The Role of Attachment in Immigrant Sociocultural Adaptation and Psychological Distress

Abstract

The study extends recent research on the link between attachment security and the sociocultural and psychological adaptation of immigrants. It was hypothesised that attachment style would moderate the effects of sociocultural adaptation difficulties on psychological distress and the relationship between attachment style and immigrant background variables was explored. The study was correlational and questionnaire-based, including a sample of 172 Brazilian immigrants living in the UK. According to the findings, secure and dismissing attachment styles moderated the effects of sociocultural adaptation difficulties on psychological distress. Preoccupied attachment style moderated the effects of previous immigration experience on psychological distress and the effects of duration of stay in the UK on concerns over terrorism. Future studies should employ longitudinal designs and include a variety of immigrant groups.

Drug Use Among Immigrant and Non‐immigrant Adolescents: Immigrant Paradox, Family and Peer Influences

“…Acevedo‐Garcia et al, ). This suggests that some factors may protect immigrant adolescents from the negative effects of challenging conditions and socio‐economic disadvantage (Georgiades et al, ; Sochos & Diniz, ).…”

An investigation of relationship correlates and predictors of cultural adjustment among missionaries.

“…Polek et al (2010) agree, stating that secure attachment is positively related to psychological and sociocultural adjustment. Sochos and Diniz (2012) also found that attachment is connected to cultural adjustment, claiming that attachment-related concepts such as the disruption of interpersonal bonds and the increase of environmental stress are also part of the cultural adjustment process and that both secure and dismissive attachment styles are connected to higher levels of sociocultural adjustment in expatriates.…”

“…Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, and Wall (1978) found that children with a secure attachment to their caregivers explored a new environment (or "strange situation") more extensively than those with insecure attachments. This idea of a secure base has been extended to adult attachment theory and research, as well as to the field of cultural adjustment (Polek, Wöhrle, & van Oudenhoven, 2010;Sochos & Diniz, 2012;Wang & Mallinckrodt, 2006). Wang and Mallinckrodt (2006) state that being placed in a new cultural environment is similar to the idea of young children learning to explore new physical surroundings in Ainsworth et al's (1978) Strange Situation.…”

“…In children, research found that those with a secure attachment to their caregivers explored a new environment (or "strange situation") more extensively than those with insecure attachments (Ainsworth et al, 1978). This concept of a secure base for exploration has been extended to adult attachment theory and research, and to the concept of cultural adjustment (Polek et al, 2010;Sochos & Diniz, 2012;Wang & Mallinckrodt, 2006 (Wang & Mallinckrodt, 2006). For missionaries with high attachment anxiety, however, the lack of a strong attachment to God, physical separation from significant others in the home culture, and elevated feelings of loneliness and distress are likely to prevent them from engaging in a full range of exploration in the new cultural environment, just as the anxiously attached infants discussed in Ainsworth et al (1978) did not fully explore their new environment.…”

“…The concept for this research question was again based on Bowlby's (1988) attachment theory, and the idea that the existence of a secure relationship attachment to another person (such as a family or friend in the home culture) promotes a greater capacity for exploring a new cultural environment (Ainsworth et al, 1978;Polek et al, 2010;Sochos & Diniz, 2012;Wang & Mallinckrodt, 2006). Therefore, it was suggested that the stronger a missionary's relationships were with family and friends from their samples, which may partially explain the differences that exist between the previous research literature and the current study (Caligiuri et al, 1998;Cemalcilar et al, 2005;Ward & Rana-Deuba, 2000).…”