Effects of Self-Esteem and Ethnic Identity

Abstract

We examined whether self-esteem and ethnic identity moderated or mediated the relationship between two types of acculturative stress (American-based and Mexican-based) and psychological well-being among 171 first-generation Mexican immigrant adults. American-based acculturative stress (ABAS) was defined as the stress related to the pressure from Anglo-Americans to improve English and adopt their cultural practices, while Mexican-based acculturative stress (MBAS) was related to the pressure from Mexican immigrants to improve Spanish and retain Mexican cultural practices. The findings suggested that self-esteem was negatively affected by acculturative stress, which, in turn, led to decreased psychological well-being. However, having high self-esteem alleviated the debilitating effects of acculturative stress against psychological well-being. In contrast to self-esteem, ethnic identity exacerbated the negative effect of acculturative stress on psychological well-being.

Keywords

acculturative stress Mexican immigrants self-esteem ethnic identity psychological well-being

Introduction

Acculturative Stress

The term acculturation refers to the affective, cognitive, and behavioral changes that foreign-born immigrants experience as a result of being exposed to a different culture (Abe-Kim, Okazaki, & Goto, 2001). Acculturative stress is a “more specific concept than acculturation” (Hovey, 2000, p. 136) and refers to the stress resulting from the process of acculturation (Berry, Kim, Minde, & Mok, 1987). For Latino immigrants in the United States, acculturative stressors include learning a new language, adopting new cultural practices, and balancing American and Latino ways of living (Araújo Dawson & Panchanadeswaran, 2010). Other acculturative stressors include economic barriers (e.g., difficulty finding suitable employment, adequate housing, and insufficient income), minority and/or legal status (e.g., undocumented or having precarious legal status), and the discrimination and negative attitudes toward Latino immigrants in the mainstream society (Torres, Driscoll, & Voell, 2012).

Acculturative stress has been shown to contribute to psychological distress (e.g., feeling of loss and grief) and mental illness (e.g., depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation) among Latino immigrants (Crockett et al., 2007; Finch, Kolody, & Vega, 2000; Hovey & Magana, 2002; Kulis, Marsiglia, & Nieri, 2009; Rahman & Rollock, 2004). Researchers have also found that Latino adults who experienced acculturative stress were twice as likely to experience depressive symptoms (Torres, 2010).

The acculturative stress-negative mental health pathway could be intervened in by a variety of factors, as outlined in the framework of Berry and Kim (1988) and Berry et al. (1987). These factors include the nature of the society, the type of acculturating group, the modes of acculturation, and the demographic, social, and psychological characteristics of the acculturating individual. A first variable that inlufneces the impact of acculturative stress on mental health is the nature of the society. For example, in a society that allows for multicultural ideologies and promotes cultural diversity, immigrants feel less pressure to make drastic cultural changes and therefore face less acculturative distress (Cabassa, 2003). In contrast, in the society that promotes assimilation ideologies, immigrants are likely to experience a great pressure to acculturate and high level of discrimination (Lueck & Wilson, 2010). Second, Berry and Kim. (1988) identified five types of acculturative groups, including sojourners, native peoples, refugees, immigrants, and ethnic groups. Among these groups, because of the involuntary nature of their migration to a new place, native peoples and refugees tend to face acculturative stress more than a voluntary group, such as immigrants and ethnic groups. More recently, Cabassa (2003) also found that voluntary migration is associated with lower acculturative stress than involuntary migration.

