Thesis advisor: Karen Kayser / Purpose: Acculturative stress has been found to mediate the relationship between acculturation and psychological distress, yet research investigating the impact of contextual factors on acculturative stress is non-existent. Based on family stress management theory (Boss, 2002), the current study investigates the contextual influence on acculturative stress and psychological distress of Latina women. Acculturation and systems of support were tested for their capacity to moderate the relationships between various significant contexts, acculturative stress and psychological distress. Unique experiences of women born in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Mexico were delineated and compared. Methods: Using the National Latino Asian American Survey, the current study involves 639 Latina women born in Mexico (N=257), Cuba (N=264) and Puerto Rico (N=118). A mediated moderation analysis was conducted through Path Analysis in MPLUS. Results: Findings indicate an inconsistent relationship between acculturative stress and psychological distress. For the combined group of Latina women, racial and daily discrimination shaped acculturative stress and psychological distress most often, followed by age and family-cultural conflict. Income and structural components of internal contexts (i.e. household decision-making power) impacted their psychological distress only. Country-specific variations argue against treating Latina women as a monolithic group. Biculturalism emerged as a more effective integration form. Only spousal support moderated the relationships between contextual factors, psychological distress and acculturative stress. Implications: These findings will inform the development of culturally sensitive clinical interventions. Social work policy makers will gain a comprehensive understanding of resources needed to promote a healthy integration of Latina women into the U.S. Community organizers are encouraged to advocate on behalf of multi-cultural immigration policies that enable the retention of aspects of native culture deemed to buffer Latina women from the negative impact of contextual factors and acculturative stress. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

The proposed study will investigate the effects of animal companionship on the acculturative stress of international students at American universities and colleges. Language constraint will be examined as a possible moderator, and sense of belonging will be examined as a possible mediator in the effects of animal companionship on acculturative stress. Participants will be international students at the Claremont Colleges. They will first fill out demographic information, a sense of belonging scale, and an acculturative stress scale online. They will then come to the lab weekly, and be randomly assigned to either hang out with their peers, or engage in animal-assisted activities with dogs for one hour. The study will last four weeks, and at the end of the study, participants will fill out the sense of belonging scale and the acculturative stress scale again online. Participants in the animal condition are expected to report greater decreases in acculturative stress than participants in the game condition. Participants who are non-native English speakers will experience greater decreases in their acculturative stress than participants who are native English speakers in the animal group. Sense of belonging will mediate the effect of interaction with animals/people on acculturative stress. The results would then suggest that animal companionship helps alleviate international students’ acculturative stress, and future college counseling programs designed for international students should consider animal-assisted activities or therapy.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which acculturative stress is associated with physical activity levels of international students, the influence of types and sources of social support on their physical activity levels, and the degree to which social support affects the relationship between their physical activity levels and acculturative stress. 215 Korean international students from Bryan-College Station, Texas, were recruited for this study. The results revealed that only the stressor of English language difficulty, one of acculturative stress, negatively influenced physical activity levels. Social support was positively associated with physical activity levels. Finally, in the role of social support between acculturative stress and physical activity levels, the support of Korean friends and American friends positively affected vigorous physical activity level. These results suggest that social support for international students is likely to be one of most important factors for their physical activity levels. Since the convenient sample of Korean international students may not be representative of international students in the United States, further study needs representative samples in order to establish the generality of international students studying in the United States. Moreover, future research is necessary to examine various sources and types of social support which influence physical activity of international students.

The purpose of this biobehavioral study was to explore relationships between psychosocial stressors of acculturation, acculturative stress, and metabolic markers of leptin and adiponectin in Mexican American women with and without gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). A case control design was used for this secondary analysis which included a sample of 38 pregnant women with GDM and 38 healthy controls without GDM, who were matched on age and BMI status. Subjects completed two surveys—the Multidimensional Acculturation Scale II (MASII) and the Multidimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory (MASI)—which measured acculturation and acculturative stress. Descriptive statistics, Pearson r correlations, and independent sample t-tests were used to analyze the data. The results from this study indicated that significant relationships do exist between some of the variables of interest; however, there were no overall significant differences found between women with and without gestational diabetes. These mixed results may be an indicator of a need to further explore these concepts. / text

Empirical investigations of the prevalence and associated features of mental health issues in immigrant populations, have implicated acculturative stress as a potentially significant factor (Sam & Berry, 2010). Acculturative stress is associated with unemployment and underemployment among immigrant professional workers. The objective of the current investigation is to examine the prevalence and impact of acculturation, acculturative stress and coping in a sample of adult immigrant professionals. To provide a theoretical foundation for the study, the following conceptualizations were used: Berry’s (2006) four pronged definition of acculturation; The Stress and Coping Model; and the Social Cognitive Career Theory. Using a grounded theory, qualitative approach, in- depth interviews were used to examine the experiences of employment and acculturation among 20 professional immigrant workers in Canada. The findings of this study demonstrate that immigrant professional workers experience high levels of acculturative stress and utilize a number of coping strategies in relation to their employment trajectories.

