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Contextualizing experiences and developmental stages of immigration and cultural stressors in Hispanic/Latinx adolescents

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Contextualizing experiences and developmental stages of immigration and cultural stressors in Hispanic/Latinx adolescents

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Content Copyright 2022 Ingrid Zeledon
CONTEXTUALIZING EXPERIENCES AND DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF
IMMIGRATION AND CULTURAL STRESSORS IN HISPANIC/LATINX ADOLESCENTS
by
Ingrid Zeledon
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC KECK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In partial fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
PREVENTIVE MEDICINE (HEALTH BEHAVIOR)
December 2022
ii

Epigraph

"Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger -- we
were strangers once, too. My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of
immigrants. We were strangers once, too."

- President Barack Obama, November 20, 2014

“Once you are an immigrant, you never forget that you are one.
You have to go through a mental and emotional process to recognize who you really are. I finally
recognized that I cannot be defined by one country.”

- Journalist, Jorge Ramos

iii
Dedication

To my parents, who uprooted themselves and opened opportunities for me by immigrating to the
United States. You taught me the importance of grit and hard work.
To my husband, for your support from day one of this journey and throughout all my creative
crises.
To Elroy and Dante, for all the cuddles and puppy kisses.
To my friends, my chosen family, for bringing so much joy to my life.
iv
Acknowledgments

This work was made possible by the vast support and interdisciplinary expertise of my
committee members. I am eternally grateful to Dr. Unger who provided me with steady guidance
throughout all phases of the PhD program, generously shared her extensive knowledge, and
engaged me in multiple projects based on my research interests. I want to acknowledge
Claradina Soto, who provided me with my first research home and taught me how to conduct
community-based research. I want to thank and acknowledge Seth Schwartz for the many deep
theoretical discussions/brainstorm sessions, guidance, detailed feedback, and unfaltering support
in conducting these studies. Many thanks to Trevor Pickering for his statistical expertise and
unique gift of teaching statistical concepts. Lastly, my deep appreciation to Amy West and
Albert Farias who both provided insightful guidance on the research design for all studies.

Table of Contents
Epigraph ......................................................................................................................................................................... ii
Dedication ..................................................................................................................................................................... iii
Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................................................... iv
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................................ vii
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................................. viii
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................................... ix
Chapter 1: Background and Significance ....................................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Immigration Patterns in the United States ..................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Conceptualization of Acculturation and Development of Stress Theories ......................................................... 1
1.3 Limitations in Current Conceptualization of Acculturation and Cultural Stress Measures ................................ 4
1.4 Addressing Contextualization of Cultural and Acculturative Stress ................................................................... 7
1.5 Mapping Cultural and Immigration-Related Stressors as Individual Trajectories ............................................ 14
Chapter 2: Cultural Stress Profiles - Describing Different Typologies of Immigrant Experiences ............................. 21
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................. 22
Conceptualizing Cultural Stress ......................................................................................................................... 22
Expanded Conceptualization of Cultural Stress ................................................................................................. 24
Protective Effects of Cultural Assets .................................................................................................................. 26
Procedures .......................................................................................................................................................... 28
Measures .................................................................................................................................................................. 31
Statistical Analysis .................................................................................................................................................. 33
Strengths and Limitations ........................................................................................................................................ 47
Abstract .................................................................................................................................................................... 56
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 57
Sociopolitical Stressors Intersection with Documentation Status ........................................................................... 57
The Current Study ................................................................................................................................................... 65
Methods ................................................................................................................................................................... 66
Study Design ........................................................................................................................................................... 66
Participants ......................................................................................................................................................... 67
Procedures .......................................................................................................................................................... 68
Analytic Plan ...................................................................................................................................................... 68
Discussion ................................................................................................................................................................ 85
Strengths and Limitations ........................................................................................................................................ 90
Chapter 3: Discrimination and Perceived Stress Impact on College Intent: A Moderated Mediation Model ............. 92
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 93

Stress and Discrimination Impact on Academic Achievement .......................................................................... 94
Academic Achievement as a Mediator of College Intent ................................................................................... 95
Familism as a Moderator .................................................................................................................................... 97
Research Question and Hypothesis .................................................................................................................... 98
Methods ................................................................................................................................................................. 100
Measures ................................................................................................................................................................ 101
Statistical Analyses ................................................................................................................................................ 103
Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research ................................................................................................. 113
Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................................... 114
Chapter 4: Conclusions .............................................................................................................................................. 115
Interventions to Buffer Cultural and Immigration Stressors ................................................................................. 122
References .................................................................................................................................................................. 127
Appendices ................................................................................................................................................................. 161
Appendix A: Qualitative Key Informant Interview Questions ............................................................................. 161

vii

List of Tables

Table 1 Study 1Participant Demographic Information ................................................................. 30
Table 2 Study 1 Model Fit Indices for one to five profile model LPA Solutions ......................... 34
Table 3 Variables associated with profile membership ................................................................. 36
Table 4 Equality Tests of Means Across Profiles ......................................................................... 37
Table 5 Standardized regression coefficients and standard errors (SE) for covariates of
depression stratified by profile ...................................................................................................... 39
Table 6 Participant Demographic Information Across Profile Classification ............................... 70
Table 7 Summary of Emerging Themes ........................................................................................ 71
Table 8 Differences by Site ........................................................................................................... 73
Table 9 Descriptive Statistics for Study Variables ...................................................................... 106
Table 10 Chi-square Difference Test and Model Fit Statistics for Multigroup Analysis ............ 107
Table 11 Standardized Path Analysis Parameter Estimates ........................................................ 108
Table 12 Decomposition of Total, Direct, and Indirect Effects .................................................. 109
Table 13 Summary and Integration of Findings, Future Research Directions ............................ 121

viii
List of Figures

Figure 1 Group Level and Individual Characteristics (1
st
generation Immigrants) ......................... 9
Figure 2 Group Level and Individual Characteristics (1.5 & 2
nd
generation immigrants) ............ 15
Figure 3 Path Analysis of the Familism Moderated- Mediated role of Academic achievement
impact on College Intent ............................................................................................................... 20
Figure 4 Means of Indicators by Latent Profile ............................................................................ 36
Figure 5 Mean Levels across Variables of Interest by Profile Membership ................................. 38
Figure 6 Final structural model with standardized path coefficients ........................................... 110
Figure 7 Suggested Interventions across the Integrative Risk and Resiliency Model ................. 123

ix

Abstract
Additional studies are needed to determine whether typologies or patterns of cultural and
immigrant stressors among Hispanic/Latinx (HL) youth exist and how these are associated with
mental health outcomes. Understanding the differences in how stressors are experienced by HL
youth can provide insights on how to tailor interventions to best meet their needs. This proposal
builds upon these findings by (1) analyzing how many different profiles or typologies of stress,
as measured by the MICS, exist among Hispanic/Latinx adolescents in Miami and Los Angeles
(Study 1), (2) contextualizing these stress profiles through in-depth key informant interviews
probing what pre-immigration, in-transit, and/or settlement factors experienced either directly or
through other family members impact their perception of stress (Study 2), and finally, delving
into (3) a development transition point that all adolescents within the US traverse: the decision to
attend college/post-secondary school (Study 3). In conjunction, these studies were designed to
increase our understanding on the immigration-related stressors experienced by adolescent
Hispanic/Latinx youth.

1
Chapter 1: Background and Significance

1.1. Immigration Patterns in the United States
Immigration is an ongoing phenomenon that has shaped our history (Castles, 2010). The
U.S. has experienced two major waves of immigration. Migration in the 19
th
century was
composed of eastern, southern and central Europeans, and the second (beginning in 1965) was
comprised primarily of people from Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean (Foner, 2018).
Recent events, such as the increase in natural disasters, political turmoil, and economic collapses
have increased the rates of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. In May 2019, there was a four-
fold increase in migrant encounters and in February 2021 there was a 61% increase from the
annual average in the number of unaccompanied minors arriving at the U.S. Mexico border (Pew
Research Center, 2021). It is estimated, that by 2050, over 15% of the U.S. population will be
second generation immigrants, defined as U.S. born children of foreign born parents (Borjas,
2017). Current events will continue to change international migration patterns, and their social
impact will unfold as subsequent generations acculturate and develop (Borjas, 2017; Kislev,
2017). Given the pervasiveness of the immigratory experience, it is important to understand its
discrete components and how they impact health outcomes.
1.2 Conceptualization of Acculturation and Development of Stress Theories
Acculturation refers to the social and psychological interchanges that occur at the
individual and group level when two distinct cultures come into contact (Berry, 1997). Although
it was originally conceptualized as unidirectional and unidimensional, the bidirectional (defined
as both heritage and receiving culture undergoing reciprocal changes) and bidimensional model
(where heritage culture retention and host culture acquisition represent independent processes)
provided a more nuanced understanding of the acculturative process (Cabassa, 2003)
,
(Benet-
2
Martínez & Haritatos, 2005; Mezzich et al., 2009). Berry (2017) generated a framework to
conceptualize and study acculturation (Berry, 2016). In this model, changes can occur at the
group level (e.g. changes in social norms, institutions, and social structure) or the individual level
(e.g. identity, behavioral changes) through different acculturation strategies (i.e. assimilation,
separation, integration, and marginalization) (Berry, 1997).
At the individual level, the main domains or contexts in which acculturative experiences
occur include: (1) cultural practices (behavioral acculturation, e.g. choice of friends,
entertainment, and language), (2) cultural values (cognitive acculturation, e.g. individualism and
collectivism, familism), and (3) cultural identifications (affective acculturation, e.g. ethnic
identity, sense of belonging, or attachments to heritage/U.S. regions) (Schwartz et al., 2010). The
stress originating from the process of adapting to any of the main domains of acculturation is
termed acculturative stress. A vast reservoir of literature on acculturation is dedicated to
understanding how acculturative stress is associated with health risks such as smoking, drinking
alcohol, and adverse mental health outcomes (Cervantes et al., 2014; Karl et al., 2004; Rowan et
al., 2014; Schwartz & Unger, 2017). Consistently, this research has provided evidence in support
of stress model theories such as Stress, Coping, and Adaptation Theory (Vega et al., 1993;
Yakushko, 2010), Acculturation Stress Theory (Berry, 2013), and Segmented Assimilation
Theory (Portes, A., & Zhou, 1993).
A natural extension of research on acculturative stress involves studying other
components of cultural stress (i.e. stressors stemming from identities, traditions, or values)
(Salas-wright & Schwartz, 2019). Cultural Stress Theory, as conceptualized by Salas-Wright and
Schwartz (2019), is composed of three specific stressors widely studied as a triad in the
literature: (1) discrimination, (2) negative context of reception, and (3) bicultural stress (Salas-
3
wright & Schwartz, 2019). Discrimination is defined as unfair or negative behaviors exhibited
either overtly (e.g. insults, name-calling, or harassments) or covertly (e.g. feeling disrespected or
feared) as a result of being from a particular racial or ethnic background (Müller et al., 2017;
Phinney, et al., 1998; Suleman et al., 2018). Within immigrant communities, perpetrators of
discrimination may be individuals from the destination country (termed out-group discrimination
or xenophobia) or those perceived as composing one’s own ethnic or cultural background (in-
group discrimination). In-group discrimination is defined as derogatory remarks or behaviors
perpetuated by a member from the same cultural group to another as a result of perceived
cultural differences (e.g. displaying characteristics of the heritage culture- “too Mexican”) and
assimilated discrimination (e.g. being too white-washed) (Basáñez et al., 2014; Martinez &
Armenta, 2020; Stevens & Thijs, 2018). Both unassimilated and assimilated discrimination
represent prominent components of experiencing bicultural stress. Bicultural Stress refers to the
distress experienced when one is navigating two distinct cultures and managing conflicting
expectations, obligations, and demands dictated by these two cultures (Bacallao & Smokowski,
2005; Benet-Martínez & Haritatos, 2005; Romero et al., 2020; Romero et al., 2003; Schwartz &
Unger, 2010). Several studies examining bicultural stress in immigrant communities have found
that bicultural stress is correlated with the discrepancy between host and receiving cultures (e.g.
higher discrepancy equals higher aggregate bicultural stress) (Cano et al., 2021; Romero et al.,
2020).
Conceptually, levels of perceived discrimination are influenced by the local community
or national sentiments toward immigration or, more proximally, by daily interpersonal
interactions. Negative context of Reception indexes the degree to which an individual feels that
their heritage group is unwelcomed, lacks opportunities for economic advancement, or are not
4
esteemed by the destination country (Schwartz, Unger, Lorenzo-Blanco, et al., 2014). Thus, it
would be expected that, in communities or countries with higher levels of negative context of
reception (unwelcoming and less opportunities), perceived group discrimination would be
experienced more severely– either due to heightened sensitivity to discriminatory behavior as a
result of the constant social or political reminders of the undesirability of their heritage group
(e.g. anti-immigrant rhetoric from political leaders or policies meant to dissuade immigrants
from entering the destination country), or from increased exposure to discrimination towards
their heritage group. Studies analyzing cultural stressors as a triad (measuring discrimination,
negative context of reception, and bicultural stress) have found that higher levels of cultural
stress are predictive of smoking, binge drinking, aggressive behavior and rule breaking (Cano et
al., 2015; Forster et al., 2015; Schwartz et al., 2015).
1.3 Limitations in Current Conceptualization of Acculturation and Cultural Stress Measures
A number of researchers have outlined the limitations of how acculturation is
operationalized and measured. These limitations include (1) the use of proxy measures (e.g.
language use, migrant generational status, nativity, and length of residence in the host country),
(2) lack of contextualization factors that influence experiences of acculturative stress (e.g. pre-
settlement, in-transit experiences, or host country characteristics), (3) focus on individual
processes (e.g. psychological appraisals of experiences) rather than group-level changes (e.g.
developmental stages, demography or life course perspectives), and (4) measurements with
overlapping constructs (Berry, 2009; Caplan, 2007; Kivisto, 2001; Rudmin, 2009; Smart &
Smart, 1995).
With the increased proliferation of acculturative scales, the issue of proxy measures has
decreased. However, it is still noteworthy to address that, historically, many early studies on
5
acculturation included single-item markers, such as the primary language spoken at home, to
assess acculturation. As the field of acculturation studies and health outcomes has expanded, the
aforementioned limitations arose. With respect to the lack of contextualization of acculturative
factors, Cabassa (2003) proposed three major categories of contextual factors: (1) Prior
Immigration Context, (2) Immigration or In-Transit Process, and (3) Settlement Factors
(Cabassa, 2003). Sifting through these factors, it is evident that acculturation represents a
discrete process that is part of a broader category of immigrant experiences that influence an
individual’s ability to adapt.
The emerging study of crisis migration is further contextualizing acculturative studies by
analyzing how pre-immigration adverse contexts, such as sociopolitical unrest, natural disasters,
or other life-threatening events, impact migrants’ ability to adapt and thrive in the new
destination country (Vos, Clark-Ginsberg, et al., 2021). This field of study has underscored that
migrant experiences are very diverse depending on the type of migrant (i.e., immigrant, asylum
seeker, refugee, or crisis migrant).
Another important consideration is the age at which immigration into the host country
takes place. The most significant demarcation of age is the categorization of what is termed the
1.5 immigrant generation (Chun & Mobley, 2014). Anyone who arrives at the host country prior
to the age of 12 is considered a 1.5 generation migrant (although in the literature other cut-off
points are also provided) and are generally more likely to be bicultural, retain their heritage
language, and not to have an identifiable accent when speaking the host language compared to
second generation (U.S. born to a foreign born parent) migrants (Greene & Maggs, 2018).
Perhaps the underlying mechanism driving the differences between 1.5 generation migrants
versus immigrants and second generation (U.S. born) involves language acquisition and other
6
developmental milestones that are disrupted as a result of immigration experiences within the
heritage and destination countries.
The life-course perspective represents a promising theoretical framework to understand
the differing immigrant experiences is life-course perspective. A life-course perspective focuses
on an individual’s life trajectory to “elucidate biological, behavioral, and psychosocial processes
that operate across the individual’s lifespan and across generations.” (Rubin, 2015, page 24).
Such a perspective assumes that (1) health varies by age, developmental periods or stages of life
and that (2) individuals have agency to react and respond to events and ultimately influence their
life outcomes (Abraído-Lanza et al., 2016; Edmonston, 2013). Life-course theory studies four
main components: (1) Trajectories (longitudinal patterns in an individual’s life), (2) Transitions
(life events that brings about change in daily life or relationships), (3) Turning Points (a disruptor
event that changes an individual’s life course trajectory), and (4) Timing (global historical
context or period) (Edmonston, 2013).
The study of acculturative trajectories in the literature has focused on understanding
varying patterns and profiles of acculturation at specific points in time. In adults, Castro et al.
(2010) identified four distinct trajectories of assimilation, of which upward segmented
assimilation (or higher American orientation coupled with upward economic motility) was
associated with better health outcomes (Castro et al., 2010). Studies on the acculturative
trajectories or profile memberships of adolescents have provided varied results. This is in part
due to the different indicators used to represent acculturation in the studies and the fact that
developmentally, many changes arise during adolescence. Jinjin et al. (2021) found four distinct
acculturative latent profiles (with nine indicators- American and US orientation, language
proficiency, cultural values, and ethnic identity) among a sample of Mexican American youth
7
(Jinjin et al., 2021). A longitudinal analysis of this same data (latent transition analysis across
two waves) also yielded four profiles (stable integrated, stable moderately integrated, progressive
and regressive). In contrast, Lee et al. (2020) identified two profiles high and low acculturation
and Nieri et al.’s (2011) identified five distinct classes of acculturation (less acculturated,
moderately bicultural, strongly bicultural, highly acculturated, and marginalized) (Lee et al.,
2020; Nieri et al., 2011).
The developmental stages at which acculturation occurs, including the age of arrival at
the host country and time of residence, have not been explored in these studies. A study by Gong
et al. (2011), however, found that 1.5 generation migrants that arrive at the destination country at
the age of six years or younger, had lower levels of psychological distress compared to those
who migrated during the preteen/adolescence, and that immigrant adults (25 and older) reported
the lowest levels of psychological distress across all age groups (Gong et al., 2011). The level of
awareness and agency individuals felt in their decision to migrate was considered the underlying
explanation for the differences in psychological distress experienced by different age groups
once established in the destination country. This is indicative that acculturative trajectories might
also vary among ‘cohorts’ (e.g., age of arrival) or ‘types’ of migrant (voluntary versus
involuntary), and that developmental stages may serve as a mechanism contributing to different
outcomes across these variations.
1.4 Addressing Contextualization of Cultural and Acculturative Stress
The acculturation literature has evolved from unidimensional to multidimensional and
has started to contextualize the acculturative process. However, as we laid out previously in
Section 1.3, further research is needed to (1) generate a model that contextualizes the immigrant
experiences (risk and protective factors) more broadly (e.g., pre-immigration, transit, and
8
settlement factors) in addition to acculturation, and (2) utilize a life-course perspective model
that integrates these immigration experiences across developmental stages. Research avenue (2)
includes analyzing immigration-related factors and their trajectories of stress (risk factors) and
coping (protective factors) across immigrant generational status (first generation, 1.5 generation,
and second generation).
A vast body of literature on immigration and acculturation have focused on the first
generation immigrant experience. A literature search through PubMed, Elsevier, ProQuest,
JSTOR, and Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of science), with search terms “Immigration”
and “Experiences” and “Validated Scales,” yielded 3,635 articles using validated scales
assessing different components of the immigration experience. After screening articles (excluded
articles published before 2000, mental health screening tools, and adaptations of existing scales),
a total of 20 articles of validated scales were analyzed. Utilizing this literature review, I outlined
a theoretical framework of immigration-related experiences for first generation migrants, starting
with (1) pre-immigration factors that lead to voluntary or involuntary immigration, (2) in-transit
process from country of origin to destination country, and (3) settlement factors upon arriving in
the destination country. These primary categories of the migration course are further delayered as
group-level versus individual characteristics. Figure 2 Outlining Group Level and Individual
Characteristics of First-Generation Immigrants illustrates the different factors that potentially
shape an individual’s personal trajectory within the destination country.
9
Figure 1 Group Level and Individual Characteristics (1
st
generation immigrants)