Another variable that influences the impact of acculturative stress on mental health is modes of acculturation. Several reports have shown that an integration mode (also known as biculturalism) is least likely associated with acculturative stress, while a marginalization mode (having weak ties to both mainstream and heritage groups) is more related to acculturative stress (Berry, 2004). Finally, demographic, social, and psychological characteristics of immigrants have been found to influence how acculturative stress affects mental health. Demographic factors, including high functioning prior to migration (Caplan, 2007), high levels of education and socioeconomic status (Gallo et al., 2013), and religious involvement (Hovey & Magana, 2002), buffer against acculturative stress. Generation status in the United States is also significantly related to a level of acculturative stress, with first-generation immigrants experiencing higher acculturative stress than their counterparts from later generations (Padilla, Alvarez, & Lindholm, 1986). Social factors are also of importance. Positive relationships among family members and support from friends and community have been linked to lower acculturative stress (Cabassa, 2003; Crockett et al., 2007; Finch & Vega, 2003; Hovey & King, 1996). In addition, psychological factors, such as self-esteem, an active coping style, cognitive flexibility, intercultural competence, and resilience contribute to decreased acculturative stress and mitigate the adverse effects of acculturative stress on psychological well-being (Caplan, 2007; Hovey & Magana, 2003; Padilla et al., 1986).

Self-Esteem and Ethnic Identity

Among a variety of factors that have been shown to intervene in the relationship between acculturative stress and mental health, the focus of our study was on self-esteem and ethnic identity. First, self-esteem, defined as a person’s overall evaluation of the self (Rosenberg, 1965), has been shown to be an important correlate of positive mental health and well-being among Latino immigrants (Sonderegger, Barrett, & Creed, 2004; Valentine, 2001). However, inconsistent results have emerged in the acculturation literature regarding the relationship between acculturation and self-esteem. Some studies showed that high acculturation and biculturalism were related with increased self-esteem in general (Phinney, Chavira, & Williamson, 1992) and among Latino populations (Meyler, Stimpson, & Peek, 2006), while other studies showed that acculturation did not significantly affect self-esteem (Cavazos-Rehg & DeLucia-Waack, 2009; Yoon, Langrehr, & Ong, 2011). In addition, support for a direct link between perceived discrimination (one aspect of acculturative stress) and self-esteem among Latinos is mixed, being either negative or nonsignificant (Moradi & Risco, 2006; Shorey, Cowan, & Sullivan, 2002). Due to these mixed results, the direct association among acculturation, acculturative stress, and self-esteem for Latino immigrants remains unclear. In addition, the moderating and mediating mechanisms by which acculturation, acculturative stress, and self-esteem are associated with mental health are still ambiguous.

Second, ethnic identity is a multidimensional construct that encompasses knowledge of one’s ethnic group, a sense of belongingness to the group, and attitudes and feelings toward the group (Phinney, 1996). Studies have supported that ethnic identity is a predictor of enhanced quality of life (Utsey, Chae, Brown, & Kelly, 2002), self-esteem (Schwartz, Zamboanga, & Jarvis, 2007), and self-efficacy for career decision-making (Gushue & Whitson, 2006). Similarly, according to the meta-analysis conducted by Smith and Silva (2011), ethnic identity was positively related to indicators of well-being,while it was not as strongly associated with indicators of mental health problems (e.g., depression or anxiety).

Ethnic identity has been also found to alleviate the negative effects of culture-related stressors (e.g., acculturative stress and perceived discrimination) on mental well-being (Romero & Roberts, 2003; Ying, Lee, & Tsai, 2000). In studies with Mexican American youth, it was found that ethnic identity reduced the relationship between perceived discrimination and engagement on risky behaviors (Umaña-Taylor, Vargas-Chanes, Garcia, & Gonzales-Backen, 2008) and academic problems (Umaña-Taylor, Wong, Gonzales, and Dumka, 2012). Within a sample of Mexican American college students, Iturbide, Raffaelli, and Carlo (2009) found a conditional protective effect of ethnic identity against acculturative stress: Ethnic identity reduced the negative effect of acculturative stress on depression, but only when a level of acculturative stress was low.

