Adolescents from Mexican immigrant families are often embedded in a challenging social environment and experience multiple contextual stressors, including economic stress, discrimination, and foreigner stress. We consider how the effects of these contextual stressors may be amplified or diminished for adolescents who function as language brokers, interpreting and mediating for their English-limited parents. Using two waves of survey data collected from a sample (N = 604 at Wave 1; N = 483 at Wave 2) of Mexican American adolescents with ages ranging from 11 to 15 (Mage = 12.41, 54% female), four distinct brokering – stress profiles were identified. Latent profile analyses revealed that with moderate levels of contextual stress, adolescents with more positive language brokering experiences (protective group) demonstrated more favorable outcomes than those with neutral language brokering experiences (moderate group) and those who did not involve themselves as frequently in language brokering activities (less-involved group). In contrast, high levels of contextual stress, coupled with more negative language brokering experiences (risk group), produced the least favorable outcomes among adolescents.
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Acute salivary cortisol response among Mexican American adolescents in immigrant families
Objectives: Though previous research has indicated that language brokering can be stressful, the findings are mixed, pointing to potential moderators of the association. Guided by an ecological perspective, we examined the role of individual, family, and environmental factors in Mexican American adolescents’ acute cortisol responses to language brokering. Method: The study consisted of 46 Mexican American adolescents recruited around a metropolitan city in Central Texas. Participants translated a difficult medical document from English to Spanish for their parents, followed by an arithmetic task (modeled after the Trier Social Stress Test [TSST]). Participants’ perceptions (perceived efficacy and parental dependence), parental hostility, and discrimination experiences were assessed via self-report and were examined as moderators of adolescents’ responses to the task. Results: Results revealed differential responses to the task based on individual, family, and environmental factors. High efficacy and low dependence−parental hostility−discrimination related to stress responses characterized by low baselines, steeper reactivity, and faster recovery. Low efficacy and high dependence related to greater baseline stress and a slower recovery. High levels of parental hostility related to a slower recovery. High levels of discrimination related to greater baseline stress. Conclusions: The study demonstrates that the modified TSST task can elicit an acute hypothalamic−pituitary−adrenal axis response, but the nature of this response is dependent upon participants’ perceptions of language brokering (parental dependence and efficacy), parental hostility, and discrimination experiences. Adolescents’ individual characteristics and contextual demands remain important considerations in understanding their acute stress responses.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1651128
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10094831
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology
- Volume:
- 24
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 1939-0106
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 510-520
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract This study examined the associations of language brokering stress
intensity andexposure with Mexican‐origin youths’ cortisol responses when brokering for fathers and mothers, and the moderating role of youths’ brokering efficacy in these relations. Participants were 289 adolescents (M age = 17.38,SD = .94, 52% girls) in immigrant families. When brokering for mothers, stressexposure was related to flatter (less healthy) same‐day diurnal slopes in youth. When brokering for fathers, daily brokering efficacy buffered the detrimental link between stressintensity and youths’ same‐day cortisol slopes. When brokering for fathers/mothers, stressintensity andexposure were related to flatter (less healthy) next‐day diurnal slopes. Although daily brokering stress can relate to youth physiologic functioning, feeling efficacious about brokering may buffer the negative ramifications of stress. -
This study focused on early adolescents’ stress of language brokering and examined the moderating role of family cumulative risk in the relation of language brokering to adjustment problems. Data came from self-reports of 604 low-income Mexican American adolescent language brokers (54% female; [Formula: see text]= 12.4; SD = 0.97; 75% born in the United States) and their parents (99% foreign-born) in central Texas. Path analyses revealed that brokering stress, but not frequency, was positively associated with adolescents’ adjustment problems, including depressive symptoms, anxiety, and delinquency. We also found that the relation between stress of brokering for mothers and adolescents’ depressive symptoms was stronger among families with a high cumulative risk. Further, with a high cumulative risk, adolescents exhibited delinquent behaviors regardless of the levels of stress from translating for fathers. Current findings underscore the importance of examining family contexts in assessing the consequences of language brokering for Mexican American early adolescents’ well-being.more » « less
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null (Ed.)Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: Language brokering (LB) is an informal translation experience where bilinguals serve as linguistic and cultural intermediaries for family members. LB may have long-term socio-emotional and cognitive outcomes, yet little is known about its effects on executive functions (EFs). This study examines how first language (L1) proficiency and negative emotions tied to language brokering experiences affect EF performance on a Simon task (ST). Design/methodology/approach: Fifty-three Mexican American Spanish–English bilinguals with LB experience performed a ST, and reported their feelings towards LB for their mother. Data and analysis: Mean reaction times (RTs) and accuracy rates for correct ST trials were analyzed using linear mixed effects modeling, with trial type, proficiency and negative emotions tied to LB experience as factors and their interactions as additional predictors. Findings/conclusions: The L1 proficiency and negative emotions tied to brokering experiences have divergent, but combined effects on EF. Contrary to our hypotheses, low L1 proficiency predicted better performance and the smallest Simon effect was found for brokers with low L1 proficiency and low negative emotional brokering experiences. However, high L1 proficiency predicted better performance (smallest RTs) regardless of negative emotions tied to brokering experiences. Originality: This study takes a different perspective on the examination of individual differences among bilinguals, in which we examine how negative emotions tied to brokering experiences coupled with L1 proficiency relates to EF performance. Significance/implications: Our results provide support for the need to understand how individual differences in bilingual language experiences, such as L1 proficiency and negative emotions tied to LB, interact with performance on the ST.more » « less
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Abstract Background and Aims Frequent experiences of discrimination could increase vulnerability to tobacco withdrawal and smoking lapse in populations subject to tobacco‐related health disparities. This laboratory study (2013–17) examined whether individual differences in perceived exposure to discrimination in one's daily life predicted tobacco withdrawal symptoms and smoking lapse behavior following acute tobacco deprivation in African American smokers.
Design Mixed design with the between‐subjects continuous variable of perceived discrimination crossed with the within‐subject variable of tobacco deprivation status (deprived versus non‐deprived).
Setting Academic medical center in Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Participants African American non‐treatment seeking daily cigarette smokers (
n = 607, ≥ 10 cig/day).Measurements At a baseline visit, self‐reported frequency of perceived exposure to discrimination in one's daily life was measured [everyday discrimination scale (EDDS)]. At two subsequent counterbalanced experimental visits (16‐hour tobacco deprivation versus
ad‐libitum smoking), self‐report assessments of various tobacco withdrawal symptom domains [Brief Questionnaire of Smoking Urges), Wisconsin Smoking Withdrawal Scale (WSWS), Profile of Mood States (POMS), Snaith–Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) and Current Impulsivity Scale (CIS)) and a behavioral smoking lapse analogue task were measured.Findings Adjusted models demonstrated that greater frequency of perceived exposure to discrimination was associated with larger deprivation‐induced increases in acute urges to smoke to alleviate negative mood, several negative mood states and subjective cognitive functioning—effect sizes were small in magnitude (
β s = 0.09–0.13;P s < 0.02). Data were inconclusive for associations between perceived exposure to discrimination and deprivation‐induced changes in cravings, urges to smoke for pleasure, positive mood reduction, other symptoms or smoking reinstatement behavior.Conclusions Frequency of perceived exposure to discrimination appears to be modestly associated with increased severity of some deprivation‐induced tobacco withdrawal symptoms in African American smokers.
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