have some initial adverse affects on both the social adjustment and the
emotional well-being of children, but these effects appeared to be relatively
slight and transitory (Ebata, Yoshimatsu, Miguchi & Ozaki, 1983; Kantor,
1969; Schaller, 1972a, 1972b). Children who moved were generally found to
be more withdrawn and less accepted by their peers. They were also rated by
their teachers as being more emotionally maladjusted (Kantor, 1965),
although this last finding appeared to be less the effect of moving than the
consequence of associated antecedent factors. The effects of residential
mobility on the adjustment of children is clearly relevant, but this literature is
seldom invoked in discussions of immigrant children's adjustment.
Combining data from the United States Census Bureau and the United
States Immigration and Naturalization Service with other assumptions, such
as the number of undocumented arrivals to the United States, it is estimated
31
that the total number of immigrant school-age children (5 to 18 years of age)
is currently between 2.1 and 2.7 million (Esquivel & Keitel, 1990). All
immigrant children are faced with a transition to a new culture, a new
language, a new way of life. Some can negotiate this transition successfully,
can participate effectively in their schools and can find a place for themselves
in our society. Others find thi s transition much more difficult. The more
traumatic the immigration experience, the more difficult the adjustment will
be for them (Olsen, 1988; Wilson, 1986).
A few recent studies focused on the role of stress in precipitating
emotional problems in children (Brenner, 1984; Chen, 1992; Garmezy &
Rutler, 1983). Three potential sources of stress for immigrant children are
poverty, acculturation (Felsman, Leong, Johnson, Felsman, 1990; Jack,
Nicassio, & West, 1984; Rosenthal & Feldman, 1992a; Wong-Rieger &
Quintana, 1987; Yao, 1985), and school-related problems (Porte & Torney-
Puerta, 1987). The effects of poverty on stress have been well documented.
For example, Puerto Rican children living in poor urban areas were subject to
health problems, low self-esteem, depression, aggression and school failure
(Canino, Earley, & Rogler, 1980; Kuo, 1984; Ogbu, 1987).
32
Acculturation is another source of stress for immigrant children. For
example, intergenerational conflicts often occurred when children became
acculturated more rapidly than their parents (Lam & Westermeyer, 1987; Lin,
1986; Sue & Chin, 1983; Tobin & Friedman, 1984). Furthermore, most
conflict in immigrant families occurred when adolescents were the most
assimilated into the new culture (Rosenthal, 1984). This suggested that
intergenerational conflict in immigrant families may become more of a
problem as the adolescents get older (Rosenthal, Demetriou & Efklindes,
1989). Finally, the discrepancies between the immigrant child's cultural
values and those encouraged in the United States school system create
academic stress (Olsen, 1988). For example, some cultures emphasize
cooperation rather than competitiveness (Ellis & Petersen, 1992; Hui &
Harry, 1986; Rosenthal & Feldman, 1992b).
Besides these contributions to stress, the most traumatic new reality for
immigrant students is the behavior of their peers, who ignore, reject, taunt,
and sometimes physically abuse them. Immigrants are easy targets, because
they have little understanding of their new environment. Many immigrant
children remembered similar experiences during their first year in the U.S:
33
being called names, pushed, spat upon, deliberately tricked, teased, or
laughed at because of their race, language difficulties, accent, or foreign dress
(Hwang & Watanabe, 1990; Olsen, 1988).
Immigrants' Mental Health
Despite findings which showed significant adjustment difficulties and
emotional disturbance of children of immigrants, there were contradictory
findings cited with respect to the consequences of residential and social
mobility. These researchers reported that immigrant children do not
necessarily manifest a greater incidence of disorder than their native peers
(Aronowitz, 1984; Cochrane, 1979; Munroe-Blum, Boyle & Offord, 1989;
Steinhausen, 1985). Immigrant children present typically with subacute
symptoms of anxiety (Gaertner-Harnach, 1981; Kashani et al., 1987) and
depression (Gaertner-Harnach, 1981; Kuo, 1984) and infrequently with florid
psychiatric symptomology. Neither of the two relevant epidemiological
studies (Rutter et al., 1974; Touliatos & Lindholm, 1980) found psychiatric
dysfunction to be more prevalent among the populations of immigrant
children surveyed.
Nevertheless, the literature showed that when disorders do occur, they
do so with certain regularities, permitting some broad generalizations to be
made about the kinds of adjustment difficulties immigrant children are likely
to experience. The general pattern has been that immigrant children present
more often with behavioral disorders; adolescents present identity conflicts,
sometimes with acute psychiatric dysfunction (Nicassio, 1985; Nicassio et al.,
1986; Rutter et al., 1974; Williams & Westermeyer, 1983). Two studies of
psychiatric disorder in younger children (Graham & Meadows, 1967; Nicol,
1971) found acute disorder to be consistently associated with disrupted
upbringing and separation experiences, some of which were the direct
consequences of migration.
In Europe, several studies examined the relationship between language
proficiency and social/emotional adjustment among immigrant children. The
assumption that a causal relationship exists between language proficiency and
adjustment in immigrant populations was not supported (Bhatnagar, 1980;
Taft, 1977). These results concluded that second language proficiency might
help in some aspects of the integration of immigrant children but that it did
not seem to be a major determinant of social and emotional adjustment.
35
There is a close parallel to theoretical explanations in the literature on
adult immigrant dysfunction which focuses on the stress of migration
(Aronowitz, 1984). Some authors, in explaining adult immigrant
dysfunction, have used psychodynamic formulations to describe the process
of migration and the process of acculturation as involving stress-induced
regression and recapitulation of the stage of psychosexual development (e.g.,
Grinberg & Grinberg, 1984; Koranyi, 1973), or complex object-loss (i.e.
Arredndo-Dowd, 1981; Chang, 1985; Paris, 1978). Other authors, however,
described the stresses of migration in terms of role and social learning
theories (e.g., Creed, 1987; Hertz, 1988).
Explanations of children's disorders were similarly divided between the
intrapsychic and the psychosocial. When the principal antecedent of the
immigrant child's disorder was seen as a traumatic separation experienced in
the course of migration, psychodynamic theory was frequently used to explain
the association between this experience and such presenting problems as
attachment disorders, neurotic conflicts and, sometimes, behavioral disorders.
Numerous studies showed that prolonged and traumatic separations are often
experienced by children in the course of migration (Burke, 1980; Jack,
36
Nicassio & West, 1984; Koplow & Messinger, 1990; Tran, Wright &
Mindel, 1987; Weiss, 1973).
Asian Adolescent Immigrants
In 1980, the number of immigrants who came to the United States from
China and Hong Kong exceeded 30,000 (Poston & Yu, 1990). Now, the
Chinese comprise one of largest immigrant groups in the United States, and
this number does not take into account the separate quota allotted to Taiwan
in 1981 (Sung, 1985). When Chinese immigrant children make that
transoceanic leap from th e Orient to America, more than geography is
involved. The language, behavior, responses, customs, ways of thinking and
fundamental beliefs of the two cultures are poles apart (Khoa & Van Deusen
& Lin, 1981; Kim, Chu & Lee, 1987; Rick & Forward, 1992).
Chinese immigrant children are confronted with bicultural conflicts in
America. For example, they are attracted by the physical expressions of love
and affection customary here, but they are inhibited from respondin g to it
because of their less demonstrative upbringing. Consequently, they may
question their parents' love when they observe the overt affection of their
peers' parents. Another example is that immigrant Chinese parents do not
37
encourage early independence in their children (Ou & McAdoo, 1993). They
discourage their children from socializin g outside the family until a much later
age than children of other ethnic groups (Abbott, 1976).
Some investigators (Crystal, 1989; Hartman & Askounis, 1989; Sue,
D. W. & Kirk, 1975; Sue, S. & McKinney, 1975; Sue, S. & Morishima,
1982; Sue & Sue, 1971) suggested that much of the mental illness, the
adjustment problems, and the juvenile delinquency among Asians is hidden.
The discrepancy between official and actual rates may be due to cultural
attitudes and customs such as: Shame and disgrace are provoked when one
admits emotional problems exist. Their custom is to handle problems within
the family instead of seeking outside resources. As a result, the manner of
symptom formation, such as low acting-out disorder, may be ignored and
allowed to manifest. Chinese American students in ghetto areas were found
to experience more loneliness, anxiety and isolation than their ethnic peers in
suburban environments (Chin, 1983; Sue & Frank, 1973).
In fact, the relation between migration and mental health is a complex
one. It varies with the social characteristics of the migrant, the
social/psychological dimensions of the circumstances of migration, and the
38
characteristics of the culture of origin and the culture of their destination
(Kantor, 1969). In spite of widespread interest in the mental health of
immigrant groups, and considering the cost and value of immigration in
general, there has been little systematic investigation into the psychiatric and
social adjustments of immigrant Chinese children. Furthermore, there are
difficulties in conducting and interpreting studies of the psychiatric
adjustment of immigrant Chinese children because of discrepancies in the
definition of immigrant status, in the sampling limitations and in the variable
diagnostic approaches. Therefore, Americans remain largely unaware of the
existence of these unaccompanied minors or parachute kids from Taiwan,
Hong Kong and Korea.
Southeast Asian Unaccompanied Minors
The term unaccompanied minors originally was used by researchers to
identify those children who wound up in refugee camps without adult
relatives. These refugees, unaccompanied by their families, came to the U.S.
and were placed through child welfare systems in various parts of the country
(Adler, 1985). Many of these unaccompanied minors came from Southeas t
Asian war-torn countries such as Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
Since 1975, more than 5,000 Indochmese unaccompanied refugee
minors have settled in the United States. For the most part, they were
adolescent males, aged 15 to 18, whose mothers and fathers remained in
Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laos (Porte & Torney-Puerta, 1987). These minors
fled their homelands, often with the assistance of their parents, in search of
safer, better lives elsewhere. Their migration from Indochin a to the U.S. was
usually a hazardous one, marked by war, sudden flight, and separation from
parents and a familiar culture.
Several studies (Caplan, Whitmore, & Bui, 1985; Owan, 1985)
indicated that these unaccompanied minors experienced psychological
difficulties, especially grief and depression (Ascher, 1985; Ben-Porath, 1987;
Williams & Westermeyer, 1983; Woon, 1986). These difficulties may have
been overlooked because of their many positive achievements after they
settled here. Studies (Ima & Rumbaut, 1989; Lese & Robbins, 1994) showed
that Southeast Asian adolescent refugees often surpass the academic
achievement of mainstream American students in spite of enonnous obstacles.
The importance of education is a specific aspiration of Asian groups, and it is
also viewed as a means to avoid the shame of burdening the family. Other
40
studies reported that during the process of emigration and resettlement,
families and other support systems were frequently disrupted, causing
refugees to feel extremely isolated. An investigation of more than 1,600 adult
Southeast Asian refugees residing in Illinois showed that refugees rated
separation from famil y members and other loved ones as their most serious
problem in their adjustment to the new environment and culture (Jack,
Nicassio, & West, 1984). This provided some evidence that disruption in
family support may be associated with greater psychological distress in
refugee youth.
Unaccompanied Taiwanese Minors/ Parachute Kids
What distinguishes the new immigrant Chinese (such as Taiwanese and
people from Hon g Kong) from othe r Southeast Asian minority groups (such
as Vietnamese) is not only their rapid growth in numbers but also their
amazing financial success. In Taiwan, sending children who were under the
age of fourteen abroad to study has become a trend, especially for those
families who were financially secure. The trend started fifteen years ago
amid political turmoil and rapid economic growth in Taiwan. It has increased
in popularity in recent years because parents feel more comfortable about
41
leaving their children with relatives, acquaintances, boarding schools or foster
homes in large Chinese-American communities. These parachute kids are
well-known in Chinese communities, especially in Southern California (e.g.
Monterey Park, Alhambra, San Gabriel Valley and Torrance) and in New
York City on the East Coast. They are dropped off to live in the United
States on their own while their parents remain in the home country in Asia
(Fu, 1994; Hamilton, 1993; Hwang & Watanabe, 1990; Kuo, 1991).
It is difficult for outside observers to comprehend why parents in
Taiwan would uproot their young ones and send them to reside alone in
United States. When a nuclear family is suddenly broken apart, the impact on
every member can be devastating. When young children or young adults are
involved, this experience can be traumatic. Why would parents (who for the
most part were born in Taiwan and usually have successful careers) want to
relocate their children to the United States or other Western countries? The
answer may be found in the political, economic, and social developments that
have shaped Taiwan's history during the last 50 years.
Historical background. Taiwan was a colony ruled by the Japanese
from the turn of the century until 1945. At the end of World War II, Taiwan
42
was returned to China. When the Nationalist Party (commonly known as
Kuomingtang, or KMT) fled mainland China, in 1949, to escape from the
Chinese Communists, Taiwan was the last stronghold of a failed political
entity. The threat of being invaded and overrun by the Communist Red Army
was and remains a constant for the people who grew up in Taiwan (Cumings,
1984).
For much of the cold war period and during the Vietnam war, Taiwan
was under the military umbrella of the United States. As the global political
scene changed, Taiwan's political and military importance to the United
States gradually diminished. Beginning in the early 1970s, many Taiwanese
families started to think about leaving Taiwan because of the unstable
political environment (Gold, 1986). The 1972, Shanghai Communicate
between United States and mainland China set the precursor of significant
changes in store for Taiwan. By 1976, the United Nations had recognized
mainland China as the sole representative for all of China (including Hong
Kong and Taiwan). Then in 1979, the United States formally severed
diplomatic relationships with Taiwan. These events sent shock waves
through the people of Taiwan.