Based on the literature, Pre-immigration factors refers to context that led to immigration.
At a group level these factors include socioeconomic forces, the political environment of the
country of origin, and individual reasons for migration which inform types of migrants. There are
three main migrant categories: (1) voluntary migration which is motivated by economic
advancement, family reunification, or better living conditions and is often planned, (2)
involuntary migration which includes refugees, asylum seekers, or crisis migrants that are
displaced due to war, persecution or natural disasters, and (3) sojourners who migrate
temporarily for work, studies, or another specific purpose (Lassetter & Callister, 2009; Schwartz
& Unger, 2017; Vos, Clark-Ginsberg, et al., 2021). Mental health outcomes differ across the type
of migrant (group level differences) and within migrant groups depending on individual
characteristics. For example, refugees and asylum seekers who suffer intense pre-migration
trauma such as war, natural disasters, political unrest, persecution or violence may experience
10
greater distress upon arrival in the host country and have greater rates of post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression (Patino & Kirchner, 2009; Steel et al., 2017; Thapa et
al., 2010). At the individual level, important pre-immigration characteristics include
socioeconomic status, education level, profession, skill set, prior knowledge of the destination
country, social capital assets (e.g. family cohesion and social support), and coping mechanisms;
all factors that impact immigrants’ ability to adjust into the host country (Barton et al., 2021;
Cabassa, 2003).
In-transit related experiences include crucial aspects of the physical journey to arrive at the
host-country. The main characteristics of in-transit related experiences include: the method of
transportation (e.g., airplane versus walking to host country), the difficulty level of the journey,
and any adverse events experienced en route. Difficult crossings or perilous journeys (e.g.
unaccompanied minors on the southwestern United States border and adverse events experienced
en route (e.g., rape, mugging, near-death experiences) are all risk factors for negative mental
health outcomes (Barton et al., 2021; Bronstein & Montgomery, 2011; Gadeberg & Norredam,
2016; Jensen et al., 2019; Scaramutti et al., 2019).
Settlement factors are group-level and individual characteristics that influence acculturative
and stress trajectories within the host country. At the group level, context of reception refers to
the overall acceptance of the national and local community of the host country. This includes the
political context (national sentiment towards immigration and its associated policies),
community reception (acceptance levels by the local community), reception by other
immigrant/minority groups (acceptance levels by one’s own ethnic group or other minority
groups, e.g. intra-group discrimination), structural opportunities (availability of opportunities for
upward economic mobility), and cultural composition (e.g. cultural enclave versus a cultural
11
desert) (Forster et al., 2015; Schwartz et al., 2014, 2015). Anti-immigrant rhetoric/policies
(Chavez et al., 2019; Suleman et al., 2018; Vos, Hee, et al., 2021), discrimination and low
community acceptance (Dimitrova et al., 2014; Forrest-Bank & Cuellar, 2018; Y. Paradies et al.,
2015), and lack of access to the heritage culture (Achotegui, 2019; Perez & Arnold-berkovits,
2018) are reported in the literature as risk factors for negative health outcomes, whereas
community acceptance, employment opportunities (Böhme & Kups, 2017), documentation status
(Cobb et al., 2017; Enriquez, 2015; Enriquez et al., 2018; Rodriguez, 2016), and residence in
cultural enclaves are reported as protective factors. Cultural loss is a widely studied experience
referring to the psychological distress and grief resulting from the lack of access to familiar
aspects of one’s country of origin, such as food, people, places, music, social status, or language
(Henry, 2012; Henry et al., 2010; Perez & Arnold-berkovits, 2018; Wang, 2015). Cultural loss
has been linked to difficulty in adapting to host country as well with increased depression
(Perreira et al., 2005; Tilbury, 2007).
Individual-level characteristics of settlement factors include Social Support,
Documentation Status, Family Structure, Expectation Management, and Acculturative
Experiences. The amount of social support available to an immigrant within the destination
country vary depending on the extent of their network within the host country’s community and
individual differences in engaging social support from others (Ayon & Naddy, 2013; Brown et
al., 2009; Flores, 2010; Hupcey, 1998; Williams et al., 2004). Specifically, immigrants may also
receive support from transnational networks (individuals from their country of origin) or
immigrant networks within their destination-country community (Flores, 2010). Social isolation,
or the lack of social support, is associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety whereas
12
the presence of social support positively influences health outcomes in management of chronic
diseases (Documet et al., 2018; Mora et al., 2013).
Immigrants’ documentation status varies depending on the host country’s immigration
policies. Being documented bestows privileges that impact day to day functioning, such as
having a driver’s license, or economic opportunities, such as having a work permit and better
employment prospects (Enriquez et al., 2018). Immigration policies can often lead to pronounced
changes in the family structure. This includes family separation as a direct result of immigration
(e.g. leaving family members behind in the country of origin) or deportation (e.g. being separated
from family members in the destination country) (Berger Cardoso et al., 2018; Dreby, 2015;
Suárez-Orozco et al., 2011). The fear of family separation is prominent in mixed-status families
where some family members are documented and others are not, and it is estimated that
approximately 16.6 million people in the United States live in mixed-status families (Enriquez,
2015). Having a mixed-status family or being undocumented is a risk factor as the emotional
insecurity produced by uncertainty and hypervigilance is associated with symptoms of anxiety
and depression (Dreby, 2015; Rodriguez, 2016; Rusch & Reyes, 2013; Suárez-Orozco et al.,
2011).
Shifts in the family structure have also been reported as a result of role reversals (e.g.
children being the source of knowledge rather than parents), with language brokering (or the act
of interpreting or translating between languages) by children of immigrants being widely
documented, and differential rates of acculturation among family members resulting in a familial
acculturation gap (Hwang & College, 2006). Acculturative differences can lead to a breakdown
in communication and development of incongruent cultural values within families (Lane &
Miranda, 2018; Nadeau et al., 2018; Bergelson et al., 2015; Wu et al., 2017).
13
Out of all the settlement factors, acculturation is among one of the most studied
phenomena and must be included in any model that attempts to examine immigrant experiences.
Redfield, Linton, and Herskovits (1936) provided one of the first definitions of acculturation as
“the social and psychological interchanges that occur at the individual and group level when two
distinct cultures come into contact,” and subsequent researchers posited that acculturation
strategies exist (Redfield, Linton, & Herskovits, 1936). For example, Portes and Zhou (1993)
proposed the segmented assimilation model, whereby individuals select different conformations
of heritage culture retention and destination country assimilation, whereas Berry (1997)
theorized that four main acculturative strategies exist (i.e., assimilation, integration, separation,
and marginalization) (Berry, 1997; Portes, & Zhou, 1993). Among these strategies, integration is
conceptually similar to biculturality, which has been widely reported in the literature as a
protective factor.
The last settlement factor in Figure 2 is Expectation management. For many immigrants,
entrance into the host country is symbolic of new opportunities, safety, and better living
conditions. In the United States, Hispanic/Latin immigrants share the hope of the Sueño
Americano (American Dream) which constitutes employment opportunities, moving out of
rough neighborhoods or barrios, achieving home ownership, and being respected and treated
fairly treated by their communities (Fraga et. al., 2006). However, becoming established in the
host country is a challenging process, and immigrant families may become disillusioned if their
expectations of the life they envisioned are not met. Partially, expectation violation and a lack of
expectation management may account for the steady decline in immigrants’ reported happiness
after 10 years of being established in the host country compared to their first years after arrival
(Caplan, 2007). Although understudied, understanding expectation management and subsequent
14
life satisfaction experienced by immigrants in the host country is an important component of the
immigration experience.
1.5 Mapping Cultural and Immigration-Related Stressors as Individual Trajectories
Previous research has mainly focused on acculturation as the primary immigrant
experience and in first-generation immigrants, without fully deconstructing what unique
strengths, assets, or stressors are present in the lives of Hispanic/Latinx adolescents belonging to
1.5 or second immigrant generation. This proposal focuses on describing quantitatively and
qualitatively adolescent Hispanic youth’s experiences of immigrant and cultural stressors.
Utilizing the three main phases of the immigration journey (i.e., pre-immigration, in-transit, and
settlement), this dissertation focuses on individual, person-centered profiles of cultural and
immigrant stress to gain more insight into adolescent immigration-related experiences across
immigrant generations (See Figure 3 Outlining Group Level and Individual Characteristics of
1.5- & Second-Generation Immigrants). Two of the studies use data from a funded study entitled
Advancing the Measurement of Cultural Stress for Hispanic Adolescents (Grant # HD095636
from the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, PI: Seth Schwartz). The
aim of that study was to create a multidimensional measure capturing the stressors effecting
Hispanic/Latinx youth. Methodologically, this was accomplished by first generating items from
focus groups aimed at understanding both strengths and stressors of adolescent Hispanic/Latinx
youth and generating items consulting an expert panel. The outcomes of the focus groups, as
reported by Vos et al. (2021), highlighted (1) intragroup (ingroup) and (2) intergroup
discrimination, (3) internalization of discrimination experienced by parents, and (4) concerns
over the shifting political climate toward more xenophobic attitudes (Vos, et al., 2021). Then,
data were collected on these items, and an exploratory factor analysis followed by a confirmatory
15
factor analysis were conducted to generate a new validated scale that captured unique stressors.
This scale has been called the Multidimensional Inventory of Cultural Stress (MICS). The MICS
identified four main domains of stressors for Hispanic/Latin youth including: (1) unassimilated
stress (e.g., “too” representative of the heritage culture), (2) assimilated stress (e.g., “too”
American), (3) language brokering stress, and (4) anti-immigrant and negative political rhetoric
stress.
Figure 2 Group Level and Individual Characteristics (1.5 & 2
nd
generation immigrants)

Additional studies are needed to determine whether typologies or patterns of cultural and
immigrant stressors among HL youth exist and how these are associated with mental health
outcomes. Understanding the differences in how stressors are experienced by HL youth can
provide insights on how to tailor interventions to best meet their needs. This proposal builds
upon these findings by (1) analyzing how many different profiles or typologies of stress, as
measured by the MICS, exist among Hispanic/Latinx adolescents in Miami and Los Angeles
16
(Study 1), (2) contextualizing these stress profiles through in-depth key informant interviews
probing what pre-immigration, in-transit, and/or settlement factors experienced either directly or
through other family members impact their perception of stress (Study 2), and finally, delving
into (3) a development transition point that all adolescents within the US traverse: the decision to
attend college/post-secondary school (Study 3). In conjunction, these studies were designed to
increase our understanding on the immigration-related stressors experienced by adolescent
Hispanic/Latinx youth.
Study 1 is a quantitative latent profile analysis (LPA) of the MICS cultural stress
measure.
Aim 1: To identify how many distinct profiles of cultural stressors emerge across the four
MICS scale substructures (political stress, language brokering stress, assimilated stress, and
unassimilated stress). Once the number of classes are identified, the composition and predictors
(e.g., demographics and psychosocial markers) were analyzed. This study answers the following
line of inquiry:
Research Question 1: Identify and Describe Profiles: Do different profiles of cultural
stress exist? If they do, how many profiles? What demographic variables are associated with
profile membership?
Hypothesis 1a: At a minimum we expected to find two profiles indicative of high stress
and low stress across all the indicators. Given the prevalence of socio-political turmoil at the
time of data collection (2020-2021), we expected a high mean of sociopolitical climate stress to
be a shared stress indicator in the configuration of the profiles.
Hypothesis 1b: It is likely that site differences will be present since Los Angeles and
Miami have varied political backgrounds and distinct immigrant populations. Gender,
17
specifically being female, may be associated with profiles having a higher cultural stress burden
as previous literature has found that females experience more internalizing behaviors, while
males are more likely to exhibit externalizing behaviors (Alfaro et al., 2009; Castillo et al.,
2015).
Research Question 2: Association with Mental Health Outcomes and Cultural Assets: Are
there differences in mental health outcomes (i.e., depression, self-esteem, adolescent stress) and
cultural assets (i.e., ethnic identity, U.S. orientation, heritage orientation) across the profiles?
Hypothesis 2: We expect to see profiles with higher levels of cultural stress to be
associated with adverse mental health outcomes. Profiles characterized by high cultural stress
would be expected to be linked with higher ethnic identity and heritage orientation, while
profiles with low stress would have more U.S. orientation and lower ethnic identity.
Study two is a qualitative extension of the first study. To further understand the different
cultural stress profiles that exist within our sample, key informant interviews were conducted
with participants of each identified class. The main aim of these interviews was to probe for
differences in latent classes across all four substructures of cultural stressors identified by the
MICS measure.
Aim 2: To utilize a life-course perspective to describe and contextualize developmental
(e.g., age of arrival into the US) and structural determinants (e.g., immigration policies in
destination country) of cultural stress profiles (derived from Study 1 Latent Profile Analysis)
among Hispanic/Latinx adolescents.
Exploratory Research Question 1: What immigrant experiences, on the part of either
participants or their family members, thematically emerge across the Multidimensional Inventory
18
of Cultural Stress (MICS) cultural stress profile (e.g., life stressors, disruptors, or structural
changes)?
Exploratory Research Question 2: How do participants report the impact of the MICS
cultural stressors to have changed or stayed the same?
Exploratory Research Question 3: What are the emerging themes of the impact of the
MICS four cultural stressors across youth from different sites (Miami versus Los Angeles) and
across low stress profile compared to profiles reporting social climate stress?
Study three utilizes data from a longitudinal study named Reteniendy y Entendiendo la
Diversidad (RED, Grant #5R01DA016310 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, PI:
Jennifer Unger). It explores the developmental milestone of college attainment, a unique
experience for Hispanic/Latinx adolescents that underscores how familism moderates the impact
of stress and discrimination on college attainment. The relationships among these variables will
be analyzed using structural equation modeling in Mplus (See Figure 4: Path Analysis of the
Mediating role of Academic Achievement among Discrimination, Perceived Stress, and the
outcome of Post-Secondary Education Intent). The aims of this study were as follows:
Aim 3: To investigate the extent to which academic achievement mediates the
relationship between stress and discrimination on college intent and to analyze whether this
mediation is moderated by familism values.
Hypothesis 1: Higher levels of discrimination and perceived stress at time one (T1)
would be predictive of lower academic achievement at time two (T2) and lower levels of
college intent at time three (T3).
Hypothesis 2: Higher levels of Academic Achievement at T2 would be predictive of
higher college intent at T3.
19
Hypothesis 3- Mediation: Higher discrimination at T1 will be associated with lower
college intent at T3 (e.g., work after high school instead of vocational school, 2-year
college, or 4-year college) and academic achievement at T2 will mediate that relationship
(higher levels of discrimination will result in higher academic achievement) and this will
partially explain (indirect effects) why higher discrimination is associated with higher
college intent.
Hypothesis 4- Mediation: Higher perceived stress at T1 will be associated with lower
college intent at T3 (e.g., work after high school instead of vocational school, 2-year
college, or 4-year college) and academic achievement will mediate that relationship
(higher levels of perceived stress associated with lower academic achievement), and this
will explain partially (indirect effects) why higher perceived stress is associated with
lower college intent.
Hypothesis 5- Moderation: The association between discrimination and stress on
academic achievement at T1 will differ by the levels of familism at T1. Familism is
hypothesized to buffer the deleterious effects of stress on academic achievement. In both
cases, it is hypothesized that those at lower level of familisms will exhibit lower
academic achievement compared to those at higher levels of familism and that lower
grades will partially explain the deleterious effects of discrimination and stress on college
intent.

20
Figure 3 Path Analysis of the Familism Moderated- Mediated role of Academic achievement
impact on College Intent

In combination, these studies focused on identifying cultural stress profiles among
Hispanic/Latinx adolescent through a mixed methods approach. A Latent Profile Analysis (LPA)
was used to aid in identifying stress profiles, their predictors, and their outcomes. Then, key
informant interviews were used to elucidate the composition of these profiles and explore the
interplay of immigration generational status and contextual factors on youths’ experiences of
stress. Lastly, the third study explored a key development phase in Hl youth; college-attainment
intent.

21
Chapter 2: Cultural Stress Profiles - Describing Different Typologies of Immigrant
Experiences Among Hispanic/Latinx Adolescents
Abstract
This study identified typologies of cultural stressors in Hispanic/Latino (HL) adolescents through
a latent profile analysis. Cultural stress profiles were derived using the Multidimensional
Inventory of Cultural Stress (MICS) subscales as indicators, in a two-site (Los Angeles and
Miami) sample of Latino youth (N=304). A four-profile solution of stressors was identified: (P1)
low cultural stress (n=94, 30.7%), (P2) social climate and language stress (n=147, 48%), (P3)
social climate and in-group identity threat stress (n=48, 15.7%), and (P4) high stress (n=17,
5.6%). Depressive symptomatology, self-esteem, ethnic pride, heritage orientation and
adolescent stress differed across the profiles. Results provide support for future studies to
analyze temporal trends in cultural stress profiles and determine strategies to incorporate findings
of profile predictors of depression into interventions.

Key Words: Cultural Stressors, Hispanic/Latinos Youth, Latent Profile Analysis, Depression,
Immigrant

22
Introduction
Adolescence is marked by rapid changes in neurodevelopment, identity formation, and
navigation of social roles (Brockman, 2003; Cook & Furstenberg, 2002). These transitions leave
adolescents susceptible to environmental influences and sensitized to stressors, which can
precipitate substance use, problematic behaviors, and mental health challenges (Berg et al., 2017;
Johnson et al., 2019; Konrad et al., 2013). In addition to commonly experienced adolescent
stressors, Hispanic or Latino/a/x/e (HL) youth in the US contend with a variety of unique
stressors such as discrimination and immigration-related stressors, which may compound the
detrimental effects of other stressors (Torres & Young, 2016; L. Torres et al., 2012). The term
cultural stress has been introduced to refer to the unique stressors experienced by youth
navigating multiple cultural streams and negotiating identity, traditions, or values (Schwartz et
al., 2015). Overall, systematic reviews have identified strong positive associations between
cultural stressors and mental health outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety, self-esteem) (Bekteshi &
Kang, 2020; Choy et al., 2021; McCord et al., 2019; Miller De Rutté & Rubenstein, 2021).
However, studies have not determined whether there are specific subgroups of HL adolescents
who experience different constellations of cultural stressors. Understanding typologies of
cultural stress can assist in the creation of tailored interventions for specific subgroups of HL
adolescents that address their cultural stress profiles. Addressing this gap, the current study
identifies cultural risk profiles and examines the association of these profiles across three mental
health indicators (i.e., depressive symptomatology, self-esteem, and adolescent stress) and three
cultural assets of interest (i.e., American orientation, heritage orientation, and ethnic identity).
Conceptualizing Cultural Stress
Cultural stress represents the unique stressors experienced by youth navigating multiple
cultural streams and negotiating identity, traditions, and values (Schwartz et al., 2015). At a
23
minimum, HL youth are exposed to two primary cultural streams: their heritage country and
“mainstream” U.S. culture. Many first- and second-generation HL youth are also impacted,
either directly or indirectly, by immigration-related stressors within their families or
communities (Salas-Wright et al., 2020). In some instances, immigration-related stressors may
be mitigated for individuals from countries with pathways to documentation (e.g., Cuba) or for
HL adolescents in later generations who are further removed from the initial immigration event
(Cooper et al., 2020). Across validated scales, sources of cultural and immigration-related
stressors have included acculturative stress; parent-child acculturation gaps; bicultural stress;
discrimination; negative context of reception; family separation; mixed-documentation status;
decreased economic opportunity or structural barriers associated with documentation status; and
adverse childhood experiences (e.g. unrest or violence in home country, dangerous journey, and
instability resulting from immigration) (Cabassa, 2003; Cervantes et al., 2012; Conway et al.,
2022; Romero et al., 2003; Schwartz et al., 2014). Cultural Stress Theory (CST) was introduced
after multiple studies identified three prominent cultural stressors (discrimination, negative
context of reception and bicultural stress, a specific subset of acculturative stress) that, when
modeled together or separately, were highly predictive of health outcomes (Salas-Wright &
Schwartz, 2019).
Overall, systematic reviews have identified strong positive associations between cultural
stressors (frequently operationalized as the triad of discrimination, negative context of reception,
and bicultural stress) and mental health outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety, self-esteem)
(Bekteshi & Kang, 2020; Choy et al., 2021; McCord et al., 2019; Miller De Rutté & Rubenstein,
2021). Miller De Rutté and Rubenstein (2021) reported that 81.2% of studies included in their
systematic review found an association between acculturative stress and mental health issues,
24
such as depression, anxiety, and psychological distress (Miller De Rutté & Rubenstein, 2021).
Self-esteem has been studied extensively as both an outcome of cultural stress and a predictor of
internalizing symptoms.
Expanded Conceptualization of Cultural Stress
After identifying the need to integrate similar constructs and develop a scale to measure
cultural and immigration-related stressors in youth, we conducted two multisite (Miami and Los
Angeles) studies. The first study was a qualitative exploration of cultural stressors among youth
which were used to develop and validate survey measures for psychometric analysis (Meca et al.,
2022). The second was an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis that yielded the
Multidimensional Inventory of Cultural Stress (MICS) (AUTHOR CITATION). The MICS
consists of four factors: (1) Political stress (impact of anti-immigrant rhetoric or policies e.g.,
DACA termination, fear of deportation), (2) Language Brokering (responsibility of translating
between English and Spanish), (3) in-group identity threats (being considered ‘too American’ by
other Hispanic/Latinos), and (4) within group discrimination (being bullied or insulted by other
Hispanic/Latinos).
These four domains of stress have been identified in the literature as associated with
depressive symptoms. For example, in terms of political stress, a negative social political climate
is associated with increased fear, worry, perception of decreased opportunities of advancement,
and perceived discrimination (Chavez et al., 2019; McCord et al., 2019; Roche et al., 2021). The
deleterious effects (e.g., excessive worry and depression symptomatology) of a negative social
climate are more pronounced for individuals who are not citizens or have family members
without citizenship (Alegria et al., 2019; Roche et al., 2020). A negative social climate
moderates the relationship between acculturation and stress-related health problems (higher
25
acculturation is correlated with more stress-related health problems), which can plausibly be
attributed to an increased exposure to discrimination (Almeida et al., 2016; Finch, 2016; Fox et
al., 2017). Changes in immigration policies, such as the discontinuation of Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA), have been hypothesized to exacerbate mental health issues due to
the uncertainty that such legislation changes triggers (Cadenas et al., 2022; Siemons et al., 2017).
Language brokering, or the act of children or adolescents acting as translators or
interpreters on behalf of their parents, can have both positive (i.e., empathy, bilingual ability, and
increased family pride) and negative (e.g., stress of accuracy of translation, time demands,
burden of translating complex or negative information across different context) effects on mental
health (Kam & Lazarevic, 2014; Morales & Hanson, 2005). Language brokering adolescents
report higher levels of depression when compared to non-language brokers and high language
brokering stress is associated with a higher cortisol stress response (Kim et al., 2017, 2022;
Rainey et al., 2014). While language brokering efficacy and language brokering norms buffers
the stress experienced in language brokering, discrimination is associated with a higher language
brokering burden (Chen, S., Hou, Y., Benner, A., & Kim, 2020; Lazarevic et al., 2022; Shen et
al., 2020).
Within group identity threats and within-group discrimination in this study are described
as a theoretical subset of intragroup marginalization, or the perceived rejection received from
people within the heritage group in response to the individual’s acculturation process (Castillo,
2009; Castillo et al., 2007). Individuals can experience marginalization in either direction, either
for being too ‘Hispanic’ or too American. Intragroup marginalization is associated with higher
depressive symptomatology and lower self-esteem (Basanez et al., 2014; Cano et al., 2014; Piña-
Watson et al., 2019; Thornhill et al., 2021). Studies analyzing acculturative stress
26
(operationalized with components of intragroup discrimination) found that acculturative stress
moderates the relationship between self-concept and ethnic identity (wherein high acculturative
stress increases ethnic exploration and resolution) and between depression and suicidal ideation
(Walker et al., 2008; Zhen-Duan et al., 2011). Walker et al., found that ethnic identity buffered
the effects of depression on suicide ideation, while acculturative stress intensified the effect of
depression on suicide ideation (Walker et al., 2008).
Protective Effects of Cultural Assets
The cultural stress literature often utilizes a risk and resiliency framework, where risk factors,
or characteristics associated with poor mental or health outcomes, and promotive factors (defined
as measurable characteristics that are associated with positive mental or health outcomes) or
protective factors (a moderating measurable characteristic that buffers a risk factor) are examined
to understand the interplay between exposure and intervenable components with the goal of
improving an outcome of interest (Cutuli et al., 2018; Masten, 2001; Suárez-Orozco et al., 2018).
In the section above, we have summarized findings on cultural stressors as risk factors across
multiple mental health indicators (e.g., depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation). Now, we outline
cultural assets, which are protective or promotive factors stemming from cultural values,
traditions, belief systems, or identity. The most widely studied cultural assets include ethnic
identity, biculturalism, and heritage orientation (Cobb, Branscombe, et al., 2019; Davis et al.,
2021). Ethnic identity is considered crucial to building self-concept or self-knowledge, which is
an internal resource used to orient oneself in the world and provides a sense of belonging to a
collective (T. B. Smith & Silva, 2011). Umaña-Taylor and Updegraff (2007), for example, found
that higher levels of ethnic identity exploration and resolution were associated with higher self-
esteem and that self-esteem mediated the association between acculturative stress and depression
27
(Umaña-Taylor & Updegraff, 2007). Heritage orientation and biculturality have been associated
with higher self-esteem, development of ethnic identity, and protective against mental health
distress and substance use (Brietzke & Perreira, 2017; Perreira et al., 2019). It is hypothesized
that biculturality enhances adaptive skills as individuals can draw resources from both cultures to
cope with stressors (Smokowski & Bacallao, 2011). In this study, we will examine how heritage
orientation, American orientation, and ethnic identity differ across cultural risk profiles.
The Current Study
This study utilizes the four subdomains of the MICS scale to (1) identify and describe
distinct profiles of youth cultural stressors utilizing the MICS subscales as indicators, (2) identify
individual-level covariates of profile membership and (3) analyze differences in profile
membership across mental health indicators and cultural assets. Given the novelty of the MICS,
this is the first study to generate typologies of cultural stress derived from the MICS scale, using
an LPA methodology. This study will further our understanding on how categories of stress are
experienced among HLs and provide insights on how to translate these differences into tailored
interventions aimed at increasing resiliency and reducing appraisals of stress. A person-centered
approach, such as LPA, that assumes identifiable subpopulations exist, is the most appropriate to
study the heterogenous experiences of stress among adolescents (Howard & Hoffman, 2018).
Previous latent profile studies among HL youth have identified typologies of coping strategies
(Aldridge & Roesch, 2008; Kam et al., 2021), acculturation strategies (Fox et al., 2013; Lee et
al., 2020; Roth et al., 2019), risk factors (Salas-Wright et al., 2021; Zeiders et al., 2013) and
socio-cultural assets (Rojas et al., 2021). More studies are needed to determine whether
typologies of cultural and immigrant stressors among HL youth exist and how these are
28
associated with mental health outcomes. To this aim, the present study was designed to answer
the following research questions:
Research Question 1- Identify and Describe Profiles: Do different profiles of cultural
stress exist? If they do, what demographic variables are associated with profile membership?
Hypothesis 1a: At a minimum we will have two profiles indicative of high stress and low
stress across all the indicators. Given the prevalence of socio-political turmoil at the time of data
collection, we expect a high mean of sociopolitical climate stress to be a shared stress indicator
in the configuration of the profiles.
Hypothesis 1b: It is likely that site differences will be present since Los Angeles and
Miami have varied political backgrounds and distinct immigrant populations. Gender,
specifically being male, may be associated with profiles having a higher cultural stress burden as
previous literature has found that males have fewer coping mechanisms and experience more
externalizing behaviors from cultural stress (Alfaro et al., 2009; Castillo et al., 2015).
Research Question 2: Are there differences in mental health outcomes (i.e., depression,
self-esteem, adolescent stress) and cultural assets (i.e., ethnic identity, U.S. orientation, heritage
orientation) across the profiles? Hypothesis 2: We expect to see profiles with higher levels of
cultural stress to have adverse mental health outcomes. Profiles with high cultural stress would
have higher ethnic identity and heritage orientation, while profiles with low stress would have
more U.S. orientation and lower ethnic identity.
Methods
Procedures
29
Data for this study were collected from a multi-phase mixed methods project. First,
previous research (Author Citation), qualitative interviews (6 focus groups, N=34) were
conducted to identify cultural stress themes. We then convened an expert panel to develop items.
Then, a baseline survey was collected, containing these items as well as those modified from
existing validated scales, to create a holistic measure of cultural stress for Hispanic youth. We
named this measure the Multidimensional Inventory of Cultural Stress (MICS) [Author Citation].
Participant were recruited through schools and selection criteria included: (1) either being born
or having at least one parent who was born in a Spanish speaking country (the Caribbean,
Mexico, Central America, or South America), (2) self-reporting or identifying as Latin/Hispanic,
and (3) speaking English or Spanish fluently. Data were collected in Spring and Summer of 2020
at two different study sites (Miami and Los Angeles). Due to COVID-19, study details, assent,
consent, and survey were communicated virtually through RedCap and Qualtrics. Participants
received a $15 gift card incentive. Study procedures were approved by the Institutional Review
Boards at the participating universities.
Participants
Survey responses from 304 HL adolescents (18.9% in 9
th
grade,50.2% in 10
th
grade, and
30.3% in 11
th
grade) with a mean age of 15.30 (SD=.76, range 14-17 years) collected at wave
one was included in the present cross-sectional analyses. Participants were predominantly second
generation (U.S. born to at least one foreign born parent, 79.55%), with the remainder being first
generation immigrants. The majority of participants and/or their parents were Mexican (56.3%),
Cuban (26.5%), or Central American (Salvadoran, Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Guatemalan;
11.2%). Table 1 provides demographic information for the overall sample.

