Chinese American teens experience depression, anxiety at higher rates than peers – here’s why their parents may miss the warning signs |
She has straight A’s, a full schedule of Advanced Placement classes, a chair in the youth orchestra and a bedroom wallpapered with college acceptance letters. She also hasn’t slept a full night in months. She lies awake at 2 a.m., convinced she is a burden to her family – and she has no idea how to tell anyone.
I know students like this. My niece – a teenager who was quiet, hardworking and by every outward measure doing well – was one of them.
During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, she died by suicide. Her family was not aware she was depressed, no one at her school had raised a concern, and she never sought any mental health support.
After her death, I began asking different questions – not only as a family member, but also as an educator and researcher. Between 2023 and 2025, I interviewed 11 Chinese immigrant parents living in the U.S. about how they understood their children’s mental health and why many families avoid mental health services, even when their children are struggling.
The parents I interviewed for my doctoral dissertation at Cleveland State University were not indifferent to their children’s suffering or overall well-being. They were navigating mental health through a different framework – one shaped by deeply held, traditional Chinese beliefs about family honor and self-control. Often, they didn’t have the language and understanding to easily discuss mental health openly.
When distress has no name
While many immigrant teenagers are vulnerable to mental health challenges, Chinese and Chinese American teenagers whose parents are immigrants experience higher rates of anxiety and depression than many of their peers.
Suicide rates among Asian American girls age 10 to 19, meanwhile, have more than........