43
Political factor. In the first three decades of KMT's authoritarian rule,
most of the people, native Taiwanese or mainlanders who arrived during the
late 1940s, were not allowed to participate in the democratic process. The
limited access to the core of political power, especially for the native
Taiwanese, was successfully challenged only in the past decade (Wade,
1990). These political restrictions created a massive identity crisis and sense
of alienation among the Taiwanese people. This may partially explain some
parents' decision to take their children to a safer place, even after Taiwan's
internal and external political conditions improved substantially.
Economic factor. On the economic front, Taiwan's success can be
attributed to the combined efforts of the people and the government.
Taiwan's economic survival depends on international trade and export
growth. Limited access to the government hierarchy and reluctance to be
involved in politics encouraged many toward business ventures. Government
policies also encouraged people to be entrepreneurial-minded. The national
focus was on achieving economic success and then building a more
democratic political system. However, the outcome was the creation of a
middle class in Taiwan. This middle class is one that is financially capabl e of
44
moving both capital and family members across international boundaries.
Oftentimes, these middle class families have the financial means to support
households both abroad and at home (Wade, 1990).
Social factor. Success in both the economic and political arenas
created problems for the Taiwanese society as a whole. Years of
environmental sacrifice and neglect had turned part of the island of Formosa
(Beautiful Island) into an industrial wasteland. Rapid growth, especially in
the major cities, brought further deterioration of the intangible qualities of life
and living standards for many. The rigid education system, with an extremely
competitive examination structure, placed tremendous pressure on school-age
children and their parents. The influx of western (mainly American) cultural
images and media has influenced the younger generation to idealize a culture
that is quite unlike their own. Many people of different age groups also
firmly believe that life is better and easier in the United States. Still others
send their children to the United States because it is politically the most stable
country in the world.
These are only a few of what are undoubtedly many complex
perceptions and criteria that go into parents' decisions to send their children
to a foreign country. The important issue is not so much why some parents in
Taiwan send their kids to United States; but how these young adolescents
develop and shape their personality here in America.
Previous exploratory research. Two UCLA students wrote a Master's
thesis on little overseas students from Taiwa n (Hwang & Watanabe, 1990).
For their research they interviewed eleven accompanied minors (one or both
of the parents stayed with their children in the United States) and twelve
unaccompanied minors (parents returned to Taiwan, leaving the children with
a relative, legal guardian, or acquaintance). They concluded that even the
most well-adjusted unaccompanied students struggled with loneliness,
depression and/or identity issues. The problems and stresses of normal
adolescence were intensified by the lack of parental supervision and
guidance, and the need to adjust to a new culture, language and value system.
A more recent survey conducted in Los Angeles and Orange counties
by Kuo (1991), a Member of Academia Sinica from Taiwan , on assignment
by the Taiwanese government, explored the lifestyles and situations of these
unaccompanied minors or parachute kids. This study reported that these
students encountered adjustment difficulties, language barriers, cultural
shocks and academic problems related to language acquisition. In particular,
the findings showed that these kids were afraid when they first arrived in the
new land, and they often cried when they were disoriented and alone.
Consistent with Kuo and Hwang and Watanabe's findings, other
investigators (Chen, 1992a, 1992b; Hamilton, 1993; Lin, 1992) have also
found that these unaccompanied minors faced serious emotional problems:
homesickness, loneliness, isolation, insecurity, identity crises and depression.
All of these problems had adversely affected the unaccompanied minors'
studies and social adjustment. Unaccompanied minors frequently stated that
they would like to have their parents with them when they encountered these
problems.
In addition to the psycho-social adjustment issues encountered by the
unaccompanied minors, other severe behavioral problems have been
observed. In the last five years, a number of articles in the San Jose Mercury
News, Los Angeles Times, Chinese Daily News and other Chinese
community newspapers documented some of the serious problems that these
children developed. These include fighting in school, juvenile delinquency,
suicides and arrests as results of serious crimes (Hwang & Watanabe, 1990).
47
At the same time, journalistic reports in Canada (Chen, E. 1991a, 1991b;
Chen, J. 1986) explored the personal experiences and lifestyle of these
unaccompanied minors by interviewing them individually. Based on the
findings from these interviews, the reality of the lives of these children is
reflected by reports of fights in school, gang involvement, school dropout,
juvenile delinquency, academic failure, substance abuse and, once again,
serious emotional disturbance (Chen, E. 1991a, 1991b; Chen, J. 1986; Lin,
1992).
In Los Angeles county, the San Marino school district had such a high
rate of truancy among unaccompanied minors/parachute kids that it passed a
rule in 1991 requiring students to live with relatives not more distant than a
first cousin or with U.S. court-appointed foster parents. Otherwise, they
(unaccompanied minors/parachute kids) could be expelled and/or reported to
social services or immigration authorities (Hamilton, 1993). In fact, this year,
1994, Arcadia High School in Los Angeles expelled three unaccompanied
minors because they were living on their own without legal guardians or
relatives (Fu, 1994).
48
Hwang & Watanabe (1990) conducted the first empirica l study to
explore the psycho-social adjustment issues of little overseas students from
Taiwan. Within a theoretical framework based on Erik Erikson's and Peter
Bios' adolescent development theories and personal testimonies, this
descriptive exploratory research provided some valuable
information/resources to understand the unaccompanied minors' life
experiences in the US. However, there are several questions regarding the
validity and the reliability of this study.
First, as the investigators explained, because of the inaccessibility of
the subjects, the sample selection was based on availability and convenience.
In other words, the subjects were not randomly selected. Second, the
majority of the subjects were from only three specific areas (West Los
Angeles, Torrance and San Marino) in Los Angeles county. These two
factors raise concern regarding the generalizability of the study. Third, at the
time the research interview was conducted, the average age of these subjects
was 17.8 years old (17 years for accompanied minors; 18.6 years for
unaccompanied minors). Most of them had lived in the United States for
more than six years when they were interviewed. This retrospective approach
49
could affect the reliability of the self-report narrative. The researchers did
recall that some of the subjects were unable to clearly remember tlieir feelings
and experiences when they first came to the U.S. Finally, the researchers
acknowledged that they were not proficient in the Chinese language, even
though some of the interviews were conducted in Chinese. The possibility of
misinterpretation and misunderstanding could compound the effectiveness of
the subjective method of data analysis and impact the validity and the
reliability of the research.
Recent research by Kuo (1991) also encountered similar difficulties in
terms of recruiting representative research subjects. Most of the subjects in
this study (78 out of 120) were recruited from th e Chinese church. The small
number of the accompanied minors (8) was disproportionate to that of
unaccompanied minors (85). There were 27 subjects who did not respond
this question. Again, special attention is warranted to the effect of restricted
recruitment and unequal group numbers.
In fact, Kuo's study presented an inconsistent conclusion. In discussing
her findings, she concluded that most little foreign students (including both
accompanied and unaccompanied minors) went through the period of
50
adjustment very smoothly. At the same time, she suggested that based on
their reports of loneliness and crying, the little foreign students did not
experience an easy time with either their academic or social adjustments. It is
assumed that the inconsistent outcome was the result of surveying both
accompanied and unaccompanied minors, although the objective of her study
was to examine the lifestyle of the unaccompanied minors. If the study was
not designed for comparative purposes, the inclusion of both accompanied
and unaccompanied minors could confound the results.
Another inconsistent finding reported in this research was the rejection
of a hypothesis of correlation between unaccompanied Taiwanese minors'
adjustment difficulties and parental guidance/presence. Kuo concluded that
parental guidance/ presence was important based on three findings:
unaccompanied minors missed home a lot; they were afraid of their new
environment and they cried a lot. These conclusions led to another
questionable area of this study--the internal consistency of this research
method. The researcher did not confirm, in developing the questionnaire, that
the 60-items selected represented the number of constructs she intended to
51
measure. Both the source and the reliability of the survey were unexplained
and unreported.
A vast amount of research is available on adolescents and the period of
adolescence. The research encompasses many different arenas, views,
approaches and issues in understanding this developmental stage in an
individual's life. There are studies and research which focus on immigrants
and even on immigrant adolescents. However, there is very little research on
the unaccompanied immigrant adolescents from Asia except for those who
came from Southeast Asian countries.
Currently in the United States, there is an ever-increasing, yet
unknown, population of unaccompanied immigrant adolescents. In order to
understand and help this specific group of children, it is imperative that one
be familiar with their unique life situation. They are adolescents living apart
from their parents. They are also immigrants, living in a foreign country
without parental supervision and guidance. This study will to examine the
psychological well-being of the immigrant adolescent from Taiwan who
migrates to the United States and lives here without parental supervision.
52
Statement of the Problems
The adolescent period is fundamental to one's development. This
developmental stage of life is often a stressful and confusing time for children
everywhere, even in the best of circumstances. The immigration experience
to a new and foreign land is also filled with stress and confusion. When the
immigration process occurs during adolescence, it could have profound
influence on the individual. Of particular interest to this author is the unique
group of unaccompanied immigrant adolescents from Taiwan , the so called
parachute kids. These are youngsters without parental guidance and
emotional support, yet confronted with adolescent and developmental issues,
in addition to adjustment difficulties, culture shock, language barriers and
acculturation stress resulting from thei r migration.
The research done thus far has been essentially anecdotal, not based on
an organized or systematic approach. Although there has been limited
empirical research (Hwang & Watanabe, 1990, Kuo, 1991) which primarily
focused on the psychosocial adjustment issues of unaccompanied
minors/parachute kids, very little information has been provided about the
demographic differences between unaccompanied minors/parachute kids and
53
comparison sample groups. With the concern that there is lack of research
and information in above-mentioned areas, this study will focus on several
dimensions:
First, this study will investigate the psychological well-being of
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids. The investigation will
compare unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids with immigrant
Taiwanese adolescents who were accompanied by one or both parents when
they migrated to the United States and also with American-born Chinese who
were raised by one or both of their parents.
Second, this study will explore the demographic characteristics of
unaccompanied minors/parachute kids and compare their characteristics to
those of accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents and American-born
Chinese.
Research Questions and Hypotheses
This study will investigate if there is any difference overall in self-
perceived psychological well-being among American-born Chinese,
accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents, and unaccompanied
Taiwanese minors/parachute kids.
54
Research Question 1
Do unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids have a higher
level of anxiety than American-bom Chinese and/or accompanied immigrant
Taiwanese adolescents?
Hypothesis la
Unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids will have a higher
overall anxiety level than the other two groups as measured by the Total
Anxiety Score (TAS) of the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scales
(RCMAS).
Hypothesis lb
Unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids will have higher (a)
physiological anxiety (b) worry/oversensitivity anxiety and (c) social
concerns/concentration anxiety levels than the other two groups as measured
by the three sub-scales of the RCMAS.
Research Question 2
Do unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids perceive their
distress level to be higher than American-bom Chinese and/or accompanied
immigrant Taiwanese adolescents?
55
Hypothesis 2a
Unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids will have a higher
overall distress level than the other two groups as measured by the Global
Severity Index (GSI) of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI).
Hypothesis 2b
Unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids will have higher
levels of (a) somatization (b) obsessive-compulsive (c) interpersonal
sensitivity (d) depression (e) anxiety (f) hostility (g) phobic anxiety (h)
paranoid ideation and (i) psychoticism than the other two groups as measured
by the nine sub-scales of the BSI.
Research Question 3
Do unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids perceive their
self-esteem/self-concept to be lower than American-bom Chinese and/or
accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents?
Hypothesis 3a
Unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids will have a lower
overall self-esteem level than the other two groups as measured by the Total
Positive Score (TPS) of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS).
56
Hypothesis 3b
Unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids will have lower
levels of (a) identity self (b) self-satisfaction (c) behavior self (d) physical self
(e) moral-ethical self (f) personal self (g) family self and (h) social self than
the other two groups as measured by the eight sub-scales of the TSCS.
57
CHAPTER II
METHOD
This chapter describes the sampling, instrumentation, procedure,
statistical approaches, and the limitations of this study. To answer the
research questions and test the proposed hypotheses, Multivariate Analyses
of Variance (MANOVA) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were
conducted. In addition, several sets of analyses were performed: frequency
analyses, chi-square, Pearson Product Moment (PPM) correlation to present
the non-hypothesized findings.
The study utilized three standardized tests which were administered to
three different groups of adolescents. The results were then compared among
the groups. The dependent variables were: anxiety level, distress
level/general psychological well-being, and self concept. The independent
variables were three groups of adolescents: Group I~first generation
American-born Chinese; Group II~accompanied immigrant Taiwanese
adolescents; Group Ill—unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids.
Because the criteria under study (anxiety, distress symptomatology and self-
concept) cannot be manipulated, the study was non-experimental.
58
Subjects
One hundred and seventy-five adolescents voluntered to participate.
However, 13 subjects were excluded because they failed to complete the
questionnaire or were not between the ages of 10 and 18 years. Of the 162
participants, 89 (54.9%) were males and 73 (45.1%) were females.
Participants lived in California and ranged from 10 to 18 years of age (M =
15.3 years, SD = 1.8). Participants were classified into tliree different groups
based on their immigration backgrounds and present living
arrangements/status. To be included in Group I, first generation American-
bom Chinese, the participants had to be bom of parents who emigrated from
Taiwan. In addition, these adolescents had to live with their parent(s) in the
United States during the time of their growth. To be included in Group II,
accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents, participants needed to be
bom and raised in Taiwan until they were at least ten years of age, and then
immigrated from Taiwa n with their parents and lived with at least one of their
parents through their years of growth. The last group, Group III, included
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids who were sent by their
parents to the United States after they were ten years old. These
59
unaccompanied minors' were left by their parents with either relatives,
friends, guardians or acquaintances. The parents returned to Taiwan, and
they supported their children financially from Taiwan.
