Bidimensional Model of Acculturation for Examining Differences in Family Functioning and Behavior Problems in Hispanic Immigrant Adolescents

• NCJ Number: 220498
• Journal: Journal of Early Adolescence Volume: 27 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2007 Pages: 405-430
• Author(s): Summer Sullivan; Seth J. Schwartz; Guillermo Prado; Shi Huang; Hilda Pantin; Jose Szapocznik
• Date Published: November 2007
• Length: 26 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH63042
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the links between adolescent acculturation orientations and adolescent and parent reports of family functioning and behavioral problems in a sample of 338 Hispanic immigrant families in the United States.

Abstract

The study found that adolescents who maintained practices and values of their Hispanic cultural heritage while adopting many of the mainstream American cultural practices ("integrated" adolescents) reported the highest levels of parental involvement, positive parenting, and family support. The adolescents who adopted mainstream American cultural practices while forsaking their Hispanic cultural practices and values ("assimilated" adolescents) reported the highest levels of aggressive behavior. There was no evidence of "marginal" status among the adolescents, i.e., alienation from both Hispanic and American culture. Intervention efforts for assimilated Hispanic adolescents with behavioral problems might focus on restoring the adolescent's orientation toward heritage cultural values and practices. Such intervention strategies include helping parents and adolescents reframe their conflicts as culturally based disagreements. This helps reduce personal animosity between parents and children as they begin to focus on conflicting cultural conditioning and how acceptance and compromise can relieve the conflict. Participating parents and adolescents were enrolled in an adolescent drug use and sexual risk behavior prevention study. Data for the current analyses were taken from the baseline assessment for the larger study. All participating parents were foreign born, and approximately half had been living in the United States for more than 10 years. All participating adolescents were in the eighth grade in low-income areas of Miami, FL. The Bicultural Involvement Questionnaire-Revised was used to assess adolescents' levels of orientation toward American and Hispanic cultures. Family functioning was assessed with four subscales: parental involvement, positive parenting, family support for the adolescent, and parent-adolescent communication. Adolescent behavioral problems were measured with both parent and adolescent reports. 3 tables and 80 references