FAMILISMO, ENCULTURATION, AND ACCULTURATION AS PREDICTORS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN LATINA/OS

Sarah Jacqueline Rangel

This study was designed to determine how enculturation, acculturation, and familismo influence Latina/os' psychological well-being. A limited amount of studies have integrated enculturation, acculturation and familismo in their research designs to explore moderator and meditational hypotheses. Participants were 401 Latina/os who reside in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest of the United States and who are of Mexican heritage. Participants were recruited from the community, universities, and community colleges. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Attitudinal Familism Scale (AFS; Steidel & Contreras, 2003), the Pan-Hispanic Familism Scale (PHFS; Villareal, Blozis, and Widaman, 2005), the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II (ARSMA-II; Cuellar et al., 1995), the Latina/o Values Scale (LVS; Kim et al., 2009), and the Psychological Well-Being-Short Scale (PWBSS; Van Dierendonck, 2005 and Diaz et al., 2006). Participants had the option to complete instruments in English or Spanish. Results for Hypothesis 1 was not supported and indicated that enculturation did not moderate the relationship between familismo and psychological well-being. However, both familismo and enculturation were positively related to psychological well-being. In Hypothesis 2, familismo and acculturation were positively related to psychological well-being; acculturation did moderate the relationship between familismo and psychological well-being as predicted. Thus, the relationship between familismo and psychological well-being was positive for both high and low acculturation groups; however the relationship was a bit stronger for low acculturated individuals. Hypothesis 3 was partially supported and indicated that enculturation moderately predicted psychological well-being but there was no significant mediation by familismo. Hypothesis 4 was not supported because there was no significant relationship between acculturation and psychological well-being. Hypothesis 5 was not supported because after controlling for levels of socioeconomic status, educational attainment, and age, Latina/os who were second generation tended to report higher scores on enculturation than those belonging in the first and 1.5 generation. Additionally, there were no differences in familismo and psychological well-being across all generations. For Hypothesis 6 as predicted, Latina/os who were first generation averaged lower on acculturation compared to those in the 1.5 and second generation. Interpretation and critique of the findings, clinical and theoretical implications, and future directions are discussed.

FAMILISMO, ENCULTURATION, AND ACCULTURATION AS PREDICTORS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN LATINA/OS

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