The current study investigated whether different ethnic identity components moderate the associations between acculturative stress and psychological adjustment among Mexican American college students (N = 148; 67% female) who completed self-report surveys. For women, ethnic affirmation/ belonging and ethnic identity achievement moderated the relation between acculturative stress and depression at low but not high levels of acculturative stress. Among men with low levels of other group orientation, levels of self-esteem were similar regardless of levels of acculturative stress. Discussion focuses on the role of ethnic identity in Latino students’ psychological adjustment and of protective factors that buffer students from acculturative stress. Future research should identify other protective factors that serve as buffers for students experiencing high levels of acculturative stress.
Berry, J.W., Kim, U., Minde, T., & Mok, D. ( 1987). Comparative studies of acculturative stress. International Migration Review, 21, 491-511.
3.
Cauce, A.M., & Domenech-Rodriguez, M.D. (2002). Latino families: Myth and realities. In. J. M. Contreras, K. A. Kerns, & A. M. Neal-Barnett (Eds.), Latino children and families in the United States: Current research and future directions (pp. 3-25). Westport, CT: Praeger.
4.
Crockett, L.J., Iturbide, M.I., Torres Stone, R.A., McGinley, M., Raffaelli, M., & Carlo, G. ( 2007). Acculturative stress, social support, and coping: Relations to psychological adjustment among Mexican American college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13, 347-355.
5.
Crockett, L.J., Randall, B.A., Shen, Y., Russell, S.T., & Driscoll, A.K. (2005). Measurement equivalence of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Latino and Anglo adolescents: A national study. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 73, 47-58.
6.
Cuéllar, I., & Roberts, R.E. ( 1997). Relations of depression, acculturation, and socio-economic status in a Latino sample. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 19, 230-238.
7.
Erikson, E. ( 1968). Identity: Youth in crisis. New York : Norton.
8.
Fry, R. ( 2002). Latinos in higher education: Many enroll, too few graduate . Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center . Retrieved February 23, 2008, from http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/11.pdf.
9.
Harwood, R., Leyendecker, B., Carlson, V., Asencio, M., & Miller, A. ( 2002). Parenting among Latino families in the U.S. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting (2nd ed., Vol. 4, pp. 21-46). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
10.
Hovey, J.D., & King, C.A. ( 1996). Acculturative stress, depression, and suicidal ideation among immigrant and second-generation Latino adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 1183-1192.
11.
Kiang, L., Yip, T., Gonzales-Backen, M., Witkow, M., & Fuligni, A.J. ( 2006). Ethnic identity and the daily psychological well-being of adolescents from Mexican and Chinese backgrounds. Child Development, 77, 1338-1350.
12.
Knight, G.P., Bernal, M.E., Cota, M.K., Garza, C.A., & Ocampo, K.A. ( 1993). Family socialization and Mexican American identity and behavior. In M. E. Bernal & G. P. Knight (Eds.), Ethnic identity: Formation and transmission among Hispanics and other minorities (pp. 105-129). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
13.
Kroger, J. ( 1999). Identity development: Adolescence through adulthood. London: Sage.
14.
Marcia, J.E. ( 1980). Identity in adolescence. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 156-187). New York: Wiley.
15.
Marín, G., Sabogal, F., VanOss Marín, B., Otero-Sabogal, R., & Perez-Stable, E.J. (1987). Development of a short acculturation scale for Hispanics. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 9, 183-205.
16.
McGinley, M., Carlo, G., Crockett, L.J., Raffaelli, M., Torres Stone, R.A., & Iturbide, M.I. (in press). Stressed and helping: The relations among acculturative stress, gender, and prosocial tendencies in Mexican Americans . Journal of Social Psychology.
17.
Mena, F.J., Padilla, A.M., & Maldonado, M. ( 1987). Acculturative stress and specific strategies among immigrant and later generation college students. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 9, 207-225.
18.
Moscicki, E.K., Locke, B.Z., Rae, D.S., & Boyd, J.H. ( 1989). Depressive symptoms among Mexican Americans: The Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. American Journal of Epidemiology, 130, 348-360.
19.
Negy, C., Shreve, T.L., Jensen, B.I., & Uddin, N. ( 2003). Ethnic identity, self-esteem, and ethnocentrism: A study of social identity versus multicultural theory of development. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 9, 333-344.
20.
Padilla, A.M. ( 2006). Bicultural social development. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 28, 467-497.
21.
Phinney, J.S. ( 1990). Ethnic identity in adolescents and adults: Review of research. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 499-514.
22.
Phinney, J.S. ( 1992). The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure: A new scale for use with diverse groups. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7, 156-176.
23.
Phinney, J.S. ( 1993). A three-stage model of ethnic identity development in adolescence. In M. E. Bernal & G. P. Knight (Eds.), Ethnic identity: Formation and transmission among Hispanics and other minorities (pp. 61-79). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
24.
Phinney, J.S. ( 1995). Ethnic identity and self-esteem. In A. M. Padilla (Ed.), Hispanic psychology: Critical issues in theory and research (pp. 57-70). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
25.
Phinney, J.S., & Alipuria, L.L. (1990). Ethnic identity in college students from four ethnic groups. Journal of Adolescence, 13, 171-183.
26.
Phinney, J.S., Cantu, C.L., & Kurtz, D.A. ( 1997). Ethnic and American identity as predictors of self-esteem among African American, Latino, and White adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 26, 165-185.
27.
Phinney, J.S., & Kohatsu, E.L. ( 1997). Ethnic and racial identity development and mental health . In J. Schulenberg, J. L. Maggs, & K. Hurrelmann (Eds.), Health risks and developmental transitions during adolescence (pp. 429-443). New York: Cambridge University Press.
28.
Phinney, J.S., & Rosenthal, D.R. (1992). Ethnic identity in adolescence: Process, context, and outcome. In G. Adams , T. Gullotta, & R. Monetmayor (Eds.), Adolescent identity formation: Advances in adolescent development (pp. 145-172). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
29.
Porter, J.R., & Washington, R.E. (1993). Minority identity and self-esteem . Annual Review of Sociology, 19, 139-161.
30.
Quintana, S.M., Vogel, M.C., & Ybarra, V.C. ( 1991). Meta analysis of Latino students’ adjustment to higher education. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences , 13, 155-186.
31.
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.
32.
Raffaelli, M., Torres Stone, R.A., Iturbide, M.I., McGinley, M., Carlo, G., & Crockett, L.J. (2007). Acculturation, gender, and alcohol use among Mexican American college students. Addictive Behaviors, 32, 2187-2199.
33.
Rodriguez, N., Myers, H.F., Morris, J.K., & Cardoza, D. ( 2000). Latino college student adjustment: Does an increased presence offset minority-status and acculturative stresses? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30, 1523-1550.
34.
Rosenberg, M. ( 1979). Conceiving the self. New York: Basic Books.
35.
Shelton, J.N., Yip, T., Eccles, J.S., Chatman, C.M., Fuligni, A.J., & Wong, C. ( 2005). Ethnic identity as a buffer of psychological adjustment to stress. In G. Downey, J. S. Eccles, & C. M. Chatman (Eds.), Navigating the future: Social identity, coping, and life tasks (pp. 96-112). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
36.
Smedley, B.D., Myers, H.F., & Harrell, S.P. ( 1993). Minority-status stresses and the college adjustment of ethnic minority freshman. Journal of Higher Education, 64, 434-452.
37.
Tajfel, H. ( 1981). Human groups and social categories. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
38.
Umaña-Taylor, A.J., & Fine, M.A. ( 2001). Methodological implications of grouping Latino adolescents into one collective ethnic group. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 23, 347-362.
39.
Umaña-Taylor, A.J., & Fine, M.A. ( 2004). Examining ethnic identity among Mexican-origin adolescents living in the United States. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 26, 36-59.
40.
Umaña-Taylor, A.J., & Updegraff, K.A. (2007). Latino adolescents’ mental health: Exploring the interrelations among discrimination, ethnic identity, cultural orientation, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms. Journal of Adolescence, 30, 549-567.
41.
Umaña-Taylor, A.J., Vargas-Chanes, D., Garcia, C.D., & Gonzales-Backen, M. (2008). A longitudinal examination of Latino adolescents’ ethnic identity, coping with discrimination, and self-esteem. Journal of Early Adolescence, 28, 16-50.
42.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2006). U.S. Hispanic population: 2006. Retrieved February 28, 2008 , from http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hispanic/cps2006/CPS_Powerpoint_2006.pdf