30
Table 1 Study 1Participant Demographic Information
Variable
Overall
Sample%
(N)
Profile 1:
Low
Profile 2:
Social Climate
& Language
Brokering
Profile 3: Social
Climate & In-
group Identity
Threat
Profile 4:
High
χ
!
P-
value

N=306
(%)
n =94
(30.7%)
n= 147
(48.0%)
n= 48 (15.7%) n= 17
(5.6%)

Site
Miami
35.95%
(N=110)
52
(55.32%)
39 (26.53%) 15 (31.25%) 4 (23.53%) <.001
Los Angeles
64.05%
(N=196)
42
(44.68%)
108 (73.47%) 33 (68.75%) 13 (76.47)
Sex - - - - -
Female
60.13%
(N=184)
53
(56.38%)
95 (64.63%) 36 (75.00%) 14
(82.35%)
.96
Male
39.22%
(N=120)
39
(41.49%)
52 (35.37%) 12 (25.00%) 3 (17.65%)
Missing
.65%
(N=2)
2 (2.13%)
Birth - - - - - .05
Foreign Born
20.59%
(N=63)
29
(30.85%)
27 (18.37%) 2 (4.17%) 4 (23.53%)
Born in U.S.
79.41%
(N=243)
65
(69.15%)
120 (81.63%) 46 (95.83%) 13
(76.47%)

Parental Birth - - - - - .59
Both Foreign
Born
75.16%
(N=230)
60
(63.83%)
139 (94.56%) 17 (35.42%) 14
(82.35%)

1+ U.S. Born
Parent
24.51%
(N=75)
34
(36.17%)
8 (5.44%) 30 (62.50%) 3 (17.65%)
Missing
.33%
(N=1)
1 (2.08%)

Mean
(SD)
Mean (SD) Mean (SD) Mean (SD) Mean (SD)
Age
15.30
(.76)
15.32 (.70) 15.32 (.83) 15.31 (.69) 15.06 (.77) .64

SES
2.24
(1.10)
.04 (.94) 2.37 (1.24) 2.19 (.96) 2.44 (.91) <.01
Depression 2.20 (.66) 1.97 (.07) 2.44 (.12) 2.23 (.06) 2.50 (.16) <.01
Self-Esteem 3.32 (.77) 3.62 (.10) 3.17 (.12) 3.21 (.08) 3.06 (.13) <.01
Adolescent
Stress
2.85 (.81)
2.32 (.10) 3.34 (.11) 2.97 (.07) 3.40 (.21) <.001
American
Orientation
4.19 (.69)
4.20 (.10) 4.40 (.10) 4.20 (.06) 3.84 (.21) .10
Heritage
Orientation
4.10 (.80)
3.80 (.10) 3.63 (.13) 4.43 (.06) 4.33 (.20) <.001
Ethnic Pride 3.50 (.65) 3.11 (.10) 3.73 (.10) 3.72 (.06) 3.93 (.19) <.001

31

Measures
Multidimensional Inventory of Cultural Stress Scale [MICS]. The MICS is an adolescent
cultural and immigration related stress measure consisting of four subscales: (1) Negative Social
Climate (6 items, α = .90) (2) In-group Identity Threats (3 items, α = .88), (3) Language
Brokering (3 items, α = .77), and (4) Within-Group Discrimination (2 items, α = .77). Responses
were rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
Negative social climate assesses the level of distress felt around policies (e.g., “I am worried
what the end of DACA and other protections would do to my family and friends” and “I am
worried that people I love will be deported) and the political environment (e.g., With the current
political situation, I have felt more fearful). In-group identity threats refer to distress felt by
participants when other HL individuals question their heritage identity (e.g., Other
Hispanics/Latinos often tell me I’m too American/Anglo/Gringo). The language brokering
subscale, a well-documented stressor in the literature (Weisskirch, 2017), assesses the distress
stemming from acting as a translator for friends and family members (e.g., I feel like I’m
responsible for helping my parents understand things in English). Lastly, within-group
discrimination captures perceptions that other HL individuals believe that one is too strongly
ethnically identified (e.g., Other Hispanics/Latinos often tell me I’m too Hispanic/Latino or not
American enough). In this study, the four subscales of the MICS were used as primary indicators
of profile membership.
Depression symptoms. The Boston form Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression
Scale was used to assess depressive symptomatology (Andresen et al., 1994). CESD-10 is a 10-
item scale (e.g., “I felt sad”) rated on a 4-point Likert scale (α = .87) that ranges from 0 (Rarely
32
or none of the time) to 3 (Almost all the time). Scores were calculated as the total sum of all
items.
Ethnic Identity. Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) is a 12-item scale (α = .91)
assessing sense of belonging, ethnic identity, and involvement (Phinney, 1992). Items are rated
on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 4 (Strongly agree) and analyzed
using the total sum of the items, with higher scores indicating a stronger sense of ethnic identity.
Self-esteem. Self-esteem was measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale
(Rosenberg, 1979), which consists of 10-items (α = .86). Items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale
ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 4 (strongly disagree). Five items are reverse coded (e.g., “I
certainly feel useless at times”). Higher scale scores indicate higher self-esteem. Scores were
calculated as the total sum of all items.
Adolescent Stress. The Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ-S) measures stressors
specific to the developmental period of adolescence (Anniko et al., 2018). The short version
utilized in this study is composed of the sum of 27 items assessing the following stressors: home
life, school performance, school attendance, romantic relationships, peer pressure, teacher
interaction, future uncertainty, school/leisure conflict, financial pressures, and emerging adult
responsibilities (α = .94). All items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Not
stressful at all) to (5) (Very Stressful). Scores were calculated as the total sums of all items. This
scale was added to assess normative, non-cultural stressors.
U.S and Heritage Orientation. U.S. orientation and heritage orientation were measured as
independent subscales of the Bicultural Involvement Questionnaire (Szapocznik et al., 1980).
Each subscale contains 12 questions that mirror each other and measure involvement separately
in U.S. and heritage culture (e.g., How comfortable do you feel speaking [Spanish or English] at
33
home?). The items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale and measured as a mean of the items for
each subscale (U.S. orientation α = .90, heritage orientation α = .92).
Statistical Analysis
Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) extracts different patterned profiles (as a latent categorical
variable) from a set of continuous variables (indicators) of interest (Spurk et al., 2020). This
categorical latent modeling approach assumes that a given population contains subpopulations
with configural differences across the indicators of interest and varying class membership
probabilities. In the present study, the values from each of the MICS scales served as indicators
for the latent profiles. Indicators of interest were screened for outliers through visual inspection
of distributions to ensure that profile enumeration was not biased by extreme cases or
implausible values. After initial data inspection, a series of latent profile models were generated
using full information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation. To ensure the profile solutions
did not converge at a local maximum, 1000 random sets of starting values were utilized. Data
management and clean-up was conducted in SAS software version 9.4. Mplus Version 8.3
statistical software was utilized to conduct the LPA.
Comparison of model fit statistics (Log Likelihood, Akaike information criterion (AIC),
Bayesian information criterion (BIC), Lo-Mendell-Rubin Likelihood Ratio test (LRT), and
entropy) was performed to determine the optimal number of profiles (lower AIC, BIC values,
entropy >.80, and LRT >.05) (Ferguson et al., 2020). The one-step manual BCH method was
utilized to analyze associations across variables of interest and profiles by performing a Wald
Chi-square test, as outlined by Asparouhov & Muthén (Asparouhov & Muthén, 2021). The BCH
method creates weighted probabilities of class membership that are used to determine class
membership to decrease the likelihood of profile misclassification. Commonly reported
34
demographics of interest (i.e., sex, nativity status, and parental nativity status), along with site,
were included as exogenous independent variables. Variables of interest were selected based on
theoretical relevance to cultural stressors and a multicollinearity assessment to select non-
multicollinear variables (pairwise correlations >.7 and VIF >5) (P. Vatcheva & Lee, 2016).
Based on this criteria, site, birth, sex, and parental nativity status were selected as covariates of
profile membership. In addition, pairwise comparison of profiles across outcomes of interest
(i.e., depression, self-esteem, ethnic pride, cultural orientation, and adolescent stress) were
conducted.
Results
Profile Solution Selection and Demographic characteristics
Model fit statistics were compared across the models, in conjunction with entropy and
theoretical significance to yield a four-profile solution (See Table 2). The four-profile solution
had the lowest AIC, BIC, and SSABIC values, and the Lo-Mendell-Rubin test favored a 4-
profile solution in favor of a 3-profile solution (p = .049) but did not favor the 5-profile solution
in favor of the 4-profile solution (p = .190). The values of the entropy were similar across all
solutions. Therefore, we selected a 4-profile solution. None of the profiles had membership
probabilities less than 5% of the full sample, with the high stress profile (P4) having the lowest
probability of membership (5.6%).

Table 2 Study 1 Model Fit Indices for one to five profile model LPA Solutions
Fit Statistics Number of Profiles
2 3 4 5
LL (No. of Parameters) -1903.805 (13) -11860.844 (18) -1827.544 (23) -1811.666 (28)
AIC 3833.609 3757.689 3701.087 3679.333
35
BIC 3882.016 3824.713 3786.730 3783.593
SSABIC 3840.786 1767.626 3713.784 3694.70
Lo-Mendell-Rubin
(LMR)
1 vs 2 2 vs 3 3 vs 4 4 vs 5
LMR Probability <.001 0.0078 0.0492 0.1948
Entropy .830 .863 0.834 0.843
Group Size (N, %)
P1: Low
107 (35.0%) 107 (35.0%) 94 (30.7%) -
P2: Social Climate &
Language Brokering
199 (65.0%) 179 (58.5%) 147 (48.0%) -
P3: Social Climate &
In-group identity threat
- - 48 (15.7%) -
P4: High
-- 20 (6.5%) 17 (5.6%) -

Figure 5 illustrates the mean of each indicator across the four identified profiles, and
Table 1 provides sample demographics by the most likely profile membership. Profile 1, labeled
as low cultural stress (n = 94, 30.7% of the sample), is characterized by low mean scores (under
2.5) across all four MICS subscales; those in this profile were predominantly female (61.29%),
U.S. born (79.55%) with foreign born parents (74.75%). Individuals in Profile 2 (n = 48, 15.7%
of the sample), labeled as social climate and language brokering stress, reported high levels of
negative social climate and language brokering stress; those in this profile were predominantly
female (61.64%), U.S. born (80.14%) with foreign born parents (76.55%). Profile 3 (n = 147,
48% of the sample), labeled as social climate and in-group identity threat stress, was
characterized by high levels of negative social climate and in-group identity threat stressors;
58.33% were female with 87.5% foreign born, and with 72.92% reporting foreign born parents.
Lastly, Profile 4 (n = 17, 5.6% of the sample), labeled high cultural stress, included participants
with high mean scores (over 3.5) across all four subscale measures; 56.25% of participants were
female, with 94.12% reporting as U.S. born with 62.5% having foreign born parents.
36
Figure 4 Means of Indicators by Latent Profile

Variables associated with profile membership were analyzed across site, nativity status,
sex, and parental nativity status (see Table 3: Variables associated with profile membership). Site
effects were present; Social climate and language brokering (P3; OR: 10.09, <.001) and high
stress (P4; OR: 17.75, <.05) had a higher proportion of participants from Los Angeles than from
Miami when compared to low stress (P1). Participants’ nativity status was not a statistically
significant predictor of profile membership. Sex emerged as a statistically significant but weak
correlate across all profiles (P2; .19, <.05, P3; .21, <.05, P4; 1.83, <.01). Lastly, only for profile
high (P4; .09, <.05), when compared to low (P1), parents’ nativity (having foreign born parents)
emerged as a significant predictor of profile membership.
Table 3 Variables associated with profile membership
2 vs. 1 3 vs. 1 4 vs. 1
Site (Los Angeles) 10.09 (3.50,
29.20)***
1.67 (.49, 5.72) 17.75 (1.55,
203.02)*
37
Table 3: Variables associated with profile membership
The Wald chi-square test for mean equality yielded differences among the profiles (See
Table 4: Equality Tests of Means Across Profiles and Figure 6: Mean Levels across Variables of
Interest by Profile Membership). Profiles with stress had worse mental health indicators,
reporting higher means of depression, adolescent stress, and lower self-esteem compared to the
low stress profile (P1). However, social climate and language brokering (P2) had a higher mean
of adolescent stress than climate and in-group identity threat (P3). In terms of cultural assets,
profiles of stress had higher ethnic pride than the low stress profile. There were no differences
across the mean levels of U.S. orientation among the profiles. However, there were significant
differences in heritage orientation with social climate and in-group identity threat (P3) and high
(P4) profiles having higher mean heritage orientation when compared to low stress (P1). Low
(P1) and social climate and language brokering (P2) had similar mean levels of heritage
orientation. Both social climate and in-group identity threat (P3) and high (P4) profiles had
significantly higher means of heritage orientation compared to social climate and language
brokering (P2).

Table 4 Equality Tests of Means Across Profiles
Overall 2 vs. 1 3 vs. 1 4 vs. 1 3 vs. 2 4 vs. 2 3 vs. 4
Birth (US Born) 1.15 (.42, 3.20) 10.45 (.92, 119.16) .003 (.06, 7.40)
Sex (Female) .19 (.05, .70)* .21 (.05, .91)* 1.83 (.01, .41)**
Parental Nativity (US
Born)
.00 (0.00, 4527.10) .06 (.50, 6.61) .09 (.01, .68)*
OR (95 % CI) *** <.001, ** <.01, * <.05
38
CESD 16.57, .001 10.80,
.001
6.64,
.010
8.88,
.003
2.50,
.115
.051,
.821
2.34,
.126
Self-Esteem 17.40,
<.001
8.30,
.004
11.04,
.001
12.50,
.000
.064,
.801
.384,
.54
.949,
.330
Adolescent
Stress
60.13,
<.001
49.29,
<.001
30.09,
<.001
22.77,
<.001
8.34,
<.001
.055,
.814
3.831,
.05
Ethnic Pride 37.20,
<.001
18.20,
<.001
27.31,
<.001
15.40,
<.001
.00,
.950
.84, .36 1.20,
.283
American
Orientation
6.19, .103 1.66,
.197
.05,
.103
2.42,
.120
3.10,
.079
5.16,
.023
2.25,
.134
Heritage
Orientation
46.30,
<.001
.81,
.368
26.74,
<.001
5.99,
.014
27.12,
<.001
8.412,
.004
. 22,
.638
Wald Test, df=3 (χ
2
, p-value)

Figure 5 Mean Levels across Variables of Interest by Profile Membership

Predictors of Depressive Symptoms Stratified by Profiles
Depressive symptomatology reported by the overall sample was low (M = 2.21, SD =
0.66), but varied across the four profiles. Social climate and in-group identity threat (P3)
reported the least depressive symptomatology (M = 2.09, SD = 0.66), followed by low (P1: M =
39
2.19, SD = 0.67), high stress profile (P4: M = 2.23, SD = 0.63) and social climate and language
brokering (P2: M = 2.23, SD = 0.67) reported the highest depressive symptomatology. Table 5
displays the results from a regression of depression on discrimination, self-esteem, ethnic
identity adolescent stress, biculturalism, and family resiliency) stratified by profile. For profile
low (P1), self-esteem (β =-.605, p < .001) and adolescent stress (β = .425, p < .001) emerged as
statistically significant predictors. Discrimination, ethnic pride, biculturalism, and family
resiliency were not statistically associated with depression. For social climate and language
brokering profile (P2) participants, self-esteem (β = -0.716, p < .001) and ethnic identity (β =-
.388, p = .019) emerged as statistically significant predictors of depressive symptoms. For social
climate and in-group identity threat (P3), discrimination, adolescent stress, biculturalism, and
family resiliency were not statistically significant predictors. Discrimination (β =-.327, p < .001),
self-esteem (β =-.-.479, p < .001), and adolescent stress (β =-.194, p < .01) all emerged as
predictors of depressive symptomology. Lastly, within the high profile (P4), adolescent stress (β
=-.548, p < .001), biculturalism (β =-.-.305, <.05), and family resiliency (β =-.-.441, <.01)
emerged as significant predictors of depression symptomology.

Table 5 Standardized regression coefficients and standard errors (SE) for covariates of
depression stratified by profile
P1: Low
P2: Social Climate
& Language
Brokering
P3: Social Climate &
Ingroup Identity
Threat
P4: High
Intercept 4.120*** 6.294* 3.965*** 3.454**
Discrimination .101 .064 .327*** .226
Self-Esteem -.605*** -.716*** -.479*** -.107
Ethnic Pride .003 .388* -.016 .089
Adolescent Stress .425** -.053 .194** .548***
Biculturalism
(HIS-AMER)
.093 -.184 .012 -.305*
40
Family Resiliency .054 -.164 .039 -.441**
*** <.001, ** <.01, * <.05