Group I consisted of 55 first generation American-born Chinese: 32
males and 23 females. The average age of tins group population was 15.06
years old and the standard deviation was 1.74 years. Group II, accompanied
immigrant Taiwanese adolescents, consisted of 63 school age students: 35
males and 28 females. The average age of this group was 15.03 years old
and the standard deviation was 2.02 years. Their average time in the United
States was 3.94 years. Group III, the unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/
parachute kids, consisted of 44 adolescents: 22 males and 22 females. The
average age of this group was 16.25 years old and the standard deviation was
1.54 years. The average time they had been in the United States was 3.60
years.
Instrumentation
In addition to the demographic questionnaire, three standardized
measures were used in this study: the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety
Scale (RCMAS), the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and the Tennessee Self
60
Concept Scale (TSCS). These three instruments were utilized because
Chinese language versions and Taiwanese adolescent normative data were
available for RCMAS and TSCS. Two of these three instruments, the TSCS
and the RCMAS, have been normed and widely employed in research
settings in Taiwan. The BSI has also been adopted in the clinical settings for
screening purposes in Taiwan.
Demographic Information Fonn
Fifteen short questions were included in this form (see Appendixes A
& B) pertaining to the participant's age, gender, birthplace, current grade,
history of immigration, resident area, current living arrangement/status,
father's occupation, mother's occupation, support resources, length of
parental companionship, overall happiness while in the United States, reasons
for immigration, notification date of relocation and imagined choice.
However, the last three questions were to be answered only by those
adolescents who were not born and raised in the United States. The detailed
information related to the demographics of these participants is provided in
Table 2. The coding system of the demographic variables is presented in
Appendix C.
61
Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS)
RCMAS (Reynolds, Bert & Richmond, 1985) contains 37 self-report,
yes-no items. This instrument is designed to measure the level and degree of
anxiety in children and adolescents. Five scores are reported: (a) Total
Anxiety, (b) Physiological Anxiety, (c) Worry/Oversensitivity, (d) Social
Concerns/Concentration and (e) Lie Scale. In this study, all scores, except
the Lie Scale, were used for main analysis. Reliability estimates ranged from
.44 to .77 and the mean Cronbach's alpha was .66 (see Table 1). RCMAS is
considered to be a measure of trait anxiety. The correlations between the
RCMAS Total Anxiety score and a measure of trait anxiety (r = .67) is higher
than between Total Anxiety and a measure of state anxiety (r = .10). For
example, the RCMAS showed a large, significant correlation with the Trait
scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) (r = .85) but
a low correlation with the STAIC State scale (r = .24).
The normative data for Taiwanese adolescents were developed by
Young (1974) for the Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (CMAS). The
standardization sample contained 961 school age students between the ages
62
of 10 and 13 years. The test-retest reliability was .78 for both males and
females. The split-half reliability was .85 for males and .90 for females.
Brief Symptom Inventory (BSD
This 53 item self-report symptom inventory is designed to provide
multidimensional symptom measurement and is used as a global indicator of
psychological functioning. It was derived from the Symptom Check List-90
(SCL-90) by Derogatis and Spencer (1982). Participants respond to each
item using a 5-point scale of distress (0-4) ranging from "not at all" (0) to
"extremely" (4) to indicate how much they were distressed within the past
seven days by the problem. BSI constitutes three global measures: (a)
General Severity Index, (b) the Positive Symptom Total, and (c) the Positive
Symptom Distress Index. Additionally, nine symptom dimensions are also
reported: somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity,
depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and
psychoticism. The test-retest reliabilities for the tliree global indices were .90
for the General Severity Index, .87 for the Positive Symptom Distress Index,
and .80 for the Positive Symptom Total. The nine clinical subscales all
correlated very highly with the original subscales of the SCL-90, ranging
63
from .92 to .99 with a mean of .96. The internal consistency reliabilities
ranged from .71 on psychoticism to .83 on obsessive-compulsive. The test-
retest reliabilities ranged from .68 on somatization to .91 on phobic anxiety.
The Global Severity Index and the nine subscales were used for the main
analyses in this study. Reliability estimates ranged from .64 to .82 and the
mean Cronbach's alpha was .72 (see Table 1). The normative data was
derived from adolescents who were 13 to 19 years old and included 48%
Whites, 30% Blacks and 12% others in the United States.
Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS)
The TSCS (Fitts & Roid, 1964-1988) is one of the most popular
measures of self-concept. It consists of 100 Likert-type items and is designed
to measure: three internal aspects of self concept (identity, behavior, and self-
satisfaction); five external aspects of self-concept (moral-ethical, social,
personal, physical, and family), and an overall assessment of self-esteem.
Two forms of the instrument are available: (a) a Counseling Form (Form C);
and (b) a Clinical and Research form (Form C & R). In this study, Form C
was used. Participants respond using a 5-point scale, ranging from
completely false (1) to completely true (5), to indicate how they feel about
64
themselves. Internal consistency and stability of the TSCS total score have
typically reported coefficients around .90. Test-retest reliabilities for the
subscale scores are reported to be between .80 and .91 for the three internal
and five externa l dimensions, approximately .90 for the empirically derived
scales, and generally, about .70 or better for the remaining scales. Relative to
the validity, correlations between the TSCS total score and the Piers-Harris
Children's Self-Concept Scale have been found to range between .51 and .80.
Correlations with the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory were found to be
between .64 and .75. In this study, reliability estimates ranged from .71 to
.86 and the mean Cronbach's alpha was .76 (see Table 1).
The normative data of TSCS in Taiwan was available (Li, 1981). It
was standardized on 979 junior high school students between the 7th grade
and 9th grade. The internal consistency and stability of the TSCS total score
was between .66 and .85. The split-half reliability was between the range of
.92 and .95.
65
Tabic 1.
Internal Consistency Reliabilities (Cronbach's alpha) of Subscales of RCMAS, BSI and TSCS
Measurement/Scales Cronbach's alpha
RCMAS (37 items)
Total Anxiety Score
Physiological Anxiety Scale
Worry/Oversensitivity Scale
Social Concerns/Concentration Scale
BSI (53 items)
Somatization Dimension
Obsessive-Compulsive Dimension
Interpersonal Sensitivity Dimension
Depression Dimension
Anxiety Dimension
Hostility Dimension
Phobic Anxiety Dimension
Paranoid Ideation Dimension
Psychoticism Dimension
TSCS (100 items)
Identity Self
Satisfaction Self
Behavior Self
Physical Self
Moral-Ethical Self
Personal Self
Family Self
Social Self
.80
.44
.77
.57
.77
.70
.71
.77
.82
.74
.68
.64
.65
.86
.78
.78
.71
.67
.73
.75
.76
Note. RCMAS = Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale; BSI = Brief Symptom Inventory; TSCS =
Tennessee Self-Concept Scale.
66
Procedures
Subject Recruitment
An intensive search was conducted by the researcher to locate potential
volunteers for this study. Networking with friends and acquaintances, in
addition to extensive phone calls, provided a list of adolescents. These
youngsters were then contacted to see if they were interested in being
participants in this study. Those who expressed an interest were provided
with a letter of introduction (in English & Chinese) and a consent form for
their parents or guardians (see Appendixes D & E) to read, sign and return to
the researcher per "Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct."
(APA, 1992) The potential participants were notified by the researcher that
contact persons (both primary and secondary investigators) were available to
answer questions or to discuss concerns regarding the study, and given their
names and phone numbers. Upon receipt of a signed consent form, an
individual appointment was arranged with the interested participant and the
researcher. Two free movi e passes were offered to the participants who
voluntarily completed the study.
67
Instructions
First, the purpose and nature of this research was explained in detail.
Subjects were told that the goal of this research was to investigate overall
psychological well-being of Chinese-American adolescents and to help
mental health professions and school counselors better understand these
adolescents' needs. Second, participants were told that their participation in
this research was completely voluntary; they had the right to leave the
experiment at any time if they did not wish to finish takin g the survey or if
they had personal difficulties with the survey questions. Third, each
participant was instructed on how to fill ou t each of the questionnaire at the
same time and also reminded that all of the responses would remain
anonymous and confidential. Lastly, each participant was encouraged to ask
for any clarification pertaining to the questionnaires and/or individual
questions. They also had a choice of filling ou t the form in either English or
Chinese depending on their familiarity and proficiency in either language.
Administration Settings
Approximately 95% of the questionnaires were administrated in face-
to-face individual or group interviews. The remaining 5% of questionnaires
68
were distributed by mail. Of the total participants (N=l 62), most of them
(70%) participated in an individual interview. Approximately 25% of
participants completed the survey in a small group setting (with a minimum of
two people to the maximum often people) for geographic convenience. The
small groups gathered in local libraries, churches, or guardians' houses to fill
out the questionnaires. Administration and instruction for these groups were
exactly the same as in the individual settings. In other words, the investigator
spoke to each participant individually in the group setting.
Mailing Services
The group of unaccompanied minors was the most difficult to access
because they were, to some extent, a hidden population, and many of them
had concerns about revealing their living status. Consequently, the majority of
Group III participants were referred or introduced by other unaccompanied
minors. Furthermore, some of the unaccompanied minors were
uncomfortable about the face-to-face administration, therefore, 20% of the
questionnaires in this group were done by mail. A consent form, a letter for
parents/guardians, and a prepaid return envelope were included in the mailing
69
packet. The return rate was 80% (of the ten packets of questionnaires that
were mailed to the unaccompanied minors, eight people responded).
Research Design and Data Analysis
The hypotheses, that unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids
will have higher overall anxiety level, higher overall distress level and a lower
self-esteem, than the other two groups of adolescents, were tested by using
one-way Analyses of Variance (ANOVA). The hypotheses that
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids will score higher than the
other two groups in three sub-scales of the Anxiety Inventory, nine sub-scales
of the Brief Symptom Inventory and eight sub-scales of the Self-Concept
Scale, were tested by using Multivariate Analyses of Variance (MANOVA).
The non-hypothesis descriptive supplementary research, which
explored the demographic characteristics of unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids and compared their characteristics to those of
accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents and American-bom Chinese,
were analyzed by frequency analyses and chi-square procedures.
70
Research Question 1
Hypothesis la
Hypothesis la, that unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids
will have a higher overall anxiety level than the other two groups as measured
by the Total Anxiety Score (TAS) of the Revised Children's Manifest
Anxiety Scales (RCMAS), was investigated by performing a one-way
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using participants' TAS as the dependent
variables.
Hypothesis lb
To test the second hypothesis lb, that unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids will have higher (a) physiological anxiety (b)
worry/oversensitivity anxiety and (c) social concerns/concentration anxiety
levels than the other two groups as measured by the three sub-scales of the
(RCMAS), a Multivariate Analyses of Variance (MANOVA) with subjects
was performed. The dependent variables were the three sub-scales scores.
71
Research Question 2
Hypothesis 2a
To test hypothesis 2a, that unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids will have a higher overall distress level than the other
two groups as measured by the Global Severity Index (GSI) of the Brief
Symptom Inventory (BSI), a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with
subjects was conducted using the GSI score as the dependent variable.
Hypothesis 2b
Hypothesis 2b, that unaccompanied minors/parachute kids will have
higher levels of (a) somatization (b) obsessive-compulsive (c) interpersonal
sensitivity (d) depression (e) anxiety (f) hostility (g) phobic anxiety (h)
paranoid ideation, and (i) psychoticism, was tested by a Multivariate
Analyses of Variance (MANOVA) with subjects, using the nine
symptomatological measures from th e BSI as dependent variables.
Research Question 3
Hypothesis 3a
The next hypothesis 3a, that unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids will have a lower overall self-esteem level than the
72
other two groups as measured by the Total Positive Score (TPS) of the
Tennessee Self-Concept Scales (TSCS), was tested by conducting a one-way
Analysis (ANOVA) with subjects' TPS as the dependent variable.
Hypothesis 3b
Hypothesis 3b, that unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids
will have lower levels of (a) identity self (b) self-satisfaction (c) behavior self
(d) physical self (e) moral-ethical self (f) personal self (g) family self and (h)
social self, was measured by performing a one-way Multivariate Analyses of
Variance (MANOVA) with subjects using all of the eight sub-scales from th e
TSCS as dependent variables.
Limitations
Prior to reporting the results of this study, it is necessary to mention
that there were some limitations in the research.
First, subjects were not randomly selected for this research. They were
recruited exclusively from the state of California. The sample sizes for the
three groups were unequal and excluded those individuals who dropped out
school or who were on vacations (The data were collected during the
73
summer). Thus, the generalizability of this study should be given special
attention.
Second, the psychological well-being of these immigrant adolescents,
including both accompanied and unaccompanied minors, prior to their
immigration to the United States was unknown. These assessments, made
after they have lived here for several years, could be confounded by the
contributions of their preceding life experiences or the on-going transition
processes (e.g., adaptation, adjustment or acculturation and assimilation).
Also, another uncontrollable and unknown variable in this study was the
quality of parental/guardian supervision and emotional support they received.
With these considerations in mind, results of this present study need to be
interpreted cautiously.
Third, all of the instruments used in this study were based only on self-
report. The social desirability component may have affected the subjects'
levels of willingness to disclose their true feelings and thoughts. In addition,
these measures were not presented in counterbalanced order to alleviate order
effects. The most lengthy questionnaire (100-items) was presented as the last
one. Perhaps, the current results may have been influenced by administering
them in this order. Finally, for geographical convenience based on realistic
concerns, varied administrative settings were involved in conducting in this
study. The internal validity of this present study may have been affected by
this extraneous variable.
A summary of the hypotheses, instruments and statistical analyses for
this study is presented in Table 2.
75
Table 2.
