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The study aimed to predict the acculturative stress experienced by Latino adults from socio-psychological factors A random sample of 197 members of two social services agencies completed a demographic questionnaire and objective instruments to assess family cohesion and adaptability, acculturation, acculturative stress, and stress coping-resources effectiveness. The results suggest that the acculturative stress experienced by Latinos relates to the efficacy of stress-coping resources, degree of acculturation, cohesion of the family, language use, and length of residence in the United States. These variables accounted for 48% of the variability in the acculturative stress of adult Latinos The findings highlight the complexity of acculturative stress for Latinos.
Acculturation is the process of adjusting to a nonnative culture (Rogler, Cortes, & Malgadi, 1991). It involves changes in identity, values, behaviors, cognitions, and attitudes (Berry, 1990; Liebkind, 1996). Frequently, such changes engender a unique type of distress referred to as acculturative stress (Berry & Anis, 1974; Weaver, 1993).
Initial formulations of acculturative stress suggested that negative psychological consequences of acculturating such as emotional distress, shock, and anxiety were inevitable (Marcos, 1976). More recent views, however, do not emphasize the inevitability of these negative consequences. Contemporary views acknowledge the ameliorating effects of environmental, familial, demographic, and other factors on the outcomes of acculturation (Miranda & Umhoefer, 1998).
Berry (1980) was one of the earliest researchers to rely on a stress-coping framework in discussing acculturative resilience. He emphasized the importance of stress-coping resources in buffering the negative effects of acculturation. He maintained that dysfunctional and psychopathological consequences occur from acculturation when coping resources prove inadequate. His view accords nicely with the comprehensive model of stress coping constructed by Matheny, Aycock, Pugh, Curlette, and Canella (1986) from their meta-analytic study of the effectiveness of treatments for stress disorders. The model suggests that stress is the consequence of an imbalance between perceived demands and perceived resources, and it draws on the appraisal process conceptualized by Lazarus and Folkman (1984). Accordingly, people first appraise the seriousness of the demands being encountered and then the adequacy of their resources for coping. When perceived resources are judged to be deficit, the stress response is automatically triggered regardless of the nature or origin of the demand. These models, which emphasize the critical role of coping resources...