Discussion
This study identified risk profiles of cultural stress among HLs and analyzed how mental
health indicators and cultural assets differed across the profiles. The latent profile analysis
yielded four typologies of cultural risk: (1) low, (2) social climate and language brokering, (3)
social climate and in-group identity threats, and high. Findings corroborate that profiles with
cultural stress are associated with worst mental health indicators (higher depressive
symptomology, adolescent stress, and lower self-esteem). Ethnic pride varied with profiles of
stress having higher means of ethnic pride compared to the low profile. In terms of cultural
orientation, there were no differences across the profiles in American orientation, however,
social climate and in-group identity threat (P3) and high (P4) profiles had higher means of
heritage orientation than low (P1) or social climate and language brokering (P2). Together, these
findings suggest that cultural risk profiles do vary among HLs, that profiles containing cultural
stressors are associated to worst mental health outcomes, and that levels of cultural assets also
vary across the profiles of stress. Future studies can analyze the association and directionality
between these cultural risk and cultural assets (e.g., Does a higher stress environment elicit
cultural assets as a coping mechanism? Or are the cultural assets indicators or proxies of cultural
stress? For example, is high heritage orientation indicative of an environment that exposes youth
to cultural stressors or is high heritage orientation an adaptive coping mechanism to deal with
cultural stress?).
Specific Profiles of Cultural Stress
This study identified four profiles of cultural stress (P1: low, P2: social climate and
language brokering, P3: social climate and ingroup identity threat, and P4: high). Saliently,
41
social political climate pervaded and was a shared characteristic across all profiles of stress. This
signals the importance of policies and structures that impact immigration issues for HLs. At the
time of data collection, political discourse and immigration issues were on the forefront of news
and discussion throughout the United States and this could have contributed to the prominence of
social climate stressors (Díaz McConnell, 2022).
Profile 3 and profile 2 were uniquely characterized by high in-group identity threats (e.g.,
Other Hispanic/Latinos criticize me for not speaking Spanish well enough) and language
brokering respectively. It is likely that members of social and language brokering (P2) are either
bilingual speakers with a high burden (e.g. high frequency or translate complex information) of
language brokering or are English dominant speakers that have a perceived low brokering
efficacy, which are identified characteristics predictive of language brokering stress in the
literature (Kam & Lazarevic, 2014; Weisskirch, 2017). Since the majority of the sample is US
born, it is less likely that language brokering stress in this sample stems from difficulties with the
English language. However, difficulties in translating could possibly arise from explaining
complex concepts for which they lack the vocabulary or understanding. It is also significant that
in-group identity threats and not in-group discrimination emerged as a typology of stress. This
could signal that, in relation to group marginalization, in-group identity threats are more
insidious to mental health and are perceived and reported more severely than in-group
discrimination. The high (P4) profile included participants who experience high levels of stress
across all subscales, experiencing alienation from within-group (high levels of in-group
discrimination and in-group identity threats) and external forces (i.e., an unwelcoming
sociopolitical environment) (Berry, 1997; Fox et al., 2013). The simultaneous experience of in-
group identity threats and in-group discrimination for a subgroup that is slightly higher heritage
42
oriented could indicate higher bicultural stress, which we did not measure in this study. High
(P4) stress youth may often navigate context where in comparisons to their peers they are less
acculturated (e.g., school), but perhaps within their family circle or immediate community
(which in this study the sites are cultural enclaves), they might be considered to be losing aspects
of their heritage culture.
The identification of these profiles suggests that there are differences in what type of
cultural stress are more relevant or predominant for HL adolescents. This can provide an
opportunity for tailored interventions that directly address the clusters of cultural stressors that
people are likely to experience and acknowledges heterogeneity of cultural stress experiences
within HLs youth. Many interventions use a cuentos or vignettes that illustrate how cultural
stressors are experienced and typologies of cultural stressors can provide the content to explore
the nuances and diversity of experiences (Zamora et al., 2019). Importantly, the findings of intra-
group marginalization as prominent stressors also underscore the need to address more than
outgroup discrimination and racism for interventions that are tailored to improving cultural assets
or buffering the effects of cultural stressors.
Demographic Differences
The profiles varied across sites with low (P1) having the most equal distribution of
participants across Miami and Los Angeles, but with all other profiles composed primarily of
Los Angeles participants (P2: 73.47%, P3: 68.75%, P4: 76.47%). Site also was a predictor of
profile membership with all stress profiles having a higher proportion of Los Angeles
participants when compared to low (P1). At the time of data collection, the political environment
was most discrepant in Los Angeles (LA), where HLs felt the distress from the negative rhetoric
surrounding immigrants and immigration policies that were enacted (Dunn et al., 2022). Miami
43
participants, in contrast, were predominantly Cubans that are more likely to lean conservative
and be documented (Soto-Vásquez & Gonzalez, 2022). These differences in political orientation
within the sites could explain why, at the time of data collection, more LA participants fell
within profiles of stress than Miami participants. It also emphasizes that social political stress is
likely to be experienced differently based on the HLs youth political heritage and that in
incongruent social contexts (i.e. an administration that differs from one’s personal political views
or issues), stress is more likely to be experienced (Morey et al., 2021).
There were also differences in participant’s nativity across the profiles, with a
predominance of US born youth across all profiles. This could be a result of unequal sampling
across the sites as the overall sample was 79.55% US born. The data collection period coincided
with the early closures of the COVID-19 pandemic that necessitated a shift in the data collection
strategy to be conducted all virtual and impacted our ability to get a balanced sample. However,
our sample is representative of the current proportion of US born to foreign born HLs youth in
the US, as US births are the primary driver of HL population growth over migration (Pew
Research Center, 2022).
Lastly, there were sex differences across the profiles, with females being more likely to
belong to high stress profile (P4) than males, even though it was not a significant predictor of
profile membership when low stress was the baseline. This is in alignment with the literature that
has found females are more susceptible to stress during adolescence than males.
Differences Across Mental Health Indicators and Cultural Assets
Depressive symptomatology, self-esteem and adolescent stress scores varied across the
profiles. All profiles reporting stress had significantly higher levels of depression symptoms and
adolescent stress and lower self-esteem, when compared to low (P1). These findings are aligned
44
with previous literature reporting cultural stressors as risk factors for poor mental health
outcomes (Bekteshi & Kang, 2020). More specifically, social climate and language brokering
(P2) had higher means of adolescent stress than social climate and in-group identity threat (P3)
profile and similar heritage orientation to low (P1), but significantly lower heritage orientation
than all stress profiles. The low heritage orientation may be indicative of lack of Spanish
language fluency, which would make language brokering more stressful. While there are some
strengths (e.g., pride, advanced linguistic ability, increased interpersonal skills, confidence, and
maturity; Guan et al., 2014) associated with language brokering, the context (i.e. frequency of
brokering, family acculturation gap, norms, subject- such as medical translation, and efficacy;
Kam et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2018; Martinez et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2020) in which language
brokering occurs and the negative affect (i.e. feeling burdened) experienced as a result of
language brokering are associated with internalizing symptoms, including depression (Kam &
Lazarevic, 2014; Shen et al., 2020). In this study, the language brokering subscale assessed the
time commitment and responsibility or burden experienced from translating, which are
considered negative appraisals of language brokering. Hence, in our study the profile containing
high language brokering stress is aligned with previous literature linking language brokering to
higher adolescent stress and lower heritage orientation.
Ethnic pride has often been associated in the literature with positive mental outcomes
(e.g., associated with higher self-esteem and lower psychological distress) (Balidemaj & Small,
2019; Forrest-Bank & Cuellar, 2018; Smith & Silva, 2011). Interestingly, in our study, profiles
with higher cultural stress had higher ethnic pride than the low stress group (P1). Perhaps
participants with higher levels of ethnic identity are more aware and sensitized to the negative
rhetoric and political issues that impact their ethnic group, and in a negative political context
45
(such as early 2020 when this data was collected), this identification with an openly minoritized
and scapegoated group may have contributed to an increased perception of cultural stress.
Alternatively, from a strength perspective, the exposure to cultural stressors might have led to the
development of higher ethnic pride, as a coping mechanism. Ethnic pride leads to a positive
assessment of one’s ethnic group, which could buffer the effects of discrimination or
xenophobia (Rivas-Drake et al., 2021). Further studies are needed to deconstruct the effects of
ethnic pride as a cultural asset and explore its relationship with cultural stressors.
Depression as a Distal Outcome Across the Profiles
The low profile (P1) had predictors of depression that are most commonly associated
with normative adolescent development, such as self-esteem and adolescent stress (Masselink et
al., 2018; Moksnes et al., 2016). None of the predictors theoretically tied to immigrant-related or
cultural stressors (biculturality, ethnic pride, or discrimination) were significantly associated with
depressive symptomology.
In social climate and language brokering (P2), ethnic identity and self-esteem were
significant predictors of depressive symptoms. In the literature, ethnic identity has been reported
as protective (e.g., associated with higher self-esteem and lower psychological distress)
(Balidemaj & Small, 2019; Forrest-Bank & Cuellar, 2018; Smith & Silva, 2011), however, in the
context of immigration-related stressors, ethnic identity may be a risk factor for depressive
symptomatology (Romero et al., 2018). Perhaps participants with higher levels of ethnic identity
are more aware and sensitized to the negative rhetoric and political issues that impact their ethnic
group, and in a negative political context (such as early 2020 when this data was collected), this
identification with an openly minoritized and scapegoated group may have contributed to
increased depressive symptomology. The same nuanced effect holds for language brokering.
46
While there are some strengths (e.g., pride, advanced linguistic ability, increased interpersonal
skills, confidence, and maturity; Guan et al., 2014) associated with language brokering, the
context (i.e. frequency of brokering, family acculturation gap, norms, subject- such as medical
translation, and efficacy; Kam et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2018; Martinez et al., 2009; Zhang et al.,
2020) in which language brokering occurs and the negative affect (i.e. feeling burdened)
experienced as a result of language brokering are associated with internalizing symptoms,
including depression (Kam & Lazarevic, 2014; Shen et al., 2020). In this study, the language
brokering subscale assessed the time commitment and responsibility or burden experienced from
translating, which are considered negative appraisals of language brokering. Most studies have
tied language brokering burden to decreased self-esteem and general self-efficacy and it is
posited that feeling and thoughts of incompetence as a result of language brokering difficulties is
the underlying mechanism by which adolescent’s self-esteem is eroded (Weisskirch, 2013,
2017).
Uniquely, high stress profile (P4) reported heritage orientation and family resiliency as
protective of depression and US orientation as predictive of higher depressive symptomology. It
is plausible that the protective effects of heritage orientation in profile 4 are directly associated
with cultural values, such as familism, that increase resiliency against out-group forces,
discrimination, and depressive symptoms. This is aligned with previous studies that have
reported heritage cultural values, specifically familism, as protective against discrimination,
foreign objectification, substance use, and depression.(Corona et al., 2017; Davis et al., 2021;
Lorenzo-Blanco et al., 2012; Valdivieso-Mora et al., 2016; Zeiders et al., 2016) Family
Resiliency in profile 4 is also protective against depression, which further supports the possibility
47
that protective cultural values might be the underlying factor behind the protective effects of
higher cultural orientation.
Strengths and Limitations
There are many strengths to a multi-site study, including a more representative sample of
migrants from different countries and different contexts of receptions. In this sample Central
American, South American, and Mexican countries are represented. A drawback, however, is
that Los Angeles and Miami tend to be considered more favorable contexts of reception than
cities with lower Hispanic/Latin populations. Future studies can benefit from settings without
cultural enclaves. Second-generation children of immigrants are overrepresented. Future research
would benefit from incorporating foreign born youth and generating a unique scale to capture
their cultural stressors and specific latent profiles predictive of said cultural stressors. Lastly,
political events at the time of data collection, such as national anti-immigrant sentiment, may
impact individuals’ experiences of political stressors, discrimination, and context of reception.
As with most studies, self-selection bias is a common limitation that was mitigated by analyzing
the distribution of demographic characteristics. Common limitations intrinsic to cross-sectional
methodologies include the inability to measure change across variables and establish casual
pathways.
Conclusions
This study explored profiles of cultural stress utilizing the Multidimensional Inventory of
Cultural Stress as indicators and identified four profiles: P1: low, P2: social climate and language
brokering, P3: social climate and ingroup identity threat, and P4: high. There were significant
differences across mental health outcomes with profiles of stress reporting higher depressive
symptoms and adolescent stress and lower self-esteem. Ethnic pride was higher among profiles
with cultural stress. Heritage orientation was high among social climate and ingroup identity
48
threat (P3) and high (P4) profiles in comparison to the other profiles, with social climate and
language brokering (P2) having the lowest heritage orientation in comparison to the other
profiles. The identification of these profiles suggests that there are differences in what type of
cultural stress predominant for HL adolescents.

Chapter 3: Contextualizing Profiles of Cultural Stress- Key Informant Interviews
with Hispanic/Latin Adolescents

Abstract
This study is a qualitative exploration of the differences in experience of cultural stress
by site and latent profile classification among a sample of Hispanic/Latinx (HL)
adolescents. In a separate study, a latent profile analysis was conducted using the
Multidimensional Inventory of Cultural Stress as indicators and it yielded four risk
profiles: (1) low stress, (2) sociopolitical climate and language brokering, (3)
sociopolitical climate and in-group identity threats, (4) high cultural stress across all
indicators. Methods: This study utilizes a qualitative comparative case methodology. A
total of 23 HL adolescents in Los Angeles and Miami provided key informant interviews
about their families’ migration story and their personal experiences with sociopolitical,
language brokering, in-group identity threats, and in-group discrimination stress. Results:
Sociopolitical stress in particular varied based on site and country of origin, with Miami
participants reporting an increase in stress post the 2020 presidential election. Cognitive
reframes were useful tools to ameliorate the experience of stress among adolescents.
Conclusions: Cultural stressors are not stagnant and vary based on the changes to the
underlying mechanism which generate the stress. The sources of most stressors are non-
modifiable (e.g., sociopolitical context, language acquisition, or discrepant acculturative
levels), so interventions should focus on bolstering individuals’ sense of self and coping
mechanism.

57

Introduction
The demography of the United States is constantly influenced by immigration
patterns. Currently, Hispanics/Latinx (HL) are the fastest growing and youngest
population compared to any other ethnic group, with nearly six in ten HLs being under
the age of 18 years old and 50% of these adolescents having at least one parent who is
undocumented foreign born(Patten, 2016; Vespa et al., 2020). In 2020, the Pew Research
center estimated that 7% of all Hispanic adolescents comprised the 1.5 generation-
foreign born migrant adolescents that arrived at the U.S. prior to 12 years old, while the
rest were second generation ( (Clarke et al., 2017). The composition of Hispanic families
in the U.S. is diverse in respect to immigrant generational status, with varied
conformations of recent migrants (1
st
Generation), 1.5 generation, and second generation
(U.S. born with at least one foreign born parent) within the family (Clarke et al., 2017;
Portes & Rumbaut, 2006).
Sociopolitical Stressors Intersection with Documentation Status
Mixed-generation families often have members with different documentation
status, which markedly effect the opportunities available - such as the ability to legally
work in the U.S., receive financial aid for higher education, or receive access to health
insurance (Cobb, Meca, et al., 2019; Enriquez, 2015). For both the undocumented
individual and other family members, the fear of deportation and its impacts (i.e.
separation of family and destabilization of family dynamics) is a constant pervasive threat
(Becerra, 2016; Dreby, 2012, 2015). Changes in the political administration and the
subsequent policies that are enacted directly exacerbate or ameliorate fears surrounding
documentation status (Altema McNeely et al., 2022).

58
The 2016 and 2020 presidential elections provided polarized realities for
immigrant-origin youth. Under president Trump, disparaging rhetoric of immigrants (e.g.
statements that migrants brought crimes into the U.S.), and policies grounded on
xenophobia, which is the prejudice and fear of foreigners, were common (Díaz
McConnell, 2022; D. Smith, 2020). A key political issue during Trump’s presidency was
immigration policy, and through a series of executive orders, policies were implemented
to build a border wall across U.S.-Mexico, increase border patrol agents, terminate the
‘catch and release’ policy on the border and fund detention facilities and increase ICE
(U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers (CMS, 2017).
With such an unequivocal message of rejection and unacceptance towards
migrants, many Hispanic/Latino (HL) youth of immigrant origin struggled with sense of
belonging within communities and their mental and physical health. Eskenazi et al (2019)
found that between 2016-2018, most US born youth worried about the personal
consequences of US immigration policy, family separation or deportation, and reported
increased levels of anxiety and depression across time for those who perceived
immigration policy changes to adversely impact their life (Eskenazi et al., 2019). Anxiety
and feelings of rejection in youth were increased by an awareness of messages of
exclusion or being informed about political news (Caporino et al., 2020; López
Hernández, 2022). Dunn et al. (2022), by contrast, found that political ideology, rather
than following the news cycle, were associated with heightened awareness of political
issues, with Trump detractors having increased awareness of inequality, racial/ethnic
issues, and experiencing higher levels of discrimination (Dunn et al., 2022). Regardless
of the directionality between political orientation and political news, the interplay of

59
mental health and political climate impacted adults as well, with HL English-speaking
adults reporting worse mental health post the 2016 presidential election (Morey et al.,
2021).
It highlighted the plurality in lived experiences, values, and political views, issues
of concern, and heritage across HLs. In a media content analysis, Soto-Vásquez and
Gonzalez (2022) reported anti-socialism, religiosity, and a lower salience of immigration
issues as the most frequently cited explanatory rationales for HLs voting for Trump
(Soto-Vásquez & Gonzalez, 2022). Similarly, Galbraith and Callister, reported that HLs
that voted for Trump were more conservative when compared to the overall HL
population in the United States and were issue-focused, with the economy, healthcare and
education being rated as more important than immigration issues and that knowing
someone who was undocumented was an influential factor in favorable beliefs of
migrants (Callister et al., 2019; Galbraith & Callister, 2020). In both 2016 and 2020
elections, Miami, where Cubans comprise 34.1% of the population, was a focal point of
HLs voting republican. Cubans have a unique history with communism that has
manifested in the fear of government involvement, and, unlike other HLs, Cubans had an
automatic path to citizenship in the US (Fandl, 2017). These combined factors of their
political view heritage coupled with an irrelevance of immigration issues in their personal
lives results in Cubans leaning conservative. In fact, the Pew Research Center reported
that 58% of Cubans in the U.S. were registered Republican voters in comparison to 32%
of non-Cuban Hispanics. By contrast, most HLs in Los Angeles are either of Mexican or
Central American heritage, many are undocumented, and for those who have family near

60
the southern border, stricter border enforcement would make it difficult to travel between
the U.S. and Mexico (Passel & Cohn, 2021).
Understanding the political inclinations within the HLs communities is important
because the experience of sociopolitical stress depends on personal beliefs and
expectations of how changes in political administrations directly will impact individuals.
Specifically, in this two-site study (Miami and Los Angeles), we expect that the
appraisals of sociopolitical stress emerging from transitions in the presidential
administration to be contingent on youth’s political views and their belief on the effects
that it will bring into their lives.
Intragroup Marginalization
Intragroup marginalization was derived from social identity theory, which is the
study of group processes and the individual’s self-conception as a group member, and is
defined as the perceived social distancing from the group experienced by an individual as
a result of not displaying specific cultural characteristics of said group (Abrams & Hogg,
1990; Castillo et al., 2007) . For HLs youth, intragroup marginalization has been
operationalized as pressure to retain aspects of the heritage culture, such speaking the
heritage language, values (e.g., having the same work or career goals), behaviors (e.g.,
engaging in cultural traditions) and associations (e.g., avoid social ties with outgroup
members). However, since the source of intragroup marginalization varies depending on
the individual’s social ties, which can include family members and friends with different
acculturation levels, the reference point for what characteristics are attributed to group
membership can differ depending on the social context. This means HLs youth may

61
receive criticism for either being too heritage oriented or too US oriented, often times
simultaneously from different groups (e.g., family versus friends).
The Multidimensional inventory of Cultural stress (MICS) acknowledge the
coexistent forces of intragroup marginalization. It identified two subscales, in-group
identity threats and in-group discrimination, that represent the acculturative spectrum in
which intragroup marginalization occurs (Meca et al., 2022). In-group identity threats are
defined as identifiable characteristics (e.g., not speaking Spanish fluently or being
perceived as too Americanized) that are cited as evidence for lack of heritage
membership, others have referred to this as accusations of assimilation. By contrast, in-
group discrimination is derogatory language or bullying targeted to individuals who are
viewed as not acculturated enough or deemed as a different HL ‘subgroup’ (e.g., refugee,
or from a specific country). Mata-Greve and Torres (2019) termed the rejection for being
too enculturated as intragroup separation and found that both intragroup marginalization
and intragroup separation were uniquely predictive of anxiety and depression above and
beyond ethnic discrimination from other non-HLs (Mata-Greve & Torres, 2018). A
commonality in both cases is that how the individual self-identifies differs from the
identification ascribed to them by members from their own group and, therefore,
highlights the potential of being penalized for either being too “American” or too ethnic
and experiencing a dual identity denial, which is when a person’s multiple internal
identities (as in the case of bicultural individuals) are challenged. Cárdenas et al. (2021)
studied the impact of dual identity denial (by the dominant culture and by the heritage
group) and found that dual identity denial was associated with less biculturality and that a
stronger expression of dual identity elicited stronger identity denial from others

62
(Cárdenas et al., 2021). However, this study did not analyze dual identity denial within
the heritage group. Further studies are needed to understand how the potential mixed
messages HLs youth receive in regard to their identity across their different social context
impact their own identity development.
Studies of intragroup marginalization have found an association with
experiencing intragroup marginalization and negative mental health outcomes (e.g.,
depressive symptoms, anxiety, and suicidality). When experienced from friends,
intragroup marginalization has been associated with depressive symptoms, suicide risk,
lower life satisfaction and self-esteem, increased alcohol use, and difficulty adjusting to
school (Basáñez et al., 2019). Piña-Watson et al. (2019) found that developmental periods
moderated this relationship, signaling the importance of development context in stress
appraisal and Llamas and Consoli (2012). found family support buffered the impact of
intragroup marginalization (J. D. Llamas & Consoli, 2012; Piña-Watson et al., 2019).
Studies on the effects of familial intragroup marginalization have found it is associated
with depression, anxiety and suicidality and Cano et al. (2014) found acculturative stress
mediated the relationship between familial intragroup marginalization and depression.
Taken together, these studies emphasize the detrimental effects of intragroup
marginalization on mental health and begin to explore how the source (i.e., family,
friends, or ethnic community) of the intragroup marginalization influences its effects on
mental health.
Language Brokering: Strengths and Challenges
Another stressor that was salient among the cultural stress profiles was language
brokering. Language brokering refers to the act of children or adolescents interpreting or

63
translating for their parents or other adults (Weisskirch, 2017). Reported characteristics
of language brokering that can impact the experience of language brokering stress include
frequency of brokering, context (i.e. grocery store, hospital, school, etc.) and content (i.e.
transaction versus medical information), complexity of translations, and social brokering
norms (Shen et al., 2017). These characteristics, in conjunction with appraisals of the
brokering experience (i.e. perceived efficacy, burden or demands of brokering, and
emotional affect) influence the association of language brokering with health outcomes
(Shen et al., 2017).
Most studies have identified brokering frequency, perceived burden, negative
family dynamics, and brokering across multiple context to be associated with poor mental
health indicators, while positive affect toward language brokering, brokering efficacy and
brokering social norms were identified as protective against brokering stress (Kim et al.,
2018; Lazarevic et al., 2022; Shen et al., 2017, 2020). In addition, Kim et al. (2018)
found that contextual stressors (e.g. discrimination, economic stress, and foreigner
stress), as the backdrop in which language brokering occurs, interacts with language
brokering experiences and that those with high contextual stress and negative language
brokering experiences have poorer mental health outcomes (Kim et al., 2018).
Discrimination, in particular, has been associated with a higher perceived language
brokering burden and lower efficacy (Lazarevic et al., 2022). Possibly, the tension and
stress that negative context create can exacerbate and magnify the negative appraisal of
language brokering.
Even though many studies have linked language brokering stress to detrimental
health outcomes, not all aspects of language brokering are risks. Language brokering

64
within the family setting can increase heritage orientation by acting as an opportunity to
teach and practice the heritage language and learn more about traditions and values of the
heritage country (Crafter & Iqbal, 2022). Often, youth may view language brokering as
an opportunity to bond with their parents and a source of pride to be able to contribute to
their families (Crafter & Iqbal, 2022). Language brokering has also been linked to the
development of empathy, which is a prosocial skillset (Guan et al., 2014).
However, it is still unclear how these factors contribute to language brokering
experiences that lead to positive developmental and health outcomes, or whether some of
the characteristics and context of language brokering can change over time to influence
and change the experience of language brokering as a stressor or protective force. In this
study, we will analyze how language brokering experiences differ across typologies of
cultural stress.
Temporal Trends in Cultural Stressors
Daily diary and longitudinal studies on cultural stressors have provided initial
evidence that cultural stress varies across time. Montero et al. (2022 Under Review)
reported that perceived negative political climate increased after the 2020 election for
HLs youth in Miami, who tend to lean conservative, while youth in Los Angeles
experienced no change. This is indicative the sociopolitical stressors in youth can be
exacerbated or ameliorated by changes in the current events and that stress worsens when
the political administration holds the opposite beliefs system than the individual or enacts
policies that impact issues of concern. Cultural stressors may also erode daily well-being.
In fact, Schwartz et al. reported in a daily dairy study that cultural stress predicted daily
well-being fluctuations, of which low life satisfaction and self-acceptance were the most

65
significant correlates of depression and anxiety(Schwartz et al., 2022). Additional studies
are needed to explore longitudinal and daily changes in cultural stressors across varying
contexts (e.g., school versus peers or the family environment) to build a clearer
understanding on how cultural stressors impact mental health outcomes. This current
study probes how cultural stressors experiences differed pre and post the 2020 US
presidential election.
The Current Study
The current study is a continuation of the Latent Profile Analysis completed in
Study 1. The aim is to contextualize the different typologies of cultural stress discovered
in Study 1 as follows:
Aim 2: To utilize a life-course perspective approach to describe and contextualize
developmental (e.g., age of arrival into the US) and structural determinants (e.g., pre-
immigratory political structure) of cultural stress profiles (derived from Study 1 Latent
Profile Analysis) among HL adolescents.
Exploratory Research Question 1: What immigrant experiences, either from
family members or participants, thematically emerge across the Multidimensional
Inventory of Cultural Stress (MICS) cultural stress profile (e.g., Life stressors, disruptors,
or structural changes)?
Exploratory Research Question 2: How do the Multidimensional Inventory of
Cultural Stress (MICS) cultural stressors change across time as reported by youth?
Exploratory Research Question 3: What are the emerging themes of the impact of
the MICS four cultural stressors across youth from different sites (Miami versus Los

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Angeles) and across low stress profile compared to social climate and language
brokering?

Methods
Study Design
This study is part of a mixed-methods design, whereby both quantitative and
qualitative methods are used to address a research question. The studies are sequential in
their timing of the data collection (i.e. the quantitative data analysis informs the
qualitative design) and uses connected integration (meaning one study is the foundation
for the next analysis) (Kahwati & Kane, 2020). Study 1 is a latent profile analysis that
identified four typologies of cultural stress profiles. The current study aims to
complement our understanding of these cultural stress profiles through the use of key
informant interviews. The one-on-one nature of key informant interviews creates a more
comfortable confidential environment to share personal experiences or opinions and
allows more time to probe, expand, or elaborate on emerging topics. Given that we asked
participants to share sensitive topics such as their unique family history of immigration to
the United States and their experiences and perceptions of cultural stressors, we chose a
one-on-one interview approach over focus groups ( Aguilera & Amuchástegui, 2014).
A semi-structured interview guide was developed by the research team. First, we
constructed open ended questions that surveyed pre-migration, in-transit experiences, and
settlement factors. Foreign born youth were asked their personal migratory experience,
while U.S. born youth were asked about the migratory experiences of their family (e.g.,
parents, siblings, or grandparents). Next, we probed about the four cultural stress
categories used as indicators in the creation of the latent profiles: (1) social and political
climate, (2) in-group identity threats, (3) language brokering, and (4) in-group

67
discrimination. We probed for stories on how these stressors have manifested in their
lives and any changes on how these stressors were experienced since the first point of
data collection (wave 1, Spring and Summer 2020), approximately one year apart.
The interview guide was first generated in English. Then, it was translated by two
co-investigators into Spanish and the translations were compared to ensure
comprehensibility across multiple Spanish dialects. The Spanish translations were then
back translated into English and these translations were certified. Pilot interviews were
conducted (three interviews, two in Los Angeles and one in Miami) to assess the length
of the interview, flow, content, and to ensure that questions probed on stressors. The pilot
revealed interviews were falling within the range of 1- 1.5 hours and that questions were
overall easily understood by the participants. IRB approval was obtained for all the study
materials (i.e., interview guide, assent and consent forms, recruitment scripts, etc.).
Participants
Participants in this study were a subsample from the original quantitative data
collection that took place in Spring and Summer 2020 (N=306). This subsample was
composed of 23 participants, 12 from Los Angeles, and 11 from Miami. Recruitment was
conducted at two high schools in Miami and two high schools in Los Angeles. We used a
purposive sampling to probe and understand specific groupings of people with similar
cultural stressors (Andrade, 2021). Recruitment was based participant’s assigned cultural
stress profile. The goal was to have a balanced sample across the two sites and across the
profiles. Eligibility criteria included: (1) having a completed baseline survey, (2) self-
reporting of Hispanic/Latino, (3) having at least one parent who is foreign born from a
Spanish speaking country, and (4) speaking either English or Spanish fluently.

