Week II: Cultural Stressors and Language Brokering

Acculturative Stress

Acculturative stress is a stress reaction in response to life events rooted in the experience of immigration and acculturation (Berry, 1997).

It can be defined by:

• Environmental demands (stressors)
• Subjective perceptions of stress
• Biological responses to stress (e.g., blood pressure, sleep)

Dimensions of Acculturative Stress

Dimensions of acculturative stress (stressors) include:

• Instrumental/environmental: Financial issues, pressure related to English and Spanish fluency, unsafe neighborhoods.
• Social/interpersonal: Loss of social networks due to immigration/relocation, intergenerational conflict.
• Societal: Discrimination/stigma, legal status.

Emergent theories emphasize distinguishing between stressors related to racial/ethnic discrimination and those related to the process of immigration and adaptation, particularly for immigrant youth.

Measuring Acculturative Stress

One way to measure acculturative stress (SAFE) uses a scale where:

• 1 = Strongly Agree
• 2 = Agree
• 3 = Disagree
• 4 = Strongly Disagree

Example statements include:

1. I feel uncomfortable when others make jokes about my [Colombian/Mexican] culture.
2. My family members do not understand my American values.
3. My family members and I have different expectations about my future.
4. It bothers me that I cannot be with my family.
5. Being [Colombian/Mexican] can be a limitation in looking for a good job.
6. Many people have stereotypes about [Colombian/Mexican] culture.
7. Living in the U.S. gives me stress.
8. It bothers me when I think of my limited English skills.
9. Other ethnic people try to stop me from advancing.
10. I get pressure from others to become a part of the American culture.
11. Because I am [Colombian/Mexican], I do not get enough credit for the work I do.
12. It bothers me when I lose contacts with friends or families in [Colombian/Mexican].
13. Other ethnic friends exclude me from activities because of my [Colombian/Mexican] background.
14. People look down upon me when I practice my [Colombian/Mexican] customs.
15. It will be better if I have more [Colombian/Mexican] in my neighborhood.
16. I will gain more respect if I were in [Colombian/Mexican].

The Multidimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory (MASI; Rodriguez et al., 2002) uses a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
Castillo et al. (2015) published research on the factor structure and factorial invariance of the MASI.

Romero's Bicultural Stressors Scale

This scale measures the stressfulness of various experiences:

• 1 = Not at all stressful
• 2 = A little bit stressful
• 3 = Quite a bit stressful
• 4 = Very stressful
• 5 = Does not apply

Example items include:

a. I have been treated badly because of my accent.
b. Because of family obligations I can't always do what I want.
c. I have worried about family members or friends having problems with immigration.
d. I have had problems at school because of my poor English.
e. I do not feel comfortable with people whose culture is different from mine.
f. I have felt pressure to learn Spanish.
g. I have felt that I need to speak Spanish better.
h. I have argued with my boyfriend/girlfriend over being too traditional.
i. My friends think I'm acting "White."
j. My parents feel I do not respect older people the way I should.
k. I feel uncomfortable when others make jokes about or put down people of my ethnic background.
l. I have argued with family members because I do not want to do some traditions.
m. I have had to translate/interpret for my parents.
n. I have felt lonely and isolated because my family does not stick together.
o. I have felt that others do not accept me because of my ethnic group.

Stressors Among Immigrants vs. U.S.-Born Adolescents

Table 2 presents descriptives for immigrants (N = 165) and U.S.-born adolescents (N = 678) regarding mean perceived stress and percentage reporting stressor:

Variables include family stressors, discrimination stressors, monolingual stressors, and peer stressors.

Family stressors:

• Family obligations
• Translate for parents
• Parents say I don't respect elders
• Help parents in U.S.
• Argue with family about traditions
• Can't be like American kids
• Lonely because family not united

Discrimination stressors:

• Uncomfortable with other cultures
• Uncomfortable ethnic jokes
• Worried about immigration
• Don't understand different cultures
• Harder to succeed because of ethnicity

Monolingual stressors:

• Treated bad because of accent
• Problems at school because of poor English
• Need better Spanish
• Pressure to learn Spanish

Peer stressors:

• Not accepted because of ethnicity
• Argue with boy/girlfriend
• My friends think I act White
• Belong to gang for ethnicity

Note: t tests were performed for differences in mean perceived stress. *p < .05. **p < .01.

