Perez Ambiguous Loss of Homeland Scale: Measuring Immigrants’ Connection to Their Country of Origin

Abstract

The present study produced the Perez Ambiguous Loss of Homeland (PALH) scale to measure Spanish-speaking immigrants’ complex psychological connections with their homeland along two dimensions: immigrants’ sense of ambiguous loss of their homeland and their sense of relative satisfaction with the host country (the United States) compared with their sense of satisfaction with their homeland. In Study 1, surveys were administered to 56 participants to refine the scale. In Study 2, psychometric evaluation of cross-sectional data with 344 participants showed high reliability and validity. Exploratory factor analysis generated a three-factor explanation, which aligned with the hypothesized conceptual framework: ambiguous loss of homeland, satisfaction with the homeland, and satisfaction with the United States. A single scale, relative satisfaction was created by taking the difference between the two satisfaction factors. The PALH can be useful in understanding individuals’ psychological challenges with leaving their homeland and adjusting to life in a new country.

Keywords

ambiguous loss of homeland scale development Hispanic immigrants and refugees Latino immigrants acculturation nostalgia

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ainslie

R. C.

(1998). Cultural mourning, immigrants and engagement: Vignettes from the Mexican experience. In Suárez-Orozco

M. M.

(Ed.), Crossings: Mexican immigration in interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 283-305). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.

Berry

J. W.

(1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied Psychology, 46, 5-34.

Boss

(2006). Loss, trauma, and resilience: Therapeutic work with ambiguous loss. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

Boss

Greenberg

(1984). Family boundary ambiguity: A new variable in family stress theory. Family Process, 23, 535-546.

Boss

Greenberg

Pearce-McCall

(1990). Measurement of boundary ambiguity in families (Station Bulletin 593-1990). Saint Paul: Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Minnesota.

DuBard

C. A.

Gizlice

(2008). Language spoken and differences in health status, access to care, and receipt of preventive services among US Hispanics. American Journal of Public Health, 98, 2021-2028.

Falicov

C. J.

(2005). Emotional transnationalism and family identities. Family Process, 44, 399-406.

Huntington

S. P.

(2004). Who are we? The challenges to America’s national identity. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Lazarus

R. S.

Folkman

(1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York, NY: Springer.

10.

Levitt

(2003). Transnational villagers. In Stone

Rutledge

(Eds.), Race and ethnicity: Comparative and theoretical approaches (pp. 260-273). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

11.

Lindemann

(1944). Symptomatology and management of acute grief. American Journal of Psychiatry, 101, 141-148.

12.

Losoncz

Bortolotto

(2009). Work-life balance: The experiences of Australian working mothers. Journal of Family Studies, 15, 122-138.

13.

Park

R. E.

(1928). Human migrations and the marginal man. American Journal of Sociology, 33, 881-893.

14.

Pedraza

(1996). Cuba’s refugees: Manifold migrations. In Pedraza

Rumbaut

R. G.

(Eds.), Origins and Destinies. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning

15.

Perez

R. M.

(2012). Latino mental health: Acculturation challenges in service provision. In Buki

L. P.

Piedra

L. M.

(Eds.), Creating infrastructures for Latino mental health (pp. 31-54). New York, NY: Springer.

16.

Perez

R. M.

(2013). Paradise lost: Older Cuban-American exiles’ ambiguous loss of leaving the homeland. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 56, 596-622. doi:10.1080/01634372.2013.817496

17.

Perez

R. M.

Arnold-Berkovits

(2018). A conceptual framework for understanding Latino immigrant’s ambiguous loss of homeland. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 40, 91-114. doi:10.1177/0739986318761058

18.

Rosbrook

Schweitzer

R. D.

(2010). The meaning of home for Karen and Chin refugees from Burma: An interpretative phenomenological approach. European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling, 12, 159-172. doi:10.1080/13642537.2010.488876

19.

Smokowski

P. R.

Rose

R. A.

Bacallao

(2008). Acculturation and Latino family processes: How cultural involvement, biculturalism, and acculturation gaps influence family dynamics. Family Relations, 57, 295-308.

20.

Solheim

Zaid

Ballard

(2016). Ambiguous loss experienced by transnational Mexican immigrant families. Family Process, 55, 338-353.

21.

Stonequist

E. V.

(1935). The problem of marginal man. American Journal of Sociology, 7, 1-12.

22.

Tourangeau

Burke

Wan

Weant

Brown

. . . Ellingson

(2001). ECLS-K base-year public-use data files and electronic codebook: User’s manual (NCES 2001-029). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Government Printing Office.

23.

Umaña-Taylor

J. A.

Alfaro

E. C.

(2009). Acculturative stress and adaptation. In Villarruel

F. A.

Carlo

Grau

J. M.

Azmitia

Cabrera

N. J.

Chahin

T. J.

(Eds.), Handbook of U.S. Latino psychology: Developmental and Community-Based Perspectives (pp. 135-252). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

24.

White

(2004). Working with people who are suffering the consequences of multiple trauma: A narrative perspective. International Journal of Narrative Therapy & Community Work, 2004(1), 44-75.