With a little help from my child: A dyad approach to immigrant mothers' and adolescents' socio-cultural adaptation

Stress, mental health and sociocultural adjustment in third culture kids: exploring the mediating roles of resilience and family functioning

Introduction

This cross-sectional study explores the contributions of personal and contextual factors in the adjustment process of a sample of internationally mobile children and adolescents having relocated to Switzerland. Based on evolutionary developmental theories and recommendations by Research Domain Criteria and The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology theoretical frameworks, we hypothesized and tested a heuristic model of TCK adjustment, aiming to identify prevention and treatment targets tailored for our sampled population.

Methods

We assessed the relationships in the hypothesized models, particularly how perceived and acculturative stress influence TCK adjustment and whether the relationship between the predictors of TCK stress and the outcomes of TCK adjustment are mediated by resilience and family functioning. A total of 143 participants aged 7-17, having relocated internationally with their working parent(s), recruited in local and international schools in Switzerland, were included in this study. Data were collected using an online survey after we collected consent. We assessed factors of adjustment using validated questionnaires: perceived stress and acculturative stress and the potential mediating roles of family functioning and resilience. We measured the outcome of adjustment through mental health difficulties and sociocultural adjustment. We used path analysis to test the model.

Results

Results highlight the contributions of perceived stress and acculturative stress to TCK mental health and sociocultural adjustment. We also we found a mediation effect for resilience in the relationship between perceived stress and mental health. Family functioning was not a significant mediator in any relationship that we assessed.

Discussion

We discuss implications for future research, promoting TCK adjustment and preventative psychotherapeutic interventions.

Effects of caregiver-child acculturation on child obesity among US Latino individuals

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study was to assess the association of Latino caregiver-child nativity status (US- and foreign-born) with child obesity using a nationally representative sample.

METHODS

Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 1999-2018), this study used generalized linear models to identify associations between caregiver-child nativity status (as a proxy for acculturation) and children's BMI.

RESULTS

Compared with foreign-born caregiver-child dyads, US-born caregiver-child dyads had 2.35 times the risk of class 2 obesity (95% CI: 1.59-3.47) and 3.60 times the risk of class 3 obesity (95% CI: 1.86-6.96). Foreign-born caregiver and US-born child dyads had 2.01 times the risk of class 2 obesity (95% CI: 1.42-2.84) and 2.47 times the risk of class 3 obesity (95% CI: 1.38-4.44; p < 0.05 for class 2 and class 3).

CONCLUSIONS

Compared with foreign-born Latino caregiver-child dyads, dyads with US-born caregivers and children and dyads with foreign-born caregivers and US-born children had significantly increased risk across the severe classes of obesity. Examining the influence and relationship of varying acculturation levels in an immigrant household will help guide more effective clinical and policy guidelines surrounding obesity and weight management in both pediatric and adult US Latino populations.

Parentification Vulnerability, Reactivity, Resilience, and Thriving: A Mixed Methods Systematic Literature Review

Parentification occurs when youth are forced to assume developmentally inappropriate parent- or adult-like roles and responsibilities. This review thoroughly examines current empirical research on parentification, its outcomes, and related mechanisms to outline patterns of findings and significant literature gaps. This review is timely in the large context of the COVID-19 pandemic, when pandemic-induced responsibilities and demands on youth, and the shifting family role may exacerbate parentification and its consequences. We used the 2020 updated Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework to identify 95 studies (13 qualitative, 81 quantitative, 1 mixed methods) meeting eligibility criteria. Representation from six continents highlights parentification as a global phenomenon. Using thematic analysis, we identified five themes from qualitative studies and five from quantitative studies. These were further integrated into four common themes: (1) some parentified youth experienced positive outcomes (e.g., positive coping), albeit constructs varied; (2) to mitigate additional trauma, youth employed various protective strategies; (3) common negative outcomes experienced by youth included internalizing behaviors, externalizing problems, and compromised physical health; and (4) youths' characteristics (e.g., rejection sensitivity, attachment style), perceived benefits, and supports influenced parentification outcomes. Future methodological and substantive directions are discussed.

Children's influence on wellbeing and acculturative stress in refugee families

Purpose: This paper examines intergenerational, interdependent and contextual aspects of wellbeing and acculturative stress in refugee families during resettlement. Particular focus is placed on how children influence their parents. Method: The study is based on interviews with and diary notes from Middle Eastern parents and children residing in Sweden. Results: Analyzes of the narratives show how the direct and indirect influence of the child affects the parents in both negative and positive ways. Acculturative stress follows from unexpected and undesired migration outcomes, such as parent–child conflicts and low school achievement. Such strains add to other hardships refugee families face, for instance, unemployment, welfare dependence, poor housing, and insufficient mastery of the majority language. However, acculturative stress can be alleviated by the children’s educational success, and reciprocal practices of love and caring including helping out with chores and supporting each other in different ways. Conclusions: Children's agency has significant effects on parents’ wellbeing, as wellbeing is accomplished in and through relationships with others.

Examining the Interdependence of Parent-adolescent Acculturation Gaps on Acculturation-based Conflict: Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model

While some studies have supported the conceptual models developed to explain how conflict may result from parent-adolescent acculturation gaps within immigrant families, others have produced contradictory findings. Therefore, the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model may be a step toward explaining the discrepancies in the field. It is a model for dyadic data analysis. It differs from prior approaches for assessing acculturation gaps because it considers the interdependence between two family members, suggesting that adolescents' perceived degree of conflict may be a response to their own acculturation (actor effect) and at the same time, to their parents' acculturation (partner effect), and vice versa. The purpose of this study is to assess parent-adolescent acculturation levels on perceived acculturation-based conflict using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model within Chinese American families (n = 187 dyads). The mean age of the adolescents was 12.3 years old (SD = 0.95). Findings from the study demonstrate that adolescents perceived greater conflict the more they were acculturated but perceived less conflict the more their parents were acculturated. Parents perceived less conflict the higher their adolescents scored on both acculturation and cultural maintenance. However, parents perceived greater conflict the higher they maintained their own culture. Results suggest that the partner effects reveal information that may help clarify whether acculturation gaps are related to conflict within immigrant families.

Challenges in the study of adolescent and acculturative changes

This article focuses on two recurrent themes in the study of acculturation in adolescence that challenge progress of the field. First, we often work with low-dimensional, trait-like models of acculturation that cannot deal with modern types of acculturation that are often characterized by multidimensionality and domain specificity. Second, acculturative change in adolescence is undertheorized and there is a need to integrate developmental tasks and models of acculturation. It is argued that approaches that have been adopted in the study of identity (with their models that range from generalized traits to situated approaches and their adoption of both quantitative and qualitative methods) are highly suitable for the study of acculturation. A more contextualized approach would also facilitate the study of the interaction of contextual conditions and acculturative changes in adolescence.

Understanding positive immigrant youth adaptation in the context of multiculturalism

This commentary highlights some of the strengths of the papers in this special issue focusing on how they advance acculturation research; how they link immigrant youth research with positive youth development and how they provide some insights into understanding how immigrant youth thrive in their adoptive societies. The commentary takes as its point of departure the prototypical research question for immigrant youth research within the perspective of positive youth development and the ultimate goals of acculturation research, i.e., to (i) promote positive psychological acculturation and the well-being of individuals and (ii) the attainment of harmonious intercultural relations among all groups in contact, and argues that the four papers fall short in addressing the second goal. The second goal is subsequently linked to multiculturalism and suggest that to do full justice to the prototypical research question, more attention should be directed to incorporating indicators of multiculturalism in acculturation research.