In contrast to findings supporting ethnic identity as a protective factor, two investigations showed that ethnic identity was associated with negative behavioral outcomes, including increased drug and alcohol use, and unsafe sexual behaviors (Raffaelli, Zamboanga, & Carlo, 2005; Zamboanga, Raffaelli, & Horton, 2006). In addition, several social psychology researchers found that stronger ethnic identity increased the likelihood of recognizing and experiencing ethnic discrimination, which, in turn, increased psychological distress. The participants in those studies who had strong group identification (e.g., ethnic identity) were more likely to recognize and be bothered by discrimination against their group (e.g., McCoy & Major, 2003; Sellers & Shelton, 2003; Yoo & Lee, 2008). Due to these mixed results in the literature, support for the buffering role of ethnic identity against culture-related stress is inconclusive, which “indicates a need for much clarity regarding its exact influence” (Smith & Silva 2011, p. 52).

Limitations of the Acculturative Stress Literature

Research on acculturative stress and mental health literature continues to suffer from at least three conceptual and measurement limitations (Hwang & Ting, 2008). First, as recently noted by Rudmin (2009), acculturation is often confounded with acculturative stress. In the majority of previous studies, acculturative stress has been inferred from a link connecting level of acculturation with psychological outcome. This is problematic because it could contribute to reinforcing an old stereotypical view that acculturation is stressful for all immigrants and all immigrants are prone to psychological problems. A more direct and proximal measure of acculturative stress will help to understand the ways in which the acculturation process affects mental health of immigrants both directly, and indirectly through acculturative stress (Rodriguez, Myers, Mira, Flores, & Garcia-Hernandez, 2002).

A further limitation of past research is of the continued assumption that acculturative stress occurs only when adjusting to a new cultural environment. In other words, the acculturative stress is assumed to be no longer exist or significantly decrease, as acculturation level increases. However, this view does not tell the whole story about acculturative stress experienced by Latino immigrants because it fails to incorporate the potential stressors of pressure to retain one’s native language and heritage cultural practices.

In addition, only recently have investigators begun to understand the mediating and moderating mechanisms by which acculturative stress affects psychological well-being. Continued research is necessary to better understand the complexity of acculturation, various sources of acculturative stress, and mental health (Wang, Schwartz, & Zamboanga, 2010; Yoon et al., 2011).

Purposes of the Present Study

To address the identified gaps in the literature, the first purpose of our study was to examine the association between two types of acculturative stress (i.e., American-based acculturative stress [ABAS] and Mexican-based acculturative stress [MBAS]) and psychological well-being. We defined ABAS as stress caused by the pressure from Anglo-Americans to improve one’s English skills and acquire American cultural practices and customs.In contrast, MBAS was defined as stress related to the pressure from other Mexicans to improve one’s Spanish skills and to retain Mexican cultural practices and customs. The second purpose of the study was to determine whether two psychological resources, including self-esteem and ethnic identity would fit the buffering model or deterioration model for the relationship between acculturative stress and psychological well-being. The buffering model views psychosocial resources as a moderator, while the deterioration model treats psychosocial resources as a mediator (Ensel & Lin, 1991). More specifically, in the buffering model, greater psychosocial resources would alleviate the negative effects of acculturative stress on mental health. In the deterioration model, acculturative stress would weaken a psychosocial resource, which would in turn lead to a decrease in mental health.

Based on the previous findings in the literature, we developed and tested the following hypotheses.

ABAS and MBAS would be negatively related to psychological well-being.

Acculturative stress would be associated with decreased levels of self-esteem, but self-esteem would buffer the negative effects of acculturative stress against psychological well-being.

Given inconsistent findings regarding the role of ethnic identity, we did not develop specific hypotheses regarding whether ethnic identity would fit the buffering or deterioration model.

