Crossroads: The Psychology of Immigration in the New Century

of attachment to the native culture, which is confounded
with American acculturation on these measures (Birman &
Taylor-Ritzler, 2007; Schwartz et al., 2010).
Increasingly, researchers are using independent or bilinear
measures of acculturation to both cultures and finding that
immigrants benefit from acculturation to both the new and
the native culture. For example, Y. Oh, Koeske, and Sales
(2002) found that English language use and association with
Americans reduced depression for Korean immigrants, as
did maintaining Korean traditions. For Latino adolescents,
acculturation to American culture was associated with
reduced acculturative stress and increased self-esteem
(Schwartz et al., 2007). Acculturation to the heritage culture
also predicted increased self-esteem.
From a contextual perspective, there is no “best”
acculturative style independent of context (Birman, Trickett,
& Buchanan, 2005). Rather, whether a particular way of
acculturating is beneficial depends on the kinds of cultural
skills needed for successful adaptation within each particular
microsystem. While some
settings, such as workplaces
or schools, are predominantly
culturally American, others,
such as an immigrant’s
ethnic neighborhood
and home environment,
are predominantly of the
heritage culture. From
this perspective, acculturation to both cultures provides
access to different kinds of resources that are useful in
different settings and that, in turn, are linked to positive
mental health outcomes (Birman & Taylor-Ritzler, 2007;
Oppedal, Roysamb, & Sam, 2004; Shen & Takeuchi, 2001).
For example, Oppedal et al. found that for immigrant
adolescents in Norway, increased competence in both their
ethnic and host culture was linked to improvement in
mental health over the course of a year. Specifically, those
with higher ethnic cultural competence had more support
from family, and those higher on host cultural competence
had more support from classroom teachers and peers. In
turn, family and classroom support were both related to
mental health.
Similarly, Birman & Taylor-Ritzler (2007) found that
both Russian and American acculturation were predictors
of reduced symptoms of distress for Soviet adolescent
immigrants to the United States. While American
Adaptation: Acculturation, Cultural Identity, and Civic Engagement
acculturation had a direct effect, the impact of Russian
acculturation on distress was through improving family
adjustment.
In summary, acculturation to both heritage and host
cultures provides immigrants with important cultural
skills and repertoires that assist them across the culturally
different microsystems. The implications are that settings
and programs designed to assist immigrants with adapting to
life in their new country must value both the need to learn
the ways of the new culture and the need to maintain a
connection with the old.
Intergenerational differences in
acculturation
Increasingly, researchers are using
independent or bilinear measures of
acculturation to both cultures and finding
that immigrants benefit from acculturation
to both the new and the native culture.
Family acculturation gaps extend across a variety of
dimensions of acculturation and aspects of parent–
child relationships, and immigrant parents and children
increasingly live in different cultural worlds. Because parents
are immersed predominantly
in one culture and children
in another, immigrant parents
often know little of their
children’s lives outside the
home. Immigrant parents are
unfamiliar with how U.S.
schools operate and may not
have the English language
skills to communicate with
the school (Delgado-Gaitan, 1985, 1992, 1994; Grolnick,
Benjet, Kurowski, & Apostoleris, 1997). Immigrant parents
may also lack knowledge and connection to a variety of
programs and resources available to their children outside
or after school, and they may find it difficult to provide
guidance and monitor their children’s activities (Hao &
Bonstead-Bruns, 1998; Mau, 1997).
For immigrant children, it can be difficult to live with the
expectations and demands of one culture in the home and
another at school. Children may not turn to their parents
with problems and concerns, believing their parents do not
know the culture and its institutions well enough to provide
them with good advice or assistance. In addition, they may
see their parents as burdened with the multiple stresses
of resettlement and therefore psychologically unavailable
(Birman, 2006; C. Suárez-Orozco & Suárez-Orozco, 2001).
Extensive research with a variety of immigrant groups has
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