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Procedures
Data collection took place between July through September 2021. At the time of
data collection, there were school closures at both sites due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recruitment, was therefore, done through text-messages, e-mail, and phone calls. First,
we outreached to parents and provided information on the purpose of the study, the topics
to be discussed in the interviews, and requested consent to interview their child. Once we
received parental consent, we outreached to the participants through email, text-message,
or phone call (depending on their preferred method of communication). We scheduled
virtual meetings for those who were interested in participating. At the start of the virtual
meeting, participants were assented both verbally and through an assent form that was
virtually signed. Next, participants were made aware and asked permission to audio
record the conversation. Upon the completion of the interview, participants received a
$30 incentive gift card that was sent through e-mail.
Participants selected their preferred language to conduct the interview, either
English or Spanish. Audio-recordings generated an automatic transcription. The
transcripts were validated to ensure content accuracy. Spanish audio-recordings were
transcribed in Spanish first and were then translated to English. Translations were
validated by a second certified translator.
Analytic Plan
The data analysis workflow followed the Five Level Qualitative Data Analysis
(QDA) Methods Process (See Figure 1 The Five-Level QDA Methods Process) and used
both selected and constructed tools (Woolf, N. H., & Silver, 2018). NVivo software was
used for data analysis. Each completed transcript was uploaded to NVivo as an individual
Case- a functionality in NVivo that allows for the collection of objective or demographic

69
indicators named Attributes within the NVivo software. The attributes of interest
collected for this analysis included: (1) cultural stress profile, (2) immigration
generational status, (3) heritage country, and (4) proximity to undocumented individuals.
A group of four coders analyzed the data. The code book was generated initially
with selected on a priori domains. The a priori domains were purposefully selected from
the current literature on immigrant Hispanic/Latin populations to understand the context
under which different profiles of cultural and immigrant stress emerge in adolescents.
The a priori domains included: (1) Pre-migration experiences (lived experiences for
foreign born or memories of family members for US born), (2) In-Transit experiences
(both reported lived or shared/communicated experiences), (3) Experiences of Cultural
Stress (4) Trends in Cultural Stress domains, and (4) Strengths of the Immigrant
Experiences, (5) Challenges of the Immigrant Experience, and (6) Future Plans. Coders
then explored emerging themes within these pre-determined domains.
Three interviews were selected to establish inter-rater reliability. Passages were
selected at random and compared across two coders. An inter-rater reliability Cronbach’s
alpha >.80 was established (Belur et al., 2021; Hallgren, 2012). Weekly Coding meetings
were held to discuss any discrepancy or unknown coding categories.
The last step of analysis involved comparing emerging themes across attributes of
interest. The cross-tabulation function of the NVivo software was used to generate a
frequency scheme of highest emergent themes side by side for each attribute. We then
explored the themes with the highest frequency across the profiles.
Results

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A total of 23 participants were interviewed, 12 from Los Angeles and 11 from
Miami (See Table 6: Participant Demographic Information Across Profile Classification).
The low stress profile (P1) and social climate and language brokering stress profile (P2)
were overrepresented in the sample and no participants belonged to the high profile (P4).
The high profile (P4) had the lowest number of participants (n=17) and due to the small
sample size, was a very difficult category to recruit. The participant breakdown by profile
is as follows: 9 participants in low stress profile, 10 participants in social and language
brokering, 3 in Social and In-group Identity Threats, and 1 participant uncategorized. The
nativity status across the participants included 78% U.S. born and 22% foreign born.
Participants were predominantly female (65%), bilingual (61%), and the majority have
parents who only speak Spanish (44%). Overall, 48% of participants had proximity to an
undocumented individual. Table 7 provides a summary of the main emerging themes of
the study.

Table 6 Participant Demographic Information Across Profile Classification

Overall
Low
Stress
Social &
Language
Social & In-
group Identity
Threats
Site N=23 N=9 N=10 N=3
Miami 48% (N=11) 6 5 0
Los Angeles 52% (N=12) 2 5 3
Nativity
U.S. Born 78% (N=18) 6 8 3
Foreign Born 22% (N=5) 3 2 0
Sex
Male 35% (N=8) 3 4 1
Female 65% (N=15) 6 6 2
Spanish Fluency
Fluent/Bilingual 61% (N=14) 8 4 1
Moderate 30% (N=7) 1 5 1
English Only 9% (N=2) 0 1 1
Parents’ English Fluency

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Fluent 30% (N=7) 3 3 1
Moderate 26% (N=6) 3 2 1
Spanish Only 44% (N=10) 3 5 1
Proximity to
Undocumented

Yes 48% (N=11) 2 6 2
No 52% (N=12) 7 4 1
Heritage Country
Cuba 7 4 3 0
Cuba + Puerto Rico 1 1 0 0
Cuba + Spain 1 1 0 0
Guatemala 1 0 1 0
Mexico 12 3 5 3
Sinaloa 2 1 0 0
Jalisco 2 1 1 0
Veracruz 1 1 0 0
Chihuahua 1 1 0 0
Oaxaca 1 0 1 0
Nicaragua 1 0 1 0
Note: No participants under LPA 4 and 1 Unclassified

Table 7 Summary of Emerging Themes
Social Political Climate Differences Across Sites
• Motivation to Migrate
• Political Heritage & Political Views
• Proximity to Undocumented Individuals
Trends
● Discrepant Political Belief &
Administration
Similarities Across Sites
• Cultural Enclave
Language Brokering Trends
• Language Acquisition Improved
Language Brokering Stress
• COVID-19 Effects

Strengths
• Pride in being Bilingual
• Skillset
• Strengthen Parent-Child Bond
• Increased Freedom/Engagement for

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Family
• Altruistic Positive Emotion

Challenges
• Time Demand
• Complexity and Sensitivity of Content
• Emotional Reactions: Frustration or
feelings of Inadequacy
• Quality of Translation
Intragroup Marginalization Sources of In-Group Marginalization
Cognitive Reframes
Education Motivator to Migrate (Pull Factor)
Pathway to Economic Motility

Emotional Legacy of
Migration
Gratitude
Hope
Burden

Migration History, Political Beliefs Heritage, and Documentation Access Across Sites
In study 1, site was a significant predictor of profile membership, with
participants from Los Angeles being more likely to belong to any stress profile than low
stress profiles. Therefore, in this study we explored site differences (See Table 8:
Differences by Site). All foreign-born participants in this sample were from Miami
(N=4), while Los Angeles site reported only U.S. born. In terms of heritage country, in
Miami, 82% of participants were of Cuban descent with only one participant from
Mexico and one from Nicaragua. In Los Angeles, 92% (n=11) of participants were of
Mexican descent with 1 participant from Guatemala. All participants of Cuban (Miami
site) descent reported not knowing anyone who was undocumented, and overall, 18% of
participants from Miami reported knowing someone who was undocumented. In contrast,

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92% of participants from Los Angeles reported knowing someone who was
undocumented.

Table 8 Differences by Site
Los Angeles Miami
Nativity
U.S. Born 100% (N=12) 64% (N=7)
Foreign Born 0 36% (N=4)
(3 before 5 years, 2 before
12)
Proximity to Undocumented
Yes 92% (N=11) 18% (N=2)
No 8% (N=1) 82% (N=9)
Heritage Country
Cuba 0% (N=0) 82% (N=9)
Guatemala 8% (N=1) -
Mexico 92% (N=11) 9% (N=1)
Sinaloa 2 -
Jalisco 2 -
Veracruz 2 -
Chihuahua 1 -
Oaxaca 1 -
Nicaragua 0% (N=0) 9% (N=1)

The pre-migratory characteristics and reasons for migration to the United States
also varied based on site as a function of heritage. Participants of Cuban heritage reported
political repression, infringement on personal freedoms, limited economic opportunities
(i.e., education, careers, and employment), and limited resources (e.g., food rations, lack
of access to goods) as the factors that motivated migration to the United States.
Participants of Mexican heritage reported limited resources, education, career
opportunities, rather than political factors as the main motivation for migration in their
families. Most Mexican participants’ families resided in agrarian or rural areas of
Mexico.

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Ultimately, a major difference in the experience of sociopolitical stress was
attributed to the proximity of participants to undocumented individuals and participants’
political views. Many youths in Miami were more conservative. Primarily, for Cubans,
this stemmed from a deep distrust of government involvement, as a result of Fidel
Castro’s communist regime and a strong belief of fiscal responsibility. A participant
explained how her political heritage and exposure to communist government shaped her
current political views, which in turn informed her appraisals of political stress:
[Female, LPA 1, M29]: If I am 100% honest, my entire family and a lot of
Cubans, they vote for Trump. They're very staunch Republicans and that's because of
their experience with Communism and now every time something goes even the slightest
bit left they panic, and I don't agree with Trump and I don't agree with their views, but it's
like it's so drilled in that you can't really do anything so I know, like the answer that's
expected is that, Biden has like everybody feeling better, but my family just gets stressed
for no reason. I [tell them] ‘okay guys, I want you to have to have a little more faith in the
government, we have checks and balances, no one's going to come in here and do what
they did in Cuba. Thank the founding fathers for that because you just gotta vote again…’
But here [Miami], it’s actually a republican sector. It's crazy, a bunch of trump flags were
all over my neighborhood during election week and after, by highways and they were still
there and then they took them down finally, when they accepted it [presidential election
results].

Another participant voiced concern for the economic repercussion they perceived
at a national level and in their personal work environment as a result of changes in the
administration as follows:

[Female, LPA 1, M27]: I am not really that much into politics, and I don't like either of
them [Biden or Trump], like the way they do things now like, I saw the national debt and
it just kept going up and it’s a lot of money, it's just crazy to me but it certainly affects
me, it's just mind numbing. Biden is giving people so much money, then nobody wants to
work and …that affected me because of where I work there was like two people working.
I've been working alone…

Some participants that were not politically inclined reported either no changes to
their perceived sociopolitical stressors as a result of changes to the political
administration and rather were more concerned with the immediate impact that COVID

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was having in their life, including disruption of their education and post- high school
plans, or death or illness within their family. A participant shared:
[Female, LPA 1, M83]: My grandfather passed away. Well, both of my grandparents
passed away. My cousin passed away. Many people died in that year. I couldn’t travel to
Cuba and even now I have not been able to go. And that was the most painful, the most
disappointing thing for me. But really with the fact that there was another president and
such, no, I didn't feel weird or anything because I'm not for sale. I was not interested as
much as in who was president.

For Miami youth, changes in the political administration of January 2021 were
experienced with apprehension and concern of government interference and economic
repercussions. This was a stark contrast with participants in Los Angeles, who viewed the
end of the Trump presidency with hope for favorable changes in immigration policy and
a returned dignity in the treatment and language used to describe immigrants, particularly
Mexicans. Unlike participants from Miami, participants from Los Angeles did not inherit
strong political preconceptions from their parents. They were more issue focused with
immigration policies and disparaging rhetoric around Mexicans (or Southern U.S. border
immigrants) being frequently cited as sociopolitical stressors. The vast majority of
participants from Los Angeles had proximity to someone who was undocumented (either
someone close or someone within their family). Here is a participant’s description of his
family’s fear of deportation before and after January 2021:
[Male, LPA 2, 11299]: Biden being elected as president was like a breath of fresh air. For
the whole country, not just my family. I Remember during Trump's presidency, my
parents always felt like they had to be on the lookout. There was an instance when my
dad wanted to go to San Diego to visit a couple of friends, but my mom was concerned,
because she knew that with Trump, there was going to be stricter immigration
[enforcement] and she didn't want to go, because it [San Diego] was really close to the
border. So it'd be really easy for them to be spotted and be taken away [deported]. and
she didn't want to risk that and have us move into foster homes and be with new parents.
It was definitely a scary time back then when he was the president.

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Another participant shared how their family’s hope and actions were depended on
the change of administration in 2021:

[Female, LPA 2, 11340]: I think [we are a] bit more confident, just because with Trump
many immigrants would be scared of being deported, because Trump had some type of
hatred towards them and would say that they were bad people and that they [immigrants]
are the cause of the crimes and stuff like. That they only immigrate to hurt society and
that they're, the ones who are kidnapping children and committing so many crimes and
Biden, he doesn't really express that type of hatred. And I know, right now, because my
parents are currently going through this where they recently went to an immigration law
firm because my sister is going to turn 21, so they're trying to see if they can fix their
immigration status and apply for a green card. And they [law firm] told them that Trump
had gotten rid of so many laws that would allow them to get that green card, so they
would have to wait because Biden is supposed to sign a law that would bring some of
those back that would allow them, but they would have to wait until November, so I
guess it kind of gives you hope….Throughout 2020 I think, it would be the fear of not
having my parents come back to the house and it was something that I
experienced throughout Trump's presidency. It was just the fear of waiting for [my
parents] to come and then the fear of having to find out that my parents have been
[deported] by ICE.

There was a clear intersection between the heritage country by site, the historical
experiences that shaped political views and migrant trajectories, and the political stress
experienced by participants. Mainly, in Miami the majority of participants were of Cuban
descent, had an avenue to get documented, and inherited largely conservative views that
was weary of big government. By contrast, Los Angeles participants did not inherit
specific political views from their parents, knew individuals that were undocumented,
and were concerned with specific policies that impacted immigrant rights.
Cultural Enclave
Both sites were considered cultural enclaves by participants. Characteristics that
were shared by both sites included: a high density of HLs within the community, access
to cultural foods and traditions, high use of Spanish in the community, and feeling of
being welcomed or having shared ethnic and immigrant background with the community

77
at large. Across both sites, participants assessed that their local community was
exceedingly more welcoming to HLs than the national population.
[Male, LPA 2, 10084]: Definitely 10. There's a lot of just Mexican culture there.
A lot. My family has been living in El Monte since since I before I was born actually. It
was they they love calling it like their old stomping grounds. And so, you know it's it's
very welcoming. It is a very small community, but it's still well put together. Everybody
knows everybody. There isn't like how do I say it. There's like I don't when I was there,
and when I was going and when I'm going to El Monte. There isn't you know. I don't see
the racism. Everybody's just so like culturally relatable, I guess. Definitely

M29: yeah, well like i'm American because I was born here that's like my
citizenship and my experiences have all been in America, but my ethnicity is Hispanic
and obviously that shapes me too, I'm not just American, like i'm bilingual where I live
here in Miami, it's like a bubble. I'm getting ready to apply to college, my family keeps
telling me like when you go out into the real world you're going to see it's different,
people speak Spanish like you walk into a store here and the workers there, some of them
they only speak Spanish and that's fine because everybody does, and I know that like in
other parts of the country that wouldn’t fly so that's why I say i'm Hispanic because I like
things for breakfast or things for dinner that regular like Americans wouldn't eat and it
definitely shaped me, but I wouldn’t say that I’m like 100% Cuban.

Language Brokering: Trends Across Profiles
To understand how language brokering stress is experienced across the profiles,
we performed a case comparison between profiles with low language brokering stress
(P1: low overall stress and P3: social and in-group identity threats) and high language
brokering stress (P2: social and language brokering and P4: high overall stress).
Participants in the low language brokering stress categories had a lower percentage of
parents that were Spanish only speakers (33% compared to 55% in the high language
brokering stress categories) and 75% of these participants were bilingual. They attributed
their low language brokering stress to having bilingual parents, being bilinguals
themselves, or reframing language brokering as a way to contribute to their families.
[Female, LPA 1, M29]: Because both my parents, they came here at 18 and 15 and they
obviously didn't know at the time, but now they're older they're like 50 so they've got it

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figured out by now, so I've never had to translate any forms for them. I'm fortunate that I
didn't have to go, I have friends that happens to, it's very stressful.

[Male, LPA 3, 10058]: I don't think that it's stressful, but I feel like it is my responsibility.
Well, whenever they have to go out or they have to go to the school to fix something. I
feel the need to go and help them with whatever they have to do or whatever they have to
translate.

By contrast, participants in profiles with high language brokering stress, reported
having more difficulty with Spanish (64% reported either being English only or moderate
Spanish speakers) and 55% reported having parents that only spoke Spanish. All
participants in the high (P4) stress category described being the primary translator for
their parents and having to translate across multiple contexts as the primary challenge of
translation.
[Female, LPA 2, 10138]:… the school is pretty flexible with that kind of stuff and they
do have papers translated into Spanish. But, my registration papers, they weren't, so I had
a really hard time translating things in relation to my medical health. I don't know it was
some sort of ID that I needed to take a picture of, and I just couldn't explain what ID it
was and in the past my sisters used to comment about how I had this accident
[mistranslation], when I spoke in Spanish, and I hated that. I want to say it made me feel
different because, there's nothing wrong with being different but, it felt like they were
pointing out something that was wrong with me.
[Female, LPA 2, 10316]: English was hard for me to learn. Now that I'm older I get
confused like: ‘Oh, how do I translate this word in Spanish?’ Because when [my parents]
have me talking on the phone and then I have to translate a word in Spanish to English it
just gets very confusing and frustrating because [I] know what they're trying to say, or

79
what the other person's trying to say, but [I] can't translate it correctly, as well as the same
meaning. That just gets frustrating.
This greatly differed with participants from social and language brokering (P2)
profile who struggled with translating due to their fluency in Spanish. In both profiles,
participants worried about the accuracy of their translation and expressed frustration
when they felt unable to express themselves despite knowing what they wanted to say or
when they came across a new concept that they did not understand.
[Male, LPA 2, 11299]: It’s [translating] always been a thing, even when I was smaller..I
just kind of have everything set up for them in Spanish, so they understand what to
do..like if we're going on a trip somewhere [for example] Nevada, I have to set up my
dad’s GPS. I just kind of put the settings, the language in Spanish, and he can kind of
understand from there.
[Female, 11340, LPA 1]: …It [translating] can be stressful just because sometimes
myself, I may not know how or what a word even means in English, so how would I be
able to translate a word that I personally don't understand in English to a word in
Spanish?
[Male, LPA 2, M32]: Yes, [it’s stressful] because I don't really speak Spanish as much, I
speak more English.
Overall, there were mixed trends in the impact of language brokering stress
produced by COVID-19. For some, the pandemic had decreased their language brokering
stressors because it decreased the amount of contact families had outside of their
household. While for others, COVID-19 exacerbated the stressors because of the novelty
and the importance of the content, such as translating information on COVID-19 or the

80
stimulus check and government policies associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parents taking English classes and learning any level of English proficiency helped
unburden some of the stress of language brokering
[Female, LPA 1, 10078] The whole like stimulus checks and stuff and other documents
coming into the household in English and stuff, I had to help them understand what it
was.

[Male, LPA 3, 10058] Because we're, we're in the middle of the pandemic and It wasn't
really like a necessary thing for me to help them like I guess it translates stuff. If there
wasn't stuff to translate, pretty much. But now, as things are opening up and everything I
kind of need to help them. And understand things that. I don't know the mail or whatever
so. Yeah, now it's more things happening and going on.

Strengths & Challenges of Language Brokering
A recurring perceived strength of language brokering reported by participants was
that being bilingual was a skillset that could be useful in their careers. Increasing the
parent-child bond or viewing language brokering as quality time was also reported as a
strength. For some, their ability to language broker provided greater freedom for the
family to engage with the community, such as by traveling or going to events.
[Male, LPA 2, 11299]: If I am able to translate for them, then we could go to a lot
more places. And not have to worry about the struggle of my parents not understanding
because I’m there, or my sisters are there to translate for them in Spanish. [For example],
if go to Disneyland and if they are confronted about a certain violation that they're doing,
and they might not understand so I’m there to kind of like clear things up. We can, maybe
avoid situations like that, and maybe grow closer to them.
Challenges associated with language brokering included concerns over the quality
of translations and fear of mistranslating important information. Participants also
expressed feeling frustrated with themselves when they were unable to translate a
particular word or concept. Also, for many language brokers, their parents not knowing
English also meant that parents were not able to assist them with schoolwork or particular

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requirements. Lastly, for many the time commitment of language brokering was a
difficult challenge as they tried to balance their school responsibilities.
[Female, LPA 1, 11340]: …One of the negatives would be like sometimes when they
asked me to translate, I can personally be busy with like homework and stuff and to them
like they would want the translation to be like at that moment, instead of like when I'm
available.

Intragroup Marginalization and Separation: In-group Identity Threats and
Discrimination on a Continuum
Participants recounted experiences of in-group identity threats and discrimination
as occurring equally, albeit across different context. They described these stressors as if
on a continuum that changed based on the reference groups. Experiences of in-group
identity threats usually occurred within family context and or when visiting family in the
heritage country, or when speaking to recently arrived individuals from the heritage
country, while experienced of in-group discrimination were more pronounced among
friends and peers. In either case, the experience of marginalization resulted from a
mismatch between the participant’s acculturation level and perpetuator of the
marginalization, or as a participant explained: the level of ‘Hispanicness’ among
individuals dictated how marginalization was experienced. Some participants discussed
how the source of the marginalization mattered, who said the comments mattered, with
some stating that when coming from family members it was “an actual criticism” than
when stated by a friend, who has a similar issue, or by a stranger, whose comments are
perceived as arbitrary.

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The most commonly cited cause or attribute that led to marginalization by other
HLs included not speaking Spanish fluently, if at all, speaking Spanish with an accent,
lacking knowledge of the heritage country, or disliking specific traditional foods.

Trends Across Profiles
Generally, all participants were able to recount an experience of in-group
marginalization. A main difference among the profiles of low marginalization compared
to high was their appraisals of the interaction. Participants with low marginalization often
reframed these experiences as coming from a place of ignorance or lack of knowledge, as
a judgmental characteristic of the perpetrator, or insults were deflected by asserting their
identity as self-determined and independent of the perceptions or judgements of others.

Education: A Motivator to Migrate and an Opportunity for a Better Life
Education consistently emerged across all key informant interviews as a primary
motivator for migration and a resource that was often not readily available in their
heritage country. Participants discussed either the lack of career opportunities or options
for higher education in their host country, or the costliness of education that often forced
their parents to work and attend school simultaneously as children. A participant
recounted education as a motivator for migration in her family history as follows:
[Female, LPA 2, 10755]: Yes, my grandmother came from Mexico, because she wanted a
better life for my mom and my tia [aunt]. More opportunities to be able to work, get an
education, and be able to have a career and support your family and to be able to go to
school without worrying about working.

