New research from the Youth19 survey shows the simplistic label of ‘Asian’ is hiding just how different the experiences of secondary school students from diverse Asian backgrounds are, especially when it comes to mental distress.
University of Auckland Associate Professor Roshini Peiris-John says the results highlight how misleading it can be to group young people of Asian identity into a single category as often happens in health and governmental studies.
The Youth19 survey is the latest in the Youth2000 survey series which asks more than 7,000 students about everything from family life to sexual activity.
Of these, nearly 2000 – or one-quarter – identify as Asian. `Asian’ captures everyone from Afghanistan in the west to Japan in the east and from China in the north to Indonesia in the south.
It also covers everyone from new arrivals to those who have multi-generational ties to New Zealand. Read more