Acculturative Stress/Bicultural Stressors and Outcomes

Cross-sectional Associations:

• More depressive symptoms
• Lower self-esteem
• Lower life satisfaction

Longitudinal Associations:

• Later timepoints of depressive symptoms, substance use, and other externalizing problems
• Increases in bicultural stressors related to increases in mental health problems over time

General Patterns:

• Differences across U.S.-born and immigrant youth by type of stressor
• Sex differences rarely examined

Family Responsibilities Assignment

Pros and cons of having family responsibilities in the family:

• Ways adolescents and young adults help the family.
• How helping the family can make youth/young adults feel.
• Groups—Even numbers ==cons
• Groups—Odd numbers ==pros

Language Brokering

Language brokering involves:

• Translating for family.
• Females are most likely to engage in this practice.
• Consider the cognitive, social, academic, mental health, interpersonal relationships (e.g., family or parenting practices), attitudes, etc.

Positive Outcomes

• Stronger language and interpersonal skills (Malakoff & Hakuta, 1991)
• Academic achievement and self-efficacy (Buriel, Perez, De Ment, Chavez, and Moran, 1998)
• Ethnic identity (Weisskirch, 2005)
• Satisfaction (Dorner, Orellana, and Jiménez, 2008)
• Feelings of enjoyment for contributing to the family
• Acquisition of 2nd language
• Language ability in general
• Decision making

Negative Outcomes

• Familial role ambiguity and strain (Martinez, McClure, and Eddy, 2009)
• Depressive symptoms (Love & Buriel, 2007)
• Acculturation stress (Weisskirch & Alva, 2002)
• Feelings of frustration and embarrassment
• Academic difficulties

Kam & Lazrevic 2014 Article

• Frequency, feelings (e.g., burden), and perceptions of brokering as a norm
• Brokering frequency (how often a child engages in activity) most widely studied
• Language brokering is multidimensional
• Perceptions of the burden of brokering and how efficacious one feels about brokering shapes the degree to which frequency of brokering is related to outcomes
• Language brokering can be both detrimental and protective for adolescent wellbeing and behavior, depending on dimension examined
• LB frequency à acculturation stress à alcohol and Marijuana use only when burden of LB was high (not for perceived low burden)
• LB frequency-->acculturative stress only significant when low brokering efficacy (not for high brokering efficacy)
• language brokering frequency à acculturation stress à alcohol us/ cigarette use/risky behaviors not always significant

Context Matters

• Instrumental vs. emotional LB
• Are there bilingual services available?
• Gender Roles?
• Age?
• Language proficiency
• Parent-adolescent closeness. How does it matter?
• Instrumental support (pay bills, translate t.v.shows) or translate sensitive information
• Los Angeles vs. Nebraska or Kansas
• Age—younger vs. older likely leads to less of more stress
• (Bilingual vs. demi-lingual [inadequate speaking and writing abilities])
• Parent-adolescent closeness/relationship matters in the degree to which lang brokering is detrimental. How so?

Longitudinal Associations of Language Brokering and Parent-Adolescent Closeness in Immigrant Latino Families

Adolescent boys

beginning 7th

• Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC1) -> Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC2): .342^{***}
• Language Brokering Attitudes (LBA1) -> Language Brokering Attitudes (LBA2): .316^{***}
• Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC1) -> Language Brokering Attitudes (LBA2): .231^{***}

end 7th

• Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC2) -> Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC3): .422^{**}
• Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC2) -> Language Brokering Attitudes (LBA3): .202^{*}
• Language Brokering Attitudes (LBA2) -> Language Brokering Attitudes (LBA3): .260^{**}

beginning 9th

• Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC3) -> Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC1): .236^{*}

Adolescent girls

beginning 7th

• Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC1) -> Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC2): .583^{*}
• Language Brokering Frequency (LBF1) -> Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC2): .393^{*}
• Language Brokering Attitudes (LBA1) ->Language Brokering Attitudes (LBA2): .334^{****}

end 7th

• Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC2) -> Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC3): .410^{*}
• Parent-Adolescent Closeness (PAC2) -> Language Brokering Attitudes (LBA3): .211^{**}

beginning 9th

• LB Freq (LBF1) -> LB Freq(LBF2): -135

• tp<.1. *p<.05. ** p < .01. ***p < .001.

Research on Language Brokering and Responsibilities

• Language Brokering Su Yeong Kim (UT Austin)
• Family Responsibilities Vikki Katz (Associate Professor of communication, Rutgers University)
• Children Being Seen and Heard Marjorie Faulstich Orellana (Professor UCLA)
• Transcultural disposition-flexibility and versatility to understand people of different cultural backgrounds from their own