Most participants stated that their parents openly expressed their desire for
participants to attain higher education or build careers and reminded participants of their

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privilege to have access to education. Often participants reflected on their parents’
experiences and concluded that completing high school, pursuing higher education, or
getting a career were actions that would honor their parents’ sacrifices. A participant
described this interaction with her mother regarding her difficulties at school:
[Female, LPA 2, 10755]: Well sometimes I say something like online school is really
hard this and that, and [my mom] brings it down. She say: ‘You need to work harder,
work through this. Look at how your grandmother came over here to have a better life for
us and look where we're at right now. You can keep that success if you just work hard
and get through school and be able to get the career that you want.’
Another participant reminisced on the gratitude they felt for their parents’
sacrifices, how they exerted themselves academically to make these sacrifices worth it,
and how they felt a pressure to achieve:
[Female, LPA 1, 11340]: All the struggles from having to cross over the border and being
dehydrated just to provide us a better future I feel like it was something that was worth it,
and that's why I'm always trying to get the best grades and stuff…We were talking about
college applications and which university or colleges I would like to attend and when I
mentioned to my dad that on August 1 college applications opened and he kind of got
mad at me for mentioning college. He’s like “College? I thought you're going to apply to
universities you don't want to go to universities?” I guess I've always been one to get like
good grades, and always getting the best [grades] out of my sisters. They always expect
more from me, so I think for [my dad] hearing the thought of college was [interpreted] as
me kind of giving up and not wanting to achieve for something higher.
Receiving an education was often cited as part of their parents’ definition of a
‘better life.’ Education was considered as the gateway that would provide better job
prospects which would lay the foundation for income stability and better quality of life in
the US.
The Emotional Legacy of the Immigrant Experience: Gratitude, Hope, and the Burden of
Honoring Sacrifices
Participants described a deep gratitude for their lives in the US when reflecting on
their family’s migration story and the stark realities that exist between participant’s life in
the United States compared to family members in their heritage country. Participants

84
considered their life in the US ‘privileged’, not to be ‘taken for granted,’ and they viewed
themselves as beneficiaries of their parents’ sacrifices. They acknowledged the struggles
their parents faced to provide them with the resources that their parents lacked growing
up.
[Female, LPA 1, M29]: It makes me feel thankful that I don't have to go through that, I
can't even imagine. I don't think I'm strong enough to do what my parents did, especially
my mom. Once you tell those stories of her working part time at the KFC, barely
speaking English just trying to graduate high school, it's crazy because I would have just
given up, I would have been so [new to US], I would have wanted to go back to Cuba
because I would have felt more comfortable there.

[Female, LPA 2, M44]: I feel so fortunate to live here [US]. I am the kind of person that
didn’t need to be told how lucky I was to live here even when I was small. I am aware
that I am lucky to live here. I have so many opportunities, especially in regard to my
education, that would not have been possible in Cuba.
As we discussed above, participants considered education as a central goal that
would honor their parents’ sacrifices and provide a foundation for a ‘better life.’ They
projected themselves in the future and were optimistic and hopeful of their ability to get
an education, career, or job and become a provider for themselves, but also for their
families.
[Male, LPA 1, 10084]: I feel very grateful that I didn't have to grow up like I didn't have
to grow up with all these struggles that I didn't have to make a plan, just to have some
type of freedom. Definitely not having to struggle putting food on the table. Definitely
having less of poverty induced life, more opportunity. An expectation for me personally
is education. Don't take your education for granted. No matter whatever origin, whatever
backstory you have, if you're able to learn, do something…And [my mom] knew that if I
had a good education, my life and my kids life would just be so much easier. Because
you know when you when you go to college and you get degrees, you know you
have…better jobs, which means to a bigger paycheck.

[Female, LPA 2, 10316]: I one day hope to be like their provider. I want to financially
support them once I have a job because by the time, I finish my career and have a stable
job, they're going to be much older and more unable to work because of the age and be
heading to retirement.

While for many youths, their family’s migrant histories motivated them to
maximize opportunities, the downside was the pressure to achieve they experience, often

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coupled with an invalidation of their current struggles or stressors. Given the vast
difference in their parents’ frame of reference for challenges and life adversity, youths
sometimes felt that their personal struggles or stressors were minimal by comparison.
Sometimes, the parents themselves would remind the youth of their privilege, that could
be perceived by the youth as an invalidation of their difficulties or, as a participant
described it, a weapon wielded to produce compliance.

[Female, LPA 2, 10138]: Well, for one, I know a lot of things of people tend to take
things for granted, like something as simple as a pillow to sleep on a bed to sleep on, the
roof over their head... So I think as a child, if you hear that your parents didn't have the
simple things like a door, you would understand that, ‘Oh, what I have right now, I
should be grateful for it, like it's a good thing that I’m here and that she did all this or that
my dad did all this for me,’ but, at the same time some parents tend to be like: ‘well I did
all this for you and you audacity to [not even] thank [us] for it.’ They think that giving
you the bare necessities, or the minimum is a lot. And that, like you know that mindset
needs to be changed, but a lot of times they think that: ‘well I’m giving you what I didn't
have, therefore I’m a good parent and you should be a good child to me.’ So like
whenever a kid does something bad like that's how it can be weaponized.

Discussion
The aim of this study was to provide context and understand the experiences of
HLs youths across receiving contexts (Miami and Los Angeles) and across their profile
of stress. We explored the difference between youths who experience low overall cultural
stress compared to those who experienced high socio-political stress and language
brokering. A major difference in migrant experiences that emerged across sites was that
Miami participants were predominantly Cuban and were driven by political turmoil in
Cuba to migrate, receiving asylum and access to documentation upon arriving at the US,
while Los Angeles participants were mainly of Mexican heritage, whose families
migrated for better economic opportunities. As a result, Miami participants tended to lean
more conservative in their political views and most had inherited their parents’
skepticism of government involvement, while Los Angeles participants were guided by
political issues, mainly documentation access and rights. This is aligned with national
surveys that find Cubans to predominantly register as Republicans and have a deep

86
mistrust of government involvement influenced by their experiences under Fidel Castro’s
communist regimes (Petty et al., 2022; Vang & Eckstein, 2015). Recent studies have also
identified being primarily a Spanish speaker, having an accurate estimate of the
proportion of migrants in the population, and knowing an undocumented migrant as
dominant factors in having a positive view of immigrants and perceiving increased
discrimination since Trump’s election (Callister et al., 2019; Díaz McConnell, 2022).
The differences in political views across sites also informed the changes in
sociopolitical stress across the 2020 election. Montero et al. (2022), found, in an
extension of this study, that adolescents’ fear decreased but worry increased post the
2020 U.S. presidential election and that perceived negative political climate in adolescent
increased significantly for Miami adolescents, but not for Los Angeles (Montero et al.,
2022). This study corroborates that for Miami adolescents, parental political views
influenced the adolescents’ own views and anxieties around political issues. Furthermore,
it highlights that sociopolitical stress is exacerbated when a political administration is
established that is discrepant from one’s political view (Morey et al., 2021). As our
participants reported, those in Miami became more concerned with political events, while
for Los Angeles participants it was met with optimism and a relief from living in daily
fear of having loved ones deported.
A similarity across the sites was that participants were residing within cultural
enclaves, or communities where they felt welcome, their culture (e.g., food or traditions)
was celebrated, and they lived among other ethnically similar community members. It is
plausible that sociopolitical and language brokering stressors are more severely
experienced in non-cultural enclaves, where diversity and access to heritage culture is

87
limited (Bekteshi & Kang, 2020). Future studies could also analyze how intragroup
marginalization takes place within cultural enclaves, but across HLs from different
nationalities (for example, in Miami Cuban versus Venezuelans or Mexicans). Perhaps,
culture enclave might buffer against outgroup discrimination, but could also be conducive
to higher levels of intragroup marginalization among the different heritage groups.
A significant finding when comparing the low stress category and sociopolitical
and language brokering profiles was that parents’ and participants’ bilingual abilities
buffered the stress of language brokering. A downside of this is that language acquisition
is not an easily intervenable or modifiable factor. At a community level, language
brokering can be ameliorated by having access to translations or interpreters, particularly
in school settings, a common setting that required language brokering as reported by
participants. A unique aspect of the timing of our data collection was that it was during
COVID-19. This provided insights on how global events can impact language brokering.
For some, the lockdowns decreased the need for translating since contact with the
community was minimized, however, for others the difficulty and sensitivity of the
content they needed to translate (a commonly cited example was the stimulus checks
mailers). Lastly, our findings on the strengths and challenges of language brokering
closely aligned with what has been reported in the language brokering literature.
Perceiving brokering as a burden (our participants cited the time demand, complexity and
sensitivity of the content being translated, and concerns over quality of the translation as
challenges) led to perceiving language brokering as a stressor, which in turn was
associated with alcohol and marijuana use (Kam & Lazarevic, 2014; Shen et al., 2017).
This reinforced findings that not all aspects of language brokering result in experiences of

88
stress with bilingualism or brokering efficacy and positive emotions resultant from being
able to help others being characteristics that decreased the appraisal of stress when
language brokering (Crafter & Iqbal, 2022; Kam & Lazarevic, 2014; Shen et al., 2020).
While the majority of the sample had fallen within categories experiencing low
in-group marginalization (which in this study is an umbrella term that captures both in-
group identity threats and in-group discrimination), participants still had experienced in-
group marginalization at some point. Saliently, participants reported experiencing both
in-group identity threats (or being perceived as too Americanized) and in-group
discrimination (being perceived as too heritage oriented) simultaneously and depending
on their context. Many kept transnational ties and spoke to family members still residing
in their heritage country. It was common for family members both in the US and
transnational to be the source of in-group identity threats, while friend and peers more
were the source of in-group discrimination. To participants, the source of in-group
marginalization mattered. Future psychometric development should consider the source
of ingroup marginalization in their metrics, as currently scales measure global
experiences of marginalization. Lastly, participants shared cognitive reframes (e.g.,
establishing a self-identity independent of others’ opinions) that helped them process the
stress of experiencing in-group marginalization. These cognitive reframes and the logic
that adolescents use to resolve any identity discrepancies can help inform interventions
aimed at bolstering adolescents’ internal resources. Both cognitive behavioral therapy
and dialectic behavioral therapy are designed to identify thoughts patterns that are
detrimental to the self and replacing them with more balanced appraisals. Qualitative
explorations of the thought patterns and emotions that exacerbate the experience of

89
cultural stress and, identifying the cognitive reframes that will resolve some these
negative thought patterns, can provide a systematic content in which to ground both CBT
and DBT.
Education was extensively cited as a pull factor of migration and a priority for
adolescents. However, nationally HLs’ completion rate of high school, enrollment and
retention in college is much lower than that of non-Hispanic whites or Asians (Fry, 2002;
Luedke, 2020). Future studies can investigate what structural, developmental, and
cultural factors contribute to discrepancy between valuing education and college intent,
enrollment, and retention.
A less studied aspect of the immigrant experience is the emotional legacy that
adolescents of migrant origin inherit. Adolescents of immigrant origin possess a unique
frame of reference for adversity and the structural and infrastructural differences of living
in the U.S. that often leads youth to believe that their struggles are insignificant and pale
by comparison. Positive aspects of these are feelings of gratitude and hope. Both
gratitude and hope are linked to better mental health outcomes and resiliency (Schrank et
al., 2008; Seginer, 2008). However, embedded in the migrant narrative is an expectation
that adolescent should be able to shoulder the stressors they experience, since after all
they parents faced worst. While a scale exists to measure HLs perseverance and grit,
named Ganas, there are no psychometric scales measuring the burden of expectations and
guilt associated with having difficulties meeting these expectations (Diaz, 2022).
This study was a snapshot of how adolescents in high school experienced cultural
stressors. However, these cultural stressors might change as adolescent develop. For

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example, understanding how cultural stressors shift as adolescents become providers and
parents themselves is important.
Strengths and Limitations
A strength of qualitative methods is the depth of detail information that is
collected- including the narrative of an experience, cognitive appraisals, thought
processes, and the ability to further clarify and probe ideas during the data collection
process. In this study design, qualitative data is needed to compliment and provide
explication to the findings in the quantitative study that generated latent profiles of
cultural and immigration-related stressors. Key Informant interviews are an adept method
to contextualize the quantitative assignment of cultural stress class.
A major drawback of qualitative methods at large is that no causal inferences or
predictive variables can be extrapolated from the analyzed data. The representativeness of
the experiences, and thereby generalizability of the thematic findings, are dependent upon
the quality of the sample. This sample was primarily of low and sociopolitical and
language brokering profiles of stress. As such, the experiences of high stress and in-group
identity stress experiences are underrepresented. It is likely that there is a higher
prevalence of high cultural stress, but that we were unable to recruit this high stress
group. Possibly, increasing the number of foreign born or recently arrived adolescent
youths would yield a more representative sample of the spectrum of cultural stress
experiences. Unlike quantitative analysis, there is no direct mathematical power analysis
that can guide the number of participants needed for a particular effect size. Instead, we
attempt to sample enough participants until we reach saturation in the data. However, the
saturation point will not always be known, especially in a multi-site study where

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interviews are conducted by different facilitators. Lastly, in terms of methodology,
qualitative analysis is more subjective, prone to confirmation bias during the analysis
phase than quantitative methods.
Conclusions
The experience of cultural stressors is not stagnant or static. Rather, cultural stress
varies based on changes on the underlying mechanism that create the stress (e.g., shifts in
political administration for sociopolitical stress). An intervenable component relayed by
participants involved a cognitive reframe of the attributions that were made by others to
protect their sense of self. Future studies can inform us on how cultural stress shift as a
result of developmental milestones (e.g., attending college, being parent, or aging).

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Chapter 3: Discrimination and Perceived Stress Impact on College Intent: A
Moderated Mediation Model

Abstract
Hispanic/Latino (HL) adolescent report high rates of high school drop-out and low
college enrollment. This study is a moderated-mediation analysis that explores academic
achievement as a mediator between stress and discrimination impact on college intent and
familism as a moderator. Academic achievement mediated discrimination negative
impacts on college intent for participants scoring low on familism, implying that
familism is protective. However, academic achievement mediated the relationship
between stress and college intent only for those high on familism. This study emphasizes
the importance of family level interventions to address the college-attainment gap in HLs.

Key words: Academic Achievement, Latin/Hispanic, College Aspirations,
Discrimination, Stress, Familism

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Introduction
The Hispanic/Latino (HL) population of the United States in 2020 constituted
18.73 % of the nation and from 2015 to 2050 it is projected to increase to 52% (Jones et
al., 2021; Krogstad, 2020; Pew Research Center, 2022). Compared to other ethnic groups,
HL have the youngest age composition with a median age of 30 years and 30.1% of the
U.S. HL population is under the age of 21(Patten, 2016; Schaeffer, 2019). Despite being
the fastest growing and youngest ethnic group in the United States, HL also have high
poverty rates with 85% of HL college students having an annual income of $40,000 or
less per year and with 32% of HL students working full time (Postsecondary National
Policy Institute, 2021). In 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that HL households
had the second lowest median household income (with black having the lowest median
income) compared across other ethnic groups. The Poverty rate for HL (17%) is nearly
doubled the rate of whites (8.2%) (Shrider et al., 2021).
HL youth have the higher high school dropout rates at 7.7% compared to 4.1 % in
whites, 5.6% in African American and 1.8% in Asians (Bouchrika, 2021). This gap in
education attainment continues into college. In the Spring of 2022, HLs four-year
university enrollment rate was 17.9% compared to 33% among whites (Welding, 2022).
HLs who do enroll in a four-year university college are more likely to be part-time
students, and have a higher college drop-out rate of 21% compared to 18% in whites, and
10% in Asian college students (Hanson, 2021). In fact, 54% of college students drop out
due to difficulties in balancing work and school demands (Bouchrika, 2022).
Understanding the factors that are leading to lower educational attainment rates in

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Hispanics is crucial, especially given that they constitute such a large portion of our
national population. The current study examined the effects of discrimination and
perceived stress on college intent as mediated through academic achievement, with
familism as a potential moderator
Stress and Discrimination Impact on Academic Achievement
HL youth report unique stressors related to their experience of immigration, such
as having households with mixed documentation status, taking on family obligations or
tasks to supplement family needs (e.g. language brokering), and processing traumatic life
events within the family (Brietzke & Perreira, 2017; Camille et al., 2004; Cory L. Cobb,
Alan Meca, Dong Xie, 2017; Enriquez, 2015; Enriquez et al., 2018; C. R. Martinez et al.,
2009; Patel et al., 2016; Zapata Roblyer et al., 2016). Studies on stress (i.e. perceived
stress, minority-status stress, and college stress) have found a strong association between
high stress levels and low academic performance and an increase likelihood of dropping
out of college (Arbona et al., 2018; Keech et al., 2018; Patel et al., 2016).
Another disadvantageous stressor common for HL students is discrimination.
Discrimination refers to the differences in the treatment of individuals or groups due to
their religion, sexual orientation, or ethnic background (Guyll et al., 2001; Y. C. Paradies,
2006). Perceived Discrimination refers to how individuals appraise and experience
differential treatment, such as a disrespectful interaction, receiving poorer service or
having decreased opportunities(Guyll et al., 2001). For many health outcomes, there has
been a longstanding association between discrimination and worst physical and mental
health outcomes (Paradies et al., 2015). In education, paradoxically, some studies have
found that higher perceived discrimination is associated with higher academic

95
achievement and educational attainment (Alfaro et al., 2009; Chen, S., Hou, Y., Benner,
A., & Kim, 2020; DeGarmo & Martinez, 2006; Wheeler et al., 2020). A plausible
explanation for the inverse relationship between discrimination and academic
achievement postulated by Forrest- Bank and Cuellar (2018), is that higher
discriminatory experiences heighten ethnic identity, which in turn is protective against
the deleterious effects of discrimination (Cheng et al., 2019; Forrest-Bank & Cuellar,
2018). Becoming more educated can also make individuals better at recognizing and
identifying different forms of discrimination and increase exposure to other students who
may receive preferential treatment. Therefore, higher academic achievement can
influence perceived discrimination. However, a longitudinal study (Del Toro & Hughes,
2020) reported opposite findings: that discrimination experienced from peers and
professors was predictive of lower academic achievement, decreased school satisfaction
and a higher probability of dropping out (Del Toro & Hughes, 2020). While there are
inconclusive findings on the impact of discrimination on academic achievement, in this
study, we hypothesize that discrimination will be correlated with lower academic
achievement.
Academic Achievement as a Mediator of College Intent
Discrimination has also been cited an influential factor in decreased college
aspirations (Isik et al., 2018). Taggart and Paschal (2019) found that perception of
equitable treatment was associated with a higher likelihood to aspire to attend college
(Taggart & Paschal, 2019). Experiences of discrimination in an academic setting have
included receiving a lower grade on a course, an incomplete, or disruption in thesis or
dissertation work that is attributed to belonging to a specific ethnic group and it is

96
reported more among student of color than white students (C. Stevens et al., 2018). Li et
al. (2022) found that discrimination predicted an aspiration-pursuit gap, where despite
high pre-college aspirations these students did not actualize their aspirations and pursue a
college degree (Li et al., 2022). Given that discrimination has direct impacts on academic
achievement and college aspirations, it is plausible that academic achievement can further
explain how perceived discrimination is correlated with lower academic aspirations.
Mediation models unpacking the mechanism through which discrimination impacts
education have found: (1) that school and psychological adjustment mediates the effect of
perceived discrimination on academic achievement and (2) that academic orientations
and expectations mediate the relationship of discrimination on college enrollment (Hood
et al., 2017; O’Hara et al., 2012). In this study, we access if academic achievement (i.e.,
getting good grades) explains how discrimination and stress impact college aspirations.

Familism as a Central Cultural Value to Hispanic/Latinx Populations
Familism is a cultural value and social pattern that emphasizes family unity,
prioritizing family goals over personal goals, and providing support among family
members (Sabogal F, Marín G., Otero-Sabogal R., Marín B., 1989). Established familism
scales assess (1) attitudes and beliefs (e.g. I expect my relatives to help me when I need
them), (2) behaviors (e.g. taking on the role of a caregiver), and (3) structure of family
networks (e.g. living in proximity to other family members) and tend to subscales of
family support and cohesion, family obligations, and family as referent (Hernández &
Bámaca-Colbert, 2016; Schwartz, 2007). Sobogal et al. (1989) defined the three
subscales of familism as follows: (1) family support is the perception that other family

97
members provide assistance or help to problem solve, (2) family obligations refers to the
individuals perceived responsibility to provide material or emotional support to family
members, and (3) family as referents which is the belief that family members’ approval
or opinions should be sought (Sabogal F, Marín G, Otero-Sabogal R, Marín BV, 1989).
In this study, familism construct measured is familial obligations.
Familism as a Moderator
Overall, studies have found that familism measures of family cohesion and
support are protective against adverse mental health outcomes (e.g. depression, anxiety,
and suicide), substance use, and are positively associated with prosocial behavior
(Aceves et al., 2020; Katiria Perez & Cruess, 2014; Smokowski & Bacallao, 2007; Unger
et al., 2002, 2006; Valdivieso-Mora et al., 2016; Xiao et al., 2021). Studies assessing the
family obligation or family as referent subscales of familism have found negative
associations with internalizing symptoms (Katiria Perez & Cruess, 2014; Valdivieso-
Mora et al., 2016).
These differences in the protective aspects of familism subscales are also found in
studies on academic achievement and college attainment. Family cohesion and support
are positively associated with higher academic achievement (e.g. higher GPA) in high
school and college, especially among students in colleges where HL youth are the
minority (Ovink & Kalogrides, 2015; Park et al., 2021; Toyokawa & Toyokawa, 2019).
Plausible explanations for these results include the buffering effects of social support
embedded in familism, the belief that high achievement honors the parent’s sacrifices and
that education is an investment for upward economic mobility (Ovink, 2014; Vela et al.,
2017). However, other studies have found that while familial obligations values are

98
originally associated with higher academic achievement and higher aspirations in high
school, post high school familial obligations are correlated with a sharper decline in both
academic achievement and aspirations (C. J. Diaz & Niño, 2019; Lawson et al., 2020;
Toyokawa & Toyokawa, 2019).
Delgado et al. (2011) found that initial measures of problematic peers (e.g. friends
that exhibit high aggression) was higher for those with low familism with a steady
decline as discrimination increased, but the inverse relationship was true for those
presenting high familism (low deviant peer affiliations at low levels of discrimination
with a steady increase in deviant peer affiliations at high levels of discrimination)
(Delgado et al., 2011). This suggests that low familism is a risk factor for deviant
behaviors at high levels of discrimination. Given the mixed findings on the protective
effects of familism, further research is needed to understand how familism functions and
deconstruct the influence of its subcomponents (e.g., family cohesion and support, family
as referent, and family obligations). In this study, the moderating effect of familism on
the effects of discrimination and perceived stress on academic achievement will be
analyzed.
Research Question and Hypothesis
The purpose of this study is to contribute to the literature on the Hispanic/Latino
educational attainment gap, a significant and unique developmental milestone in U.S. and
foreign-born HL. Based on the existing literature, it is plausible that familism can buffer
the negative effects of stress on academic achievement (higher stress levels have been
correlated with lower academic achievement and lower academic achievement is in turn
correlated with lower educational attainment) (Gabriela L. Stein et al., 2015). We expect

99
perceived stress to be negatively associated with academic achievement and educational
attainment as students that are at higher levels of stress may not perform well
academically, which may also discourage them from attending college (Brietzke &
Perreira, 2017). Lastly, we expect the impact of discrimination and perceived stress on
college intent will be mediated by academic achievement, whereby discrimination and
stress are directly associated with lower college intent and indirectly by discrimination
and stress leading to lower grades. There is inconclusive and limited research on the
moderating effects of familism on discrimination. In this study, we expect to see familism
moderate the association with academic achievement and educational attainment
aspirations, as it increases motivation to achieve (Aceves et al., 2020).
To summarize, the aim of this study:
Research Aim: To investigate if academic achievement mediates the relationship
between stress and discrimination on college intent and to analyze if this mediation is
moderated by familism values.
Hypothesis 1: Higher levels of discrimination and perceived stress at T1 will be
predictive of lower academic achievement at T2 and lower levels of college intent
at T3.
Hypothesis 2: Higher levels of Academic Achievement at T2 will be predictive of
higher college intent at Time 3.
Hypothesis 3- Mediation: Higher discrimination at T1 will be associated with
higher college intent at T3 (e.g., work after high school instead of vocational
school, 2-year college, or 4-year college) and academic achievement at T2 will
mediate that relationship (higher levels of discrimination will result in higher

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academic achievement) and this will explain partially (indirect effects) why
higher discrimination is associated with higher college intent.
Hypothesis 4- Mediation: Higher perceived stress at T1 will be associated with
lower college intent at T3 (e.g., work after high school instead of vocational
school, 2-year college, or 4-year college) and academic achievement will mediate
that relationship (higher levels of perceived stress associated with lower academic
achievement), and this will explain partially (indirect effects) why higher
perceived stress is associated with lower college intent.
Hypothesis 4- Moderation: The association between discrimination and stress on
academic achievement at T1 will differ by the levels of familism at T1. Familism
is hypothesized to buffer the deleterious effects of stress on academic
achievement. In both cases, it is hypothesized that those at lower level of
familisms will exhibit lower academic achievement compared to those at higher
levels of familism and that lower grades will partially explain the deleterious
effects of discrimination and stress on college intent.
Methods
Procedures
This study is based on data from Project RED (Reteniendo y Entendiendo la
Diversidad- Retaining & Understanding Diversity), a longitudinal study conducted in
2005-2007 following adolescents from 9
th
to 11
th
grade in Southern California. School
recruitment criteria included residing in Los Angeles County, containing at least 70%
Hispanic students, as confirmed by data from the California Board of Education, and not

101
participating in active studies or interventions that involved the variables of interest. A
total of seven schools were included in this study.
Participants
Participant recruitment was conducted within classrooms. A trained research
assistant visited classrooms to explain the study and distribute study information
materials, including consent and assent forms. Students were required to have parental
consent forms and assent forms signed. In some instances where a written parental
consent form was not provided, but students assented to participate, research assistants
called parents to get verbal parental consent. Hardcopy surveys were administered.
Spanish translations were available upon student request, although only 17 students (.8%)
completed a Spanish survey. All study materials, data collection instruments, and
protocols were approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). A total of 3,218
students were invited to participate in this 3-year study, of which 2,222 provided parental
consent, student assent forms, and completed their 9
th
grade survey. Participants with
missing data on the variables of interest were removed from the sample. The total sample
size utilized in this study was 1,902.
Measures
This dataset measured social-economic status, substance use, acculturation,
mental health indicators, academic achievement, family, peer, and demographic
characteristics. In this study, discrimination and perceived stress are included as
predictors of the primary outcome analyzed, educational attainment aspiration, with
academic achievement as the mediator. Socioeconomic status, sex, and nativity are
covariates. Familism is included in the model as a moderator.

