Expanding the Acculturation Gap-Distress Model: An Integrative Review of Research

Abstract

The acculturation gap-distress model purports that immigrant children acculturate to their new culture at a quicker pace than their parents, leading to family conflict and youth maladjustment. This article reviews literature on the acculturation gap-distress model, showing that acculturation gaps function in unique ways depending on many social and contextual variables. In contrast to the original model, which only discusses 1 type of acculturation gap, there are at least 4 types of acculturation gaps: (1) the child is more acculturated than the parent in the host culture, (2) the child is less acculturated than the parent in the host culture, (3) the child is more acculturated than the parent in the native culture, and (4) the child is less acculturated than the parent in the native culture. A review of research indicates that each of these types of gaps function in unique ways.

Contextual Conditions for Acculturation and Adjustment of Adolescent Immigrants – Integrating Theory and Findings

“…A larger gap between parents and their adolescent children is often associated with lower levels of adolescent well-being (e.g., Pfafferott & Brown, 2006). Yet, a recent review suggests that effects may differ between different types of gaps (Telzer, 2010).…”

Two Sides of a Story: Mothers’ and Adolescents’ Agreement on Child Disclosure in Immigrant and Native Families

“…For immigrants, however, additional parent-child dynamics have to be considered. We have already indicated that immigrant adolescents seem to adjust to a new context more quickly (Cheung et al 2011), which results in an acculturation gap (Birman 2006;Telzer 2011) and in adolescents' taking over responsibilities. These responsibilities are often related to language brokering activities (Morales and Hanson 2005;Weisskirch 2005), which means that adolescents translate documents, bills, and so forth for their parents (Weisskirch 2005), a behavior that is exhibited by approximately 90% of immigrant adolescents, but with substantial interindividual variation (Jones and Trickett 2005;Morales and Hanson 2005).…”

“…A second argument relates to additional differences between mothers and adolescents due to different paces of adaptation (Cheung et al 2011). Usually, adolescents adapt more rapidly than their parents to a new cultural environment, which results in an acculturative gap (Birman 2006;Telzer 2011) and in children taking over family responsibilities, such as translating documents for their parents (language brokering) (Morales and Hanson 2005;Weisskirch 2005), or assuming adult roles (parentification) (Titzmann 2012). This differential adaptation is assumed to bear the risk of intergenerational alienation (Fillmore 2000) or acculturative family distancing (Hwang 2006;Hwang et al 2010).…”

“…One assumption in the research on such family processes is that adolescents and parents drift away from one another because the adolescents adjust more easily to the new society (Cheung et al 2011;Birman 2006;Telzer 2011) and start to assume familial roles usually reserved for adults (Titzmann 2012;Morales and Hanson 2005); this results in parents and adolescents becoming estranged.…”

Trends in Youth Development Research Topics: An Integrative Review of Positive Youth Development Research Published in Selected Journals Between 2001-2010

“…For example, such approaches have been used to understand the experiences of immigrant and ethnic minority children (Guiberson, 2009;Stodolska, 2008;Telzer, 2011), adolescent peer experiences (Kingery, Erdley, Marshall, Whitaker, & Reuter, 2010), emotional regulation (Chambers, Gullone, & Allen, 2009), sports coaching (McCullick et al, 2009), and family resiliency (Benzies & Mychasiuk, 2009). Integrative reviews have been undertaken to understand trends in topical content and methods, such as Graham and Ismail's (2011) study conducted in the field of community psychology.…”