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Description:
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The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the association between the parent -adult child relationship and the impact of parental death among mid -aged Asians in the United States . Attachment theory and intergenerational solidarity theory guided the selection of variables in this study . Middle -aged adults , being often neglected in studies , were the focus of this study in order to investigate depression and psychological well -being after parental death . Asians who were 35 to 65 years of age , considered themselves as Asian Americans , and had experienced parental death between 2000 and 2004 were recruited in the study . On -line structured questionnaires were distributed during July and August of 2004 , and 30 completed questionnaires were returned . Respondents completed the following dependent measures : the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES -D Scale ) (Radloff , 1977 ) , Texas Revised Inventory of Grief (Faschingbauer et al . , 1987 ) , The Bradburn Affect Balance Scale (Bradburn , 1969 ) , and the Affectual Solidarity Scale (Mangen , Bengtson , & Landry , 1988 ) . The independent variables included the Felt Obligation Measure (Stein , 1992 ) , and the Suinn -Lew Asian Self Identity Acculturation Scale (Suinn , R . M . , 1992 ) . By looking at the under -represented ethnic group and the taboo , in terms of death , it was found that the higher acculturated the mid -aged Asian Americans were , the less depression they experienced , but the correlation was not significant . The results also indicated that the more regard and responsibilities the adult children had with their deceased parents , the higher degree of grief they experienced . Contrary to expectation , gender of respondent was not associated with psychological well -being . |