Profiles of Acculturation and Cultural Stress Among Hispanic/Latinx College-Attending Emerging Adults

Objective: The current study identified unique profiles of cultural stressors (i.e., bicultural stress discrimination, and negative context of reception) and acculturative strategies (i.e., heritage practices, heritage identification, U.S. practices, and U.S. identification), in Hispanic/Latinx (HL) emerging adults. Additionally, we examined associations between positive and negative psychosocial functioning, with profiles of cultural stressors and acculturation. Method: The current study utilized baseline data drawn from a daily diary study on acculturation collected at a large public Hispanic Serving Institution. The sample for this study consisted of 779 HL college students (75.8% female, Mage=20.80 years, SD=2.66). Results: Latent Profile Analysis identified four distinct profiles. The Bicultural and Low Cultural Stressors (B-LowCS; 53.55%) was marked by heritage and U.S. cultural orientation and low levels across all cultural stressors. The Marginalization and High Acculturative Stressors (M-HighAS; 20.13%) was marked by low heritage and U.S. cultural orientation, high acculturative stressors, and low discrimination. The third profile, the Heritage Rejection and Low Cultural Stressors (HR-LowCS; 16.05%) was marked by rejection of heritage culture and low cultural stressors. Finally, the Separation and High Cultural Stressors (S-HighCS; 10.26%) was marked by low U.S. cultural orientation and high cultural stressors. Consistent with passed research, the B-LowCS profile was marked by the highest level of psychosocial functioning, and the lowest levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Conclusions: The results of the current study highlight the need to further our understanding configurations of cultural stressors and acculturation, and the implications of these distinct profiles on psychosocial functioning in HL emerging adults.