Profiles of acculturative strategies and cultural stressors among Hispanic/Latinx college-attending emerging adults.

Abstract

The present study identified unique profiles of cultural stressors (i.e., bicultural stress, discrimination, and negative context of reception) and acculturative strategies (i.e., heritage practices, heritage identification, U.S. practices, and U.S. identification), in Hispanic/Latinx (HL) emerging adults. Additionally, we examined associations between positive and negative psychosocial functioning, with profiles of acculturative strategies and cultural stressors. The present study utilized a baseline sample of 779 HL college students (75.8% female, Mage = 20.80 years, SD = 2.66) drawn from a daily diary study on acculturation. Latent profile analysis identified four distinct profiles. The Bicultural and Low Cultural Stressors (B-LowCS; 53.55%) was marked by strong heritage and U.S. cultural orientation and low levels across all cultural stressors. The Marginalization and High Acculturative Stressors (M-HighAS; 20.13%) was marked by weak heritage and U.S. cultural orientation, high acculturative stressors, and low discrimination. The third profile, the Heritage Rejection and Low Cultural Stressors (HR-LowCS; 16.05%) was marked by rejection of heritage culture and low cultural stressors. Finally, the Separation and High Cultural Stressors (S-HighCS; 10.26%) was marked by weak U.S. cultural orientation and high cultural stressors. Consistent with past research, the B-LowCS profile was marked by the highest level of positive psychosocial functioning and the lowest levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The results of the present study highlight the usefulness of person-centered approaches for understanding the interplay between acculturative strategies and cultural stressors, and the implications of these distinct profiles on psychosocial functioning in HL emerging adults. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).