Addressing the Mental Health of Adolescents and Young Adults of South Asian Descent

Our team is working to address the mental health needs of adolescents and young adults of South Asian (SA AYAs) descent in New Jersey. More than 1 million residents identify as Asian and the South Asian community is one of the fastest growing in the state. But their needs have been largely unmet in both mental health services and policies. Research shows that the myth of the “model minority” exerts a negative impact, particularly on AYAs. The SA community has also been shown to underuse mental health services and SA AYAs face several risk factors including parent-child acculturation gaps, language brokering, and experiences of racial discrimination. Our team is in a yearlong study, working with a 10-person advisory board and two community partners. We have held a series of focus groups with adolescents and young adults of South Asian descent and their parents. We are now holding community-based planning workshops to begin to develop a community-driven intervention and related resources that are age-appropriate and culturally tailored for South Asian adolescents and young adults.