Project Bright Futures: Improving the lives of Chinese American Families

Family at the park

Do you know? Studies show that the children of immigrants often have more mental and physical health problems over time. For example, almost 20% of Asian American (including Chinese American) high school students have thought about suicide, which is higher than other groups. However, they are at least 50% less likely to get help for their mental health problems compared to other groups of adolescents. This means that when children start having mental health problems, their struggles are often overlooked. By the time parents notice something is wrong, the best time to help has already passed.

Why is this happening? We believe one problem, besides generational gaps and cultural differences, is that parents and children have a hard time talking with each other. Many children are losing their Chinese language skills and most parents don’t speak English very well. This makes it hard for them to understand each other. When families can’t communicate well, they lose some of the benefits of growing up in a Chinese family, like strong family bonds, knowing their culture and learning to be persistent. When families don’t communicate well and children lack resilience, they become vulnerable to stress and difficulties.

How to overcome this situation? We need to work together! With relentless effort, we successfully secured funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The funding will support us to study what happens to youth when families have to navigate the use of two languages and how they deal with that.

To understand this, we want to hear from those who are thriving as well as from those who are facing difficulties. Both types of insights can help us shape strategies to support Chinese American immigrant families and their youth. We need you to be a part of this important research project. Can we count on you to help?

How to participate? Please click here to complete a brief questionnaire to see if you are eligible for our study. If you are eligible, we will contact you soon. If you are not eligible, please share the information with others, who can help us learn the best ways to help Chinese American immigrants at this time.

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Detailed Information

Who we're looking for

If your family has at least one parent speaking Chinese at home, you have a child between the ages of 12-17 years, and currently live in the United States, we want to hear about your experiences. We want to hear from people who are doing well as well as from people who are struggling.
What we need you to do
- Respond to eligibility questions to see if you qualify for the study.
- Once you qualify, you will be directed to set up an appointment to meet with someone from the research team.
- During this meeting you will take a language test, respond to some survey questions, and play a fun game with your child.
- All three activities (the language test, the survey, and the game) take a little over an hour altogether.
- Finally, we will contact you in 6 months and again in 12 months to ask a few more questions.
- All of this will be done online via Zoom.
How we will express our appreciation
We believe that the primary incentive for most people is helping us to improve Chinese American experiences in the U.S. and helping to find a better future for their children. In addition, we want to give you two small expressions of our appreciation.
- First, we will provide each family with a report of their language assessments using the Multilingual Naming Test and how these might be used to improve your own communication.
- Second, we will give both the parent and the youth a $15 gift card for completing each interview.
- After completing the entire study, this will provide a total of $90 in gift cards for your entire family.
- And, if you complete all three interviews, we will give each of you an extra $10 ($5 each) bonus just for participating in all three interviews
Interview Location

The interview will be conducted via Zoom.
Your Privacy Matters

Completing the study is voluntary. Participant names will NOT be used or linked to the surveys to ensure confidentiality.