Explanatory models-the way individuals explain the cause, onset, effect, course, and treatment of health problems-have increasingly gained recognition as a critical component of culturally sensitive care for non-Western and minority status clients. Ethnographic research on Cambodian refugees suggests that there is particular relevance of explanatory models for this group (Eisenbruch, 1992). However, no study has yet examined models of child mental health problems. The main goal of the proposed study is to define parent and child explanatory models of mental health problems among Cambodians. The sample of refugee parents with U.S. born children provides the opportunity to examine explanatory models from multiple perspectives: intergenerationally, by comparing parent and child models; clinically, by comparing clinic-referred and non-clinical samples; culturally, by examining cultural processes in conjunction with models; and developmentally, by examining models of children across an age range. The proposed program of research utilizes a mixed-method approach. Eighty children aged 9 to 15 and their primary guardian will be interviewed using a semi-structured interview to elicit components of their explanatory model, and will be administered questionnaires to examine three questions: 1) the concordance between child and parent models; 2) how experience with mental health problems and services relates to explanatory models; and 3) three possible correlates of child and parent models: cultural identification, acculturation, and child age. Understanding these factors will both facilitate culturally appropriate treatment for Khmer children and broaden our understanding of the impact of child problems on immigrant and refugee families.
| Daley, Tamara C (2005) Beliefs about treatment of mental health problems among Cambodian American children and parents. Soc Sci Med 61:2384-95 |
