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International migration has significant effects on the lives of migrants, many resulting from the challenges of cultural adjustment they face in their country of destination. Cultural adjustment or acculturation often includes physical, psychological, spiritual, social, financial, linguistic, and familial adaptation. This process may produce an acculturative stress reaction arising from the psychological difficulties migrants experience as they adapt to unfamiliar social norms, customs, and institutions they encounter in a new cultural context. Protective factors and coping mechanisms may be present to help migrants manage acculturative stress. This study examines the relationship between acculturative stress and family cohesion and social support among low-acculturated Mexican migrants in Chicago. Specifically, the authors hypothesize that there will be a negative relationship between stress level and the measures of family cohesion and social support. Two models are presented. The first examines the relationship between the dependent variable, acculturative stress level, and the demographic and social characteristics of respondents. The second includes variables measuring family cohesion and social support, while also controlling for problems experienced relative to support. The results indicate that only a very small proportion of the total variance in acculturative stress is explained by demographic characteristics, yet the second model, which includes measures of family cohesion and social support accounts for almost 20% of the variance in acculturative stress scores. The results indicate that 403 404 M. V. de Haymes et al. individuals who have greater levels of family engagement as well as individuals who have greater levels of family satisfaction have lower levels of acculturative stress.

This qualitative and exploratory study was conducted in a rural community in Puebla, Mexico, in August 2008. The study specifically explores the decision-making process, as well as the interpersonal dynamics involved in the act of remitting, and how the family remaining in the community of origin manages the financial and emotional transactions as beneficiaries of the remittances. This study found that in this particular community, once a husband migrates, his wife typically moves in with her family in-law. In most families, the migrant initially sent the remittances directly to his mother, enabling her authority and power over his wife. This dynamic has psychological impacts and also influences the relationship between the migrant and his wife. Additionally, change occurs throughout the course of the husband's migration that affects family relationships and functioning. For example, the remittances sent by the husband may allow his wife and children to obtain their own property and gain independence from their in-laws.

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