Hypotheses, Instruments, and Statistical Analysis
Hypothesis
la. Unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids will have a higher
overall anxiety level than the other two groups
as measured by the Total Anxiety Score (TAS)
of the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety
Scales (RCMAS).
lb. Unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids will have higher (a)
physiological anxiety (b) worry/oversensitivity
anxiety and (c) social concerns/concentration
anxiety levels than the other two groups as
measured by the three sub-scales of the
RCMAS.
2a. Unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids will have a higher
overall distress level than the other two groups
as measured by the Global Severity Index
(GSI) of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI).
2b. Unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids will have higher levels
of (a) somatization (b) obsessive-compulsive
(c) interpersonal sensitivity (d) depression (e)
anxiety (f) hostility (g) phobic anxiety (h)
paranoid ideation and (i) psycholicism than the
other two groups as measured by the nine sub-
scales of the BSI.
3a. Unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids will have a lower
overall self-esteem level than the other two
groups as measured by the Total Positive Score
(TPS) of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale
(TSCS).
3b. Unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids will have lower levels of
(a) identity self (b) self-satisfaction (c)
behavior self (d) physical self (e) moral-ethical
self (f) personal self (g) family self and (h)
social self than the other two groups as
measured by the eight sub-scales of the TSCS.
Instrument
RCMAS
RCMAS
BSI
BSI
TSCS
TSCS
Variables
IV = three groups
DV = Total Anxiety
Score (TPS)
IV = three groups
DV = three
subscales of
the RCMAS
IV = three groups
DV = Global Severity
Index (GSI)
IV = three groups
DV = nine subscales
of the BSI
IV = three groups
DV = Total Positive
Score (TPS)
IV = three
groups
DV = eight
subscales of
the TSCS
Statistics
ANOVA
MANOVA
ANOVA
MANOVA
ANOVA
MANOVA
Note. RCMAS= Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale; BSI= Brief Symptom Inventory;
TSCS = Tennessee Self-Concept Scale; TAS = Total Anxiety Score; GSI = Global Severity
Index; TPS = Total Positive Score; IV = Independent Variable; DV = Dependent Variable.
76
CHAPTER III
RESULTS
This chapter presents the findings from the research questions and
hypotheses, the characteristics of the participants, and the non-hypothesized
findings in this study.
Research Findings
Research Question 1
To answer the first research question, whether unaccompanied
Taiwanese minors/parachute kids would have a higher level of anxiety than
American-born Chinese and/or accompanied immigrant Taiwanese
adolescents, two hypotheses were tested.
Hypothesis la
Hypothesis la suggested that unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids would have a higher overall anxiety level than the other
two groups as measured by the Total Anxiety Score (TAS) of the RCMAS.
To test this hypothesis, a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was
conducted to identify difference among the three groups.
77
Table 3.
Means and Standard Deviations for the Three Groups on TAS
Group I Group II Group III F (2,159)
Variable 05 = 55) (N = 63) (N = 44)
M SD M SD M SD
TAS 11.04
a
5.29 12.10
a
4.90 14.61
b
5.45 6.08**
Note. TAS = Total Anxiety Score, Group I = American-born Chinese, Group II =
Accompanied Immigrant Taiwanese Adolescents, Group III = Unaccompanied Taiwanese
Minors/Parachute Kids. Means with common superscripts are not significantly different at
the .05 level.
* p.< .05. ** p_< .01. *** p_< .001.
The results showed that three groups were significantly different on
total anxiety score, F (2,159) = 6.08, p. < .01. A post hoc procedure,
Scheffe, revealed that the anxiety level of unaccompanied Taiwanese minors
(M = 14.61) was significantly higher than the anxiety level of both American-
born-Chinese (M = 11.04) and accompanied immigrant Taiwanese
adolescents (M = 12.10) at the .05 level (see Table 3). Therefore, the
hypothesis that unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids had a
higher level of anxiety than American-born Chinese and/or accompanied
immigrant Taiwanese adolescents was accepted.
78
Hypothesis lb
Hypothesis lb suggested that unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids (Group III) would have higher (a) physiological
anxiety, (b) worry/oversensitivity anxiety and (c) social
concerns/concentration anxiety than American-born Chinese (Group I) and/or
accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents (Group II). To test this
hypothesis, a one-way Multivariate Analyses of Variances (MANOVA) was
used to examine the group difference on these measures.
Table 4.
Means and Standard Deviations for Scales of (a) Physiological Anxiety, (b) Worry/O versensitivity
Anxiety and (c) Social Concerns/Concentration Anxiety for the Three Groups
Variable
Physical
Worry
Social
Group I
(N = 55)
M
3.33
5.38°
2.33"
SD
1.69
2.97
1.70
Group II
(N = 63)
M SD
3.03 1.69
6.11"
b
2.53
2.95
ab
1.78
Group III
(N = 44)
M SD
3.86 2.08
7.30
b
3.23
3.45
b
1.41
F (2, 156)
2.87
4.95**
5.47**
Note. Physical = Physiological Anxiety Scale, Worry = Worry/Oversensitivity Scale, Social =
Social concerns/Concentration Scale; Group I = American Born Chinese, Group II = Accompanied
Immigrant Taiwanese Adolescents, Group III = Unaccompanied Taiwanese Minors/Parachute
Kids, M
=
Mean, SD = Standard Deviation, F = Univariate F-test Value. Means with common
superscripts are not significantly different at the .05 level.
*p_<.05. **p_<.01.***p_<.001.
79
Means and standard deviations of the tliree groups on (a) physiological
anxiety, (b) worry/oversensitivity anxiety and (c) social
concerns/concentration anxiety scales are presented in Table 4. The results
indicated a significant difference among the tliree groups on these variables,
Wilks's lambda = .83, F (2, 159) = 3.73, p < .001. The univariate F-tests
revealed significant group differences on both the worry/oversensitivity score,
F (2, 156) = 5.47, p < .01, and the social concerns/concentration score, F (2,
156) = 5.48, p < .01. Post hoc tests were then conducted on these two
variables.
The results of the post hoc procedure, Scheffe, revealed that among
these three groups, the unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids
(Group III) were significantly higher than the American-born Chinese
(Group I ) on both worry/oversensitivity anxiety score (M = 7.30 vs. M =
5.38) and social concerns/concentration anxiety score (M = 3.45 vs. M =
2.33) at the .05 level (see Table 4). That is, unaccompanied minors/parachute
kids had higher worry/oversensitivity score and social
concerns/concentration score than American-born Chinese. Therefore, the
80
hypothesis that unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids would have
higher (a) physiological anxiety (b) worry/oversensitivity anxiety and (c)
worry/oversensitivity anxiety levels than the other two groups as measured by
the three sub-scales of the RCMAS was partially accepted.
Research Question 2
Two hypotheses were designed to explore the second research
question, whether unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids
perceived their distress level to be higher than American-born Chinese and/or
accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescent.
Hypothesis 2a
Hypothesis 2a suggested that unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids would have a higher overall distress level than the
other two groups as measured by the Global Severity Index (GST) of the BSI.
To test this hypothesis, a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was
conducted.
The univariate F test results showed that three groups were
significantly different on GSI, F (2,159) = 4.29, p < .01 A post hoc
procedure, Scheffe, indicated that the distress level of the unaccompanied
81
Taiwanese minors/parachute kids (M = 1.05) was significantly higher than the
distress level of the accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents (M
=
.76) (see Table 5). Hypothesis 2a was therefore accepted.
Table 5.
Means and Standard Deviations for the Three Groups on GSI
Variable Group I Group II Group III F (2,159)
(N = 55) (N = 63) (N = 44)
GSI M SD M SD M SD
.85
ab
.44 .76
a
.46 1.05
b
.50 4.29**
Note. GSI = Global Severity Index, Group I = American-born Chinese, Group II =
Accompanied Immigrant Taiwanese Adolescents, Group III = Unaccompanied Taiwanese
Minors/Parachute Kids. Means with common superscripts are not significantly different at
the .05 level.
*p_<.05. **p_<.01.
Hypothesis 2b
Hypothesis 2b suggested that unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids would have higher levels of (a) somatization (b)
obsessive-compulsive (c) interpersonal sensitivity (d) depression (e) anxiety
(f) hostility (g) phobic anxiety (h) paranoid ideation and (i) psychoticism than
the other two groups as measured by the nine sub-scales of the BSI. To test
82
this hypothesis, a one-way Multivariate Analyses of Variances (MANOVA)
was used to examine the group difference on these measures.
Table 6 shows the means, standard deviations of each variable for the
three groups. The results of MANOVA indicated a significant difference
among the three groups on these symptomatological measures, Wilks's
lambda = .70,J: (2, 156) = 3.18, p < .001. The univariate F-tests revealed
that there were significant group differences in somatization, F (2, 156) =
3.28, p < .05), interpersonal sensitivity, F (2, 156) =3.35, p _ < .05, depression
symptomatology, F (2, 156) = 4.35, p < .01, anxiety symptomatology, F (2,
156) = 9.05, p < .001 and paranoid ideation, F (2,156) = 4.45, p < .01.
Therefore, post hoc univariate analyses of variance were conducted on
the following five significant sub-scales: somatization, interpersonal
sensitivity, depression, anxiety, and paranoid ideation. The results show that
Group III (M = .70, SD = .61) was significantly higher than Group I (M =
•43, SD = .47) on somatization symptomatology; Group IH(M= 1.14. SD =
.75) was significantly higher than Group II (M = .74, SD = .63) on depression
and; Group III (M =1.31, SD = .81) was significantly higher than Group II
(M = 92, SD = .62) on paranoid ideation. Also, Group III (M = 1 09, SD =
83
.83) was significantly higher than both Group I (M = 58, SD = .49) and
Group II (M = .67, SD = .61) on anxiety symptomatology. That is,
Table 6.
Means and Standard Deviations for Scales of Nine Symptomatological Measures for
Three Groups
Symptom
Dimension
SOM
OBS
INT
DEP
ANX
HOS
PHO
PAR
PSY
Group I
(N = 55)
M SD
.43
a
1.29
.99
,95
ab
.58
a
.92
.51
1.09
ab
.93
.47
.69
.82
.75
.49
.58
.58
.59
.60
Group II
(N = 63)
M SD
.48
ab
1.19
.94
.74
a
.67
a
.96
.56
.92
a
.67
.53
.66
.68
.63
.61
.75
.46
.62
.67
Group III
(N = 44)
M SD
.70
b
1.45
1.30
1.14
b
i.io
b
1.14
.77
1.30
b
.73
.61
.69
.82
.75
.83
.92
.70
.81
.69
F (2, 159)
F = 3.52*
F=1.97
F = 3.14*
F = 4.08**
F = 8.75***
F=1.22
F = 2.72
F = 4.31**
F = 2.47
Note. SOM = Somatization, OBS = Obsessive-compulsive, INT = Interpersonal
sensitivity, DEP = Depression, ANX = Anxiety, HOS = Hostility, PHO = Phobic anxiety,
PAR = Paranoid ideation, PSY = Psychoticism symptomatology; Group I = American-bom
Chinese, Group II = Accompanied Immigrant Taiwanese Adolescents, Group III = Unaccompanied
Taiwanese Minors/Parachute Kids, M = Mean, SD = Standard Deviation, F = Univariate F-test
Value. Means with common superscripts are not significantly different at the .05 level.
*E<.05. **p<.01 ***p_<.001.
84
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids showed more somatization
symptomatology than American-born Chinese; unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids showed more depression and paranoid ideation
symptomatology than accompanied Taiwanese immigrant adolescents; and
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids indicated more anxiety
symptomatology than both accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents
and American-born Chinese. Hypothesis 2b was therefore partially accepted.
Research Question 3
Two hypotheses were tested to answer the question if unaccompanied
Taiwanese minors/parachute kids perceived their self-esteem to be lower than
American-born Chinese and/or accompanied immigrant Taiwanese
adolescents.
Hypothesis 3a
Hypothesis 3a suggested that unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids would have a lower overall self-esteem level than the
other two groups as measured by the Total Positive Score (TPS) of the TSCS.
To test this hypothesis, a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was
performed to identify difference among groups on overall self-esteem scores.
85
The results showed that these tliree groups were not significantly different on
TPS, F (2,159) = .91, p. = .41 at the .05 level. Table 7 presents the means
and standard deviations of the three groups on TPS. Hypothesis 3a was
therefore rejected.
Table 7.
Means and Standard Deviations for the three Groups on TPS
Variable/Group Group I Group II Group III F(2, 159)
(N = 55) (N = 63) (N = 44)
M SD M SD M SD
TPS 313.93 29.59 320.39 35.29 313.18 27.39 .91
Note. TPS = Total Positive Score, Group I = American-born Chinese, Group II =
Accompanied Immigrant Taiwanese Adolescents, Group III = Unaccompanied Taiwanese
Minors/Parachute Kids.
*p_<.05. **p_<.01
Hypothesis 3b
Hypothesis 3b suggested that unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids would have lower levels of (a) identity self (b) self-
satisfaction (c) behavior self (d) physical self (e) moral-ethical self (f)
personal self (g) family and (h) social self than the other two groups as
measured by the eight sub-scales of the TSCS.
86
To test this hypothesis, a one-way Multivariate Analyses of Variance
(MANOVA) was conducted to examine the group difference on these
measures. In fact, because two subscales of TSCS were linearly dependent,
MANOVA was not performed. A Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA)
was used instead. The results of Discriminant Function Analysis indicated
that Wilks' lambda was .84 which was transformed into a chi square
Table 8.
