Acculturative Stress: Psychological Health and Coping Strategies

Introduction

While there is no consensus on the appropriate definition of acculturation, it can simply be understood as a process of change that occurs when individuals come in direct, continuous contact with another culture. Immigration is a common phenomenon across the world. Lakhs of individuals and groups of various age groups and backgrounds immigrate to other regions due to myriad factors such as – the need for better education, better work opportunities, better living conditions, advanced lifestyle and healthcare conditions, and negative conditions in their home region. There has been a great increase in levels of international migration to countries like the United States and other parts of the world (Schwartz et al., 2010). The experience of acculturation experienced by these immigrants and their children can be varied and can impact their everyday functioning. This is because, at the psychological level, each individual enters into the culture, participates, connects and experiences it in one’s own way.

Initially, acculturation was viewed through a unidimensional perspective, indicating that it was only those who immigrated or moved were the ones to experience various changes, that is, by acquiring the beliefs, culture and values of the people of the region they were moving to. However, later a bidimensional perspective was outlined indicating that it is not just the immigrants, but rather even the locals who experience and undergo changes due to the movement of people into their region (Tanenbaum et al., 2013; Schwartz et al., 2010). A distinction has been made between the acculturation process at the group level and at the individual level. Graves (1967) defines psychological acculturation as “changes in an individual who is a participant in a culture-contact situation – a person who is being influenced directly by the external culture and by the changing culture of which the individual is a member” (Berry, 2003). It becomes important to understand this distinction as there are huge differences in the changes occurring at the individual level and how each individual experiences acculturation.

Acculturative stress is one of the consequences of immigration and movement across cultures for many people and this stress can have an impact on the overall person in different areas of his or her life, irrespective of their age, gender, profession and other characteristics. Immigrant children and youth especially may face numerous developmental challenges as compared to their non-immigrant peers considering the stage of life that they are currently in. There are differences in academic performance as well compared to other youth (Goforth et al., 2017). Children and youth encounter socio-emotional challenges such as adjusting to a new environment, adjusting to a new language and building new friendships. Some may also have to work alongside their education in order to financially support themselves and/or their family which can add to their stress. These challenges can add up if these children and youth are also facing discrimination or exposed to biased practices by people around them like their neighbors, teachers, and friends. Within the neighborhood, people may be judgmental about immigrant families and not initiate conversations with them. Teachers may hold preconceived notions about the skills and abilities of immigrant children and youth which places them at a lower standard as compared to their other non-immigrant peers. Some immigrant youth may have to act as a bridge to help their parents through the acculturation process, such as, helping their parents navigate through the new cultural aspects, understand the new language, etc.,