The Associations Between Multiple Dimensions of Acculturation and Psychological Distress Among Latinx Youth From Immigrant Families

Abstract

Acculturation includes cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions, but few studies have included all three, and little is known about the ways in which these dimensions interact with contextual factors to predict psychological distress among Latinx adolescents. The current study explored the strength of the associations between the three dimensions of acculturation and psychological distress among Latinx adolescents from immigrant families ( N = 129). The study also investigated whether acculturative stress and time in the United States moderated these associations. Results indicated that higher levels of acculturative stress and lower levels of familism (an indicator of the cognitive dimension of acculturation) predicted higher psychological distress. Age of arrival moderated the association between language preference (behavioral dimension) and psychological distress for English-dominant participants such that later arrival (during adolescence) was associated with less distress compared with arrival in early childhood.

Acculturative Stress and Psychological Distress Among Latinx Youth: Moderating Role of Family Cohesion and Conflict

“…The associations of acculturative stress with psychological distress among Latinx youth may vary across dimensions of acculturation (Hale & Kuperminc, 2021), including language preference, immigration status, and family national origin. Measures of language preference seek to capture the process by which immigrants integrate a second language, the language of a dominant culture (Marín & Marín, 1991).…”

“…Measures of language preference seek to capture the process by which immigrants integrate a second language, the language of a dominant culture (Marín & Marín, 1991). Language preference has typically been conceptualized as a primary component in the measurement of acculturation and has been shown to be directly related to mental health outcomes among youth (Hale & Kuperminc, 2021;Lawton & Gerdes, 2014). A recent systematic review of acculturative stress among U.S.-residing Latinx immigrants found that English language skills protect against acculturative stress (Bekteshi & Kang, 2018).…”