Means and Standard Deviation of Eight Subscales of TSCS for Three Groups
VAR
SCI
SC2
SC3
SC4
SC5
SC6
SC7
SC8
Group I
(N = 55)
M SD
116.24
97.02
100.67
64.07
62.11
63.13
62.64
61.98
10.28
15.76
9.30
7.20
7.57
7.49
8.24
8.44
Group II
(N = 63)
M SD
117.32
98.87
104.19
66.65
62.51
63.06
64.65
63.51
14.88
11.32
13.33
8.63
8.73
8.28
9.51
7.81
Group III
(N = 44)
M SD
116.14
93.50
103.55
64.41
61.93
61.23
63.11
62.50
13.47
9.22
11.09
7.16
6.51
7.63
7.33
8.27
F
.14
2.39
1.50
1.90
.79
.91
.90
.54
Note. TSCS = Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, M = Mean, SD = Standard Deviation, VAR =
Variable, SCI = Self Identity, SC2 = Satisfaction Self, SC3 = Behavior Self, SC4 = Physical Self,
SC5 = Moral-Ethical Self, SC6 = Personal Self, SC7 = Family Self, SC8 = Social Self; Group I =
American-born Chinese, Group II = Accompanied Immigrant Taiwanese American, Group HI =
Unaccompanied Taiwanese Minors/Parachute Kids. M = Mean, SD = Standard Deviation, F =
Univariate F-test Value. * p. < .05. ** p_ < .01.
87
distribution to obtain a measure of significance. Chi square was 26.15 (p_ =
.096) which was non-significant at .05 level. The Eigenvalue was .13 and the
canonical correlation was .33. Since the overall discriminant analysis was not
significant, it was unnecessary to conduct a univariate F-test. Hypothesis 3b,
therefore, was rejected. Means and standard deviations of three groups on
the eight scales are shown in Table 8.
Summary of Research Questions Findings
In summary, findings o f the present study showed that unaccompanied
Taiwanese minors/parachute kids had a higher overall level of anxiety than
American-bom Chinese and accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents.
In addition, unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids had higher
worry/oversensitivity and social concerns/concentration scores than
American-born Chinese. Results from this study also indicated that
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids had a higher level of
distress than accompanied immigrant adolescents. Specifically,
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids showed more depression,
paranoid ideation and anxiety symptomatology than accompanied immigrant
88
adolescents while unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids showed
more somatization and anxiety symptomatology than American-born Chinese.
Although unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids had higher
anxiety and distress levels than the other two groups. Results suggested that
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids did not perceive their self-
esteem to be different than American-bom Chinese and/or accompanied
immigrant Taiwanese adolescents.
Non-Hypothesized Findings
Characteristics of the Parachute Kids
There were 44 unaccompanied minors/parachute kids who participated
in this study. The average age of this group was 16 years and they had been
in the United States an average of tliree and a half years. Geographically, all
of the respondents lived in southern California, 23% of them resided in the
city of Los Angeles, 18% lived in the city of West Covina, 13 % lived in
Torrance and the remaining participants were distributed in 20 other cities in
the LA metropolitan area. Most of the minors lived with relatives (71%),
some lived with guardians (20%) and the remainder lived by themselves
(9%). The social economic class of this population appears to be primarily
89
upper/middle class, based on father's occupation. The top three stated
occupations for fathers were: businessmen (52%), doctors (21%), and
government officials (5%); and for the mothers: homemakers (36%),
businesswomen (30%), and teachers (9%). The majority of this group spent
less than three months annually with their father (66%) and their mother
(59%). Only about 2% of this group spent more than six months annually
with either one of their parents. Some unaccompanied minors have not seen
their father (22%) or mother (7%) at all since they came to the U.S.
(excluding those deceased). In terms of the emotional support system for this
population, most of the minors relied on their friends (64%) and relatives
(23%); none of them reported that they asked for emotional help from thei r
parents when they were in distress. The majority (57%) of this population
had been informed by their parents less than three months before their
migration to the states; only 11% were given a year's notice prior to their
move to the United States (see Table 9).
Demographic Characteristics of the Three Groups
Information on the demographic characteristics of all three study
groups is presented in Table 9. This table shows that for Group I, American-
90
born Chinese, 90% live with both parents and 9% live with a single parent.
For Group II, immigrant Taiwanese adolescents, 49% live with both parents
and 51% live with a single parent. A chi-square analysis revealed the
difference in living arrangement and status among the three groups was
significant, chi-square (8, N = 162) = 194.57, p _ < .001. Also, a separate chi-
square analysis between the accompanied Taiwanese immigrant adolescents
and unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids was found to be
significant, chi-square (4, N = 107) = 107.00, p < .001 (see Table 10).
In terms of the participants' primary resources for emotional support:
46% in Group I, relied on their parents and 45% sought help from their
friends; in Group II, 48% relied on their parents and 30% sought help from
their friends. A chi-square analysis revealed the difference in support
resources among the three groups to be significant, chi-square (20, N = 164)
= 58.84, p < .001. A significant difference was also observed between the
two immigrant groups, chi-square (10, N = 107) =39.44, p < .001.
In responding to their overall happiness: 97% of American-born
Chinese said they are happy compared to 67% of accompanied immigrant
Taiwanese adolescents and 40% of the unaccompanied minors/parachute
91
kids. Chi-square analyses showed that these differences were significant
among tliree groups, chi-square (4, N = 162) = 39.54, p _ < .001, as well as
between the two immigrant groups, chi-square (2, N = 107) =13.78, p < .001.
For accompanied immigrant adolescents (Group II), the average length
of time in the United States has been four years and for unaccompanied
Taiwanese minors/parachute kids (Group III) the average length of time in the
U.S. was three and a half years. A chi-square analysis revealed this
difference to be significant, chi-square (10, N = 107) = 29.72, p < .001. In
terms of the reasons for coming to the United States, in both Group II and
Group III, the majority (82%) stated they came to the United States for a
better education, and small portion (6%) came for a better living environment.
The majority of both groups (69%) were informed by their parents within
tliree months of their departure for the United States, some (6%)of them were
told more than a year in advance. Chi-square analyses showed that these
differences (reason & notification date) were not significant between the two
immigrant groups (g = .27 and p = .20).
Also, in responding to whether they would send their children to the
United States if they were the parents: 71% of Group II subjects responded
92
"yes", 10% responded "no", and 20% responded "unsure"; of the
unaccompanied minors/parachute kids, 55% responded "yes", 16%
responded "no", and 30% responded "unsure" to this same question. A chi-
square analysis revealed this difference was not significant, chi-square (2, N =
107) = 3.46,
E
=.17 .
93
Table 9.
Frequency Analyses of Demographic Characteristics of the Three Groups
Demographic
Characteristic
Sex
Male
Female
Age
10-12
13-15
16-18
Birthplace
U.S.A
Taiwan
Length in the U.S.
1-3 years
4-6 years
7-9 years
more than 10 years
Resident Area
N. Cal.
S. Cal.
School Year
grade 6-9
grade 10-12
college
Father's Occupation
Businessman
Doctor
Engineer
Others
Mother's Occupation
Business woman
Engineer
Homemaker
Others
Living
Arrangement/Status
With both parents
With one parent
With relatives
With guardians
Alone
(
jroupl
American-bom Chinese
N
32
23
5
28
22
55
0
0
0
0
55
12
43
20
34
1
20
6
10
19
17
4
19
15
50
5
0
0
0
N=55
%
(58.2)
(42.8)
(9.1)
(50.9)
(40.0)
(100.0)
( 0.0)
( 0.0)
( 0.0)
( 0.0)
(100.0)
(21.8)
(78.2)
(36.4)
(61.8)
( 1-8)
(16.4)
(10.9)
(18.1)
(34.6)
(30.9)
(7.2)
(34.5)
(27.4)
(90.0)
(9.0)
(0.0)
(0.0)
(0.0)
Group II
Accompanied Immigrant
Taiwanese Adolescents
N=
N
35
28
7
26
30
0
63
27
27
9
0
11
52
29
33
1
24
3
5
31
10
3
33
17
31
32
0
0
0
•63
%
(55.6)
(44.4)
(11.1)
(41.2)
(47.6)
( 0.0)
(100.0)
(42.9)
(42.8)
(14.3)
(0.0)
(17.5)
(82.5)
(46.0)
(52.4)
(1.6)
(38.1)
(4.8)
(7.9)
(49.2)
(15.9)
(4.8)
(52.4)
(26.9)
(49.2)
(50.8)
(0.0)
(0.0)
(0.0)
Group III
Unaccompanied minors/
Parachute kids
N=
N
22
22
1
9
34
0
44
26
16
1
0
0
44
11
31
2
23
9
1
11
13
0
16
15
0
0
31
9
4
=44
%
(50.0)
(50.0)
(2.3)
(20.5)
(77.2)
( 0.0)
(100.0)
(57.1)
(27.3)
(2.3)
(0.0)
( 0.0)
(100.0)
(25.0)
(70.4)
(4.5)
(52.3)
(20.5)
(2.3)
(24.9)
(29.5)
( 0.0)
(36.4)
(35.1)
(0.0)
(0.0)
(70.5)
(20.4)
(9.1)
Table 9. continued
Group I Group II Group III
Amcncan-born Chinese Accompanied Immigrant Unaccompanied minors/
Taiwanese Adolescents Parachute kids
Demographic N=55 N=63 N=44
Characteristic
%
T-W Father
per year
None 1 (18)
1-3 months 1 (18)
4-6 months 2 (3 6)
7-9 months 0 (0 0)
10-12 months 51 (92 7)
T-V V Mother
per year
None 0 (0 0)
1-3 months 0 (0 0)
4-6 months 0 (0 0)
8-9 months 1 (18)
10-12 monllis 54 (98 2)
Support Resource
Parcnt(s) 25 (45 5)
Relatives 2 (3 6)
Friends 25 (45 4)
Others 0 (0 0)
No body 3 (5 5)
Overall Happiness
in U.S.
Yes 53 (96 4)
No 1(18)
Unsure 1 (18)
Informed date
prior to coming to U.S.
Not at all
1-3 months
4-6 months
7-12 months
> 12 months
Unsure
Reasons to come
to U.S.
Education
Living quality
Job relocation
Unsure(forget)
Projective choice:
Yes
No
Unsure
2
22
4
2
33
1
0
0
0
62
30
10
19
1
3
48
3
12
2
36
0
0
19
6
46
9
5
3
45
5
13
(32)
(34 9)
(64)
(32)
(52 4)
(16)
(00)
( 00)
(0 0)
(98 4)
(47 7)
(15 9)
(30 2)
(16)
(48)
(76 2)
(48)
(19 0)
(3 2)
(571)
(00)
(00)
(30 2)
(95)
(73 0)
(14 3)
(79)
(48)
(714)
(79)
(20 6)
10
29
5
0
0
3
26
14
1
0
0
10
28
2
4
18
4
22
5
20
4
8
5
2
38
3
1
2
24
7
13
(22 7)
(65 9)
(113)
(00)
(0 0)
(6 8)
(59 1)
(318)
(23)
(0 0)
(0 0)
(22 7)
(63 6)
(47)
(9 0)
(40 9)
(9 1)
(50 1)
(114)
(45 5)
(9 1)
(18 2)
(114)
(45)
(86 4)
(6 8)
(23)
(45)
(54 5)
(15 9)
(29 5)
95
Table 10.
Chi-square Analysis on Demographic Characteristics of Tliree Groups
Gender
Age
Birthplace
Time in U.S.
Resident Area
School Year
Father's Occup.
Mother's Occup.
Living Status
Time Spent with F.
Time Spent with M
Support
Happy
Informed Date
Reason
Imagined Choice
Comparison Among
Chi-sauare DF
.67
27.21
157.68
201.11
123.67
20.15
58.81
61.66
194.57
92.76
153.82
58.84
39.54
2
16
2
34
54
18
42
40
8
8
8
20
4
Three Groups
E
.71
.04
.00
.00
.00
.32
.44
.02
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
Comparison Between Groups
Chi-sauarc DF
.32
14.81
1.45
29.72
42.35
12.41
26.85
28.45
107.00
39.27
100.96
39.44
13.78
14.63
6.31
3.46
1
8
1
10
20
9
17
16
4
4
4
10
2
11
5
2
II & III
E
.57
.63
.23
.00
.03
.19
.06
.03
.00
.00
.00
.00
.00
.20
.28
.17
Note. Group I = American-born Chinese, Group II = Accompanied Immigrant Taiwanese Adolescents; Group III =
Unaccompanied Taiwanese Minors/Parachute Kids; Father Occup. = Father's Occupation; Mother Occup. = Mother's
Occupation; Living Status = Living Arrangement; Time Spent with F = Time Spent with Father Per Year, Time Spent
with M. = Time Spent with Mother Per Year; Support = Emotional Support Resource; I lappy = Overall Happiness
in the U.S.
96
Correlations Among Dependent Measures
Table 11 shows the between-scale correlations of the three research
scales: the RCMAS, the BSI and the TSCS. The total anxiety score (TAS) of
the RCMAS is significantly positively correlated with the Global Severity Index
(GSI) score on the BSI (r = .64,_p < .001) and significantly negatively correlated
with the total positive score (TPS) on the TSCS (r = .53, p < .001). The total
positive score is significantly negatively correlated with the global severity
index score (r = .63, g < .001). That is, the higher the level of anxiety, the
greater the global severity index and the lower of the self-concept; the higher
the self-concept score the lower the global severity index score. Within-scale
intercorrelations of the three research scales were also examined, on the
RCMAS. The physiological anxiety score is significantly positively correlated
with both worry/oversensitivity (r_= .51,_p_ < .001) and social
concerns/concentration scores (r = .41, p < .001); and the worry/oversensitivity
score is significantly positively correlated with the social
concerns/concentration score (r = .52, p < .001). On the BSI, all the subscales
are positively correlated with a range of .30 to .67 (p < .01 or p < .001). On the
TSCS, all the subscales are positively correlated with a range of .36 to .76 (p <
.001).