Method

Participants

The criteria for participation in the study included self-identification as Mexican or Mexican American and having immigrated to the United States after the fifth birthday. This cutoff was set based on previous findings that individuals who immigrated to the receiving country before the age of five are considered to be part of the second generation of immigrants because education and socialization are similar to those who were born in the receiving country (Park, 1999). The total sample included 181 Mexican immigrants. Males comprised 62% (n = 106) of the sample, and 38% (n = 65) were female. Ages ranged from 23 to 59 years, with the mean age being 36.46 years. Almost half of the participants (n = 85) indicated being married or living with a partner, 26% (n = 45) were single, and 23% (n = 40) were either divorced or separated. A majority of participants (86%) identified as Roman Catholic. Number of years spent in the United States ranged from 7 to 42 (M = 19.63, SD = 7.27). As a primary reason for immigration to the United States, half of the participants (n = 85) indicated “family reunion,” 43% (n = 73) indicated “financial/economic reasons,” and 5% (n = 9) indicated “educational opportunities.” Nearly 60% of participants completed at least a high school education. Of participants, 58.5% reported annual household income of $30,000 or less, 24% reported $30,000 to $40,000, and the rest reported $40,000 or more. Although 72% of the participants reported being able to speak English “very well” or “well,” a majority of participants (78%) chose to complete the Spanish version of the survey.

Procedure

The self-report survey was administered to participants in a group format after resource-building classes and workshops had ended. Participants were asked to choose either the Spanish or English version of the survey, depending on their language preference. One of the authors was bilingual (Spanish and English) and was available to answer participants’ questions. When the bilingual researcher was not in the survey administration, a bilingual staff member from the community center helped the other researchers administer the surveys and answer questions. There was no compensation for completion of the surveys.

Measures

Acculturative stress

We measured acculturative stress using the Multidimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory (MASI; Rodriguez et al., 2002). The MASI has 36-items and was designed to assess a participant’s level of perceived stress originating from (a) people of the same heritage cultural origin to be competent in Spanish and maintain heritage culture and (b) from Anglo-Americans to be fluent in English and acculturate to their culture. The MASI consists of four subscales, including (a) pressure to acculturate to the majority culture (e.g., “People look down upon me if I practice Hispanic/Latino customs”), (b) pressure to be competent in English (e.g., “I feel pressure to learn English”), (c) pressure against acculturation to the majority culture (e.g. “I feel uncomfortable when others expect me to know Hispanic/Latino ways of doing things”), and (d) pressure to be competent in Spanish (e.g., “I feel uncomfortable being around people who only speak my family’s heritage language”). Participants were asked to first determine whether a stressful event occurred during the last 3 months. If so, a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (not at all stressful) to 5 (extremely stressful) was used to determine the level of stress associated with each event. Higher scores indicated a greater level of acculturative stress. Both the English and Spanish versions have been validated with Mexican-origin Latinos (Rodriguez et al., 2002) and showed excellent internal consistency (Torres, Driscoll, & Voell, 2012). In this study, we used a combined score of the first and second subscales as an index of ABAS (pressure from the U.S. mainstream culture), while a combined score for the third and fourth subscales was used as an index of MBAS (pressure from Mexican heritage culture). In this study, the Cronbach’s alphas for ABAS and MBAS were .85 and .73, respectively.

Ethnic identity

To measure ethnic identity, we used the revised Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM-R; Roberts et al., 1999). The MEIM-R has 12 items and consists of two subscales: (a) ethnic identity exploration (the extent to which a person has explored his or her own ethnicity and what it means to him or her) and (b) affirmation/belonging (the extent to which a person identifies with his or her ethnic group). Participants were asked to answer each item on a 5-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Although the MEIM-R produces two-scale scores, we used a total score of 12 items in this study. Higher scores suggested higher levels of ethnic identity. The MEIM-R has consistently shown good reliability, typically with the Cronbach’s alphas of .80 or above across ethnic groups (Roberts et al., 1999). In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha for the MEIM-R was .91.

Self-esteem

We used the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1965) to measure global self-esteem. The RSES has 10 items, and each item is rated on a 4-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Higher scores indicated greater positive self-regard. The RSES has demonstrated good reliability and validity across a large number of different sample groups, with test–retest correlations being typically in the range of .82 to .88 and Cronbach’s alphas being in the range of .77 to .88. The RSES has been translated into Spanish and shown to have satisfactory level of internal consistency (Martin-Albo, Nunez, Navarro, & Grijalvo, 2007). In this study study, the Cronbach’s alpha for the RSES was .72.

