Family emotion socialization and affective distress in Asian American and White American College Students

This study examined the retrospective reports of family emotion socialization experiencesc and current affective distress among 23 Asian American and 31 White Americanc university students with subclinical levels of distress. Results indicated that most of the Asian Americans interviewed recalled being socialized by their family to suppress their emotions, whereas more than half of White Americans recalled being encouraged by their families to openly express emotions. For Asian Americans, growing up in a family that valued emotional suppression was associated with greater emotional distress.