Multidimensional effects of acculturation on English-language neuropsychological test performance among HIV+ Caribbean Latinas/os

Abstract

Acculturation has been linked to neuropsychological performance in several ethnic groups. However, research among Latina/o samples has examined primarily Mexican/Mexican Americans, and has not examined Latina/o clinical populations of Caribbean descent. This study examined associations between a multidimensional acculturation measure and neuropsychological performance among 82 HIV+ Caribbean Latina/o adults. Multivariate results showed that U.S. acculturation significantly predicted 11–14% of the variance in Global Neuropsychological functioning, Verbal Fluency, and Processing Speed, whereas Latina/o acculturation predicted 8% of the variance in Executive Function and 6% in Motor Function (trend level associations). Both linguistic and non-linguistic cultural factors had distinct effects on neuropsychological performance.

The Multidimensional Influence of Acculturation on Digit Symbol-Coding and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in Hispanics

“…This finding is supported unambiguously by Coffey and colleagues' research, which demonstrated that more highly acculturated individuals, as measured by a language-based acculturation measure, exhibited better performance on the WCST total trials and non-perseverative errors relative to a those less acculturated (Coffey et al, 2005). Beyond this circumscribed finding, linguistic cultural factors have also been found to have a significant effect on an array of both verbal and nonverbal cognitive functions (Arentoft et al, 2012;Arnold et al, 1994;Artiola i Fortuny et al, 1998;Coffey et al, 2005;Jeste et al, 2005;Luria, 1976;Saez et al, 2014;Vygotsky, 1962). The strong relevance of language can be seen even on tests that do not require a verbal response if one considers the receptive language skills needed to understand the task instructions or the use of internal language processing during task performance.…”

“…Within the language domain, acculturation has been found to affect naming, repetition, fluency, and receptive and expressive vocabulary (Arnold & Orozco, 1989;Artiola i Fortuny et al, 1998;Manly, Jacobs, et al, 1998;Manly, Miller, et al, 1998) in some studies; however, other studies have found acculturation to be unrelated to some of the same measures (Boone et al, 2007;Kennepohl et al, 2004;Manly, Miller, et al, 1998;Touradji et al, 2001). Other positive and negative findings are similarly reported for attention, visuospatial functioning, processing speed, learning and memory, and perceptual and motor functioning (e.g., Arentoft et al, 2012;Boone et al, 2007;Kennepohl et al, 2004;Razani et al, 2007). Patterns embedded within this literature may become clearer with additional research.…”

“…(The term "nonverbal neuropsychological test" is operationally defined here as a measure that does not require expressive language). For example, some studies have found a significant relationship between acculturation and executive tasks, such as planning, reasoning, problem-solving, and set-shifting (Arnold et al, 1994;Coffey et al, 2005;Manly, Miller, et al, 1998;Razani et al, 2007;Saez et al, 2014;Touradji, Manly, Jacobs, & Stern, 2001), whereas other studies have found no relationship with these same executive functions (Arentoft et al, 2012;Boone et al, 2007;Kennepohl et al, 2004;Razani et al, 2006). Within the language domain, acculturation has been found to affect naming, repetition, fluency, and receptive and expressive vocabulary (Arnold & Orozco, 1989;Artiola i Fortuny et al, 1998;Manly, Jacobs, et al, 1998;Manly, Miller, et al, 1998) in some studies; however, other studies have found acculturation to be unrelated to some of the same measures (Boone et al, 2007;Kennepohl et al, 2004;Manly, Miller, et al, 1998;Touradji et al, 2001).…”

“…In Hispanic clinical samples, the role of acculturation varies broadly depending upon the patient population. Acculturation has been shown to significantly predict performance on verbal fluency and processing speed in English-speaking Caribbean Latinos with HIV+ (Arentoft et al, 2012). In a mixed neurological population of English-speaking Latinos, acculturation predicted performance on naming, fluency, and digit span, but not on any set-shifting, problem-solving, visuospatial, or memory test (Boone et al, 2007).…”

“…While the existing literature supports acculturation as an important and significant contributor to cognitive test performance, the effects of acculturation are not consistent across neuropsychological domains, nor across verbal/nonverbal boundaries (Arentoft et al, 2012;Arnold et al, 1994). (The term "nonverbal neuropsychological test" is operationally defined here as a measure that does not require expressive language).…”