Personal Goals and Depression Among Vietnamese American and European American Young Adults: A Mediational Analysis

Abstract

The authors report preliminary findings supporting the utility of the self-concordance model (K. M. Sheldon & A. J. Elliot, 1999) as an alternative approach to studying depression among Vietnamese American (N = 121) and European American (N = 155) college students. The participants completed measures of personal goals, goal self-concordance, and depression. Compared with the European American participants, the Vietnamese American participants reported higher levels of depression and lower levels of goal self-concordance. According to mediational analyses, ethnicity no longer accounted for significant variance in depression after the authors statistically controlled for goal self-concordance.