Depressive symptoms and academic achievement in immigrant and American -born adolescents of diverse ethno -cultural backgrounds: A cultural data -mining exploration.
Item
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Title
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Depressive symptoms and academic achievement in immigrant and American -born adolescents of diverse ethno -cultural backgrounds: A cultural data -mining exploration.
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Identifier
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AAI3213254
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identifier
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3213254
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Creator
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Kochkine, Vladimir.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Irwin Epstein
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Date
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2006
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Social Work | Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies | Psychology, Clinical | Education, Educational Psychology
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Abstract
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The literature on cultural variations in the relationship between depressive symptoms and academic achievement in immigrant and American-born adolescents is lacking. The influences of intervening variables on adolescent depression and academic achievement remain unexplored. A framework that allows the identification, prevention, and treatment of depressive symptoms and low academic achievement in immigrant and American-born youth of diverse backgrounds currently does not exist. This exploratory clinical data-mining study of archival case records in the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services was undertaken to investigate the relationship between depressive symptoms and academic achievement in Russian-speaking and Hispanic immigrant youths and American-born Russian-speaking, Hispanic, Chinese and African-American adolescents currently receiving treatment at the agency. Fifty males and fifty females from each ethno-cultural group were purposively selected for the study. The study also investigated the influences of intervening variables on the relationship between depression and academic achievement in adolescent youth and examined factors that influence treatment effectiveness. Adolescents' responses to Zung's Self-rating Depression Scale (Zung, 1965; 1972) and grade point averages obtained at the beginning and end of treatment, and intervening variables collected at the beginning of treatment were analyzed using correlations, t-test, and analyses of variance. Findings indicate that (i) there are significant differences in the relationship between adolescent depression and academic achievement in diverse adolescent ethno-cultural groups; (ii) each of the fifteen variables contributed to the overall relationship between depression and academic achievement differently in adolescents of different ethno-cultural background with self-esteem, identity strength, exercise frequency, and family involvement contributing to the relationship the strongest; (iii) combined individual, group, and family therapy produced best therapeutic results. When matched with patients', clinicians' ethno-cultural background was significant factor in increasing treatment effectiveness. However, clinicians' length of practice experience was not significant in increasing treatment effectiveness. Implications for multi-cultural practice and future research were discussed.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
