The purpose of the current study was to combine the factors previously determined to be related to African American help seeking into a single path model and, using structural equation modeling (SEM), determine the relative influence of each factor in the attitudes toward seeking mental health services (see Figure 2.2) among a community sample of African American adults from several metropolitan areas in the US. As such, SEM was utilized to compare the relative fit of two opposing models within this sample, one where a path from economic barriers to help-seeking attitudes was estimated freely and one where that path was constrained. Many have argued that for African Americans, economic constraints are barriers to seeking help. While existing literature fails to consistently support this contention, the current study does suggest that social status does carry significant weight in predicting attitudes toward seeking mental health services. Acculturation was not as strong of a predictor. Limitations , including the use of an abbreviated help-seeking scale, were discussed. In addition, implications for African Americans seeking services were also discussed.

No description available.

The objective of this study is to trace the relationship between oveit and covert acculturation and bilingualism in the Colombian Indian community of Guambia. The first section describes the ten indicators of innovative behaviour that form the Overt Acculturation Scale, on the basis of which the informants were allocated to three Acculturation Categories. These indicators, weighted according to their relative importance for the Guambianos, are: dress and language; occupation, migration and education; reciprocal labour, goods and the home, ritual and medicine, and access to the media. Acculturation has noticeably affected very few. These form an elite of well-educated young men who wear Western clothes, have specialised occupations and skills, and are well-acquainted with White culture and society through personal ties, migration and the media. All others are distributed along a continuum, taking more or less from the White World. Secondly, imaginative stories told in Guambiano and Spanish to a series of pictures by the informants were analysed for signs of covert acculturation. Six hypotheses were statistically tested which held that the ethnic identity of the characters portrayed, as Guambiano or White, would affect their personalities, actions, aims, interactions and emotions. Also, the acculturational level of the story- teller and the language used would affect the content, except for emotion. In Guambiano all display similar beliefs in traditional values and a similar acculturated are fav achievement-oriented show ambivalence and people and culture. Thirdly, these ethnocentrism; in Spanish the highly curable to White characters and more and ambitious, the slightly acculturated the unacculturated defend their own same stories were used to investigate bilingual proficiency. The range of syntactic constructions used in the two languages, the range of vocabulary found in Spanish, and the levels of grammatical and lexical interference in both languages were used as measures of oral productive proficiency. The majority shows sufficient proficiency in Spanish for inter-group communication, but some few have only a passive knowledge and others prove more fluent than in Guambiano on the test. The major conclusion is that the Guambianos' strong ethnic identity - symbolised in their dress, language, land and work - prevents greater acculturation. At present only the highly acculturated elite is innovative and bicultural, while the majority seeks to maintain its cultural heritage. It is economic interaction, not bilingualism, that will probably lead to eventual wholesale modification, since the Guambiano language remains strong but the economic situation grows ever worse.

No description available.

This study revisits the effect of duration by residence in relation to smoking during pregnancy. It contributes to the literature by incorporating a health inequity perspective, and discusses whether immigrants tend to converge with Swedish women’s smoking. The study is based on Swedish Medical Birth Register and includes 1 1864 52 pregnancies between 1991 and 2012. Logistic regression was performed to attain crude and adjusted Odds Ratios and 95 % confidence intervals. Immigrants’ are divided by categorizing countries of origin depending on levels of Human Development (IHDI). Overall immigrant women show low levels of smoking during pregnancy when they arrive to Sweden, by duration of residence levels of smoking increase and converge with smoking patterns of Swedish women. I found that there are differences in smoking patterns depending on IHDI of the country. Immigrant women of higher categories of IHDI show higher levels of smoking although the increase of smoking is higher among immigrant women from categories of lower IHDI. However, immigrant women’s smoking during pregnancy is affected by duration of residence, and the increased smoking is associated with health inequalities related to their country of origins IHDI, and by socioeconomic inequalities in Sweden.

The high incidence rate of type II diabetes mellitus (type II DM) among Mexican American families in the South Texas region has contributed to disproportionately high medical costs, early death, and high comorbidity with depression. Certain factors have been previously associated with depression and type II DM. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate and describe whether selected variables contribute to Mexican American risk for depression when diagnosed with type II DM. Based on the theory of planned behavior, this exploratory study investigated whether acculturation, health behavioral belief, diet, and/or physical exercise adequately predicted depression among Mexican Americans who were diagnosed with type II DM (n = 103). The data were obtained from surveys completed by participants. The construct of acculturation was measured by the Short Acculturation Scale, health behavioral belief was measured by the Diabetes Health Belief Scale, diet and physical exercise was measured by a summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities, and depression was measured by the Beck Depression Inventory - II. An exploratory stepwise multiple regression was used to generate an initial predictive equation based on the statistical contribution of one or more of the predictor variables. The findings revealed lack of physical exercise as a significant predictor of depression among participants. The social implications of this study are that it may help improve understanding of the psychiatric challenges that accompany type II DM and provide a better understanding among Mexican Americans of the connection between physical exercise and depression when screening and treating patients with type II DM. Subsequently, patients may receive more targeted screenings and holistic care, which will contribute to better medical care treatment and management.

