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First Community Advisory Board Meeting: Introduction and Plansďż˝

Effects of Early and Prolonged Parent-Child Separation: Understanding Mental Health among Separated-Reunited Chinese American Children

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NIMHD K99/R00 Award

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PI: Shaobing Su

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Appreciation

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Introduction

1-2 min/person

  • Name
  • Where you live
  • Affiliation/Job

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BC team 🡺 Community advisors/partners

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Project Presentation

Effects of Early and Prolonged Parent-Child Separation: Understanding Mental Health among Separated-Reunited Chinese American Children

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NIMHD K99/R00 Award

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PI: Shaobing Su

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  • Large population of children of immigrants in the US

- Over 18 million (about 27%）

- >90% were US citizens

Background: “Why”

Urban Institute (2019). Part of Us: A Data-Driven Look at Children of Immigrants. https://www.urban.org/features/part-us-data-driven-look-children-immigrants

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Background: “Why”

  • High prevalence: Driven by disparities in the world economy, armed conflicts, or social instability, parent-child separation has been increasingly prevalent among immigrants (PBS, 2020).
  • Large and concerning number: The number of children affected by separation increases quickly and is at historically high level (PBS, 2020).
  • Potential impacts
  • Psychological stress and long-term mental health problems
  • The impact and related risks persists in families who have reunited (Kwong , 2017; Patricia et al., 2020)
  • Early and prolonged parent-child separation (separated

at ages 0-6 for over 6 months) can be traumatic to affected

child and parents (many citations in the proposal).

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Photo from anxiety.org

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Background: “Why”

  • Existing research on parent-child separation was primarily with left-behind children and institutionalized children.
  • Less is known about separated-reunited children (“satellite babies”) who were born in the US but were raised in their parents’ home country at young ages and returned to the US at school age.
  • Common practice among Chinese immigrants (~57-70% Chinese American children in NYC Chinatown were affected) and it can also be found in other Asian groups (e.g., Filipino immigrants).
  • Mental health research is urgently needed for affected Chinese American adolescents because of: high vulnerability to culture/ethnic-related stressors and mental health problems and low likelihood of using mental health services among Asian Americans (3 times less likelihood than Caucasians).

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Background: “What” (Gaps)

  • It is unclear how this early separation experience may shape the developmental contexts and mental health outcomes of affected Chinese American adolescents.
  • Limited evidence in understanding the specific influence of separation and reunification in affected Chinese American adolescents who are likely to experience dual or multiple separations at young ages (first from their biological parents and later from their substitute caregivers in China).

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Specific Aims

  • Aim 1 (qualitative study): Elucidate the mental health challenges that arise in separated-reunited children and identify processes that might influence their mental health
  • Aim 2 (quantitative study): Examine mental health disparities, risks and resources between separated-reunited children and non-separated children; explore the relationships among separation/reunification, risk and protective factors at multiple levels, and separated-reunited children’s mental health outcomes.
  • Aim 3 (Mixed-methods analysis): Integrate the qualitative and quantitative findings to identify focal areas and modifiable risk and protective components as “active ingredients” for intervention development.

Aim 1 findings inform measure selection in Aim 2

Compare and integrate qualitative and quantitative findings

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Overview of studies linked to each Specific Aim

Study

Type of Data

Who/What (N)

K99 phase:

Study 1

(Aim 1)

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2022/10-2024/06

Screening survey;

Qualitative Interviews

Screening survey N=~200;

Separated-reunited youth (aged 12-17, N=48) and their parents (N=48)

R00 phase:

Study 2 (Aim 2)

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2024/07-2025/06

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Parent-report screening Surveys;

Quantitative Child Surveys

Chinese immigrant parents (n=800);

Separated-reunited youth (n=200, including 48 participants in Study 1) and non-separated youth aged 12-17 (n=200)

R00 phase:

Study 3

(Aim 3)

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2025/07-2027/06

Qualitative & quantitative data, seed grant pilot data, and relevant CAB meeting recordings

A. All youth participants in Study 1 (N=48) and Study 2 (N=200)

B. Subsample of youth (n=~38) in both Study 1 and Study 2

C. Separated-reunited families (N=40) in pilot data

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Pre reunification/separation experiences and potential influencing factors:

Separation: age and duration

Factors: frequency and quality of parent-child contact and communication; educational level of substitute caregivers, family economic status

Other factors informed by qualitative results

Post reunification experiences and potential factors:

Reunification: age and duration

Child: attachment, ethnic identity, emotion regulation, coping, Spirituality and religiosity

Family: parent-child relationship and communication, family conflicts, parenting, family support, family SES

School: academic performance and stress, teacher and peer support

Sociocultural: discrimination, social support, model minority stereotypes

Other factors informed by qualitative results

 

 

Specific protective factors

Mental health

 

Specific

risk factors

 

 

Resilience: compensatory, mediator, and moderator models

 

A Model of resilience involving risk and protective factors at multiple ecological levels

 

 

 

 

 

Mediation

Moderation

Theoretical Framework

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Timelines

Mental health status and risks/resources and needs: Qualitative Interviews

(2022-2024)

Mental health disparities and associated factors/processes:

Quantitative Surveys

(2024-2025)

Theory of Change for Family Strengthening Interventions:

Mixed-methods analysis

(2025-2027)

acceptability, feasibility

effectiveness, satisfaction

fidelity, sustainability, and scalability

Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR):

partnership, capacity building,

Longitudinal Research (5-10 Years)

Intervention Adaptation

Intervention Evaluation

Implementation

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Researcher-Community Partnership

Research

1.Evidence/data

2.Research training/Capacity building

3. Funding

4. Intervention programs

5. Program evaluation support

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Community

1. Community/family needs

2. Participant recruitment

3. Family connection

4. Intervention/Service delivery

Partnered Research Proposals for Grants

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Support Needed from Community Advisors

  • Bimonthly/Quarterly Meeting (2023-2027)
  • Feedback on research materials: interview questions/survey questions
  • Advice for community partnership and recruitment plans
  • Discussions on community service needs
  • Discussions on research findings
  • Exchange skills and resources
  • Support participants recruitment
  • Support research findings dissemination
  • Support future grant proposals

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Questions & Comments

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Thank you!