Acculturative Stress Among Cuban American College Students: Exploring the Mediating Pathways Between Acculturation and Psychosocial Functioning

We examined different dimensions of acculturative stress in mediating the association between acculturation and psychosocial functioning among 199 Cuban American college students (M age = 20.1 years) in Miami. Results showed that heritage-cultural orientation was directly associated with self-esteem. No other direct relations emerged. Spanish competency pressures and pressures against acculturation mediated the relationships between heritage-cultural orientation and internalizing symptoms, whereas pressures to acculturate mediated the association between American cultural orientation and self-esteem. These findings highlight the unique roles of different components of acculturative stress in the relationship of heritage and American cultural orientation to Cuban American adolescents' psychosocial well-being. Implications regarding the multidimensionality of acculturation and of acculturative stress are discussed.