97
Table 11.
Correlation Matrix of RCMAS, BSI and TSCS Variables
VAR. 1 2 3 4 5
Revised Children' s Manifest Anxiety Scale
1.
2.
3.
4.
ANXT
PHYA
WOR
soc
1.00
.76**
.90**
.75**
1.00
.51**
.41**
1.00
.52**
Tennessee Self-Concept Scale
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Brief
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
POSI
SCI
SC2
SC3
SC4
SC5
SC6
SC7
see
-.53**
-.52**
-.26**
-.56**
-.28**
-.48**
-.51**
-.45**
-.39**
-.43**
-.50**
-.19
-.40**
-.26**
-.34**
-.42**
-.26**
-.40**
Synptom Inventory
GS1
SOM
OBS
INT
DEP
ANX
HOS
PHO
PAR
PSY
.64**
.44**
.53**
.59**
.55**
.55**
.34**
.44**
.49**
.40**
.51**
.45**
.41**
.36**
.39**
.43**
.33**
.32**
.37**
.30**
-.36**
-.36**
-.19
-.42**
-.lb
-.30**
-.33"*
-.35**
-.24*
.54**
.35**
.43**
.55**
.50**
.52**
. 22*
.40**
.40**
.32**
1.00
-.58**
-.46**
-.29**
-.60**
-.32**
-.60**
-.56**
-.50**
-.39**
.50**
.27**
.46**
.49**
.41**
.35**
.34**
.31**
.43**
.37**
1.00
.80**
.71**
.86**
.75**
.80**
.88**
.81**
.84**
-.63**
-.41**
-.59**
-.58**
-.56**
-.38**
-.47**
-.36**
-.46*
-.50**
6
1.00
.36**
.71**
.50**
.59**
.72**
.66**
.65**
-.59**
-.43**
-.57**
-.48**
-.59**
-.39**
-.38**
-.31**
-.40**
-.46**
7
1.00
.50**
.48**
.45**
.55**
.59**
.65**
-.37**
-.26**
-.31**
-.34**
-.22*
-.21*
-.33**
-.23*
-.26**
-.32**
8
1.00
.51**
.66**
.76**
.73**
.69**
-.61**
-.35**
-.59**
-.58**
-.58**
-.39**
-.47**
-.38**
-.45**
-.46**
9
1.00
.42**
.68**
.58**
.64**
-.44**
-.29**
-.39**
-.39**
-.41**
-.26**
-.34**
-.17
-.40**
-.35**
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
10
.00
.72**
.63**
.67**
.45**
.25*
.45**
.45**
.40**
.24*
.31**
.33**
.29**
.37**
11
1.00
.55**
.66**
-.51**
-.38**
-.48**
-.47**
-.47**
-.29**
-.38**
-.29**
-.37**
-.38**
12
1.00
.50**
-.56**
-.33**
-.56**
-.56**
-.52**
-.39**
-.32**
-.35**
-.37**
-.50**
13
1.00
-.51**
-.31**
-.45**
-.41**
-.42-*
-.28**
-.50**
-.28**
-.42**
-.37**
14
1.00
.68**
.83**
.7C**
.79**
.84**
.62**
.73**
.76- -
.75**
l
.Ull
. 5n
, /\
. 4 J
b5
.3M
. 5.
.3
Note. RCMAS - Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, BSI = Brief Symptom inventory, TSCS =• Tennessee Self-Ccnc
3
!
VAR = Variable,ANXT = Anxiety Total Score,was used as a measure of anxiety level, PHYA = Physiological An lety Sral",
SOC = Social concerns/Concentration Scale, POSI = Total Positive Score, was used as a measure of self-concept, Sr\ ~
SCZ " Satisfaction Self, SC3 =* Behavior Self, SC4 = Physical Self, SC5 = Moral-Ethical Self, SC6 = Personal Self, S
r
7
SC8 = Social Self, GSI =• Global Severity Index, was used as a measure of symp^tamology, SOM = Somatization,
OBS = Obsessive-compulsive, INT - Interpersonal Sensitivity, DEP = Depression, ANX = Anxiety, HOS «« Hostility, PHO -
PAR = Paranoid Ideation, FSY = Psychoticism Symptomatology.
* £ < .01, *+ p < .001.

97
19 20 21
1.00
.50**
.48**
.45**
.55**
.59**
.65**
-.37* *
-.26* *
-.31* *
-.34* *
-.22 *
-.21 *
-.33* *
-.23 *
-.26* *
-.32* *
1.00
.51* *
.66**
.76**
.73**
.69**
-.61* *
-.35* *
-.59* *
-.58* *
-.58* *
-.39* *
-.47* *
-.38* *
-.45* *
-.46* *
1.00
.42**
.68**
.58**
.64**
-.44* *
-.29* *
-.39* *
-.39* *
-.41* *
-.26* *
-.34**
-.1 7
-.40* *
-.35* *
1.00
.72**
.63**
.67**
-.45* *
-.25 *
-.45* *
-.45* *
-.40* *
-.24 *
-.31* *
-.33* *
-.29* *
-.37* *
1.00
.55**
.66**
-.51* *
-.38* *
-.48* *
-.47* *
-.47* *
-.29* *
-.38* *
-.29* *
-.37* *
-.38* *
1.00
.50**
-.56* *
-.33* *
-.56* *
-.56* *
-.52* *
-.39* *
-.32* *
-.35* *
-.37* *
-.50* *
1.00
-.51* *
-.31* *
-.45* *
-.41* *
-.42* *
-.28* *
-.50**
-.28* *
-.42* *
-.37* *
1.00
.68** :
.83**
.76**
.79**
.84**
.62**
.73**
.76**
.75**
1.00
.50**
.42**
.42**
.65**
.30**
.51* *
.37**
.42**
1.00
.61* * :
.67**
.63**
.49**
.58**
.52**
.58**
1.00
.64*-
.61*"
.41* -
.49*-
.60**
.52*'
1.00
.53**
.39**
.50**
.57**
.56**
1.00
.42**
.67**
.59**
.58**
1.00
.24*
.52**
.39**
1.00
.50**
.57**
1.00
.49** 1.00
e, BSI - Brief Symptom Inventory, TSCS = Tennessee Self-Concept Scale,
i measure of anxiety level, PHYA = Physiological Anxiety Scale, WOR =
i
Worry/Ov
r
-rsensitivity Scale,
Positive Score, was used as a measure of self-concept, SCI = Self Identity,
'sical Self, SC5 = Moral-Ethical Self, SC6 = Personal Self, SC7 - Family Self,
d as a measure of sympotamology, SOM = Somatization,
vity, DEP = Depression, ANX - Anxiety, HOS = Hostility, PHO = Phobic Anxiety,
ogy.

98
CHAPTER IV
DISCUSSION
An individual's self identity emerges during the adolescent period,
often considered the most important stage in one's personality development.
Positive parental emotional support and role models significantly enhance the
constructive development of a young adult. The family institution has been
proposed as the transformation platform for adolescents' eventual
development/growth into maturity.
Removing adolescents from thei r families and familiar environments
(e.g., language, culture, friends, schoo l yard, and etc.), and placing them in an
alien country inevitably disrupts their lives and separates them from thei r
normal developmental processes and experiences. The lack of parental
supervision and guidance in a new country further reduces an adolescent's
sense of security and self-awareness. The present study, of the
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids in the United States,
provides a practical study of a population that must collectively endure both
immigration adjustments as well as adolescent development crises.
99
Current studies on this topic are limited and insubstantial. With this
concern in mind, this research was designed to examine: (a) the general
psychological well-being of unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute
kids, and (b) the characteristics of unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids. Hopefully, the results of this investigation will shed
some light on the needs of unaccompanied Taiwanese minors, as well as
immigrant adolescents from other countries.
Summary of Research Findings
This research investigated the psychological well-being of
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids in the United States. The
focus was to examine any differences in self-perceived overall psychological
well-being among American-born Chinese, accompanied immigrant
Taiwanese adolescents, and unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachutes
kids.
Hypothesis la was supported by findings which indicated that the
overall anxiety level of unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids was
significantly higher than the anxiety level of both American-born Chinese and
accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents.
Hypothesis lb was partially supported by this study. The findings
showed that unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids have higher
worry/oversensitivity and social concerns/concentration anxiety levels than
American-born Chinese. Although a significant difference between
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids and accompanied
immigrant Taiwanese adolescents was not found, there was a noticeable
difference among these three groups. That is, unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids had the highest worry/oversensitivity and social
concerns/concentration anxiety levels, and American-bom Chinese had the
lowest worry/oversensitivity and social concern/concentration anxiety levels
among the three groups.
Hypothesis 2a was supported by findings that unaccompanied
Taiwanese minors/parachute kids had a higher distress level than
accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents. Again, unaccompanied
Taiwanese minors/parachute kids had the highest distress level among the
three groups.
Hypothesis 2b was partially supported by the findings. Results
revealed the unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids had higher
101
somatization and anxiety symptomatology than American-born Chinese;
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids had higher depression,
paranoid ideation and anxiety symptomatology than accompanied immigrant
Taiwanese adolescents. Although other distress symptomatology dimensions
(obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, phobic anxiety and
psychoticism) were not statistically significantly different among the three
groups, unaccompanied Taiwanese minors'/parachute kids' average scores in
those dimensions were the highest among the three groups.
Hypothesis 3a, which examined the difference between the
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids and the other two groups in
their overall level of self-esteem, was not supported by the findings.
Hypothesis 3b, which examined the difference of the internal and external
dimensions of self-concept among the three groups, showed that
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors'/parachute kids' internal and external self-
concept were not different from the American-bom Chinese and accompanied
immigrant Taiwanese adolescents. Therefore, hypotheses 3a and 3b were not
supported by the present study.
102
Level and Nature of Anxiety
The findings showed that among these three groups of adolescents,
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids displayed a higher level of
anxiety than American-born Chinese and accompanied immigrant Taiwanese
adolescents. Two specific natures of anxiety experienced by the adolescents
are worry/oversensitivity and social concerns/concentration. According to
Reynolds and Richmond (1992), worry/oversensitivity anxiety refers to
person who is afraid, nervous, or in some manner oversensitive to
environmental pressures. The measure of social concerns/concentration
anxiety represents a concern about self vis-a-vis other people, or an
expression of difficulty in concentrating. High scores on the former suggest a
person who internalizes much of the anxiety experienced and thus may be
overburdened with trying to relieve this anxiety. A high score on the latter
suggests that the person is unable to live up to the expectations of other
significant individuals in his/her life. This person's major concern appears to
be certain anxiety-related feelings, such as, he/she is not as good, effective, or
capable as others.
103
Both accompanied and unaccompanied immigrant adolescents
experience inevitable physiological, psychological, social, environmental, and
cultural transitions. Meanwhile, they undergo some adjustment difficulties,
culture shocks, language barriers, and discrimination during the process of
acculturation. Although, American-born Chinese do not encounter some of
the above-mentioned experiences, the bicultural struggle and dilemma remain
an on-going process for many of them. The present findings suggest that
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids exhibit a higher level of
worry/sensitivity and social concerns/concentration anxiety than the other two
groups of adolescents. It brings to attention the sources of the different
levels of anxiety among these three groups. The literature supports the idea
that anxiety is not uncommonly shared by immigrants in general; however,
little information about the within-group differences has been provided.
Level and Nature of Distress
The findings show that among these three groups of adolescents,
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids displayed the highest level
of distress . Four significant symptomatology dimensions of distress were
manifested by parachute kids: somatization, depression, anxiety and paranoid
ideation. According to Derogatis (1993), the symptoms of somatization
reflected distress arising from perception s of bodily dysfunctions or somatic
equivalents of anxiety; the symptom of depression reflected a representative
range for the indications of clinical depression; the symptoms of anxiety
included nervousness, tension, feelings of apprehension and terror; the
paranoid ideation dimension represented paranoid behaviors and thoughts,
such as, suspiciousness, grandiosity, fear of loss of autonomy, etc. (Swanson,
Bohnert, & Smith, 1970).
There is evidence that immigration is accompanied by challenge, stress
and increased risk of emotional distress (Berry, Kim, Minde, & Mok, 1987).
Studies indicated that in the processes of adjustment and of acculturation,
immigrants often experience intense feelings of loneliness, alienation and
desocialization (Felsman et. al., 1990; Wong-Rieger & Quintana, 1987; Yao,
1985). Physical complaints and manifestations have been documented as a
common indication of emotional disturbance, especially in people who came
from Asia (Bokan & Cambell, 1984; Crystal, 1987; Hartman, Askounis,
1989; Kleinman, 1977; Marsella, Kinzie & Gordon, 1973; Nguyen, 1985;
White, 1982).
105
Emotional disturbance in adolescence has been widely studied. These
previous studies of emotional disturbance in adolescence (e.g., Baron &
MacgiUivray, 1989; Clark-Lempers, Lempers, & Netusil, 1990; Ehrenberg,
Cox & Koopman, 1990; Ingersoll & Orr, 1989; Jaffa & Dazery, 1989; Power,
Hauser, & Kilner, 1989; Rierdan, Koff & Stubbs, 1989) support the present
findings on the emotional problems of the unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids. The present study not only revealed the distress
dimensions of these unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids, but
also detected different levels of severity among the three groups of
adolescents. This finding could be an avenue for further exploration and
research on what causes these differences among the three groups of
adolescents and/or between the two immigrant Taiwanese adolescents and
their psychological well-being.
