Contextual approach to immigration challenges among Cuban women

Purpose: Much of the research examining the impact of acculturation on mental health draws conclusions based on samples from Mexican populations or Latinos overall, concealing the cultural diversity among Latino subgroups. This study highlights unique experiences of Cuban-born women in the U.S. by comparing their acculturative stress experience to that of Latina immigrants combined (i.e. Latinas born in Mexico and Puerto Rico) Methods: We included 639 Latinas and 264 Cuban-born Latinas using National Latino Asian American Study (NLAAS). Based on Family Stress Management theory and existing research, we hypothesized that: (a) different contexts influence acculturative stress and psychological distress differently, therefore they should be studied as distinct concepts; (b) contextual factors interact with each other in influencing acculturative stress and psychological distress, and (c) the relationships between contextual factors, acculturative stress, and psychological distress among Cuban-born women differ from that of Latina immigrants combined. Results: We found full support for the hypothesis (a) when controlling for socio-economic context, English skills, visiting family abroad difficulties, perceived racial discrimination and family-culture conflict, years in the U.S. interacted with perceived racial discrimination to affect acculturative stress among Latina immigrants combined showing partial support for hypothesis (b). Six contextual factors impacted acculturative stress of Cuban-born women vs. eight for Latina immigrants combined, and three contextual factors impacted psychological distress of Cuban-born women, vs. six for all Latina immigrants supporting hypothesis (c). Implications. Country of birth differences suggest a need for further research focusing on Latino subgroup experiences with acculturation to inform effective policy and practice that targets unique needs of Latino sub-groups.