title: Acculturation and Psychological Adjustment of Vietnamese Refugees: An Ecological Acculturation Framework.
abstract: Acculturation to the culture of the host society as well as to one's heritage culture have been shown to impact immigrants' adjustment during the years following resettlement. While acculturation has been identified as an important factor in adjustment of Vietnamese immigrants (Birman and Tran in Am J Orthopsychiatr 78(1):109-120. doi: 10.1037/0002-9432.78.1.109 , 2008), no clear pattern of findings has emerged and too few studies have employed an ecological approach. The purpose of this paper is to contextualize the study of acculturation and adjustment by taking an ecological approach to exploring these relationships across several life domains, using a bilinear scale, and examining mediators of these relationships for adult Vietnamese refugees (N = 203) in the United States. We call this approach the Ecological Acculturation Framework (EAF). Results of a structural equation model (SEM) showed that job satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between American acculturation and psychological distress, demonstrating that this relationship was specific to an occupational domain. However, while Vietnamese acculturation predicted co-ethnic social support satisfaction, it did not predict reduced psychological distress. Implications for a life domains approach, including domain specificity, are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology (M/C 285), University of Illinois at Chicago, BSB 1009, 1007 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL, 60607-7137, USA. csimon5@uic.edu.
authors.forename: Corrina D
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5042-3886
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Salo
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational and Psychological Studies, School of Education and Human Development, University of Miami, 5202 University Drive, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA. d.birman@miami.edu.
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Birman
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D000066498:Emotional Adjustment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations / Q000145:classification; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014744:Vietnam / Q000208:ethnology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Acculturation; Life domain specificity; Occupation; Refugee; Social support