How much orientation towards the host culture is healthy? Acculturation style as risk enhancement for depressive symptoms in immigrants

Abstract

Aims:

As the specific acculturative tasks and challenges involved in the migration process can lead to an increased risk for depressive symptoms, the study was designed to gain further insight into the interrelation between acculturation styles and mental health.

Methods:

A total of n = 90 patients with different ethnic backgrounds from an outpatient consultation service for immigrants at the Hannover Medical School were investigated by the Hannover Migration and Mental Health Interview (HMMH), the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Frankfurt Acculturation Scale (FRAKK).

Results:

The majority of the subjects (84.4%) had a clinically significant depression. The extent of depressive symptoms was determined by the selected acculturation style (1) (F = 3.29, p = .025): Subjects with integration as acculturation style showed less depressive symptoms than subjects with assimilation as acculturation style. Furthermore, subjects with segregation as acculturation style also showed less depressive symptoms than subjects with assimilation.

Conclusion:

The results suggest that even when undergoing extreme emotional distress, eventually leading to mental disorder, integration, as an acculturation style, seems to serve as a protective resource and possibly prevents further decline.

Keywords

Depressive symptoms acculturation style immigrants acculturation cultural identity

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Akthar

(1999). Immigration and identity: Turmoil, treatment and transformation. Lanham, MD: Jason Aronson.

Ayers

J. W.

Hofstetter

C. R.

Usita

Irvin

V. L.

Kang

Hovell

M. F.

(2009). Sorting out the competing effects of acculturation, immigrant stress, and social support on depression. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 197, 742–747.

Berry

J. W.

(1990). Psychology of acculturation: Understanding individuals moving between cultures. In Brislin

(Ed.), Applied cross-cultural psychology (pp. 232–253). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Berry

J. W.

(1997). Immigration, acculturation and adaptation. Applied Psychology, 46, 5–68.

Berry

J.W.

Sabatier

(2011). Variations in the assessment of acculturation attitudes: Their relationships with psychological wellbeing. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(5), 658–669.

Bhugra

(2004). Migration and mental health. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 109, 243–258.

Bhugra

Jones

(2001). Migration and mental illness. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 7, 216–222.

Bhugra

Mastrogianni

(2004). Globalisation and mental disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 184, 10–20.

Bongard

Kelava

Sabic

Aazami-Gilan

Kim

Y. B.

(2007). Akkulturation und gesundheitliche Beschwerden bei drei Migrantenstichproben in Deutschland [Acculturation and health condition in three migrant samples in Germany]. In Eschenbeck

Heim-Dreger

Kohlmann

C. W.

(Hrsg.), Beiträge zur Gesundheitspsychologie. Schwäbisch Gmünd: Gmünder Hochschulreihe Band 29, Germany, p. 53.

10.

Borges

Breslau

Miller

Medina-Mora

M. E.

Aguilar-Gaxiola

(2009). Immigration and suicidal behavior among Mexicans and Mexican Americans. American Journal of Public Health, 99, 728–733.

11.

Bursztein Lipsicas

Mäkinen

I. H.

(2010). Immigration and suicidality in the young. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 55, 273–281.

12.

Calliess

I. T.

Bauer

Behrens

(2012). Kultur-dynamisches Modell der bikulturellen Identität. Interkulturelle Psychotherapie unter Berücksichtigung der Struktur des Selbst [A dynamic model of bicultural identity. Intercultural psychotherapy under consideration of the strucure of the self]. Psychotherapeut, 57, 36–41.

13.

Calliess

I. T.

Ünlü

Neubauer

Hoy

Machleidt

Behrens

(2009). Hannover Interview ‘Migration, Akkulturation und seelische Gesundheit’ (HMMH). Ein innovatives Instrument zur systematischen Erfassung der Risiken und Ressourcen einzelner Migrationsphasen im Hinblick auf seelische Gesundheit [Hanover Interview “Migration, Acculturation, and Mental Health”. An innovative instrument for the systematic assessment of risks and resources for mental health in different migration phases]. Klinische Diagnostik und Evaluation, 2, 145–167.

14.

Chandrasena

Beddage

Fernando

M. L.

(1991). Suicide among immigrant psychiatric patients in Canada. British Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 707–709.

15.

Clarke

D. E.

Colantoni

Rhodes

A. E.

Escobar

(2008). Pathways to suicidality across ethnic groups in Canadian adults: The possible role of social stress. Psychological Medicine, 28, 419–431.

16.

Dilling

Mombour

Schmidt

M. H.

(2005). The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders: Clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

17.

Grinberg

(1989). Psychoanalytic perspectives on migration and exile. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

18.

Hautzinger

Bailer

(1993). Allgemeine Depressions Skala [General Depression Scale]. Göttingen, Germany: Beltz Test GmbH.

19.

Hovey

J. D.

(2000). Psychosocial predictors of acculturative stress in Mexican immigrants. Journal of Psychology, 134, 490–502.

20.

Hovey

J. D.

Kim

S. E.

Seligman

L. D.

(2005). The influences of cultural values, ethnic identity, and language use on the mental health of Korean American college students. Journal of Psychology, 140, 499–511.

21.

Lehr

Hillert

Schmitz

Sosnowsky

(2008). Screening depressiver Störungen mittels der Allgemeinen Depressionsskala (ADS-K). und dem State-Trait-Depressions-Test (STDS-T) [Screening of depressive disorders by means of the General Depression Scale and the State-Trait-Depression-Test]. Diagnostica, 54(2), 61–70.

22.

Matsudaira

(2006). Measures of psychological acculturation: A review. Transcultural Psychiatry, 43, 462–487.

23.

Radloff

L. S.

(1977). The CES-D scale: A self report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.

24.

Rudmin

F.W.

(2009). Constructs, measurements and models of acculturation and acculturative stress. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 33(2), 106–123.

25.

Sayegh

Lasry

J. C.

(1993). Immigrants’ adaptation in Canada: Assimilation, acculturation, and orthogonal cultural identification. Canadian Psychology, 34, 98–109.

26.

Sin

M. K.

Choe

M. A.

Kim

Chae

Y. R.

Jeon

M. Y.

(2010). Depressive symptoms in community-dwelling elderly Korean immigrants and elderly Koreans: Cross-culturalcomparison. Research in Gerontological Nursing, 3, 262–269.

27.

Snauwaert

Soenens

Vanbesselaere

Boen

(2003). When integrations does not necessarily imply integration: Different conceptualizations of acculturation orientations lead to different classifications. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology, 34, 231–239.

28.

Van Bergen

D. D.

Smit

J. H.

Van Balkom

A. J. L. M.

Van Ameijden

Saharso

(2008). Suicidal ideation in ethnic minority and majority adolescents in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Crisis, 29, 202–208.

29.

Vega

W. A.

Sribney

W. M.

(2011). Understanding the Hispanic health paradox through a multi-generation lens: A focus on behavior disorders. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 57, 151–168.

30.

Walsh

S. D.

Shulman

(2007). Splits in the self following immigration: An adaptive defense or a pathological reaction? Psychoanalytic Psychology, 24, 355–372.

31.

Zayas

L. H.

Bright

C. L.

Álvarez-Sánchez

Cabassa

L. J.

(2009). Acculturation, familism and mother-daughter relations among suicidal and non-suicidal adolescent Latinas. Journal of Primary Prevention, 30, 351–369.