Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Hispanic Youth: A Study of Communication Patterns, Functional Fitness, and Psychological Health

Abstract

This study examines the psychological health and functional fitness of Hispanic youth from a theoretical perspective, specifically with respect to the role of their interpersonal communication patterns in their integration and adaptation to the mainstream United States cultural milieu. Of primary interest in this study is the role of Hispanic youths' interpersonal engagement with non-Hispanics. Unlike many adult immigrant populations, who can remain relatively insulated from the larger host culture by choice or circumstance, minors are exposed to the larger culture on a regular basis as a direct result of the legal requirement they attend school. The school environment not only provides a context for frequent contact with non-Hispanic Americans, but is also an avenue for cooperative interaction through involvement in group projects and extracurricular activities, as well as for the development of friendships.

Grounded in Kim's (1979, 1988, 2001, 2005) integrative theory of cross-cultural adaptation, this study specifically examines adaptation to mainstream U.S. American culture among Hispanic youth living in the upper Midwestern United States. The study employs Kim's theory because of the advantages it offers relative to other adaptation theories: Kim's theory offers an explanation of the phenomenon, addresses a broad domain of explanatory factors, and explicitly accommodates an examination of the role of communication behaviors in adaptation. Seven hypotheses were derived to test predicted interrelationships among four theoretical constructs identified in Kim's theory: host communication competence, host interpersonal communication, psychological health, and functional fitness. These four constructs were chosen based on their particular relevance to the study population. It was anticipated by this author that as students in the United States public education system, these four constructs would best tap into participants' daily relevancies, which include the development and maintenance of social relationships (host communication competence and host interpersonal communication) and efforts to successfully navigate the school environment (psychological health and functional fitness).

Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 112 Hispanic youth between the ages of 13 and 21 enrolled in grades 9-12. The sample was drawn from 11 participating high schools in a tri-state area encompassing northwestern Iowa, northeastern Nebraska, and southeastern South Dakota, locally referred to as the greater "Siouxland" area. The universe of public high schools in the defined sampling area was identified and categorized according to two stratifying criteria: urban-rural setting (urban, semi-urban, or rural) and the relative concentration of Hispanic students enrolled in a given school. Schools recruited to participate in this research were purposively selected on the basis of these criteria so as to maximize the sample's representation of the various school environments. Study participants from each participating high school were randomly selected from complete lists of students enrolled as Hispanic.

The study employed a multi-method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods in the interest of capitalizing on the strengths of each and offsetting their individual weaknesses: whereas quantitative research is weak in understanding the lived experiences of individuals, it is difficult to generalize the findings of qualitative research. The interview questionnaire employed in this study consisted of closed-ended questions followed by open-ended questions, which were designed to solicit the personal experiences of participants in relation to the topics addressed in the closed-ended items; all participants were asked the closed-ended questions and approximately one third of these respondents were asked the follow-up open-ended questions. Respondents were able to participate in either English or Spanish for their interview.

Descriptive findings indicate participants in this study experience moderate to high levels of adjustment with respect to each of the theoretical dimensions, with the exception of the dimension of host interpersonal communication: Participants reported low to moderate levels of overall contact with non-Hispanic Americans and relatively few non-Hispanic American friends, when compared to their friendships with fellow Hispanics. In terms of host communication competence, respondents collectively reported being very comfortable using English in a variety of daily contexts and feeling confident in their communication behavioral competence overall. Moreover, on indicators of psychological health, respondents generally expressed feelings of belonging and satisfaction with respect to their lives in the United States; in terms of functional fitness, participants also reported feeling well-adjusted to the school environment and the demands placed upon them academically. In addition, the descriptive findings indicate 1) individuals who participated in this research generally view being in the United States positively; 2) participants generally express more interest in the opportunities they have in the United States than interest in adapting to the larger U.S. American cultural milieu; and 3) participants report they struggle with issues of prejudice and discrimination as a result of their ethnic background.

Results of a first-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated support for all seven hypotheses. Specifically, Hispanic youths' level of host communication competence was positively correlated with their degree of interpersonal involvement with non-Hispanics, as well as with their level of psychological health. Their psychological health, in turn, was positively correlated with their degree of interpersonal involvement with non-Hispanics. Moreover, their functional fitness to the school environment was found to be positively correlated with their level of host communication competence, their degree of interpersonal involvement with non-Hispanics, and their level of psychological health. The CFA model was found to be reasonably good fitting on several absolute and incremental fit indices. Moreover, all of the model's path coefficients were significant. These results lend empirical support to Kim's conceptualization of the dynamic and reciprocal nature of the relationships among dimensions of cross-cultural adaptation.

In addition, two case illustrations are presented, drawn from the closed- and open-ended responses of two individual study participants who illustrate the predicted theoretical relationships and the study's quantitative findings. The responses of "Pedro," a second generation American who is fluent in English and who experienced his primary socialization in the United States are presented alongside "Alberto's" responses, an individual who is foreign-born and who only recently arrived in the United States. The two profiles in juxtaposition provide an illustrative contrast of the high and low extremes in cross-cultural adaptation experiences, as conveyed by individual participants in this research.

Limitations of the study include the following: 1) the study relies exclusively on data that are self-report and cross-sectional; 2) due to limited amounts of time and resources, the recruitment, training, and compensation of multiple bilingual/bicultural research assistants was not feasible, thus interviews with bilingual research participants were at times conducted in English without the presence of a bilingual/bicultural interview assistant; 3) the sample for the study was drawn randomly, but the response rate for the study was below the minimum threshold for findings to be generalizable; and 4) the sample size of the study meets only minimum recommendations for the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques for statistical analysis.

The study offers several theoretical, methodological, and practical implications. Theoretically, the study extends the current boundary conditions of Kim's (2001) theory by demonstrating that the structure and process of cross-cultural adaptation found in adult populations is applicable to understanding the phenomenon in youth populations; 2) methodologically, the study offers a reliable scale to assess school adjustment as an indicator of functional fitness, and SEM techniques to simultaneously examine predicted interrelationships among theoretical constructs; and 3) practically, results highlight the fact that, as in the case of adult immigrants, Hispanic youths' contact and maintenance of interpersonal relationships with non-Hispanics is foundational to enhancing their sense of belongingness and satisfaction with life in the United States, as well as their overall fitness to meet the challenges posed by the larger cultural environment.