Acculturation and Acculturation Stress: A Social-Epidemiological Approach to Mexican Migrant Farmworkers’ Health

Abstract

Utilizing a cluster sampling design to maximize representativeness, we look at the health effects of acculturation and acculturation stressors among 1,001 adult migrant farmworkers in Fresno, California. Using self-ratings of mental and physical health as well as the CES-D depression scale, we find that the amount of time one spends in the United States, the level of English-language usage, as well as the intensity of acculturation stresses that one reports, are all related to declines in health. In addition, acculturation stress has more deleterious effects on self-rated health (both physical and mental) among the more highly acculturated.