Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Spring 5-6-2026

Faculty Advisor(s)

Desiree Crevecour-MacPhail

Abstract

South Asian American youth are an understudied population in mental health-related research. When looking at data, we saw that in Asian American youth, suicide is the leading cause of death. The current study examined South Asian youth mental health and the confounding factors that lead to suicidality. Including parental pressures, dual identity struggles, and internalized racism. This was done specifically under the guidance of Benet-Martínez & Haritatos’ (2005) theory of Bicultural identity integration. The study described how individuals with compatible or opposing cultural identities perceived their dual identities. In the case of this study, we identified whether South Asian American youth have more conflicting ideas of their cultures, and whether this led to an increase in internalized racism and stress versus a youth who is more confident in their identity. This quantitative study used a Qualtrics survey tool to survey diverse South Asian populations between the ages of 18 and 25 and yielded data to understand the effects of dual identity struggles, internalized racism, and familial pressures on South Asian American youth's mental health and suicidality. With all hypotheses supported, we utilized these results to identify the specific mental health needs of South Asian American youth. The overarching goal is to use this data to inform providers and increase accessibility to culturally competent mental health care.

Comments

Presented at the Spring 2026 Student Scholar Symposium at Chapman University.

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