Effects of combining disparate groups in the analysis of ethnic differences

Variations among asian american mental health service consumers in level of community functioning

Bibliographic Data

ID11054876
AuthorsEdwina S Uehara (University of Washington), David Takeuchi (0000-0003-2315-1373, University of California, Los Angeles), David T Takeuchi, Michael Smukler
Year1994
Volume22
Issue1
Pages83-99
Publication date1994-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Community Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-0562 • E-ISSN: 1573-2770
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1007/bf02506818
PMID7942645
OpenAlexW2090790286
LanguageEN
Citations received29
References cited28

The Asian American population comprises historically, socially, and culturally diverse ethnic groups. Given this diversity, investigators caution that combining disparate ethnic groups together may lead to erroneous conclusions. Whether by choice or necessity, however, mental health studies still typically consider Asian Americans as a single ethnic category rather than as separate ethnic groups. Few investigations have addressed the consequences of this practice. This paper examines the implications of conceptualizing Asian Americans as an ethnic category versus ethnic groups, in an investigation of the community functioning status of clients in publicly funded mental health programs in King County, Washington. When treated as a single ethnic category in a multivariate linear regression model, Asian Americans are found to have a lower level of functioning difficulty than their white counterparts. However, when treated as separate ethnic groups (e.g., Vietnamese, Japanese), only one of five Asian ethnic groups has a significantly lower level of difficulty. In a separate analysis of the Asian American subsample, groups are found to differ significantly from one another with respect to functional status. Several factors, including refugee status, account for this difference

Asian americans · Cultural diversity · Diversity (politics) · Ethnic group · Health equity · Mental health · Multivariate analysis · Population · Psychiatry · Public health · Sociology · Vietnamese · Demography · Medicine · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Psychology · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research · Gerontology

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