Psychological well-being

We measured psychological well-being using the General Well-Being Schedule (GWB; Dupuy, 1977). The GWB is composed of 18 items, and all the items refer to 1-month time frames. Participants were asked to answer Items 1 to 14 on a 6-point rating scale and Items 15 to 18 on a 10-point rating scale. Higher scores represented greater psychological well-being and less psychological distress. The Spanish version of the GWB has been validated with Mexican Americans (e.g., a reported Cronbach’s alpha of .91; Poston et al., 1998). In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was .72.

Results

Preliminary Analyses

Descriptive statistics, correlations, and internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) are reported in Table 1. Alpha coefficients for all the measures used in this study were above .72. Variables measured on continuous scales were also checked for the regression assumptions of normality, correct fit, and constant variance. There were no problems with respect to skewness (<.97) and kurtosis (<.96). In addition, results of a series of t-tests and one-way ANOVAs showed that age of immigration to the United States and annual household income had a significant impact on acculturative stress and psychological well-being at p< .05. As such, both of these variables were included as covariates in the subsequent analyses. No difference was found in terms of other demographic variables (i.e., age, gender, education, reasons for immigration, and occupation).

Table 1.

Means, Standard Deviations, Coefficient, and Correlations Among Variables.

	Correlations
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1. Age of immigration		.02	−.05	.09	.65**	.26**	−.05
2. Annual household income			.43**	−.02	.05	−.22**	−.26**
3. Self-esteem				.44**	−.11	−.19*	−.16*
4. Psychological well-being					.03	−.21**	−.30**
5. Ethnic identity						.22**	−.12
6. ABAS							.45**
7. MBAS
M	16.82	3.26	32.71	50.98	42.57	21.24	12.18
SD	8.28	1.64	3.94	12.24	11.52	7.35	2.28
Cronbach’s α			.72	.72	.91	.85	.73

Note. ABAS = American-based acculturative stress; MBAS = Mexican-based acculturative stress.

p < .05. **p < .01.

Moderation Analyses: Tests of the Buffering Model

Using hierarchical regression analyses, we first tested four buffering models with ABAS and MBAS as predictors, self-esteem and ethnic identity as moderators, and psychological well-being as a criterion. For each model, two covariates (i.e., age of immigration and annual household income) were entered in the first step. In the second step, ABAS and self-esteem (Model 1), MBAS and self-esteem (Model 2), ABAS and ethnic identity (Model 3), and MBAS and ethnic identity (Model 4) were entered. Last, a two-way interaction term of either ABAS or MBAS and self-esteem or ethnic identity was entered into the third step. Results for Models 1 and 2 are summarized in Table 2 and for Models 3 and 4 are in Table 3. Only steps resulting in a significant increase in R² are discussed in the article.

Table 2.

Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analyses Predicting Psychological Well-Being: Moderating Effect of Self-Esteem.

	Step 1		Step 2		Step 3
Variables	B	t	B	t	B	t
Model 1
Age of immigration	0.17	1.49	0.32***	3.29	0.27	2.75**
Annual household income	−0.22	−0.39	−2.39***	−4.47	−2.17	−4.09***
ABAS			−0.42***	−3.71	−1.38	−3.53**
Self-esteem			1.68***	7.60	1.66	7.64***
ABAS × Self-esteem					0.07	2.57**
R²		.01		.33		.36
F change		1.17		38.58***		6.58**
R² change		.01		.32		.03
Model 2
Age of immigration	0.17	1.49	0.20	2.16	0.19	2.11*
Annual household income	−0.22	−0.39	−2.54*	−4.80***	−2.32	−4.36***
MBAS			−1.54***	−4.45	−4.19	−3.44**
Self-esteem			1.69***	7.82	1.68	7.87***
MBAS × Self-esteem					0.20	2.26*
R²		.01		.35		.37
F change		1.17		42.72***		5.12*
R² change		.01		.34		.02

Note. ABAS = American-based acculturative stress; MBAS = Mexican-based acculturative stress.

p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Table 3.

Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analyses Predicting Psychological Well-being: Moderating Effect of Ethnic Identity.

	Step 1		Step 2		Step 3
Variables	B	t	B	T	B	t
Model 3
Age of immigration	0.16	0.14	0.31*	2.07	0.11	−0.75
Annual household income	−0.08	−0.15	−0.50	−0.88	−0.21	−0.38
ABAS			−0.42**	−3.16	−0.14	0.43
Ethnic identity			−0.05	−0.51	0.04	−0.99
ABAS × Ethnic identity					−0.05	−4.00**
R²		.01		.07		.16
F change		0.93		5.23**		15.99***
R² change		.01		.06		.08
Model 4
Age of immigration	0.16	1.36	0.22	1.51	0.16	1.27
Annual household income	−0.08	−0.15	−0.65	−1.13	−0.23	−0.45
MBAS			−1.54	−3.60***	−2.09	−5.48***
Ethnic identity			−0.10	−0.99	0.04	0.38
MBAS × Ethnic identity					−0.19	−7.15***
R²		.01		.09		.31
F change		0.93		6.73**		15.08***
R² change		.01		.08		.23

Note. ABAS = American-based acculturative stress; MBAS = Mexican-based acculturative stress.

p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001

Moderating effects of self-esteem

Results for Model 1 showed that in Step 2, ABAS was negatively related to psychological well-being, while self-esteem was positively related to psychological well-being, accounting for 32% additional variance of psychological well-being (R²Δ = .32, FΔ(2, 163) = 38.58, p < .001). In Step 3, the interaction term between ABAS and self-esteem was significant, and it explained 3% additional variance of psychological well-being (R²Δ = .03, FΔ (1, 162) = 6.58, p < .01). Regression analysis of Model 2 yielded similar results. In Step 2, MBAS was negatively associated with psychological well-being, whereas self-esteem was positively associated with psychological well-being (R²Δ = .35, FΔ (2, 163) = 42.72, p < .001). In Step 3, the two-way interaction term of MBAS and self-esteem was also significant, accounting for 2% additional variance of psychological well-being (R²Δ = .02, FΔ (1, 162) = 5. 12 p < .05). Taken together, the findings of Models 1 and 2 supported the buffering model for self-esteem. Self-esteem moderated the relationship between two types of acculturative stress and psychological well-being.

Moderating effects of ethnic identity

In Step 2 of the Model 3, the result indicated that ABAS was significantly related to psychological well-being, but ethnic identity was not. In Step 3, the interaction term between ABAS and ethnic identity was significant, explaining 8% additional variance of psychological well-being (R²Δ = .08, FΔ (1, 160) = 15.99, p < .001). Turning to regression analysis entering MBAS as a predictor (Model 4), it was also found that in Step 2, MBAS was a significant predictor of psychological well-being but ethnic identity was not. In Step 3, the interaction term between MBAS and ethnic identity was significant.

To further examine the role of ethnic identity, two simple regression lines at one standard deviation above and below the mean score of ethnic identity were compared. The results of this analysis indicated that among Mexican immigrants with high levels of ethnic identity, the association between ABAS and psychological well-being was significantly negative (β = −1.06, t = −4.94, p < .001). In contrast, among those with low levels of ethnic identity, the association between ABAS and psychological well-being was not significant (β = 0.83, t = −1.59, p = .12). For MBAS, a similar pattern was found. The negative relationship between MBAS and psychological well-being was significant at high ethnic identity (β = −2.66, t = −3.56, p < . 01) but not at low ethnic identity (β = 0.90, t = −1.65, p = .08). These findings supported the moderating effect of ethnic identity, butethnic identity exacerbated (instead of buffering) the negative effect of acculturative stress on psychological well-being.