This qualitative study investigated attitudes among international students prior to their departure and following their arrival in the United States through a phenomenological research approach. Eight participants completed individual interviews in Accra, Ghana, and four participants completed follow-up email correspondence. The purpose of the study was to explain pre-migration expectations, post-migration experiences, and compare similarities and differences between perceptions and actual encounters. The researcher investigated five principle components of pre-migration: satisfaction with life prior to departure from the country of origin, impressions and expectations of the host country and predominate influences, awareness of discrimination in the host country, and culture-specific coping strategies used to overcome challenges related to acculturation. The researcher also investigated similar components of post-migration. The results of this study are consistent with those of prior acculturation research. Regarding pre-migration, participants acknowledged the following: the importance of preparation prior to departure, the likelihood of an adjustment period upon arrival, specific goals to strive for during the time abroad, and the emotional impact of discrimination and racism. Regarding post-migration, participants acknowledged the following: stress related to unfamiliar experiences with discrimination, stress related to overwhelming academic responsibilities, and the importance of culture-specific coping strategies, (e.g. family support and religiosity). The results of this study also identified new information regarding pre- and post-migration. Participants discussed a yearning to meet new people and gain exposure to foreign perspectives and viewpoints; however, they also expressed a strong desire to return home afterward and impart knowledge to others. Upon their arrival, participants recalled unanticipated causes of stress including transportation, time management, and communication with foreign counterparts. This study draws attention to the steadily increasing population of international students from Ghana living in the United States. The findings indicate that mental health professionals and academic advisors must consider the geographic and cultural context from which international students arrive and gather insight to enhance social, emotional, and academic resources prior to departure and immediately following arrival. This study also makes the case that current resources do not adequately account for the array of cultural differences between the United States and West African countries.

Although social psychologists have made important strides towards understanding the effects of stigma on both individuals’ behaviours and their relationships with non-stigmatized groups, language patterns within this domain have largely been ignored. This thesis aims to address this gap by investigating the role that language patterns play in shaping the relationship between native and non-native speakers against the backdrop of an increasingly relevant context in which communicators with diverse language backgrounds interact: Immigration. Drawing on both communication accommodation theory (CAT) and intergroup contact theory, I investigate the processes by which language styles influence perceptions of both individuals and the groups they represent, as well as attempt to determine how language-based categorizations affect those whose language style deviates from majority group norms. Across six studies, I take the perspective of native speakers and demonstrate that perceptions of communicators based on their language are not uniform but are determined by factors including the style of language used and the speaker’s background. I then take the perspective of non-native speakers and, across two studies, show that negative perceptions of non-native accents can result in poorer interactions with the native speaking out-group as well as a reduced ability to comprehend and communicate in the host country’s language. In sum, the eight studies presented in this thesis demonstrate that perceptions related to one’s style of language can be detrimental to the relationship between native and non-native speakers and by extension host country natives and immigrants. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

This study was designed to describe the experiences of acculturation, acculturative stress, and coping behaviors among Black international students. While research exists on the acculturative and coping experiences of international students in the United States, very few studies have been designed to explicitly examine the experiences of Black international students of sub-Saharan and Caribbean origins. A majority of the existing literature has focused on experiences of Asian and Latin American international students (Malcolm & Mendoza, 2014). This study was intended to provide information about the acculturative experiences of Black international students enrolled at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Interviews were conducted with four focus groups, each comprising three participants. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using an interpretive phenomenological approach, and themes were generated from the interviews. The themes that emerged shed light on experiences related to acculturative stress, anti-Black and anti-immigrant discrimination, and adjusting to a new academic environment. Themes also highlighted several ways that Black international students coped with these experiences (e.g., talking to other international students, keeping in contact with family in their home country, and relying on a faith community). Results from this study will inform future research on how Black international students learn race within the U.S context, how geographical location influences the acculturative experiences of Black international students, and the interactions between Black immigrant communities and African American communities. Results of this study could also be used to develop diversity trainings for university staff and community members, and to develop social programs specifically for Black international

Acquisitions are growing in popularity as a way for organizations to grow. Yet the proportion of acquisitions that fail to meet their performance goals are high. The reason behind this failure rate can be many, but one often cited cause is differences in organizational culture and acculturative stress.    This thesis aims to gain a fuller understanding of how acculturation and acculturative stress are perceived by the members of staff of an acquired firm. This thesis took a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews as the method of data collection. The sample consisted of four members of staff of a firm who had been acquired part of an international acquisition.    The results showed that they perceived the acquirers preferred mode of acculturation to be more intrusive than the one preferred by the members of staff of the acquired firm. Furthermore, the participants expressed that the organization suffered from common symptoms of acculturative stress, such as increased turnover among management.