Acculturation and ethnic identity as they relate to the psychological well-being of adult and elderly Mexican Americans

In attempting to help the Mexican American adult and elderly population, the relationship between psychological well-being and cultural factors was investigated in this dissertation study. Primarily, the dynamics of acculturation and ethnic identity were considered as measures of cultural adjustment; while, physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions were used to measure well-being and mental health in adult and elderly cohorts. In regard to these relationships, the following research questions were addressed: 1) How does psychological well-being in older Mexican Americans relate to acculturation and ethnic identity? 2) Do these three variables interact differently among adult and elderly cohorts? 3) What is the relationship between the variables for this particular sample of Mexican Americans when considering moderating variables of spirituality and religiosity? In addressing the first two questions, multiple regression analyses were used to understand the distribution of the variance in the dependent variable, psychological wellbeing. Although both variables were contributing to the regression weight, neither of the two, acculturation or ethnic identity, were significant predictors of psychological well-being in this sample. In the last question, confirmatory and exploratory structural equation model (SEM) analyses were employed to determine how each of the variables were loading and relating to one another. Only a few of the items selected for these analyses, (i.e., none of the mediating variables, select acculturation items, and select scales on the measure for psychological well-being) were used and found to be significant in the complete model and diagram. Using newly clustered item parcels, the mediating variables of spirituality and religiosity were again analyzed in the (SEM) analysis. While the variable religiosity was dropped from the model diagram, the newly generated spirituality variable was found to be empirically and conceptually significant in the model diagram.