The purpose of this study was to determine whether a discrepancy existed between the premigration expectations and postmigration experiences of Hispanic immigrants with regard to their quality of life in the United States in communication, social, economic, and educational domains, and whether the discrepancy is correlated with acculturative stress. Acculturative stress refers to the stress that is related to the demands and pressure to adapt to a new culture. Indicators of acculturative stress include feelings of isolation due to inadequate social resources, apprehension at having to adapt to a new environment, angst over an inability to communicate in English, and worry over limited financial resources (Hovey, 1999). The current study analyzed data collected from a sample of 61 foreign-born individuals of Latin ancestry who came to the United States as an adult and have lived here for less than five (5) years. The findings indicate that violated expectations are correlated with acculturative stress more so than demographic variables, personality constructs and common sources of stress. Additionally, discrepancies between premigration expectations and postmigration experiences were found to be better predictors of acculturative stress than postmigration experiences alone.

The current study examines whether or not Asian American students who participate in Asian-focused student organizations are more "adjusted" (i.e., academically, emotionally attached to institution, feeling connected socially with others at institution), than Asian American students who are not members of ethnic-focused organizations. Among 117 Asian American college students, it was founded that students who were members of ethnic student organizations (ESOs) were more enculturated and students who were not members of ESOs were more acculturated. Analysis showed that ESO membership was associated with stronger levels of adjustment, which in turn was associated with lower levels of acculturative stress.

Few studies have examined the relationships among personal factors, acculturative stress, coping resources, and depression of Korean immigrant elders residing in areas without any Korean ethnic enclave. Based on the stress and coping model and the sociocultural model of stress, coping, and adaptation, this cross-sectional study examined the relationships among acculturative stress, coping, and depression in 111 non-institutionalized Korean immigrant elders aged 60 and older residing in areas without any Korean ethnic enclaves in three neighboring states of Southwestern Ohio, North Central Region of Kentucky, and Southern Indiana. A majority of convenience and snowball sample participated in self-administered mailed surveys, and a remaining few used phone surveys and personal interviews. Multiple regression analyses indicate that social support is the strongest predictor of depression, followed by somatization and acculturative stress. Principal component analysis indicates that the participants appraised limited English proficiency as the most stressful aspect of acculturative stress. Path analyses further reveal that acculturative stress had the largest total effect on depression and partially mediated the effect of the level of acculturation on depression. The results also show that social support had the large direct effect on depression and partially mediated the effect of acculturative stress on depression. Unexpectedly, religiosity was not a predictor of depression and did not have any effect on depression. Interestingly, somatization had the positive direct effect on depression. This study suggests that the level of acculturation, socioeconomic status and social support may influence acculturative stress and depression negatively; however, acculturative stress is the most significant risk factor for depression among the participants, decreasing coping efficacy of social support and increasing somatic symptoms. Implications for future research and practice are examined on social support from family and friends and on acculturative stress. It seems that culturally relevant programs and services are important vehicles through which to enhance personal resources and social support and reduce lingual and cultural barriers among Korean immigrant elders residing in areas without any Korean ethnic enclave.

Latinas/os are reported to be the fastest growing ethnic minority in the United States, with a large percentage being newly arrived immigrants. Previous research has found that many migrate in phases, with the father leaving the family behind or both parents migrating and leaving children in the care of family members. Separations from parental figures have been found to lead to psychosocial, psychological, and educational problems. Additional challenges of immigrants include acculturative stress, lack of social support, attachment problems, poverty, discrimination, unemployment, and marital distress. The purpose of this study was to inquire if immigrant variables (attachment, acculturative stress, and social supports) in Mexican and Central American immigrants who were separated from their primary caregivers as children predict marital distress. A total of 92 participants completed either the online questionnaire via Survey Monkey or paper surveys in person. A quantitative methodology, correlational multiple regression model was used in order to investigate the research questions and hypotheses. The results from the current study showed a statistically significant finding that the attachment style and acculturative stress in Mexican and Central American immigrants predicted marital distress. However, there was no statistically significant finding that social support predicted marital distress. Findings from this study can promote a deeper understanding to marriage counselors regarding attachment, social support, acculturative stress, and separation factors that can affect immigrant couples. It may also have implications for immigration policy and promote the establishment of reunification programs in communities where immigrant populations reside.

Academic achievement among Latino adolescents was examined to determine what contextual factors contribute to school success. ANCOVA analyses indicated that lower levels of perceived discrimination and a higher sense of school belonging were associated with better grades. Neighborhood social capital was not associated with school grades. More adaptation stress was associated with lower grades for US-reared students, but it was not associated with grades for more recent Latino immigrants. The findings suggest that discrimination, school belonging, and adaptation stress play an important role in academic achievement among Latino youth. They also suggest that immigrants may be more academically resilient than their second generation peers in the face of adaptation stress.

SOCIAL SUPPORT AS A BUFFER OF ACCULTURATIVE STRESS: A STUDY OF MARITAL DISTRESS AMONG UNDOCUMENTED, MEXICAN IMMIGRANT MEN by Douglas Costa de Andrade Ribeiro Immigration trends in the United States have changed drastically in the last 20 years. Starting in the 1990’s the majority of immigrants have originated from Latin American, with most emigrating from Mexico. Men, some of whom are undocumented, have driven this new wave of immigrants. These new Mexican immigrants have bypassed traditional receiving sites across the U.S. Mexican border and settled in non-traditional sites in the southern U.S. (Kiang, Grzywacz, Marin, Arcury, and Quandt, 2010). They face increased difficulties adjusting to life in the U.S. due to separation from family and spouses, lack of established social support networks in the U.S., and marginalization. Difficulties adapting to a new culture combined with lack of social support have been associated with significant mental health problems in this population (Hiott, Grzywacz, Arcury, & Quandt, 2006). This study explored the relationship between acculturative stress and marital satisfaction, as well as the protective (buffering) role of social support in a sample of 125 undocumented, married, Mexican American men. The following instruments were used in this study: (a) The Social, Attitudinal, Familial, and Environmental Scale (Mena, Padilla, & Maldonado, 1987), (b) the Social Support Questionnaire (Acuna & Bruner, 1999; Sarason, Levine, Bashan, & Sarason, 1983), and (c) the Global Distress Scale of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised (Negy & Snyder, 1997). Results indicated that high levels of acculturative stress and low levels of social support were significantly associated with higher levels of marital distress. However, results did not support the hypothesis that social support acted as a buffer (moderator) against the effects of high acculturative stress on marital distress. These findings suggest that interventions with undocumented Mexican immigrant men should focus on assessing and treating acculturative stressors as well as aiding/advocating for the development and strengthening of social support networks.

This study investigated the different pathways by which acculturation may influence Hispanic adolescents' psychological functioning and academic achievement. Proposed mediational pathways included adolescent perceptions of mothers' and fathers' parenting practices, acculturative stress, self-esteem, academic support, and academic motivation. Participants included 116 9th and 10th grade students recruited from high schools and a parent for each student. Parents completed a measure of acculturation and rated their adolescents' psychological symptomology. Adolescents completed measures of perceived parenting (mother and father), a self-report of psychological symptoms, a measure of acculturation and acculturative stress, as well as ratings of academic support and motivation. Mediation analysis was utilized to identify mediators of family acculturation in relation to adolescent mental health and academic achievement. Results showed that adolescent self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between parent biculturalism and adolescent withdrawn behavior. Correlational findings identified positive relationships between parent and adolescent preference for American culture to be related to increased likelihood of academic achievement and self-esteem, and decreased internalizing and externalizing behaviors. These findings suggest that biculturalism (preference for both Hispanic and American culture) at the familial and individual level may serve as a protective buffer against adolescent mental health symptoms and poor academic performance. Findings are discussed in terms of preventive interventions for Hispanic youth.

The proposed study will investigate how individuals of different acculturation types vary in their levels of acculturative stress and marianismo. First-generation Brazilian immigrant females will complete a demographic questionnaire, as well as measures of acculturation, marianismo, and acculturative stress. Two 1-way ANOVA analyses and one 1-way ANCOVA analysis will be conducted in order to explore the relationship between these variables. It is proposed that Brazilian immigrant women’s levels of acculturative stress and marianismo will vary by acculturation type. It is further proposed that measuring adherance to traditional gender roles as varying by acculturation type rather than level will yield a more nuanced understanding of this relationship by not confounding integrated and marginalized individuals. Implications and limitations of the study’s potential findings will be discussed. Lastly, a program evaluation perspective will be presented to further explicate the implications of the current study for mental health outcomes and the provision of mental health services to Brazilian immigrant women. / text

The literature on identity and acculturation has discussed many aspects of the ethnic minorities‟ experience that have important implications for the mental health status of these individuals. The goal of the present study was to integrate these findings to create an encompassing picture of how these processes may interact with one another in first-generation Asian immigrants and Asian international students in Canada. Results indicated that one‟s identification to the mainstream and heritage cultures were dependent on one‟s stage in ethnic identity development. Second, it was found that ethnic identity exploration and ethnic identity achievement were differentially associated with reported levels of race-related stress. Third, bicultural conflict and vertical collectivism were negatively associated with psychological outcomes, whereas ethnic identity achievement was positively associated with well-being. Finally, strategies of self-continuity were not associated with the individualism-collectivism measures assessed in the study / Graduate

The acculturation process for international students is influenced by several factors such as experiences of discrimination, economic condition, language fluency, and social support. Discrimination, which refers to negative or prejudicial behavior towards an individual or a group of individuals, takes place towards international students due to their poor grasp of the English Language (Lee & Rice, 2007), cultural differences (Cole & Ahmadi, 2003), and racial differences (Hanassab, 2006). Perceived discrimination (among other factors) has been identified as a potential moderator of the relationship between acculturation preferences and psychological functioning in acculturation theory (Berry, 2003). Apart from perceived discrimination, gender has also been recognized as predicting adjustment among international students (Lee, Park, & Kim, 2009). This study investigated the role perceived discrimination plays in the relationship between acculturation orientation and psychological functioning (i.e., depression and global life satisfaction), and the influence gender has on the relationship between acculturation orientation and psychological functioning among international students from South Asia and South East Asia. A series of mediational and moderational analyses were performed with hierarchical multiple regression analyses. The mediation effect of perceived discrimination on the relationship between acculturation orientation and psychological functioning was not significant for either factors of psychological functioning. While the interaction between identification with host culture and gender did not predict depression, it predicted global life satisfaction (GLS). Specifically, men who identified with their host culture had higher global life satisfaction scores. However, the interactions between identification with heritage culture and gender did not predict depression or global life satisfaction. The findings suggest that the Berry’s (2003) acculturation model may not fit for international students. Future research on acculturation orientation as a variable mediating the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological functioning is recommended.