Empirical investigations of the prevalence and associated features of mental health issues in immigrant populations, have implicated acculturative stress as a potentially significant factor (Sam & Berry, 2010). Acculturative stress is associated with unemployment and underemployment among immigrant professional workers. The objective of the current investigation is to examine the prevalence and impact of acculturation, acculturative stress and coping in a sample of adult immigrant professionals. To provide a theoretical foundation for the study, the following conceptualizations were used: Berry’s (2006) four pronged definition of acculturation; The Stress and Coping Model; and the Social Cognitive Career Theory. Using a grounded theory, qualitative approach, in- depth interviews were used to examine the experiences of employment and acculturation among 20 professional immigrant workers in Canada. The findings of this study demonstrate that immigrant professional workers experience high levels of acculturative stress and utilize a number of coping strategies in relation to their employment trajectories.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Karen S. Myers-Bowman / The purpose of this study was to determine the factors influencing acculturative stress among international students from the international student perspective. This study explored how acculturative stressors, social support and stress are related. In addition the study examined the significant socio-cultural and demographic predictors of acculturative stress. The Berry's acculturation stress research framework and Bronfenbrenner's ecological perspective were used to guide this study. Data was collected using an online survey from international students across a cohort of eleven U.S universities. Of the 986 students who took the survey, only complete data from 606 students were included in the current study. Descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were employed to summarize and test the proposed hypotheses. The findings indicated that students who were experiencing increased levels of difficulty with the acculturative stressors were more likely to experience higher levels of stress. In addition international students who reported high levels of collective social support were more likely to display less impact of acculturative stressors on acculturative stress. However, the unique moderating influences of various types of social support (family, friends and important others) on the relationship between acculturative stressor and stress was not supported. The findings on the socio-cultural and demographic predictors of acculturative stress suggested that using the assimilation mode and identifying marital status in the "others" category was indicative of lower stress. Lower income and self identified lower social class prior and during acculturation were predictive of higher acculturative stress levels. Findings highlight the fundamental role of the international student's social context and its impact on his/her acculturation process and outcomes. The findings have implications for professionals and scholars who work with international students in practice, education and policy. Suggestions for future research are also included.

This study examined relationships between acculturation and acculturative stress, as well as links to self-esteem, depression, and substance use related problems of Latina/o adolescents. Self-report data were collected from 206 Latina/o adolescents in three public high schools in a small city in the Western United States. Different patterns were observed for Latino males and females in their acculturation processes and experiences of acculturative stress as they relate to psychosocial functioning. Experiences of acculturative stress are found to be the driving force that predicts the psychosocial functioning for these Latina/o adolescents, especially for Latino males. For Latino males, experiences of acculturative stress were related to lower self-esteem and higher depression. For Latinas, experiences of acculturative stress were related to higher depression scores. Tests of moderation and mediation suggested that pathways to psychosocial outcomes may be best understood in Latino youth by examining the interplay between acculturation levels and acculturative stress experiences. (114 pages)

Alcohol and drug use and abuse are significant concerns in the United States, yet few studies have investigated how cultural factors, such as acculturative type and acculturative stress, impact substance abuse treatment outcomes. In this study, African American (n = 171) and Hispanic (n = 101) substance abusers' acculturative type and acculturative stress levels were compared to substance abuse treatment outcome. Although the results indicated that acculturative type did not predict substance abuse treatment outcome, a positive correlation between acculturative stress and alcohol and substance abuse problems emerged among the combined and Hispanic samples. In the combined and Hispanic groups, participants experiencing higher levels of acculturative stress demonstrated higher levels of substance use consequences at baseline. Additionally, Hispanic participants experiencing higher levels of pressure to acculturate related to difficulty in interpersonal interactions due to language or cultural barriers and encountering prejudice had higher levels of substance use consequences at the outcome of treatment. These findings suggest that cultural factors play a role in substance abuse treatment outcome. Recommendations on how substance abuse treatment facilities can respond to the unique needs of African American and Hispanic clients are provided.

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