Explaining the 'immigration advantage' and the 'biculturalism paradox': an application of the theory of demoralization

Aging Parents and the Ties That Bind: Intergenerational Relationship Quality Among Culturally Diverse Canadian Families

Drawing from a life course perspective, this paper examines mid/later-life parent-child relationship quality among ethnically diverse families. Focus is on the role of culture, child, and parental characteristics. Data are drawn from a study of 588 parents aged 50+ of a least one child aged 19-35 who reside in Metro Vancouver, B.C. from four Canadian cultural groups: British, Chinese, Persian/Iranian, and South Asian. Using OLS regression methods, we use two dependent variable scales: positive and negative support/interaction appraisals of the relationship. The positive relationship quality scale is associated with South Asian versus British-Canadian parents, mothers, those with greater income satisfaction, and daughters. The negative scale is inversely associated among South Asian versus British-Canadian parents, income satisfaction, parental health, and being unpartnered (vs. partnered). Interaction effects are found between gender and ethnicity. Implications for theorizing and applied recommendations for those who work with culturally diverse aging families are discussed.

A Social Ecological Approach to Latino Immigrant Trauma and Intervention: An Integrative Review

This paper presents an application that can be taken when conducting mental health intervention within the Latino immigrant population. Using a social ecological lens, it provides an overview of experiences and factors to detail the characteristics, trauma, and resilience factors present within this population. Utilizing Ungar's framework on resilience, that decenters the individual from experiences of trauma to position them alongside their social network and resources, it proposes an application for future intervention and research efforts. Addressing intervention at a foundational level allows for the supplementing and shaping of current methods to address the mental health needs of this community.

Transition in Older Parent-Adult Child Relations in U.S. Chinese Immigrant Families

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The family fundamentally underpins the immigration and acculturation processes. But most existing research on acculturation focuses on individual instead of family experience. Guided by Berry's acculturation theory and Intergenerational Solidarity Theory, this study examined continuity and changes in parent-adult child relations of older Chinese immigrants over a 2-year period, and their implications for older adults' depression and quality of life (QoL).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Participants included 2,605 older Chinese immigrants from the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago (PINE). Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) was used to identify transitions in multidimensional parent-child relations over time. Negative binomial and logistic regressions were used to examine the influence of family transitions on depression and QoL, respectively.

RESULTS

LTA revealed five types of family relations: traditional, modified traditional, coresiding-unobligated, independent, and detached. Over 40% of the respondents shifted to a different relation type, with more families classified as modified traditional or independent over time. Transitioning into modified traditional relations or out of detached relations was associated with fewer depressive symptoms and better QoL at the follow-up. Transitioning into independent relation was associated with more depressive symptoms over time.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS

Parent-child relations among Chinese older immigrants demonstrate significant complexity, including both heterogeneity and fluidity. Better well-being of these older adults seems to stem from the optimal combination of retaining the supportive heritage culture and embracing the host society's instrumental cultural elements. Services to this population need to include the family context in assessment and interventions.

US acculturation and poor sleep among an intergenerational cohort of adult Latinos in Sacramento, California

Acculturation may shape the disproportionate burden of poor sleep among Latinos in the United States. Existing studies are limited by unidimensional acculturation proxies that are incapable of capturing cultural complexities across generations. Understanding how acculturation relates to sleep may lead to the identification of modifiable intervention targets. We used multivariable regression and latent class methods to examine cross-sectional associations between a validated multidimensional scale of US acculturation and self-reported poor sleep measures. We analyzed an intergenerational cohort: first-generation (GEN1) older Latinos (Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging; N = 1,716; median age: 69.5) and second-generation (GEN2) middle-aged offspring and relatives of GEN1 (Niños Lifestyle and Diabetes Study; N = 670; median age: 54.0) in Sacramento, California. GEN1 with high US acculturation, compared with high acculturation towards another origin/ancestral country, had less restless sleep (prevalence ratio [PR] [95% confidence interval (CI)]: 0.67 [0.54, 0.84]) and a higher likelihood of being in the best sleep class than the worst (OR [95% CI]: 1.62 [1.09, 2.40]), but among nonmanual occupations, high intergenerational US acculturation was associated with more general fatigue (PR [95% CI: 1.86 [1.11, 3.10]). GEN2 with high intergenerational US acculturation reported shorter sleep (PR [95% CI]: 2.86 [1.02, 7.99]). High US acculturation shaped sleep differentially by generation, socioeconomic context, and intergenerational acculturative status. High US acculturation was associated with better sleep among older, lower socioeconomic Latinos, but with shorter sleep duration among middle-aged, higher socioeconomic Latinos; results also differed by parental acculturation status. Upon replication, future studies should incorporate prospective and intergenerational designs to uncover sociobehavioral pathways by which acculturation may shape sleep to ultimately inform intervention efforts.