Mediation Analyses: Tests of Deterioration Model

Finally, tests of mediation effects of self-esteem and ethnic identity were conducted using SPSS macro bootstrapping methodology, created by Preacher, Rucker, and Hayes (2007). Bootstrapping has been suggested by researchers as a better alternative to measure indirect effects than traditional tests (e.g., the casual steps approach and Sobel test) because it does not impose the assumption about normal distribution of variables. More specifically, bootstrap estimates of 95% confidence intervals for the indirect effect of self-esteem and ethnic identity were calculated, with ABAS and MBAS as a predictor and psychological well-being as a criterion. In addition, age of immigration and annual household income were entered as covariates. If 95% confidence intervals do not include zero, then indirect effect is interpreted to be significant at p< .05 (Preacher et al., 2007).

As shown in Table 4, confidence intervals for the indirect effect of both types of acculturative stress on psychological well-being through self-esteem contained no zero. These results indicate that controlling for the effect of age of immigration and annual household income, ABAS and MBAS predicted lower self-esteem, which, in turn, was associated with worse psychological well-being. However, as both confidence intervals involving ethnic identity contained zero, the indirect effects of ABAS and MBAS through ethnic identity to psychological well-being was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that ethnic identity did not mediate the relationship between acculturative stress and psychological well-being.

Table 4.

Indirect Effect of Acculturative Stress on Psychological Well-Being Through Self-Esteem and Ethnic Identity.

			Bootstrap 95% CI
Indirect effect	b	SE	Lower	Upper
1. American-based acculturative stress→self-esteem→psychological well-being	−.13	.05	−.24	−.04
2. Mexican-based acculturative stress→self-esteem→psychological well-being	−.51	.16	−.98	−.24
3. American-based acculturative stress→ethnic identity→psychological well-being	.01	.02	−.03	.05
4. Mexican-based acculturative stress→ethnic identity→psychological well-being	−.01	.06	−.14	.09

Note. Age of immigration and annual household income were entered as covariates; CI = confidence interval.

Discussion

Researchers have repeatedly found that experiencing acculturative stress has adverse effects on the mental health of Latino immigrants, including those of Mexican origin. However, the impact of acculturative stress related to retaining Spanish fluency and Mexican cultural practices on psychological well-being remains unknown. In addition, studies examining the roles of self-esteem and ethnic identity in the acculturative stress-mental health pathway are scant and have yielded conflicting findings. As such, the main purpose of our study was to extend the literature by testing the association between two types of acculturative stress (i.e., American-based and Mexican-based) and psychological well-being, as well as determining the type of role that self-esteem and ethnic identity play in those associations.

Three significant findings emerged in this study. First, participants in the study reported experiencing American-based Acculturative stress (ABAS) more than Mexican-based acculturative stress (MBAS). This result is most likely due to sample characteristics. Although the participants lived in the United States for an average of 20 years, all of them were first-generation immigrants, and a majority chose to take the survey in Spanish. In addition, in support of our hypothesis, both ABAS and MBAS were negatively related to psychological well-being, even after controlling for age of immigration and annual household income. These results supported the notion that both types of stressors originating from intergroup and intragroup are critical sources of psychological distress.

Second, the results of the study supported the buffering model. More specifically, it was found that self-esteem buffered the debilitating effect of both types of acculturative stressors against psychological well-being. This finding is consistent with the general consensus that self-esteem is an effective internal resource that alleviates acculturative stress. However, the moderation of ethnic identity was in the opposite direction from self-esteem. Instead of buffering it, ethnic identity exacerbated the negative effect of both types of acculturative stress on psychological well-being. This result is incongruent with previous studies with Latino American adolescents and college students showing that strong ethnic identity reduced the negative effect of culture-related stress (e.g., discrimination and MBAS) on positive mental health (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2008; Umaña-Taylor et al., 2012).

However, the exacerbating effect of ethnic identity is aligned with the work of some scholars (e.g., McCoy & Major, 2003; Sellers & Shelton, 2003; Yoo & Lee, 2008). These researchers have suggested that high levels of group identification could, at least initially, yield a temporary increase in emotional vulnerability in response to group threat (e.g., discrimination due to race and ethnicity). In addition, individuals with high group identification are more likely to perceive group threat as a threat to the self, which in turn could lead to decreased self-esteem. Based on this line of research, it can be inferred that Mexican immigrants with high ethnic identity could experience acculturation-related stressors as a threat to one’s group and oneself. As such, high ethnic identity could intensify the negative effect of acculturative stress on psychological well-being.