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Perceived Discrimination. Discrimination was measured as a structural component.
A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using the 10 items from Guyll et al. (2001),
taken from wave 2, to specify the structural measurement (Guyll et al., 2001). These items
assessed being treated with less respect or courtesy, being ignored, or considered less smart
due to belonging to a given ethnic or cultural background. Items were rated on a 4-point
Linkert Scale ranging from 1 (often) to 4 (never). The CFA yielded a 4-item solution (See
Table 2: Factor loadings and correlations among study variables) with higher values being
indicative of increased perceived discrimination.
Perceived Stress. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted utilizing four
items from the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) at wave 1 (Cohen, S. , Karmack, T., &
Mermelstein, 2016). The CFA yielded a two-item solution (See Table 2). The selected
items asked how often in the last month: “have you felt that you were unable to control
the important things in your life?” and “have you felt that difficulties were piling up so
high that you could not overcome them?” and were measured on a 5-point Linkert scale
ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (very often).
College Intent. College intent was assessed only in the 11
th
grade (Year 3) using
one item: “Will you go to college after high school, work, or something else?” This was
scored on a 4 point-Linkert scale (1= Work after high school only, 2= Trade School, 3=
Attend a community college, 4= Attend a four-year college/university). This measure was
analyzed as an ordinal categorical variable with higher values signifying higher
educational aspirations. Previous studies on RED data have successfully operationalized
educational attainment using this measure structure (Basáñez et al., 2014).

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Academic Achievement. Academic achievement was measured in the 10
th
grade
(Year 2) using one item: “What grade did you get in School last year?” This was scored
on a 10 point-Linkert scale (1=Did not attend school, 2= Mostly F’s, 3= Mostly D’s and
F’s, 4= Mostly D’s, 5= Mostly C’s and D’s, 6= Mostly C’s, 7= Mostly C’s and B’s, 8=
Mostly B’s, 9= Mostly A’s and B’s, 10= Mostly A’s).
Familism. Familism was measured through a modified 4-item scale from Sabogal
et al. (1998) scored on a 4-point Linkert scale ranging from 1 (definitely no) to 4
(definitely yes) ( Sabogal F, Marín G, Otero-Sabogal R, Marín BV, 1989; Unger et al.,
2002). Overall, the scale assesses family social support, with only one item measuring
family as referent (i.e., When a family makes an important decision, they should talk
about it with their close relatives). The raw score of the items were summed to generate a
raw total score. Then, scores were dichotomized across the median split value to generate
a high familism and low familism category. These categories were then used as the
grouping variable for the multigroup analysis.
Covariates. Socioeconomic status (SES) was measured through a proxy of people
per rooms (Myers & Lee, 1996). Sex was included as covariate, as the literature has
indicated some sex differences in academic achievement with females usually
outperforming males, and for country of birth as this can be a proxy for language
development which may interfere with academic achievement in a predominantly English
school (Ovink, 2014; Ovink & Kalogrides, 2015).
Statistical Analyses
Summary statistics and evaluation of distributional and linearity assumptions
were performed using SAS software (v. Variables were assessed for implausible values,

104
outliers, linearity, and multicollinearity using the Proc Univariate, Proc Corr and Proc
Reg procedures (DiMaggio, 2013). Variable distributions were assessed through a review
of boxplots and histograms. Multicollinearity was assessed through review of bivariate
correlations and variance inflation factor (pairwise correlations >.7 and VIF >5) (P.
Vatcheva & Lee, 2016). Attrition rates and missingness patterns were analyzed using the
Mplus software. The DATA MISSING command outlined in Muthen & Muthen (2002)
manual, example 11.2 was used to generate descriptive statistics of missing data.
Mplus Version 8 software with full information maximum likelihood (FIML)
procedure was used to conduct all structural equation modeling. We evaluated the
measurement component of the model by conducting separate confirmatory factor
analyses (CFA) for discrimination and stress to ensure these constructs were adequately
measured. Through the CFA, we determined the number of items to retain for the
structural components of the model based on their factor loadings and model fit indexes.
Next, the hypothesized structural model was examined. The MODIndices
command was used as a guide to improve model fit by adding plausible paths with a
critical chi-square value at or greater than 3.84. We improved the model fit by freeing the
error covariance between discrimination and stress. An adequate model fit was
determined by the following model fit statistics: comparative fit index (CFI) at or greater
than .90, Tucker Lewis index (TLI) at or greater than .95 and a Root Mean Square Error
of Approximation (RMSEA) and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) less
than .08 (Parry, 2020).
Once the baseline model was established, we conducted a series of multigroup
analyses, using familism as the grouping dichotomous (high versus low) variable,

105
iteratively releasing constraints between the two familism groups (Byrne, 2012). A series
of models were conducted releasing a single constrained pathway of interest at a time.
Each model was compared to the prior model using the Bentler-Lewis chi-square test,
and constraints were released until they no longer significantly improved the fit of the
model. The modification indices were used to determine which structural pathway of
interest would yield the biggest model improvement if released between groups. We
additionally reported model fit indices (CFI, TLI, SRMR, and RMSEA) for each model.
Results
Descriptive Statistics
The overall attrition rate in year two was 15.22% and in year three was 19.75%.
The most common missingness pattern is missing the college intent variable, with low
familism having 11.3% of observations with this pattern and high familism at 13.03%.
The second most common missingness pattern is non-response for both college intent and
academic achievement, with low familism at 4.73% missingness and high familism at
5.62%. Overall, the missingness rates were similar across high versus low familism
groups.
Participants in the overall sample were predominantly U.S. born (83.96%),
however, when stratified by familism level, those within the high familism group has a
higher percentage of US born than those reporting low familism. Overall, the sample was
52.10% female, with the high familism group having a higher percentage of females
(56.40%) compared to low familism group (47.01%). Intent to attend a four-year
university was similarly distributed at 37.70% for the overall sample, 32.27% for low
familism and 32.84% for high familism. However, low familism had higher proportions

106
of participants reporting their intent to work (4.14%) or attend a trade school after High
School (5.17%). Lastly, the average self-reported academic performance mean of the
overall sample was 6.99, with participants in the low familism group reporting a mean of
7.06 and those in high familism reporting an academic mean of 7.06 (See Table 9:
Descriptive Statistics for Study Variables).
Table 9 Descriptive Statistics for Study Variables
Variable Overall Sample Familism Low Familism High
N=1902 N (%) n (%) n (%)
Sex N=1,902 n= 870 n= 1032
Male 870 (45.74%) 439 (50.46%) 431 (41.76%)
Female 991 (52.10%) 409 (47.01%) 582 (56.40%)
Missing 41 (2.16%) 22 (2.53%) 19 (1.84%)
Nativity***
U.S. Born 1597 (83.96%) 723 (83.10%) 874 (84.69%)
Foreign Born 244 (12.83%) 115 (13.22%) 129 (12.5%)
Missing 61 (3.21%) 32 (3.68%) 29 (2.81%)
College Intent***
Work 76 (4.00%) 36 (4.14%) 40 (3.88%)
Trade/Technical 98 (5.15%) 45 (5.17%) 53 (5.14%)
Community College 391 (20.56%) 179 (20.60%) 212 (20.54%)
4-year University 717 (37.70%) 329 (37.82%) 388 (37.60%)
Missing 620 (32.59%) 281(32.27%) 339 (32.84%)
M (SD) M (SD) M (SD)
SES** 3.39 (1.32) 3.32 (1.33) 3.46 (1.32)
Academic Achievement 6.99 (1.97) 6.90 (1.98) 7.06 (1.95)
SD, Standard Deviation, P-values calculated through χ
!
−Test or T-Test:
*p <.0.05; **p<0.01; ***p< 0.001

The multigroup analysis was conducted by comparing nested models and
conducting a chi-square difference test and reviewing model fit statistics (See Table 10:
Chi-square Difference Test and Model Fit Statistics for Multigroup Analysis). Nested
models were compared starting with the fully constrained and unconstrained model,
which yielded a p-value of .064. Next, familism moderating the discrimination pathways

107
was tested by releasing the discrimination pathway and the chi-square difference test was
significant (p-value= .022). The stress pathways were released and compared to the
previous model. This also yielded a significant result (p-value= .049), so a third pathway
was released specifying the covariance of discrimination with stress. This third pathway
was not significant (p-value= .117), and, therefore, no subsequent paths were
unconstrained. The final model selected was model b, with an unconstrained pathway of
academic on stress and discrimination. This nested model comparison indicated that
familism moderates the association of discrimination and perceived stress effect on the
mediator, academic achievement, and college attainment.
Table 10 Chi-square Difference Test and Model Fit Statistics for Multigroup Analysis
Model χ
!
DF ∆χ
!
∆DF P-
Value
CFI TLI SRMR RMSEA
Constrained v.
Unconstrained
106.458 81 11.899 6 .064 .987 .984 .035 .018
Partially Constrained
a
101.197 80 5.261 1 .022 .989 .986 .033 .017
Partially Constrained
b
97.347 79 3.85 1 .049 .991 .988 .033 .016
Partially Constrained
c
94.890 78 2.457 1 .117 .991 .989 .032 .015
Unconstrained 94.559 75 .331 3 .954 .990 .986 .032 .017
Note:
a. Pathway academic on discrimination released
b. Pathway academic on stress released
c. Covariance discrimination with stress released
Model b with pathway academic on stress released was the final model selected.

The standardized parameter estimates for all variables and path specified in the
model are listed in Table 11. Our final model contained moderating effects of familism
on the relationship of academic achievement as a mediator between stress and
discrimination impact on college intent. As hypothesized, academic achievement at wave
2 was a positively related to college intent at wave 3 (hypothesis 2, β: .45, p-value
<.001). Discrimination was negatively associated with academic achievement only for
those in the low familism group and is consistent with the hypothesis that familism

108
moderates the deleterious effects of discrimination (hypothesis 1 and 4, β: -.153, <.001).
In contrast, perceived stress was negatively associated with academic achievement only
for the high familism group (hypothesis 1 and 4, β: -.132, <.001). The decomposition of
total, direct, and indirect effects further provided evidence of a mediated moderation of
familism on the effects of discrimination on college intent (See Table 12: Decomposition
of Total, Direct, and Indirect Effects and Figure 8: Final structural model with
standardized path coefficients). Familism buffered the effect of discrimination as
evidenced by only the low familism group reporting a significant indirect effect (, β: -
.069, <.001) and total effect (, β: -.146, <.001). For participants reporting low familism,
low academic achievement mediated discrimination’s impact on college attainment
(Hypothesis 3 and 4). Perceived stress has a significant indirect effect (β: -.060, <.01) for
the high familism group only. There is also evidence of a suppressed mediation as the
direct effects of stress on academic achievement are positively associated with college
intent, while the indirect effects are negatively associated, and the total direct effects is
closer to zero (β: -.008). This could indicate that while perceived stress is associated with
higher college intent, higher levels of stress are associated with poorer academic
performance, which in turn results in lower college intent.

Table 11 Standardized Path Analysis Parameter Estimates
Low Familism High Familism
Path β(SE) P-value β(SE) P-value
SES, Birth, Sexà Discrimination
SES .045 (.025) .077 .047 (.027) .077
Birth .057 (.026) .029 .060 (.028) .029
Sex -.180 (.026) <.001 -.194 (.027) <.001
SES, Birth, Sexà Stress
SES .063 (.027) .020 .062 (.027) .019
Birth .015 (.028) .590 .015 (.028) .591

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Sex .184 (.027) <.001 .186 (.027) <.001
SES, Birth, Sexà Academic
SES .031 (.025) .203 .030 (.024) .203
Birth -.028 (.025) .266 -.027 (.024) .266
Sex .085 (.027) .002 .084 (.027) .002
SES, Birth, Sex, Academicà College
Intent

Academic .453 (.027) <.001 .454 (.027) <.001
SES .106 (.032) <.001 .103 (.031) <.001
Birth .064 (.032) .044 .062 (.031) .044
Sex .055 (.035) .120 .054 (.035) .121
Discrimination, Stress à Academic
Discrimination -.153 (.044) <.001 .019 (.045) .674
Stress -.021 (.045) .642 -.132 (.043) .002
Discrimination, Stress à College Intent
Discrimination -.077 (.046) .094 -.071 (.042) .093
Stress .053 (.046) .245 .052 (.045) .246
Discrimination With Stress .416 (.032) <.001 .464 (.032) <.001

Table 12 Decomposition of Total, Direct, and Indirect Effects
Mediation Effect Familism
Level
Direct
Effect
β(SE)
Indirect Effect
β(SE)
Total Effect β(SE)
Discriminationà
Academic Achievement
à College Intent
Low -.077 (.046) -.069 (.021)*** -.146 (.049)**
High -.071 (.042) .009 (.020) -.062 (.049)
Stressà Academic
Achievementà College
Intent
Low .053 (.046) -.009 (.020) .044 (.049)
High .052 (.045) -.060 (.020)** -.008 (.048)
NOTE: *P <.0.05; **p<0.01; ***p< 0.001

110
Figure 6 Final structural model with standardized path coefficients

Discussion
This study contributes to understanding the duality of familism influence on
academic achievement and college intent. The findings in this study contribute to
understanding determinants that explicate Hispanic/Latinos college attainment gap and
provides evidence that: (1) discrimination and stress are correlated with poor academic
achievement, (2) better grades are predictive of wanting to pursue higher levels of college
or university education, (3) academic achievement fully mediates the relationship
between discrimination and college intent, but only for those low on familism, and (4) for
those high on familism there is a suppressed mediation wherein stress is indirectly
associated with lower college intent (i.e. higher stress leads to lower grades which erodes
college intent), even though stress is associated with higher college intent.
Higher levels of discrimination were associated with lower academic
achievement, as hypothesized, but this association was only significant for those
reporting low familism. Two systematic reviews corroborated discrimination’s negative

111
effect on academic outcomes, with Benner et al. (2018) citing an overall effect size of r=-
.10 (Benner et al., 2018; D. L. Lee & Ahn, 2012). Hypothesized plausible mechanisms by
which discrimination is corrosive to academic outcomes have included internalized
beliefs of academic inferiority, especially if discrimination is perceived from teachers or
educational staff; an eroded sense of belonging to the school; perceived lower academic
expectations from others; and decreased motivation to achieve academically (Alfaro et
al., 2009; Cheng et al., 2019; Montoro et al., 2020; Schafer, 2022; Gabriela Livas Stein et
al., 2019; Verkuyten et al., 2019).
In this study, the effect discrimination on college intent was fully mediated by
academic achievement for those with low familism, with no significant direct effects.
This finding is indicative of the buffering effects of familism and is congruent with
systematic reviews that link familism to better educational outcomes, lower internalizing
symptomatology, decreased depression and suicidal ideation (Cahill et al., 2021;
Valdivieso-Mora et al., 2016; Zhao et al., 2022). The buffering effects of familism values
on discrimination have been ascribed to family functioning and enhanced ethnic pride.
Familism values may help foster family dynamics that allow members to collectively
cope and process experiences of discrimination through displays of familial affection and
open communication (Cavanaugh et al., 2018; Ramos et al., 2021). The family setting
also provides a heritage rich environment that might enhance ethnic pride, which in most
studies has been protective against discrimination (Forrest-Bank & Cuellar, 2018;
Lawson et al., 2020; T. B. Smith & Silva, 2011; Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014). In contrast,
Lazarevic et al. (2020) found that among people with high levels of discrimination,
family dynamics did moderate the impact of discrimination on wellbeing and, similarly,

112
Stein et al. (2015) found discrimination was associated with depressive symptoms,
perceptions of barriers to attend college, and lack of school belonging, even after
controlling for familism. In our study, all participants lived in Los Angeles, within cities
that are heritage rich, have a large HL population, and which could be considered a
cultural enclave. Future studies should examine how the buffering effects of cultural
assets, such as familism, vary based on community factors (i.e., a cultural enclave versus
a cultural desert or at varying levels of negative context of reception).
There were mixed findings on the effects of stress on college intent. As
hypothesized, stress indirectly impacted college intent through lower grades, even though
stress directly was correlated with higher college intent, but this was only significant for
those with high familism. In this study, the component of familism measured was familial
obligations. While multiple studies have found stress-buffering effects of familism across
multiple mental health outcomes (e.g., depression, self-esteem, and suicidality), it is
likely these studies measured familism wholistically, or through the subscales of family
support or family as referent, rather than family obligations. Toyokawa & Toyokawa
(2019) found that family support predicted better grades, but family obligation predicted
lower grades. Familism values tapping into support are indicative of a family
environment that provides emotional and instrumental resources that are conducive to
better academic outcomes (Toyokawa & Toyokawa, 2019). In contrast, family
obligations may actively hinder academic performance by diverting time from academic
pursuits to address family needs (e.g. working part time to assist financially, baby-sitting,
or actively contributing to fulfill family needs), limiting college options to stay near
home, and, lastly, by increasing cognitive load, as decisions and actions are made taking

113
the family context into account (Ovink & Kalogrides, 2015). In the short term, familial
obligations may generate challenges to academic achievement. However, in the long term
it can increase motivation to achieve academically as a route for economic motility. The
pressure to be a provider for the family, honor parental sacrifices, and bring to fruition
the family’s American Dream are motivators to go to college or build a career (Desmond
& Turley, 2009; Kurlaender, 2006). This pull and push experienced by familism
obligations (i.e., family responsibility interfering with the ability to achieve academically
while also serving as a motivator to achieve) was significant for participants high in
familism after controlling for SES. This is indicative that, while SES exacerbates the
challenges posed in a collectivist family dynamic, familial obligations influence college
attainment irrespective of the family’s income.

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research
This study contributes to understanding the duality of familism influence on
academic achievement and college intent. As any study based on self-report, self-
selection bias and social desirability bias are predominant limitations. Findings may not
be generalizable to those that are underrepresented in this sample. The majority of
participants in this sample were U.S. Born. The structural challenges that exist for
undocumented or foreign-born HL adolescents are not fully represented or captured
within this study. Also, as a secondary analysis not all the constructs that could have
elucidated the model were available, such as other subscales of familism to deconstruct
and compare which components of familism are protective to academic achievement, and
academic motivation, which has been identified in the literature as an important predictor
of college intent.

114
Future studies could also analyze how different types and sources of
discrimination impact academic outcomes. For example, this study did not include
intragroup discrimination, even though this is a well-documented stressor among HL, or
how discrimination faced from teachers or authority figures within the school system
differs from peer discrimination. Lastly, this study followed students in high school, but
deciding and accepting to go to college is just the start. Future studies could benefit from
examining the effects of familism on college retention and completion rates.
Conclusions
The proposed study highlighted the importance of familism as a buffer to
discrimination and as a potential challenge for those experiencing stress. Implications of
these findings include the need to acknowledge values and the family system within
interventions aimed at improving college rates for HL. Interventions can also be more
culturally centered if they work with students whose familial obligations might not be
conducive to a traditional high school to university path, provide guidance for alternative
pathways (e.g., community college to university transfer), or create ancillary supports
(e.g., tutoring, occupational therapy, and mental health resources), especially for those
working while also pursuing academic goals.