Level and Nature of Self-Concept
This study revealed that self-perceived self-esteem was not different
among the three groups. Additionally, neither the internal aspects of self-
concept (identity, self-satisfaction & behavior), nor the external aspects of
self-concept (physical, moral-ethical, personal family and social), were
different among the three groups. These findings need to be interpreted
cautiously because of the complexity of the construct of self-concept. In this
study, the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS) was used to measure the
overall self-esteem and the varied dimensions of self concept. According to
the author of the TSCS, "self concept is a central and critical variable in
human behavior and that an adequate measure of the self concept should
contribute to the criterion problem in behavioral science ... the measurement
problem in self concept research was critical." (Fitts, 1972)
The TSCS was designed to provide a multidimensional description of
the self concept (Fitts, 1965). The fact that many of the TSCS scales are
highly correlated with each other is due to the use of items which have a high
degree of social desirability. Some studies have failed to support the
multidimensional nature of the TSCS. A critique of this instrument is that it
measures only two or three dimensions (Bentler, 1972). Although strong
support exists for the validity and reliability of the total score of TSCS, the
evidence is less convincing about the dimensionality of the TSCS.
Due to this limitation of the TSCS, other interpretations of the survey
results are conceivable. Although, unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids have the highest anxiety and distress level among the
three groups of adolescents, their self-esteem and self-concept are not
different from the other two groups. This finding suggests that although
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids do experience some
emotional disturbance, their self-esteem and self-concept are not affected.
The correlation analysis perfonned in the study revealed that self-esteem was
highly correlated with anxiety and with the distress level. This provokes
some speculations regarding this outcome.
First, unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute minors may have
had higher self-esteem or self-concept before they immigrated to the United
States, and it subsequently declined to approroximately the levels of the other
two groups. It should be noted that numerous factors contribute to the
development of a positive self-concept and high self-esteem.
Second, studies have shown that, the effects of social economic class
and the quality of parent-adolescent relationship are clearly important factors
for adolescent self-esteem (Demo, Small, & Savin-Williams, 1987; Hoelter &
Harper, 1987). Perhaps, because unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids come from a higher social and/or economic class and
108
have good relationships with their parents, their self-esteem and self-concept
is not lower than the others.
Third, according to Erikson (1959), identity formation is the major task
in adolescence. American-born Chinese experience a different kind of
identity crisis because of the bicultural issues they must confront. This may
also contribute to their self-esteem and overall self-concept. Further research
is necessary to understand the meaning of self-concept in different cultures.
Summary of Non-Hypothesized Findings
Characteristics of the Parachute Kids
The characteristics of the unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute
kids who participated in this research revealed that the majority were from the
upper or upper-middle class families in Taiwan. Most of them lived with
relatives (extended family members and siblings) in the United States,
although a few of them lived alone. Most of the minors spent less than three
months annually with their parents, although there were some who had not
seen their fathers at all since they arrived in the United States. Friends were
the major support resource for these minors.
None of these parachute kids reported that they had asked for help
from their parents when they needed emotional support. In general, their
parents gave them less than three months notice about migrating to the United
States; however, several were informed a year before their departure. The
majority of these minors believed the primary reason that their parents sent
them to the Unites States was for educational purposes. Less than half of
them said that they are happy in the United States. Similarity, 50% of the
parachute kids, imagining themselves as a parents, stated they would send
their children to the United States, just as their parents sent them.
Family Background
Some findings of this study are consistent with earlier research, for
example, the social economic class (SEC) of unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors'/parachute kids' family (Hamilton, 1993; Hwang & Watanabe, 1990;
Kuo, 1991), the living arrangement/status (Cheng, 1991; Hamilton, 1993;
Hwang & Watanabe, 1990; Kuo, 1991; Lin, 1992) and support resources
(Hwang & Watanabe, 1990; Kuo, 1991). It is logical and easy to understand
the necessity of having a secure and strong financial background because of
the vast expense involved in maintaining two households, in two different,
110
and distant countries, one in the homeland and one abroad. The SEC of the
family also appears to be related to the desire of these parents to send their
children abroad. Earlier findings (Hwang & Watanabe, 1990; Kuo, 1991;
Lin, 1992; Lu, 1986) reported that the major reasons these parents sendt their
children abroad to study were: evasion of mandatory military service;
avoidance of the competitiveness of college entrance exams; concern about
the insecure and unstable political atmosphere; anticipation of better living
quality in the United States and the desire to obtain American citizenship.
Even the wealthiest Taiwanese would not be able to completely and
satisfactorily resolve these concerns; the only alternative is to get their
children out of the country.
These minors are under high risk of exposure to potential dangers when
they live alone, have money, and are without parental supervision. This study
indicated that at least some of the unaccompanied minors live by themselves;
earlier reports suggested that some parents simply bought a house for them to
live in and provided generous monthly allowances for their support (Fu, 1994;
Hamilton, 1993). Although this research did not investigate the actual or
potential dangers inherent when adolescents live by themselves, most of these
Ill
are self-evident. During individual survey contacts, some of these
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids shared their frustration
about being taken advantage of by their friends.
Some research subjects from th e other two groups (American-born
Chinese and accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents) also shared
certain perceptions of unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids:
"They are rich and spoiled." "They use money to buy friendship." Durin g the
process of data-collecting, the author encountered barriers in approaching this
population because they were told by their parents not to reveal their "status"
or their parents' professions. Although the validity of these casual
conversations and personal experiences may be disputable, the underlying
implications are recognized as worthy of further exploration and
investigation.
Emotional Support
Friends were the primary support resource for unaccompanied
Taiwanese minors'/parachute kids' in this study. This is consistent with other
research conducted on this special population (Hwang & Watanabe, 1990;
Kuo, 1991), and is supported by social learning theory (Bandura, 1973;
112
Bandura & Walters, 1963; Havighurst, 1972). The need for close friends
becomes crucial during adolescence (Yarcheski & Mahon, 1984). During
adolescence, sexual maturation arouses new feelings, the need for emotional
fulfillment and for emotional independence and freedom from parents .
Adolescents usually turn to their peers, who are in the same position as
themselves to find the support formerly provided by their families (Frankel,
1990; Sebald, 1986). Although friendship become s the primary support
system during adolescence, the family actually serves as a very important
role-model in helping adolescents learn how to form close friendships. There
is a significant correlation between relationships with parents and
adolescents' social adjustments (Bell & Cornwell, 1988; McCombs,
Forehand & Smith, 1988).
In this study, none of the unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute
kids reported that they relied on their parents for the emotional support they
needed. Reasons for this might include: the age-appropriate trend;
geographic convenience of the support system; or, perhaps, the potential
emotional distance created by the actual physical distance. Noteworthy is
the impact of the last speculation. The potential emotional distance created
113
by physical distance could have an effect on these adolescents' psychosocial
adjustments and longitudinal parent/child relationships.
Time Spent with Parents
Earlier reports provided vague time frames tha t unaccompanied
Taiwanese minors actually spend with their parents. For example, "parents
generally spent few weeks to few months with their children" (Cheng, 1991);
"The amount of contact with families of origin in Taiwan was variable, from a
quarterly visit to only minimal contact." (Hwang & Watanabe, 1990)
A clear sense of how much time these minors actually spend with their
parents may help us to better understand their lifestyle, relationship with their
parents and the impact of limited parental contact during this crucial
developmental stage. Numerous studies showed that parents are listed as the
most significant adults in the lives of adolescents (Blyth et al. 1982; Galbo,
1983; Winch & Gordon, 1974), and are extremely important as role models
for adolescents' social adjustment and development (Bell & Cornwell, 1988;
McCombs, Forehand & Smith, 1988). Unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids experience multiple life transitions, physical, social,
psychological and cultural. The lack of parental presence and/or guidance
114
intensifies the stress that is already experienced as a result of the
developmental and other changes of adolescence (Brown, Powell & Earls,
1989; Daniels & Moos, 1990).
Happiness and Imagined Choice
Less than half of the unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids
in the present study stated they were happy in the United States although that
number doubled for accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents who
were asked the same question. Kuo's (1991) survey reported a similar result:
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids were less satisfied with
their status quo in the United States than the accompanied immigrant
Taiwanese adolescents. Despite problems in defining the exact meaning of
the constmct "happiness" and the consequent usefulness of this information,
these data are congruent with other findings in describing parachute kids,
such as the increased level of anxiety and distress among the population.
When asked to make an imagined choice about whether or not they
would send their own children to the U.S., those who were happy in the
United States, said they would choose to send their children to the U.S.
More accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents in the present study
115
than unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids were positive in their
responses about their imagined decisions. Other researchers also found that
many of the unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids would rather
have stayed in Taiwan (Kuo, 1991). Although the exact meaning and
sources of their unhappiness are unknown, and although they were asked to
make a hypothetical decision about whether to send their own children to the
U.S., the congruence of these findings implied that there is a need for further
assessment and exploration.
Notification of Immigration Plan
A large number of unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids
were told by their parents less than tliree months before their migration to the
United States. Some minors were never informed by their parents about their
departure. Anecdotal information, based on press and news reports, has
suggested some of the reasons for short notification and hideaway plans. One
reason: because their children were subject to mandatory military service,
parents kept the migration plan secret.
In 1990, the Taiwanese government changed its policy and began to
issue separate passports for minors. Previously, youngsters who were under
116
the age of 18 shared the passport with their parents when they traveled
overseas. This new policy was established to prevent young boys from
running away to avoid the mandatory military service policy. This policy did
not, however, stop parents from sendin g their youngsters abroad. Instead, it
forced the minors to become illegal residents in a foreign land, because many
of them had came to the United States as tourists or visitors. When their
parents returned to Taiwan, these unaccompanied minors lost their "legal
identity" (i.e. their passport) because they were here before the new policy
was implemented. Consequently, unaccompanied Taiwanese
minors/parachute kids were in double jeopardy: they could not go home and
they were under the fear of deportation (Fu, 1994, Lin, 1992; Olsen, 1988).
Concern about the political climate in Taiwan was another possible
reason for parents to avoid revealing their migration plan prematurely. No
matter what the real reasons are for the late notifications or concealment, the
impact on these adolescents might be considerable. Two studies of
psychiatric disorder in younger children found acute disorders to be
consistently associated with disrupted upbringing and separation experiences,
some of which were the direct consequences of migration (Graham &
117
Meadows, 1967; Nicole, 1971). To have these experiences without a
significant amount of preparation and explanation, could probably exacerbate
the consequences.
Although a counter-arguement by Kantor (1969) and Verdonk (1982)
postulated that immigration, per se, does not precipitate the development of
mental illness or generate psychiatric vulnerability, immigrant groups still
appear to be under greater risk for the development of emotional disturbance
(Berry, Kim, Minde & Mok, 1987; Furnham & Bochner, 1986).
Unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids undergo multiple losses
when they move from a familiar to a totally different environment and culture.
Psychological readiness, in terms of earlier preparation and explanation of the
reason(s) for migration, may be useful in helping these minors adjust to a new
environment and adapt to a new culture. There has been no research
reported, other than the present study, on this concern.
Characteristics of Comparison Groups
Accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents (Group II) included
students from varied backgrounds. A number were single-parent families
(parents divorced or separated), while others were split-household families
118
(mother resides with her children and father stays in Taiwan). The majority,
however, were "traditional" families (both parents stayed with their children
in the U.S.). The exact marital status of the subjects' parents was unknown,
so it is assumed that the time these adolescents spent with their fathers varied.
A commonality of this group of accompanied Taiwanese adolescents,
however, was that all of them lived with their mothers all the time. The only
exception was an adolescent from a single-father family. Like
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids, the majority of Group II
was informed by their parent(s) about their migration less than three months
prior to their departure. Most of them believed that the reason for their
immigration was for better educational opportunities. This is similar to the
reason reported by the unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids.
Unlike unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids, the
accompanied Taiwanese adolescent group relied on their parent(s) more than
on their friends for emotional support. They also reported a higher rate of
happiness in the United States. They expressed a more positive interest in
sending their own children to the United States if they were parents.
119
Only three of the American-born Chinese (Group I) did not live with both of
their parents all the time. It appeared that most of them came from
married/two parent families. The emotional support system in this group was
equally divided into two major resources: parent(s) and friends. In
responding to the general question regarding happiness, only one person in
this group reported he/she was not happy; another person in this group
reported he/she was not sure. The other members of this group stated that
they were happy.
In summary, the American-born Chinese group had the highest rate of
self-reported happiness, the highest number of intact families (children living
with both parents under a same household), and the greatest amount of time
spent with their parent(s) among the three groups. The unaccompanied
Taiwanese minors/parachute kids group had the lowest rate of self-reported
happiness, the least number of intact families and the least amount of time
spent with their parent(s) compared to the other two groups.
Implications for Education, Counseling and Social Policies
The present study contains several implications for the fields of
counseling psychology and education. First, although generalizability is
limited, this study contributes to the literature on the characteristics and
psychological well-being of immigrant adolescents, the unaccompanied
minors, in the United States. Until now, this exploration has been largely
neglected, in spite of the substantial numbers of such adolescents who have
been migrated to this country.
Second, not only is the Asian American population the fastest growing
minority group in the United States, but also it is the most diverse in terms of
cultural background, country of origin, and circumstances for coming to the
United States. The existence of intra-Asian differences and differences
among the subgroups of immigrant Taiwanese adolescents are present.
Numerous cross-cultural scholars have realized the need for more culturally
sensitive research which not only takes into account cultural differences but
attempts to identify and understand these differences (Kleinman, 1977;
Rogler, 1989).
121
Third, this study can serve as a basis for future theoretical work on the
meaning of identity formation for this particular population, or for individuals
who experience childhood in one culture and adolescence in another.