The Impact of Parental Reaction to Sexual Orientation on Depressive Symptoms and Sexual Risk Behavior Among Hispanic Men Who Have Sex with Men

PURPOSE

This study examined the relationship of parent reaction to sexual orientation with depressive symptoms and safer sex among Hispanic adult men who have sex with men (MSM). We also examined men's acculturation to the U.S. (Americanism) in relation with these variables.

METHOD

Cross-sectional data collected from July 2011 to December 2012, from 125 MSM with a mean age of 43.02years. Instruments included the Perceived Parent Reaction Scale, the Centers for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, the Safer Sex Behavior Questionnaire and the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale. Data was analyzed using Hierarchical generalized linear models (GZLM).

RESULTS

Among men whose parents knew of their sexual orientation, rejection of son's sexual orientation from mother (p=0.032) and from father (p=0.004) was related to higher number of depressive symptoms. Parent reactions were not directly related to safer sex behaviors. Americanism was associated with lower depressive symptoms (p=0.001) but was not related to safer sex behaviors.

CONCLUSIONS

Current parent attitudes about their sons' sexual orientation had an effect on the sons' emotional wellbeing and acculturation may play a protective role. Mental health and primary care clinicians working with Hispanic MSM should assess for level of family support and provide resources to assist with disclosure and family acceptance of sexual orientation as indicated, particularly among recently immigrated men who may be at higher risk.

Maternal and pediatric health and disease: integrating biopsychosocial models and epigenetics

The concepts of allostasis (stability through adaptation) and accumulated life stress (McEwen's allostatic load) aim to understand childhood and adult outcomes. Chronic malnutrition, changes in social condition, and adverse early-life experiences may program phenotypes and contribute to long-lasting disease risk. However, integration of life course approaches, social and economic contexts, and comparison among different biopsychosocial models has not generally been explored. This review critically examines the literature and evaluates recent insights into how environmental stress can alter lifelong hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and immune system responsiveness and induce metabolic and neurodevelopmental maladaptation. Models of biopsychosocial stress overlap but may consider different conditions. Concepts include allostasis, which incorporates hormonal responses to predictable environmental changes, and Geronimus's "weathering," which aims to explain how socially structured, repeated stress can accumulate and increase disease vulnerability. Weathering emphasizes roles of internalized/interpersonal racism in outcomes disparities. For Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans, the "acculturation" framework has proven especially useful to explore disparities, including preterm birth and neuropsychiatric risks in childhood. Complexities of stress assessments and recent research into epigenetic mechanisms mediating effects of physical, nutritional, psychological, and social stress are reviewed.

Correlates and Predictors of Psychological Distress among Afghan Refugees in San Diego County

The psychological effects of war and resulting displacement continue to negatively impact Afghan refugees. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that are associated with and predict psychological distress symptoms among Afghan refugees. We analyzed data from a diverse sample of 130 Afghan refugees recruited through non-random sampling in the San Diego area. Participants completed self-report questionnaires consisting of a culturally validated measure of psychological distress, the Afghan Symptom Checklist [ASCL] alongside standardized measures of acculturation, social support, and perceived stress. In bivariate analyses, older age, older age at migration, female gender, being widowed, having lower education, being unemployed, unable to comfortably pay monthly bills, lower acculturation and social support, and higher levels of perceived stress were associated with psychological distress. However, only few variables - female gender, being widowed, unable to comfortably pay monthly bills, and perceived stress - remained significant in multivariate analysis. The findings from this study contribute to understanding the social determinants of distress that affect Afghans in exile even after long-term resettlement in the US. These reported outcomes support the need for continued research with Afghans, alongside the implementation of culturally relevant psychosocial interventions that emphasize prevention of post-resettlement stressors immediately upon resettlement.