The role of acculturative stress on mental health symptoms for immigrant adolescents: A longitudinal investigation.

Abstract

Immigrant-origin adolescents represent the fastest growing segment of youth population in the United States, and in many urban schools they represent the majority of students. In this 3-wave longitudinal study, we explored trajectories of internalizing mental health symptoms (depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms). The participants included 332 urban-residing first-and second-generation immigrant adolescents (44% male). Participants were recruited in 10th grade (M age ϭ 16.20 years, SD ϭ 1.19), and 2 additional waves of data were gathered in 12-month intervals. Both generational and racial/ethnic background of the participants reflected the general demographics of urban centers in the United States. With individual growth curve modeling, the results show significant decline in internalizing mental health problems during the high school years. At the same time, greater exposure to acculturative stress predicted significantly more withdrawn, somatic, and anxious/depressed symptoms. Gender and generation status differences in internalizing mental health problems were also identified.

The Domestic Migration Stress Questionnaire (DMSQ): Development and Psychometric Assessment

“…However leaving home, migrating to a new place, adapting to new neighborhoods and lifestyles, adjusting to different work environments, all could be very stressful (Berry et al, 2006;Ramirez, Garcia-Garcia, & Peralta-Ramirez, 2013;van der Ham, Ujano-Batangan, Ignacio, & Wolffers, 2014;Yu et al, 2013). Much has been documented regarding stresses associated with international migration (Ramirez et al, 2013;Sanou et al, 2014;Sirin, Ryce, Gupta, & Rogers-Sirin, 2013), whereas few studies have investigated potential stressors for domestic migration. For studies that focus on domestic migration and health (Chen et al, 2004;Chen, Stanton, Li, Fang, & Lin, 2008;Lin et al, 2005), few, if any have assessed stressors that are specifically related to domestic migration.…”

The Importance of Cross-Cultural Capabilities for Chinese Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Australia

“…They identified such cultural stress as the "immigrant paradox" (Alegría et al, 2008), which has been revealed as playing a critical role in the first generation immigrants' mental health symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, and somatic (Sirin et al, 2013). The reason that the majority of immigrant entrepreneurs in this study experienced less stress than other immigrants may be because of their relatively high socioeconomic status, as socioeconomic status has been found to influence individuals' cultural adaptation (e.g., Ataca & Berry, 2002;Kuo & Roysircar, 2004;LaFromboise et al, 1993).…”

“…As immigrant entrepreneurs, they may face stress from their businesses, given that entrepreneurship is concerned with discovery and exploitation in a highly uncertain environment (Alvarez & Barney, 2005;Shane & Venkataraman, 2000). Furthermore, they may face acculturative stress that has been identified in several cross-cultural studies on immigrants and adaptation (e.g., Berry, 2006;Berry et al, 1987;Sirin et al, 2013). In this case, their psychological changes may be problematic or create acculturative stress (Berry, 2006;Berry et al, 1987), such as frustration.…”

“…Researchers have recently addressed problems, such as a lack of language proficiency to assist with their cultural adaptation (Dai et al, 2011), faced by immigrant entrepreneurs in adapting to their host country (Nee & Sanders, 2001;Portes, Guarnizo, & Haller, 2002). Adapting to a new culture is particularly demanding for immigrant entrepreneurs (Berry, Kim, Minde, & Mok, 1987;Sirin et al, 2013), if immigrant entrepreneurs' capabilities are limited (Ndofor & Priem, 2011), thereby negatively impacting on their immigrant businesses (Zolin et al, 2015). Such capabilities that assist immigrant entrepreneurs in adapting to a new culture are the focus of this research.…”

“…That is, the level of immigrant entrepreneurs' cross-cultural capabilities may vary over time. Ideally, longitudinal research could involve the process of psychological and sociocultural changes that lie at the base of the process of cross-cultural transition (Sam & Berry, 2010;Sirin et al, 2013). The longitudinal research might also capture entrepreneurs' behaviours and changes in "real" time, which may decrease the issues of bias (Davidsson, 2009).…”