Acculturation Gaps in Immigrant Families: Unpacking a Complex Phenomena

Title:

Acculturation Gaps in Immigrant Families: Unpacking a Complex Phenomena

Info:

Dr. Cathy Costigan

University of Victoria

Date:

Friday, April 22, 3 - 4 PM MDT

Where:

This will be a hybrid talk, taking place both in-person (P116, Biological Sciences Building) and online (see google calendar for the link). Choose your preferred mode of attendance.

Abstract:

Mental health and psychosocial adjustment is promoted by strong and caring relationships within families. Maintaining supportive parent-child relationships following immigration can be challenging, as each family member undergoes their own acculturative process of adapting to the new culture while preserving personally important aspects of their heritage culture. Family members often differ in their cultural orientations, leading to acculturation gaps. A growing body of literature indicates that parent-child acculturation gaps may interfere with parents’ ability to support and guide their children, as gaps are associated with greater family conflict and poorer adolescent psychological adjustment. The results of research in this area are far from conclusive, however. Despite wide agreement that acculturation gaps are a common and challenging phenomena in immigrant families, progress has been limited by the methods used to address the question. This talk will unpack the conceptualization and operationalization of the construct of acculturation gaps, drawing primarily on data from immigrant Chinese families in Western Canada. Conceptual considerations will include disentangling who in the family is experiencing similarities/differences and in what areas (e.g., language use versus values). Analytical approaches to assess acculturation gaps will include examples of variable-centered polynomial regressions with response surface analyses (RSA) and person-centered latent profile analyses.