115
Chapter 4: Conclusions

Hispanic/Latinx youth contend with cultural stressors, in addition to normative
developmental stressors (Cervantes et al., 2012; Salas-Wright et al., 2021; Schwartz et
al., 2010). The three studies conducted aimed at understanding youth cultural stress
profiles, provide context to the factors that shape experiences of stress, and analyze how
discrimination and stress impact another developmental milestone, the intent to attain
post-secondary education. To integrate the findings from the three studies, first, the main
findings of each study and how they inform one another will be discussed. Second, a
summary of implications for theory and psychometric constructs will be outlined. Lastly,
building off the Integrative Risk and Resiliency model, interventions to address youths’
cultural stressors will be recommended at the individual, microsystem (family,
neighborhood, and schools), and exosystem/macrosystem (political and social context of
reception) levels (Suárez-Orozco et al., 2018). The findings are summarized in Table 13:
Summary and Integration of Findings, Future Research Directions. A summary of
interventions nested in the Integrative Risk and Resiliency model are outlined in Figure
X. Suggested Interventions across the Integrative Risk and Resiliency Model.
Summary and Integration of Studies
The first study identified four risk profiles of cultural stress: (1) low cultural stress
(P1), (2) social climate and language brokering (P2), (3) social climate and in-group
identity threats, and (4) high cultural stress. Profiles with stress had worse mental health
indicators (higher means of depressive symptomatology, adolescent stress, and lower
self-esteem) and higher means of heritage orientation and ethnic identity. There were site
and sex differences. Participants who were female and were from Los Angeles were more

116
likely to belong to high stress profiles compared to low stress. In reviewing the distal
outcome of depressive symptomatology, low stress (P1) had normative stressors
(adolescent stress and self-esteem) as predictors of depressive symptomatology, social
climate and language brokering (P2) had self-esteem and ethnic identity as significant
predictors, while social climate and in-group identity threats had self-esteem, adolescent
stress, and discrimination as predictors, and lastly, high stress profile (P4) had adolescent
stress as a predictor, while biculturality and family resiliency were protective.
Study 2, a qualitative exploration of profile differences, illuminated the findings
across sites, where Los Angeles participants were more likely to belong to profiles of
stress. A primary contextual factor that led to the differences, specifically in
sociopolitical stress, was the heritage make-up of Miami versus Los Angeles. Through
the qualitative interviews, participants in Miami generally discussed how their immediate
family did not struggle with documentation issues and leaned more conservative, with a
fear of big government as a result of their political history in Cuba. Los Angeles
participants, by contrast, were predominantly concerned with how policies around
immigration would directly impact their family or community structure and were
sensitive to rhetoric that misrepresented immigrants south of the border. Importantly,
changes in administration brought relief to Los Angeles participants, but were unsettling
to Miami participants. This signaled that sociopolitical stressors are exacerbated in
discrepant political administration that do not align with the individual’s political views.
Study 2 also provided characteristics shared by the low stress profile (P1)
participants that contributed to lower language brokering stress, these were primarily
having parents who were bilingual or having a high brokering efficacy (being bilingual

117
and generally having a more positive appraisal of language brokering). The interviews
also corroborated the existing literature on the perceived burden of language brokering,
mainly, increased time demand, perceived difficulty due to complexity and sensitivity of
content, having emotional reactions to language brokering (e.g. feeling of incompetence
or frustration), and concerns over the quality of the translation (Weisskirch, 2017).
Strengths of language brokering (pride, skillset, strength of parent-child bond, increased
freedom/engagement of family, altruistic positive emotion) have copiously been cited in
the literature, along with a reassessment that for some youth language brokering is
experienced as a family care practice and not a detrimental role reversal (Crafter & Iqbal,
2022; Kam & Lazarevic, 2014; Weisskirch et al., 2021).
With respect to intragroup marginalization, study 2 complemented the profiles of
stress findings in study 1 by providing insight on the helpful cognitive appraisal that
youth who were less affected by intragroup marginalization were making to bolster their
identity. Mainly, those low on intragroup marginalization had an externally based
attribution style. By their estimation, the comments and insults made by others were a
manifestation of (1) the perpetrator’s character or ignorance and (2) participants
concluded that their identity was self-determined, not based on other’s assessment or
perceptions. Understanding the cognitive reframes that other youth have used to
minimize the internalization of intragroup marginalization can help inform cognitive
behavioral therapy by providing the content of most common distortions and their
resolution in the form of cognitive reframes (Allison & Ferreira, 2017; Gonzalez et al.,
2020).

118
Lastly, study 3 focused on the effects of discrimination and stress on college
attainment and how these effects were moderated by familism (specifically family
obligations). Through the interviews in study 2, it was clear that education was a primary
motive cited by parents to migrate to the U.S. and attaining higher education was viewed
by participants as a form to honor their parent’s sacrifices. Both parents and youth were
aligned in their value of education. However, it is clear based on college enrollment and
dropout rates, that fewer HLs pursue higher education than their white counterparts and
that, of those that do attend, HLs dropout rates are higher than whites. Study 3 provides
context on some of the challenges that interfere with college intent. The findings suggest
that discrimination and stress are two factors that impact college intent mediated by
grades, where familism is protective against discrimination, but not for stress. This
corroborates findings that familial obligations can be a hindrance to attain higher
education (Sánchez et al., 2010; Toyokawa & Toyokawa, 2019).
Future Research Directions
Future directions are organized into two main categories: theoretical
considerations and psychometric assessment. For study 1, the main theoretical next steps
include exploring the interplay between normative and cultural stressors in adolescents.
Methodologically, a latent profile analysis (LPA) including both normative and cultural
stressors can provide information on how people group across these two categories of
stressors. This study viewed normative stressors (e.g., adolescent stress) as a predictor but
were not included in as an indicator in the LPA. Also, analyzing how cultural stressors
shift across developmental milestones is important. From a life course perspective for
example, cultural stressors revolving identity may be more pernicious or pervasive in

119
adolescence but might be resolved by early adulthood. However, cultural stressors around
values might become more relevant as these youths build their own families. In study 1,
ethnic pride was associated with profiles of stress, indicating that ethnic pride might
sensitize youth to cultural stressors. This is aligned with the identification-attribution
model which posits that a developed ethnic identity leads to a refined understanding of
the implications of belonging to the minoritized ethnic group in the real world. The
association of ethnic identity magnifying the experience of cultural stress, has been found
for discrimination and, in this study, for sociopolitical climate. Future studies can analyze
the interplay of ethnic identity and other cultural stressors and qualitative studies can
probe to understand what the underlying mechanisms, thoughts, or beliefs are, that can
explain this association.
Study 1 also highlighted the need for creating psychometric measurements. First,
there is initial evidence that cultural stressors have compounding effects, meaning that
the more stressors experienced simultaneously, the worse the mental health outcomes.
However, there is no specific measure that looks at cumulative effects. Methodologically,
in epidemiology, cumulative risk indexes are created to understand the effect of
cumulative exposures, but it appears that there is no measure yet to measure cultural
stressors as cumulative. Lastly, study 1 and 2 provided some evidence that sociopolitical
stressors change as a result of a discrepant political environment that is not aligned with
an individual’s political view or understanding of how societal issues need to be
addressed. A scale to assess a discrepant personal political view contrasted with the
reality of the administration is power can provide an indicator to understand how much of
the sociopolitical stress experienced is a result of discrepant views.

120
Study 2 highlighted the importance of cognitive appraisals in combating
internalization of cultural stressors. To understand this internal narrative and reach
cognitive appraisals, it is important to understand the emotional migrant heritage that
operates in, not only values, traditions, and behaviors, but in the beliefs and emotions that
shroud inner narratives and criticisms. Both cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectic
behavioral therapy are designed to identify thoughts patterns that are detrimental to the
self and replacing them with more balanced appraisals. Qualitative explorations of the
thought patterns and emotions that exacerbate the experience of cultural stress and,
identifying the cognitive reframes that will resolve some these negative thought patterns,
may provide a systematic content in which to ground both CBT and DBT.
Study 2 also provided a richer understanding on how intragroup marginalization
is experienced. Primarily, that both in-group identity threats and in-group discrimination
can occur simultaneously, and that the source of marginalization does matter in terms of
how messages are internalized. This emphasizes the fact that psychometric assessment of
intragroup marginalization, thus far, tend to measure only one aspect (either being “too
American” or being too “Latino”). Even when it measures both axes (such as with the
Multidimensional Inventory of Cultural Stress), they do not differentiate the source of
marginalization (Castillo et al., 2007; J. Llamas et al., 2019).
Lastly, study 3 highlighted the role of familial obligations on college intent. More
studies can probe directly on how family obligations are experienced in the context of
higher education. A better understanding of how family obligations hinder or motivate
students, what form family obligations take (e.g., part-time jobs, emotional support), the
time commitments, and internal resources that are expended or replenished in engaging

121
with family obligations while pursuing higher education can be explored through
qualitative studies. A measurement scale can also be created on the degree family support
provided in a higher educational context. Including measurements of both familial
obligation and familial support in higher education may provide more clarity on the role
of family in HLs attainment of higher education.
Table 13 Summary and Integration of Findings, Future Research Directions
Study 1: Latent Profile
Analysis
Study 2: Qualitative Exploration Study 3: Path Analysis on
College Intent
Corroborates
Extant
Literature
• Cultural Stress is a risk
factor: Profiles with
stress had worse
mental health
indicators
• Burden of Language
Brokering (time demand,
complexity and sensitivity of
content, emotional reactions to
language brokering, concerns
over the quality of the
translation)
• Strengths of language
Brokering (pride, skillset,
strength of parent-child bond,
increased
freedom/engagement of
family, altruistic positive
emotion)

• Familism is Protective:
Academic achievement
mediated discrimination
negative impacts on college
intent for participants scoring
low on familism
• Familism is Risk factor for
Stress: Academic
achievement mediated the
relationship between stress
and college intent only for
those high on familism.
Integrated
Findings
Mixed Methods: LPA + Qualitative Study

Site Differences: Study 1 identified site differences with Los Angeles having a higher likelihood of
having profiles of stress compared to Miami. Study 2 provided context, that the heritage make-up
of Miami was predominantly Cuban, documented, and conservative leaning. At the time of data
collection and given the conservative administration in power, it explicates why Los Angeles
participants experienced more concerns over immigration policies and the sequelae in their
personal lives. Sociopolitical stressors are exacerbated when the opposite political administration is
in power because political ideology often results in policy/legislation changes.

Language Brokering as a Stressor: Comparing low profiles of stress to social political and
language brokering (P2), those in low stress profiles had parents that were bilingual or really high
language brokering efficacy that led to overall positive appraisals of language brokering.

In-group Marginalization: From the LPA, high stress profile (P4) and social climate and in-group
identity threats (P3) experienced in-group marginalization. While study 2 did not include a large
sample of participants under this category, it was salient that those in low stress (P1) and social
climate and in-group identity threats (P2) profile did experience intragroup marginalization.
However, cognitive reframes commonly cited including attributing ignorance to other for
comments or insults and establishing an identity which was self-determined, not based on other’s
assessment or perceptions.
Study 2 Qualitative Study & Study 3 Path Analysis

Study 2 provided context of the priority of education for HLs families. Education was a central
migration pull factor, and was viewed as a pathway to economic motility, and highly valued among
HLs families. However, despite the high value of education within families, Study 3 indicated
those high in familial obligations have stress levels that are indirectly associated with lower
academic intent. Taken together these results indicate that family-based interventions aimed at
increasing college intent and decreasing college dropout rates should address how family

122
obligations can be buffered to provide HLs youth with protected time and mental/emotional
resources to focus on their academic studies.

Research
Directions
• Theoretical:
o Explore Normative
vs. Cultural
Stressors
o LPA inclusive of
Normative +
Cultural Stressors
o Temporality of
Cultural Stressors
across
Developmental
Milestones
o Qualitative
exploration of the
role of ethnic pride
in cultural stressors
• Psychometric
Assessment:
o Generate a
Cumulative Risk
Index
o Risk Profiles with
more cultural stress
indicators (LPA)
o Discrepant
sociopolitical views
and sociopolitical
administration Scale
• Theoretical:
o Conceptualize Emotional
Heritage of Migration (Beliefs
+ Affect)
o Tailored CBT/DBT- Compile
Cognitive Reframes
o Qualitative exploration of how
language brokering burden
impacts self-esteem
• Psychometric Assessment:
o Multidimensional- both in-
group identity threats
(separation) and in-group
discrimination (intragroup
marginalization) on a
continuum
o Assess Source of
Marginalization (e.g., Peers,
Nuclear Family,
Transnational Family)
• Theoretical:
o Identify the role of familial
obligations on college
intent and college dropout
(Qualitative exploration)-
How is family obligation
experience in the context of
higher education?
• Psychometric Assessment:
o Family Support of Higher
Education
Interventions to Buffer Cultural and Immigration Stressors
Largely, youth of immigrant origin encounter stressors that are fueled by external
factors or circumstances which are difficult to modify. For example, sociopolitical stress
which is defined as the difficulties face by adverse immigration policies, nationalist, or
xenophobic rhetoric, are global factors that are difficult and slow processes to modify or
change. Therefore, it advisable that interventions focus on bolstering individual resources
and their microsystems (Hodge et al., 2013). The Integrative Risk and Resiliency model
delineated the main contexts (individual, microsystems, political and social context of
reception) that impact youth of immigrant origin and is used below as scaffolding to
describe multi-level interventions (See Figure 9. Suggested Interventions across the
Integrative Risk and Resiliency Model).

123
Figure 7 Suggested Interventions across the Integrative Risk and Resiliency Model

At the individual level, developmental competencies, psychological resources,
and planning and resourcefulness are skillsets that together will enhance HL youths’
capabilities to adapt, be resilient in the face of adversity, and create an internal locus of
control to combat helplessness or victimization. Intervention components that focus on
individual competencies are outlined below based on an overview of existing
interventions in the literature. Developmental competencies that are promoted in existing
interventions include bicultural skills training and identity development, often in the
forms of enculturative experiences (M. Bacallao & Smokowski, 2021; Tuttle et al.,
2006). Most interventions enhance distress tolerance by providing mindfulness or stress
management education (Ramirez et al., 2017; Tobin et al., 2021; Tran et al., 2014).
Lastly, providing youth with a future orientation mindset and with tools to problem solve
and create plans are crucial to build a sense of self-efficacy and self-concept (Johnson et

124
al., 2014). Future orientation is the characteristic of individuals ability to imagine or
visualize their futures, set goals, plan, explore options, and execute on commitments
(Nurmi, 1991). Youth envision their futures around educational goals, career aspirations,
family characteristics, health, and life milestones (Nurmi, 1991; Seginer, 2008). Future
orientation has been associated with greater wellbeing, and it is posited that future
orientation’s positive impact on resiliency is mediated by hope (Johnson et al., 2014;
Seginer, 2008). As such, it is also pivotal to cultivate the virtues of hope, gratitude, and
optimism which act as sources of internal strength to navigate and overcome adversity
(Kam & Merolla, 2018; Keyes, 2002; Schrank et al., 2008).
The three common contexts for intervention in youths’ microsystems are
community-based, school-based, and family centered interventions. While there are no
systematic reviews on community-based interventions with the primary goal of
addressing cultural stressors, community-based organizations (CBOs) have consistently
provided safety net services, such as mental health and child development services. The
proximity and deep understanding of the needs of the community, with staff
representative or belonging to the community, such as with promotoras models, access to
bilingual services, and a culturally centered approach all combine to make CBOs a prime
setting for delivery of services or interventions (Ornelas et al., 2015; Tran et al., 2014).
Schools are an appealing setting for interventions because they provide a trusted access
point to outreach both parents and youth, is a known and accessible setting, and have the
potential of improving educational attainment and global school environment (Garrison et
al., 1999). Furthermore, multiple studies have found schools to be an effective setting for
intervention aimed at decreasing psychological distress (van Loon et al., 2020). Despite

125
this, there is currently one main school-based intervention, Cuento work group, an eight-
week intervention for HLs aimed at exploring the development of racial and ethnic
identity (Zamora et al., 2019).
A more widely studied microsystem for intervention delivery is the family setting.
Interventions such as Entre Dos Mundos or Familias Unidas or Familia Adelante are all
family-based intervention that address cultural stressors through parent and child sessions
that address differential acculturation, focused on bicultural skills training, parental skills,
family communication and cohesiveness, understanding the different context that
children navigate (schools, peers, and family), and stress management skills for both
parent and child (Bacallao & Smokowski, 2021; R. Cervantes et al., 2011; Pantin et al.,
2003). Family settings are ideal for interventions given that family functioning is a strong
mediator between cultural stress and health outcomes. In HLs communities, familism is a
core value that can be leveraged to promote its protective aspects within interventions
(Valdivieso-Mora et al., 2016; Vela et al., 2017).
The last sphere of influence is the macro political and social context of reception.
In the original model by Suárez-Orozco et al. (2018), national and state immigration
policies, refugee and asylum seeker resettlement programs, and attitudes towards
migrants were all suggested as modifiable factors to improve sociopolitical and contexts
of reception. Thus, recommendations in this study are focused on shifting social opinion
on migrants and combating misinformation, rather than on changing immigration policy.
There is initial evidence to link xenophobia and nationalism to misinformation.
McConnell (2021), for example, found that people who overestimate the number of
undocumented immigrants are more likely to view immigrants as a threath. Thus, to

126
improve context of reception, and mitigate negative rhetoric towards immigrants amidst
the rise of nationalism, nativism, and xenophobia, addressing misinformed perspectives
of migrants and celebrating the strenghts of a diverse society are promising
communication strategies that can be enacted at the local and national level.

127
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Appendices
Appendix A: Qualitative Key Informant Interview Questions

Participant ID:
Date:
Time Started:

Demographic Questions
1. Where were you born? (a) United States (b) Foreign Born
2. What is your Country of Heritage?
3. If foreign born,
a. At what age did you arrive in the United States?
b. Do you have memories of your journey into the United States?
4. If U.S. Born,
a. In terms of your cultural heritage, how do you primarily identify as?
Hispanic, American, Hispanic-American, other?
b. Have you ever visited [insert Heritage Country]? Did you feel like you
belonged there? Did visiting [insert country] make you think/reflect on
how life might have been if you would have been born and grown-up
there?
5. Do you have immediate (sisters, brothers, parents) or extended (aunts, uncles,
cousins) family that still lives in [insert Heritage Country]?
6. Do you know of anyone that is currently undocumented?

Perspectives & Memories of Heritage Country
Foreign Born
1. What are some memories you have of living in [insert heritage country] before
arriving in the United States? (Applicable for Foreign Born Only)
a. Probe: Do you remember or do your parents share with you their reasons
for leaving [insert country]?
2. What personal (life events), political or national events while living in [insert
country] have impacted your view/perspective of life in [insert country]? And
how so?
3. Have you returned to [insert country of origin]?
a. If not, why not?
b. If you have, did you feel like you belonged there? Did going back make
you think/reflect on how life might have been if you would have grown-up
there?

Foreign Born & US Born
1. What are some memories that your parents/grandparents or extended members
share with you of what life was like in [insert country] before arriving in the US?
a. Probe: Did they share the reasons or motivations for leaving [insert
country]?

162
2. What personal (life events), political or national events while living in [insert
country] have your parents, grandparents, or extended family members shared
with you?
a. How do these stories impact or inform your perspective of [insert
country]?

US Born
1. Do you feel that having been born in the United States has impacted your view of
yourself as a [insert country]?
2. What kind of connection have you been able to maintain with the culture from
[insert country]? What have been some of the challenges in maintaining that
connection?

The Journey
Foreign Born
1. How did you arrive to the United States and with whom? (By airplane, car, a
coyote)
a. Probe: How would you describe that experience?
b. Probe: On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult would you say coming to US
was? And what were the things that made it difficult?
2. On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult would you say it is for anyone of your country
of origin to come to the US? Do you think other foreign countries have an easier
time coming to the US? If so, why?
3. Lastly, how does these stories we discussed of people trying to come to the US
make you feel about residing in the US?

US Born
1. Do you know anyone in your immediate family that was born outside of the US?
a. If so, have they shared their experience the process to get to the US?
b. On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult would you say coming to the US was
for those members of your family?
c. On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult would you say it is for anyone of your
country of origin to come to the US? Do you think other foreign countries
have an easier time coming to the US? If so, why?
d. Lastly, how does these stories we discussed of people trying to come to
the US make you feel about being born in the US?

Context of Reception & Political Stressors

1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how welcoming would you say the United States is to
people of your heritage/country of origin?
2. Thinking back to last year, do you think there is any change on how welcoming
the United States is to people of your heritage/country of origin? If so, how?
3. Focusing more specifically on your local community, on a scale of 1 to 10, how
welcoming would you say your community is to people of your heritage/country
of origin?

163
4. Thinking back to last year- early 2020, do you think there is any change on how
welcoming your community is to people of your heritage/country of origin? If so,
how? What experiences were most stressful for you in early 2020?
5. So overall, are there differences in how welcomed you feel by the country or by
your community?
6. You had shared with us in [insert date of survey or year] that you felt [insert
category of political stress- High, Low, or Moderate or prime them with a
question], do you still feel this way now? If not, how has this changed and why?
7. Has there been any change in how the news, people around you, or in the
community speak of people from [insert country of origin]?

Perceptions of the “American Dream” & Documentation Status
1. Have your parents shared with you what they expected or hoped their lives would
be like when moving their family to the United States?
a. Probe: Were their expectations met? In what ways were their expectations
met or not met?
2. Have your parents shared with you how they imagine your life would be different
for being raised or growing up in the United States versus their country of origin?
3. What about your thoughts and feelings on how your life is currently different
compared to someone your age living in [insert country of origin]?
a. How do your parents’ thoughts, expectations or hopes of how your life can
be here in the United states impact/guide/or shape your current choices in
(insert setting- School, extracurricular activities, friendships) you make)?
b. Specifically, how do your parents’ thoughts, expectations or hope inform
your feeling and thoughts toward higher education- like attending college
or a vocational school?
4. How do you think these goals or milestones that we just discussed differ for
someone that is documented versus undocumented?

Language Brokering
1. With the Pandemic and Political changes, has your parent’s need of help with
English or translation increased or decreased?
2. What are some recent instances, if any, that you have helped your parents
navigate a situation? And if you have, how?
3. Do you feel there are some positive things about being able to translate?
4. Do you feel there are some negative things about being asked to translate? If so,
what?
5. To what extent has the need to translate things for your parents impacted your
relationship with them? How has it impacted your view of them?

Identity- Assimilated & Unassimilated Stressors
1. You shared with us on [insert date], that you experienced stress from people
thinking you were too American. Has this changed since then? If so, how? What
do you think contributed to the change?
a. Probe: Why do you think it impacts you so?

164
2. Can you share with us an experience or a story where you felt others thought of
you as ‘too American’?
3. How does being criticized for being “Too American” affect you?
a. Probe: Why do you think it impacts you so?
4. You shared with us on [insert date], that you experienced stress from people
thinking you were too latino. Has this changed since then? If so, how? What do
you think contributed to the change?
a. Probe: Why do you think it impacts you so?
5. Can you share with us an experience or a story where you felt others thought of
you as ‘too [insert country of origin]?
6. How does being criticized for being “too [insert country of origin]?
a. Probe: Why do you think it impacts you so?
7. Do you feel that changes in the political administration (for example having Biden
be president versus Trump) change how pride you feel of being (or your heritage)
from [insert country of origin]?

Your Life in the United States

1. Think about your parents hopes and wishes for you- how do they make you feel?
2. If your parents hadn’t left [insert country of origin], do you think your life might
be different and if it would be different, in what ways?
a. How does thinking about the ways your life can differ make you feel
about your opportunities in the United States?
i. How do they inform your goals for High school? How do they
inform your goals for life after college? How do they inform the
vision you have for your future life?
3. Do you feel that there are unique stressors, things you worry about, or life events
that are unique to your experience as [foreign born or born in the US but of
Foreign-Born Parents]?
4. Do you feel that there are unique strengths- for example, things that have made
you mentally or emotionally strong, or taught you new skills that are unique to
your experience as [foreign born or born in the US but of Foreign-Born Parents]?
In what ways do you feel these strengths are a result of your or your parents’
immigration experience?
5. Do you think as a [Male or Female], you experience [insert specific stressor] more
or less stressful? If so, how?

Thank you for your time and sharing your stories with us!

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Additional studies are needed to determine whether typologies or patterns of cultural and immigrant stressors among Hispanic/Latinx (HL) youth exist and how these are associated with mental health outcomes. Understanding the differences in how stressors are experienced by HL youth can provide insights on how to tailor interventions to best meet their needs. This proposal builds upon these findings by (1) analyzing how many different profiles or typologies of stress, as measured by the MICS, exist among Hispanic/Latinx adolescents in Miami and Los Angeles (Study 1), (2) contextualizing these stress profiles through in-depth key informant interviews probing what pre-immigration, in-transit, and/or settlement factors experienced either directly or through other family members impact their perception of stress (Study 2), and finally, delving into (3) a development transition point that all adolescents within the US traverse: the decision to attend college/post-secondary school (Study 3). In conjunction, these studies were designed to increase our understanding on the immigration-related stressors experienced by adolescent Hispanic/Latinx youth.

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Creator Zeledon, Ingrid (author)

Core Title Contextualizing experiences and developmental stages of immigration and cultural stressors in Hispanic/Latinx adolescents

School Keck School of Medicine

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Preventive Medicine (Health Behavior)

Degree Conferral Date 2022-12

Publication Date 11/21/2022

Defense Date 11/21/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Adolescents,cultural stress,Hispanic,immigration stressors,Latinx,Mental Health,OAI-PMH Harvest

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Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Unger, Jennifer (committee chair), Pickering, Trevor (committee member), Schwartz, Seth (committee member), Soto, Claradina (committee member), West, Amy (committee member)

Creator Email izeledon@usc.edu,zeledon@ucla.edu

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