Traditionally the empirical study of acculturation has focused on the integration, preservation, or abandonment of one's ethnic heritage in relation to the host culture. This study attempted to broaden the concept of the acculturation process by examining the interaction between an immigrant's religious identity and the host culture. It was hypothesized that for Muslims living in America the integration of one's Islamic and American identities, as compared to level of integration between one?s ethnic heritage and American identities, would provide unique value in predicting the level of acculturation stress, depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. Identity integration between Islamic and American identities was found to correlate with decreased acculturation stress, decreased depressive symptoms and increased life satisfaction and in some instances provided significant predictive value when compared to only an assessment of bicultural integration. Implications of this and other findings were explored.

The current study was designed to examine the influence of cultural orientation on alcohol involvement among Mexican-American adolescents. Also, this study assessed whether cultural orientation predicted positive and negative alcohol expectancies for the effects of drinking one to two drinks or bingeing; and whether alcohol-use expectancies mediated the effects of acculturation on drinking practices. The participants were 300 Mexican-American high school students (M = 16.5, SD = 1.15; 178 female and 122 male) from a city along the Texas/Mexico border who were mostly self-identified as 2nd generation Mexican-Americans. The students completed the questionnaires regarding alcohol involvement, acculturation, and alcohol expectancies. Significant findings in the current study indicated a higher orientation to Mexican culture predicted higher levels of alcohol involvement for boys; whereas, a higher orientation to U.S. culture predicted higher alcohol involvement for girls. Also, identification with Mexican culture for girls predicted negative alcohol expectancies for low and high quantities of alcohol use.

This dissertation, containing two journal-formatted manuscripts, examines factors associated with international students' psychosocial adjustment to life in the United States. In the first manuscript, I systematically reviewed 64 studies reporting predictors of international student adjustment, which were published in English language peer-reviewed journals from 1990 to 2008. I summarized predictors by adjustment outcomes and assessed the methodological quality of individual studies. In the second manuscript, I investigated mechanisms through which acculturation influenced psychosocial adjustment of Chinese international students, by electronically surveying a sample of 508 Chinese international students from four universities in Texas. Specifically, the mechanisms investigated in this report refer to the mediating and moderating effects of social interaction and social connectedness with host nationals upon the acculturation-adjustment linkages. Results portrayed in the first manuscript showed stress, social support, English language proficiency, region/country of origin, length of residence in the United States, acculturation, social interaction with Americans, self-efficacy, gender, and personality were among the most frequently reported predictors of international students' psychosocial adjustment. The mean methodological score of the reviewed studies was 6.25 (SD=1.8; maximum possible score=11). The reviewed studies overcame selected methodological limitations pointed out by Church in his review, but show room for continued improvement. Results portrayed in the second manuscript showed social connectedness with Americans mediated the links between adherence to the host culture (acculturation dimension) and psychosocial adjustment. Social interaction with Americans moderated the association between adherence to the home culture (acculturation dimension) and depression. Findings from this dissertation have implications for health promotion research and practice. First, this dissertation calls for a revision in the sojourner adjustment framework to address the shared elements underlying both adjustment domains (psychological and sociocultural). Second, more studies are needed to a) examine macro-level factors and currently under-investigated micro-level factors, b) test theories that integrate micro- and macro-level factors, c) examine mediation and moderation effects, and d) systematically employ longitudinal designs and comparison groups. Third, health promotion professionals would do well to address predictors and mechanisms found in this dissertation when developing evidence-based interventions for international students.

Texte remanié de: Dissertation (Ph. D.)--Slavic languages and literatures--Princeton University (N.J.), 1998. / Bibliogr. p. 241-260. Index.

Diss.--Chemnitz, 2004. / Bibliogr. p. 325-343.

Texte remanié de: Dissertation--München--Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 2008. / Bibliogr. p. 571-600. Index.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 1998. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-59). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ33508.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 2001.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.