EMERGING ISSUES IN HISPANIC HEALTH: SUMMARY OF A WORKSHOP by National Research Council of the National Academies

Author:National Research Council of the National Academies
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Health and Medicine: Minority Health
Publisher: NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Published: 2002-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

Effects of Assimilation

Given that the positive birth outcomes of Mexican-born immigrants may be partly due to the resources possessed by this group (i.e., the healthy immigrant phenomenon) and to adherence to traditional cultural values or other sociocultural attitudes and behaviors, under what circumstances are those protections maintained or lost as immigrants spend more time in the United States? Researchers have pointed to the process of assimilation as a possible explanation for increases in negative health behaviors and poor infant outcomes with increased time spent in this country. In general, assimilation and acculturation have many positive effects for new immigrants. Most groups do better as they acquire English-language skills and social capital (e.g., the ability to gain access to and make effective use of U.S. institutions), develop job and social support networks, and improve education levels and socioeconomic status. However, acculturation often means that immigrants also adopt negative aspects of American culture, and the protective health behaviors associated with their native culture may be lost.

Assimilation and acculturation have been cited to explain the differences in infant outcomes observed between Mexican Americans and Puerto Rican women born in this country and residing on the U.S. mainland. Mexican Americans have tended to acculturate more slowly, and Mexican communities tend to retain a strong ethnic identity even as their time in the United States lengthens. As a result, Mexican Americans often have lower levels of education and income but better health outcomes. In contrast, Puerto Ricans are heavily exposed to American culture while still living in Puerto Rico and assimilate to American mainland culture rapidly without retaining their old protective factors. Although a number of factors influence infant outcomes, these differences in assimilation patterns may explain part of the reason why Mexican Americans have better infant health outcomes compared to Puerto Rican women who have spent a similar length of time on the U.S. mainland.

At the workshop, Nancy Landale explored the role of assimilation in the health behaviors and infant outcomes of Puerto Rican women. Using data from the Puerto Rican Maternal and Infant Health Study,6 Landale compared the outcomes of Puerto Rican-born women who migrated from Puerto Rico to the U.S. mainland either late in life (i.e., after age 10) or early in life (i.e., before age 10) as well as mainland-born women of Puerto Rican descent. Landale found that time spent on the U.S. mainland was associated with a significant increase in stressful life events (such as being homeless, being a victim of domestic violence, or becoming unemployed), an increase in negative health behaviors, and higher rates of infant mortality (Landale et al., 2000).

6Information on the Puerto Rican Maternal and Infant Health Study can be found online at <http://www.pop.psu.edu/prmihs/prmihs-begin.htm> (viewed online June 1, 2002).

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