title: Middle-Eastern immigrant parents' social networks and help-seeking for child health care.
abstract: The purpose of this research was to describe: (a) Arab-American immigrant parents' perceptions of their social networks, including social support; and (b) Arab-American immigrant parents' perceptions of their help-seeking related to child health care. Seventy-three immigrant parents who were Egyptian-American (n = 17), Palestinian-American (n = 44) and Yemeni-American (n = 12) completed the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire, four Supplementary Social Support Questions, a Support System Map and a Child Health Interview Guide. Family and relatives were perceived as the major source of support and comprised the highest percentage of social network members. Compared with published scores of a normative American sample, the immigrant parents' scores were lower (P less than 0.01) on all social network and social support variables. There was a moderate negative correlation (r = 0.47) between parents' number of years of residence in the USA and percentage of network members living outside the USA (P less than 0.01) and a weak positive correlation (r = 0.36) between number of years in the USA and percentage of network members living close to the parent (P less than 0.01). Parents' help-seeking for child health care involved use of a variety of resources, with reliance on some long-distance support from family in the Middle-East. This descriptive research provides a basis for further research on patterns of support and help-seeking in immigrant parents.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: May
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008877:Middle East / Q000208:ethnology; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016746:Transcultural Nursing / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States