title: Acculturative stress in Latin-American immigrants: an assessment proposal.
abstract: The aim of this paper was to develop an instrument to assess levels of stress experienced by Latin-American immigrants in their acculturative process in Spain. A sample of 692 immigrants from Latin America, aged 20 to 63 years, took part on this study (54.9% males and 45.1% females). A 24-item questionnaire with high reliability (.92) was elaborated. Six factors related to acculturative stress were found: 1) discrimination and rejection; 2) differences with the out-group (native Spaniards); 3) citizenship problems and legality; 4) problems concerning social relationships with other immigrants; 5) nostalgia and longing; and 6) family break-up. Our findings show that participants have a high level of stress related to nostalgia and longing, family break-up, and the perception of discrimination and rejection by natives. The usefulness of the instrument and its applications and restrictions are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Murcia, 30.100 Campus Universitario de Espinardo, Murcia, Spain. jaruiz@um.es
authors.forename: José Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ruiz Hernández
authors.forename: Ginesa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Torrente Hernández
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodríguez González
authors.forename: María del Carmen
authors.initials: Mdel C
authors.lastname: Ramírez de la Fe
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000328:Adult; D001838:Bolivia / Q000208:ethnology; D003105:Colombia / Q000208:ethnology; D004484:Ecuador / Q000208:ethnology; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019303:Multilingualism; D011287:Prejudice; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012059:Rejection, Psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012933:Social Identification; D012944:Social Support; D013030:Spain; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult