Asian American Families: Vulnerable and Strong
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a surge of violence and xenophobia towards people of Asian descent in the United States has led to high levels of stress within Asian American communities. Racism against Asian American families is deeply rooted and must be acknowledged as a problem. Family researchers, practitioners, and policymakers will more ably serve families in these communities once they understand and acknowledge both their stressors and strengths.
This webinar will discuss myths surrounding Asian American families, their strengths, and common stressors (e.g., language barriers, acculturative stress, experience with racism/discrimination, financial difficulties, and family conflict). Presenters Yan Ruth Xia, Ph.D., CFLE, and Cixin Wang, Ph.D., will also dive into the history of anti-Asian racism and showcase data on racism targeting Asian Americans during COVID-19. Finally, participants will learn skills and strategies on how to help Asian American parents talk to their children about race.
Attendees will leave this webinar with the ability to:
- Recognize the family strengths and unique challenges of Asian American families;
- Articulate the history of anti-Asian racism in the U.S. and the impact of the current COVID-19 related racism on Asian American families;
- Support Asian American parent-child communication on the subject of race.
Approved for 1 hour of CFLE continuing education credit.
Purchase/Access Webinar Recording
About the Presenters
Yan Ruth Xia, Ph.D., CFLE, is a professor in Child, Youth and Family Studies in the College of Education and Human Sciences of University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). She received her doctorate in Family Science with a minor in qualitative and quantitative methods in education, and a M.S. with a specialization in marriage and family therapy at UNL. Her research focuses on family strengths and stresses in Asian immigrant and Chinese families with adolescents. Her research also examines the effects of contextual factors on parenting, parent-adolescent relationship and youth outcomes. In 2018, she became the first UNL’s professor to receive a Fulbright Distinguished Chair Award and in 2020, she received the Jan Trost Award for Outstanding Contributions to Comparative Family Studies, a lifelong achievement honor from the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) International Section. Dr. Xia has been a long-time, active NCFR member and a Certified Family Life Educator since 2001. She is a dedicated teacher and mentor, and the recipient of the NCFR 2017 Felix Berardo Scholarship Award for Mentoring.
Cixin Wang, Ph.D., is an associate professor of school psychology in the College of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her doctorate in school psychology from University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2011. She then completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins University in 2013. Her research interests focus on bullying prevention and mental health promotion among children, adolescents, and families. Her research seeks to: (1) better understand different factors contributing to bullying/ victimization and mental health difficulties, including individual, family, school, and cultural factors; (2) develop effective prevention and intervention techniques to decrease bullying at school; and (3) develop school-wide prevention models to promote mental health among students, especially among Asian American students.
On-Demand Webinar Recording
Even if you can't watch this webinar live, your registration will still grant you access to watch the recording at your convenience. This webinar is now free for NCFR members and Certified Family Life Educators (CFLEs), and $94 for nonmembers and non-CFLEs.
Classroom Use
Classroom and departmental use licenses allow faculty members to share the video in class or embed the video in their online learning management system. Departmental use licenses allow more than on faculty to use the webinar in their class. We request that links or downloads are not shared with students.
License for classroom use by one professor is available for $141 for NCFR members, $215 for nonmembers.
License for departmental use (multiple professors) is available for $194 NCFR member / $341 nonmember.
Departmental license for CFLE-approved programs is $167.
