The Effects of Cultural Orientation Change on Metabolic Health in a Sample of Mexican Immigrants to the United States

• Main Author: Walker, Jillian L.
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2014
• Subjects: metabolic health; acculturation; cultural orientation; Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans (ARSMA-II); HbA1c; insulin; glucose; Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL-12); Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ); Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D); immigrants; Mexican; foreign-born; Psychology
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4184; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5183&context=etd

Studies have identified metabolic health factors to be a major concern in Mexican-Americans, including Mexican immigrants to the United States (U.S.). Acculturation stress has been hypothesized to be a factor in the development of many health-related concerns in this population. Specifically, previous studies have shown that acculturation stress contributes to health concerns, including metabolic health concerns (e.g., diabetes, metabolic syndrome). The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cultural orientation, a measure of acculturation designed to provide more information than traditional acculturation measures, and metabolic health outcomes. Specific acculturation-related stressors (social support, job-related stress, and depression) were hypothesized mediators in this relationship among a convenience sample of 98 foreign-born Mexicans living in Utah County, Utah controlling for age, gender, socio-economic status (SES), and years in the U.S. Data were collected twice with a three year interval to examine change over time. Changes in these constructs were examined through the use of Growth Modeling with Bayesian estimation. The Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican-Americans (ARSMA-II) was used to measure Anglo Cultural Orientation and Mexican Cultural Orientation. Standard blood analyses were used to measure metabolic health outcomes, which included glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), insulin, and glucose. The Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL-12) was used to measure social support, the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) was used to measure job-related stress, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to measure depression. No change was identified in Anglo Cultural Orientation or Mexican Cultural Orientation over time in the majority of subjects. A positive relationship between Anglo Cultural Orientation and HbA1c was found, as was a negative relationship between Mexican Cultural Orientation and HbA1c. Mediation analyses showed a mediation effect of depression on the relationship between Anglo Cultural Orientation and glucose. Implications of findings, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.