Another possible interpretation is that Mexican immigrants with high ethnic identity might be less likely to perceive the need to learn English or acquire American cultural practices. As such, they might be more prone to poor psychological well-being when facing persistent ABAS. They could be also vulnerable to the negative effects of MBAS because other Mexicans may question their genuine positive feelings and strong membership to their Mexican group. In contrast, those with low ethnic identity would be less sensitive to the pressures from other Mexicans to speak in Spanish or to retain Mexican cultural practices.

The third noteworthy finding was that the deterioration model, which views an intervening factor as a mediator, was supported for self-esteem. That is, both types of acculturative stress were negatively associated with self-esteem, which in turn led to decreased psychological well-being. Given self-esteem was found to serve as both moderator and mediator, it may be the case that self-esteem could be adversely affected by experiencing acculturative stress among Mexican immigrants. However, if the individual can maintain an adequate level of self-esteem, he or she could be protected from the negative effect of acculturative stress on psychological well-being.

No mediated effect for ethnic identity emerged. This result is consistent with prior research showing that when encountering acculturation stress, ethnic identity was not a significant predictor of behavioral, mental health, or adjustment outcomes (Schwartz et al., 2007; Wang et al., 2010).

Limitations and Directions for Future Research

There are several limitations in the study worth noting. First, the relatively small sample size limited the ability to test our hypotheses through more rigorous examination (e.g., structural equation modeling). Second, we recruited participants from a metropolitan area with a large Latino population and specifically from Latino community organizations. As such, participants were likely to have stronger ties to their ethnic group (as confirmed by high ethnic identity overall, M = 42.57, SD = 11.52). In addition, a majority chose the Spanish version of the survey as opposed to the English version. Therefore, it might be possible that questions regarding MBAS were not as salient. Accordingly, replications of these findings with a larger, more representative sample of first-generation Mexican Americans from various geographic locations is recommended. Third, the voluntary nature of research participation can be a limitation because the findings of the study cannot be generalized to participants who decided not to participate.

In spite of several limitations noted above, the findings of our study provide a framework by which to build future research and facilitate the development of culturally sensitive prevention and intervention strategies for first-generation Mexican immigrants. First, results of this study call for further understanding of acculturative stress originating from Mexican immigrants (e.g., pressure to improve one’s Spanish skills or become more “Mexican”). In particular, future researchers need to move beyond examining a direct relationship between MBAS and mental health, and work to identify moderators and mediators for this relationship. Second, our results help shed light on the roles played by self-esteem and ethnic identity on acculturative stress and psychological well-being. Although acculturative stress was found to compromise self-esteem, the negative effects of acculturative stress on psychological well-being could be alleviated by high self-esteem. Thus, the mechanisms through which high self-esteem is maintained while facing high levels of acculturative stress—including intrapersonal and interpersonal mechanisms—are in need of further study. Third, continued research is necessary to examine the influence of ethnic identity on the relationship between acculturative stress and psychological well-being, as well as the circumstances under which ethnic identity serves as a risk or protective factor.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author Biographies

Eunha Kim is a licensed psychologist and an assistant professor at Konkuk University in South Korea. She obtained her PhD in counseling psychology from Ohio State University. Her clinical and research interests include cross-cultural counseling, culture-bound syndromes, immigration and acculturation, Asian mental health, and stress.

Ingrid Hogge is a second year counseling psychology doctoral student at Southern Illinois University. She is a student representative for the International Mentoring and Orientation Committee (IMOC) of the Society for Counseling Psychology. Her research interests include the cultural context of coping, immigration experiences, international student issues, and the career development of counseling psychologists from diverse background

Camila Salvisberg is a therapist at a private practice in Illinois. She received her MA in counseling psychology from the Adler School of Professional Psychology. Her research interests are race and ethnicity, and quality-of-life indicators for minority groups.

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