Latino Immigrants, Acculturation, and Health: Promising New Directions in Research

Abstract

This article provides an analysis of novel topics emerging in recent years in research on Latino immigrants, acculturation, and health. In the past ten years, the number of studies assessing new ways to conceptualize and understand how acculturation-related processes may influence health has grown. These new frameworks draw from integrative approaches testing new ground to acknowledge the fundamental role of context and policy. We classify the emerging body of evidence according to themes that we identify as promising directions—intrapersonal, interpersonal, social environmental, community, political, and global contexts, cross-cutting themes in life course and developmental approaches, and segmented assimilation—and discuss the challenges and opportunities each theme presents. This body of work, which considers acculturation in context, points to the emergence of a new wave of research that holds great promise in driving forward the study of Latino immigrants, acculturation, and health. We provide suggestions to further advance the ideologic and methodologic rigor of this new wave.

Assessment of acculturation in minority health research

“…We integrate rigorous theoretical and methodological approaches to understanding culture (D’Andrade, 1984; Dressler, 2005) with the requirements of health research, both of which have been insufficiently attended to (Abraído-Lanza et al, 2016; Dressler, 1995, 2005; Hunt et al, 2004; Kagawa Singer et al, 2016; Salant & Lauderdale, 2003). Our goal is to provide a coherent perspective that incorporates concepts from social, biomedical, and computational sciences towards offering concrete suggestions to enhance the quality and efficacy of studies in this field.…”

“…Consequently, a large number of studies have investigated the relationship between various aspects of acculturation and health, particularly in Hispanic Americans (reviews: (Abraído-Lanza et al, 2016; Lara et al, 2005; Thomson & Hoffman-Goetz, 2009)), Asian Americans (reviews: (Salant & Lauderdale, 2003; Suinn, 2010)), ethnic minority immigrants to Canada (reviews: (Sanou et al, 2013; Urquia et al, 2012)), and Native American (Duncan et al, 2014; Garrett et al, 2012). Notable inconsistencies have emerged in the relationship between acculturation and health (Castro, 2007).…”

Acculturative stress is associated with trajectory of anxiety symptoms during pregnancy in Mexican-American women

“…Previous findings fail to interpret the possible barriers and challenges that Mexican-Americans may or may not face due to language preference or birthplace (Hunt, Schneider, & Comer, 2004; Thomson & Hoffman-Goetz, 2009; Valencia-Garcia, Simoni, Alegría, & Takeuchi, 2012). Thus, there is a need to investigate acculturation beyond the proxy measures as acculturation as an interactive and multidimensional process in which individuals may modify their own beliefs and experiences when interacting between cultures (Abraído-Lanza, Echeverría, & Flórez, 2016; Cabassa, 2003). One study has used a continuous measures of acculturation on the distinct, but related concept of pregnancy-related anxiety and found Mexican orientation to be associated with an increase in symptoms (Campos et al, 2007).…”

Segmented Assimilation

“…Over the past decade, there has been increasing interest in studying acculturation as an explanatory variable for shifting patterns of health among Latino populations in the United States (1). The growing popularity of acculturation has sparked a heated debate on the sociocultural determinants of health among Latinos (2–5).…”