Asian American Journal of Psychology, Vol 15(4), Dec 2024, 286-294; doi:10.1037/aap0000340
Asian immigrants experience acculturative stress during the migration and resettlement process in the United States and suffer from various mental health problems. Although extant research has identified the protective role of social support in the Asian American mental well-being, the mediation role of multiple source systems of support in the association between different acculturative stress (i.e., racial discrimination, legal status, language barrier) and self-rated mental health is not well established among foreign-born Asian immigrants. Using the counteractive model and the deterioration model as theoretical frameworks, this study aimed to examine the association between acculturative stress and poor self-rated mental health and the mediation effects of social support on this relationship. Data for this study were derived from the National Latino and Asian American Study, a cross-sectional survey of Asian immigrants living in the United States. The present study used 1,638 foreign-born Asian immigrant adults (Mage = 42.5 years). Fifty-three percent of participants were female and about 63% had lived longer than 11 years in the United States. A path analytic model was used to examine the association between acculturative stress and poor self-rated mental health and the mediation effects of social support on this relationship. Results indicated that higher acculturative stress related to racial discrimination stress and language barrier was associated with increased level of poor self-rated mental health. Acculturative stress related to legal status and language barriers were associated with social support but in opposite directions, with legal status being positively associated with social support but language barriers being negatively associated. Family support and friend support mediated the relationship between acculturative stress and poor self-rated mental health.: These findings highlight the importance of social support among Asian immigrants while taking account of their unique acculturation process and impacts of acculturative stress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)