Fourth, the present study offers mental health providers a way to better
understand the life situation and psychological vulnerability of this unknown
but growing minority of adolescents. The study provides valuable
information which can increase mental health providers' cross-cultural
awareness and competence, and lessen the potential for misunderstanding
these adolescents. This could lead to more accurate diagnosis/assessment,
and better treatment plans, when these minors ask for help.
Fifth, it must be mentioned that immigration policy, especially as it
affects the young population, should reflect government's concern for the
well being of its citizens. The Taiwanese government should play an active
role in educating its citizens with regard to the realities that immigrants may
encounter in a foreign country. A candid and thoughtful educational program
on immigration could be implemented so that parents are better educated and
informed. Finally, and most important of all, the findings of this study should
122
remind parents of their responsibility in raising their children in either their
own or adopted country.
Limitations
Overall, this study provides useful information about the psychological
well-being and self-concept of tliree select groups of adolescents. However,
caution is urged in generalizing these findings to groups other than those with
similar cultural backgrounds. The results of this study are limited in several
ways.
First, variables, such as the immigration process, level of
acculturation/general adjustment, and parental/guardian quality were not
controlled. Second, participants were volunteers, the size of samples was
relatively small and unequal, and all of the participants resided in California.
All of these factors limit the generalizability of the study. Third, all of the
instruments used in this study were self-report measures. The social
desirability component inlierent in self-report measures may have affected the
participants' levels of willingness to disclose their true feelings and thoughts.
Although, both English and Chinese language standardized measures were
provided, the proficiency of either language was based on participants' self-
123
perception. Finally, three types of administration (individual, group and
mailing) were involved in conducting the survey because of geographic
convenience and individual concerns.
Recommendations For Future Research
First, more research on the subject of immigrant adolescents and their
psychological well-being is needed. Further research would be wise to focus
on the impact of separation from parenta l guidance on the development of the
immigrant adolescents' emotional problems. Further studies should also look
into the long term effects of emotional disturbance on the personality of
unaccompanied immigrant adolescents.
Second, a large influx of immigrants from Asia to the United States has
occurred during the last decade, especially in the unaccompanied minor
populace from Taiwan , Hong Kong and Korea. This study illustrates the
challenges and difficulties that an unaccompanied immigrant adolescent faces
when he or she is without parental presence/guidance. These adolescents are
in need of special support from their teachers, counselors and school
administrators. Further studies should incorporate observations and
perceptions of others in the adolescent's life: guardians, teachers, friends an d
124
school counselors, to further extend the scope of future studies. It would also
be of interest to replicate this study with unaccompanied adolescents from
Hong Kong or Korea.
Third, it should be noted that, although California is the most diverse
state in the country in terms of immigrants, because of geographic constraints,
the findings of this study are regional, not national. Therefore, it is suggested
that unaccompanied minors in a more homogeneous environment (e.g., the
U.S. Middle West) may have different developmental challenges than those
faced by the adolescents in Southern California. Further studies could be
conducted to distinguish and identify any geographical/environmental
differences and the impact they may have on these minors' overall
psychological well-being and lifestyle in general.
Fourth, more research to identify the presence of unaccompanied
minors in the United States from countries other than those Asian countries
mentioned, (e.g., Latino/Hispanic from Mexico) . How do these adolescents
differ from the parachute kids? Factors that could be considered are:
differences in immigration process (close geographic proximity to U.S.);
social economic status (often assumed to be lower); and cultural differences.
125
Fifth, further investigation to examine the lifestyles and psychological
well-being of minors from Taiwan and Hong Kong in other regions, including
Canada, Australia and European countries. Do these adolescents experience
the similar differences in their overall psychological well-being that parachute
kids present in the U.S.? Are there differences in their lifestyles,
demographics? The comparisons among parachute kids in America and those
living in those other countries might produce interesting and helpful findings
for helping this group.
Sixth, some survey materials used in this study are the standardized
measures used in Taiwan for adolescent research. It is logical then to conduct
dual studies with adolescents in Taiwan and migrated Taiwanese adolescents
in the United States. It also suggests comparison studies of American-bom
Chinese adolescents with their counterparts in Taiwan. The American-born
Chinese population in this survey was utilized mainly for comparison
purposes with the other two groups. In a larger scale cross-cultural research
agenda within the United States, however, American-born Chinese may be
the most applicable sample population in comparison with other ethnic
adolescent groups in the United States.
126
Seventh, the migration of unaccompanied minors to the United States
involves their uprooting from on e socioeconomic system and their subsequent
introduction into a different one. As is evident from th e present results, the
psychological consequences are many. The demographic data in this study
provided general information on subjects' current socioeconomic status,
without offering comparison to their past socioeconomic history or
conditions. Research on the adolescent's change in socioeconomic status
would not only provide insight into their psychological state, but also valuable
additional infonnation to complement this study.
Eighth, this study did not explore the gender differences of the sample.
The literature supported the view that gender plays different roles in the
manifestation of emotions. It is suggested that the attitudes and the customs
of the Chinese culture, as they relate to gender, have different responsibilities
and expectations associated with each gender that might have some effect on
the gender differences of the three groups. Further investigation into the
effects of gender in the overall psychological well-being and lifestyles of
American-born Chinese, accompanied Taiwanese adolescents and
127
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids may provide findings that
are relevant in helping this population.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the present study's findings suggest that the group of
unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids experienced higher anxiety
and distress levels that the other two groups of adolescents studied:
American-born Chinese and accompanied immigrant Taiwanese adolescents
in the United States. All three groups scored similarly on self-perceived self-
esteem and self-concept.
It should be noted, however, that the conclusion of an academic study
program is marked by what is called a "commencement." In the same way, I
hope that the completion of this study will likewise lead to a new beginning: a
better understanding of Taiwanese parachute kids and their problems. In a
certain sense, the actual subjects of the study are, at this stage, more
important than the study itself. This may seem like a paradox. Perhaps it can
best be explained by a brief description of my initial involvement with these
unaccompanied adolescents.
128
I first encountered Taiwanese parachute kids, personally, in the course
of my work as a counselor. As it turned out, what these young immigrant
adolescents needed more than anything else was a sympathetic ear, an adult
with a willingness to listen. One thing I never heard mentioned was quitting,
giving up or dropping out. They wanted to know how to attain expected and
desired levels of achievement, while confronting all the multifaceted
challenges of their daily lives: the problems of adolescence, geographical
displacement, cultural differences, clashing values, language barriers and peer
pressure. And, they were confronting these challenges in a foreign country,
without close parental supervision or guidance.
These are the reasons why I undertook this study. And I conclude it
with the hope that initially inspired me:
That the findings of my research can be put to practical use by
educators and counselors.
That they, in turn, will have a better understanding of parachute kids,
and that they will be able to help them deal more effectively with their lives
and their problems.
That, by encouraging understanding and caring, a trust which bridges
different cultural backgrounds can be developed.
After all, bridging different cultural differences and backgrounds is a
big part of what America is all about.
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Appendix A
Demographic Information Questionnaire (English)
Please answer the following questions in your best knowledge. Your answer and
information will be kept strictly confidential. The researcher will not reveal any
of the original data set to anyone else, including parents, guardians, or school
officials. Please complete each and every question honestly. Thank you for your
cooperation.
1. Gender (Sex): ?
2. Age: ?
3. Place of birth: ?
4. When did you come to the United States ?
5. Where do you live now (which city) ?
6. Which school grade are you in now ?
7. What is your father's occupation ?
8. What is your mother's occupation ?
9. Whom do you live with now ?
10. How often do you see your parents, if they do not live with you?
Father Mother .
11. When you need help, whom do you go to ?
12. Overall, are you happy in the United States ?
The following questions do not apply to you if you were bom in the U.S.
13. When were you told by your family that you were coming to the United States
?
14. What were the reasons you came to the States ?
15. If you were a parent, would you send your kids here?
Yes ; No ; Unsure .
Thank you again for your time and cooperation.
154
Appendix B
Demographic Information Questionnaire (Chinese)
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Appendix C : Codcbook of the Demographic Questionnaire
Variable
Name
GENDER
AGE
BIRTH
PLACE
YEAR IN U.S.
CITY
GRADES
FATHER'S
OCCUPATION
MOTHER'S
OCCUPATION
LIVING
STATUS
TIME SPENT
WITH FATHER
TIME SPENT
WITH MOTHER
SUPPORT
HAPPY
INFORMED
DATE
REASONS
CHOICE
Quest'n
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10a
10b
11
12
13
14
15
Description
Gender
Year old
Birth Place
Years in U.S.
Residence areas
School year
Father's
occupation
Mother's
occupation
Living status
Frequency of
staying with
father per year
Frequency of
staying with
father per year
Support resource
Happiness
in the U.S.
Time of informed
prior to coming to U.S.
Reasons to
come to U.S.
Subjects' choice
if they were parents
Codes/Values
l.Male
2. Female
08-18 (year)
1. U.S.A.
2. Taiwan
01-18 (year)
01-30 different city
06-13 different grade
01-26 different occupation
01-26 different occupation
1. Self
2. Guardian
3. Relatives
4. One parent
5. Both parent
1. None (or deceased)
2. 1-3 months
3.4-6 months
4. 7-9 months
5. 10-12 months
1. None (or deceased)
2. 1-3 months
3.4-6 months
4. 7-9 months
5. 10-12 months
01-13 different resource
l.No
2. Unsure
3. Yes
01-16 different time
01-6 different reasons
l.No
2. Unsure
3. Yes
Missing
Values
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
99. No answer
156
Appendix D
Consent to Participate (English version)
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE
I, , hereby consent to participate in the research project being conducted about
unaccompanied minors from Taiwan. I understand that I am invited to participate in this study
because I came to the US after I was ten years old.
I understand that I will be asked to fill out a demographic form and three other questionnaires
about my psychological adjustment issues and life experiences in the United States. This survey is
estimated to take about 45 minutes.
This is an anonymous survey. All data collected as part of this research, including the
demographic information and surveys, will be kept strictly confidential. My participation in this
study is completely voluntary. I can quit at any time, as is my wish.
I understand that in case some of the questions used in this project make me feel uncomfortable
after my participation in this research, the researcher will be available for me to process my
feelings afterwards. If necessary, a referral will be made for psychological assistance.
I understand that I will not directly benefit from this research, however, I will receive two movie
passes for my time. I am aware that the result of this research may benefit the immigrant
adolescents in the future.
I also understand this research is being conducted by Edith Chung, M.A. This research project is to
satisfy a partial requirement for a Ph.D. degree in Counseling Psychology at USC. If I have any
questions about the project or my participation in it, I may contact either her or her dissertation
advisor, Dr. Scott Whiteley. The contact information are:
Edith Chung, M.A. Scott Whiteley, Ph.D.
P. 0. Box 452 Waite Phillips Hall 503
Santa Monica, CA School of Education
Tel: (310) 395-1386 Tel: (213) 740-3255
I have read and fully understand the information above and I have decided to voluntarily
participate in this study.
Participant's signature Date
Parent's/Guardian's signature Date
Researcher's signature Date
157
Appendix D
Consent to Participate (continued)
Dear parents/guardians,
Thank you for taking the time to read this informational letter about my research. I would like to
request your assistance in helping me to complete this project. I am a graduate student working on
my doctoral dissertation at the University of Southern California. This research is about an
investigation of the psychological adjustment issues facing the unaccompanied Taiwanese
adolescents in the United States. I think it is important to collect and to gather data directly from
the adolescents in order to better understanding of their psychological well-being and life
experiences. The purpose for this approach is that the data gathered will help to identify the needs
of these immigrant adolescents. The findings of this research have the potential to help develop
more effective interventions to assist both adolescent immigrants and their parents/guardians in
adjusting to new and different culture in their new environment.
With your permission, I will give the participant, in your care, four questionnaires to fill out. The
questionnaires include one requesting demographic information and three surveys about the effects
of the acculturation process. It will take approximately 45 minutes to complete the four
questionnaires. At the completion of these questionnaires, I will give the participant two movie
passes. We do not foresee any risks attached to the participation in this study. There will be no
name used on any of these questionnaires. All data collected will be kept strictly confidential.
The participate will be fully aware that this study is completely voluntary. He/she has the right to
refuse participation in this study as well as the right to change his/her mind during the survey
process. In the event that he/she elects to refuse or withdraw from the study, there will be no
negative consequences.
If you have any questions regarding this research, please feel free to contact me at the following
number (310) 395-1386 or my dissertation advisor, Dr. Scott Whitcley at (213) 740-3255. If you
agree to let your adolescents participate in this research, please sign the attached consent form.
Once again, your assistance and participation in this research is most appreciated.
Sincerely,
Edith Chung, M. A.
158
Appendix E
Consent to Participate (Chinese version)
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$03g$j (Edith Chung) Dr. ScottWhiteley
P.O. Box 452 School of Education
Santa Monica, CA 90406 Waite Philips Hall, USC
Tel. (310)395-1386 Tel. (213) 740-3255
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Appendix E
Consent to Participate (continued)
(UniversityofSouthernCalifornia) • &®W^W1&&1ffifr^&M§ffl&f&&]Bilffl& •
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Edith Chung, M.A.

Asset Metadata

Creator Chung, Chong-Li Edith (author)

Core Title An investigation of the psychological well-being of unaccompanied Taiwanese minors/parachute kids in the United States

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Counseling Psychology

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Education, Guidance and Counseling,OAI-PMH Harvest,sociology, ethnic and racial studies

Language English

Advisor Whiteley, Scott (committee chair), Goodyear, Rodney (committee member), Lopez-Lee, David (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c17-465430

Unique identifier UC11352669

Identifier 9600966.pdf (filename),usctheses-c17-465430 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 9600966-0.pdf

Dmrecord 465430

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Chung, Chong-Li Edith

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA