the relations of immigrant-specific and immigrant-nonspecific daily hassles to distress controlling...

The Relations of Immigrant-Specific and Immigrant- Nonspecific Daily Hassles to Distress Controlling for Psychological Adjustment and Cultural Competence’

SABA F. sAFDAR2 AND CLARRY H. LAY York Universiry

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

In separating immigrant-specific daily hassles (out-group, family, and in-group) from immigrant-nonspecific general hassles, the relations of hassles to depression and physical symptoms were examined. The respondents were 79 female and 85 male Iranian immigrants to Canada. In Block 1 of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the experience of out-group hassles and of general hassles both contributed to the prediction of depression. In Block 2, psychological adjustment and perceived cultural competence in the host society, along with out-group hassles, predicted depression. General hassles were the only predictor of physical symptoms. Psychological adjustment, as a buffer, interacted with hassles in enhancing the prediction of distress. The importance of distinguishing and accounting for both immigrant-specific and immigrant-nonspecific hassles in predicting outcome measures was considered, as was the importance of assessing dispositional variables in this context.

Stressful life experiences include both major life events and minor daily hassles. The latter refer to chronic, background irritants that we may encounter on a relatively fiequent basis. Daily hassles comprise such experiences as traffic con- gestion in commuting to work, time pressures in completing our tasks, and overly bureaucratic rules. These hassles are cumulative and have been found to have a substantial influence on psychological distress, even when compared to major life events (DeLongis, Coyne, Dakof, Folkman, & Lazarus, 1982; Kanner, Coyne, Schaefer, & Lazarus, 198 1 ; Monroe, 1983; Weinberger, Hiner, & Tierney, 1987).

In examining daily hassles, research has moved to the development of specific measures for specific populations. The intent of this development is to max- imize the prediction of outcome variables such as psychological distress. There are scales designed for university students (Crandall, Preisler, & Aussprung,

‘Portions of the present study were based on a master’s thesis completed by the first author under the supervision of the second author. The authors thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments in revising the manuscript.

2Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Saba F. Safdar, who is now at Psychology Department, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario NIG 2W1, Canada. E-mail: ssafdar@ uoguelph.ca

299

Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2003, 33, 2, pp. 299-320. Copyright 0 2003 by V. H. Winston 8 Son, Inc. All rights reserved.

300 SAFDAR AND LAY

1992; Kohn, Lafieniere, & Gurevich, 1990) and special hassles scales concerning certain aspects of the everyday lives of certain individuals. Crnic and Greenberg (1990) developed a measure of hassles for parents concerning their relationships with their children. The usefulness of this scale was demonstrated by its ability to contribute to the prediction of psychological distress beyond the contribution of general, nonparenting daily hassles (Creasey & Reese, 1996). Utsey and Ponterotto (1996) created a scale to assess the stress experienced by African Americans as a result of their “daily encounters with racism and discrimination” (p. 491). These measures of hassles relevant to particular groups and to particular aspects of their lives have proved to be important in understanding and predicting psychological distress.

The Immigrant Experience

Immigrants and other minority-group members in a society encounter a vari- ety of hassles in their everyday lives, hassles that may be related or unrelated to their immigrant status. To understand the full experience of immigrant group members, it is necessary to examine both types of hassles simultaneously. These individuals would be expected to experience daily hassles that are specific to their immigrant status and to the ongoing acculturation process. They may be faced with special types of chronic problems, not only in their relationships with the host society, but also with their families and their group of peers (Berry, 1990; Dion & Dion, 1996; Halpern, 1993; Saldaiia, 1994). One of these special categories is out-group hassles, which involve difficulties in interacting with out- group members and perceived prejudice and discrimination (Clark, Anderson, Clark, & Williams, 1999). Hassles involving family members or other ethnic in- group members also might be part of their daily experiences. Living in “two cultures,” immigrants can face special problems in interactions with their families and their ethnic in-group peers. The latter, in-group hassles, are viewed as immigrant specific. On the other hand, hassles within the family might be either immigrant specific or immigrant nonspecific.

At the same time, of course, immigrant group members will encounter everyday general hassles common to most people. They may face recurring personal problems of time pressures or maintaining relationships with friends, and they may experience conflict with their parents or siblings having little to do with their culture and their immigrant status. Thus, immigrant group members will experience both status-specific and status-nonspecific daily hassles, and both types of hassles will have implications for psychological and physical distress.

In the literature to date, very few studies have examined this question in the way we are advocating. Research by Dion, Dion, and Pak (1 992) and by Kuo and Tsai ( 1 986) are two exceptions. Dion et al. (1 992) obtained measures of both acculturation nonspecific sources of stress and perceived and experienced

IMMIGRANTS, HASSLES, DISTRESS 301

discrimination directed toward the individual Chinese-Canadian respondents in their study, or toward their ethnic in-group in general. Both types of stressor were found to be related to their measure of psychological distress. More importantly, when statistically controlling for the acculturation-nonspecific life stressor, the relation of experienced discrimination to psychological distress remained. Liebkind (1996) found the importance of self-reported experiences of prejudice and discrimination for males (but not females) in her sample of Vietnamese reh- gees in Finland, although general hassles were not assessed and accounted for in her study. Gil, Vega, and Dimas (1994) found a negative relation between perceived discrimination and self-esteem in a sample of Hispanic adolescents born in the United States.

Recently, we examined the relations of acculturation-nonspecific hassles (general and family) and acculturation-specific hassles (out-group and in-group) to depression in a group of Vietnamese immigrant students in Canada (Lay & Nyugen, 1998) and in a varied group of imrnigrantlminority-status students in the same country (Lay & Safdar, in press). In multiple regression analyses in both studies, general hassles predicted depression, while family hassles were unrelated to depression. The results with the immigrant-specific types of hassles were mixed. In the Vietnamese sample, in-group hassles were found to enhance the prediction of depression. On the other hand, with the diverse sample of immigrant ethnic groups in Lay and Safdar and the use of a generic measure of the immigrant-specific hassles scales, the out-group and in-group status-specific measures were unrelated to depression. Lay and Safdar suggested that their sample might have been too diverse in attempting to examine the impact of out- group and in-group immigrant-specific hassles on psychological distress. In the present study, the focus was on a single immigrant group of Iranian Canadians.

Implications for the Concept of Acculturative Stress

Because measures of acculturative stress are actually measures of general psychological distress3 Berry (1 990) stipulated “To qualify as acculturative stress, these changes should be related in a systematic way to known features of the acculturation process” (Berry, Kim, Minde, & Mok, 1987, p. 364). In a number of studies, Berry and his associates (Berry et al., 1987; Dona & Berry, 1994) have used the Cawte (1 972) Stress scale to yield a measure of psychological distress and a measure of somatic stress. In this context, with the prerequisite met, the variable is typically labeled ucculturutive stress. In a similar way, Liebkind

3The term acculfurutive stress has been used also to refer to sources of stress (de Snyder, 1987; Shin, 1994; Smart & Smart, 1995). To some extent, these sources are similar to what are referred to in the present paper as daily hassles. Acculturative stress has also been used interchangeably with the term acculturation stmins (Gil et al., 1994), which is closer to OUT current use of the term minority/ immigrant status-specific daily hassles.

302 SAFDAR AND LAY

(1 996) assessed acculturative stress with the Vietnamese Depression scale (Kinzie, Tran, Breckenridge, & Bloom, 1980) and the Hopkins Symptom Check- list-25 (Mollica, Wyshak, deMarneffe, JShuon, & Lavelle, 1987). In certain conditions, however, acculturation and nonacculturation sources of stress are likely to covary and share a relation to psychological distress. There is an advantage, therefore, to separating the possible sources of stress that relate directly to the acculturation experiences of immigrants from those sources that are more general. For example, by examining the relations of status-specific hassles to psychological distress, controlling for status-nonspecific hassles, the acculturative stress researcher is in a better position to infer that the psychological distress being measured is to some extent acculturative in nature. This concern also applies to research that has measured psychological distress without explicitly labeling it acculturative distress, but has, nevertheless, examined the relation of this variable to acculturation-specific variables only (Ward & Kennedy, 1994).

The Role of Psychological Adjustment

Feist, Bodner, Jacobs, Miles, and Tan (1995) examined models of subjective well-being and discussed both a bottom-up view of life’s experiences and subjective well-being and a top-down interpretation. These researchers linked a number of variables, including daily hassles, to subjective well-being in discuss- ing the two directional models. The bottom-up perspective suggests that the experience of daily hassles has implications for psychological adjustment (and psychological distress). The topdown view assesses the role of psychological adjustment in the experience and interpretation of daily hassles. They concluded that further research is needed in “examining how general dispositions towards happiness color perceptions of life’s experiences” (p. 138). A decade earlier, Dohrenwend and Shrout (1985) considered a number of possible models linked to psychological distress. Their proneness model was similar to Feist et a1.k topdown view.

Dohrenwend and Shrout (1 985) also considered a straightforward, additive- burden model that views life stressors (e.g., daily hassles), dispositional variables, and social conditions as each contributing to psychological distress. There is also a vulnerability model (Dohrenwend & Shrout, 1985) whereby personality dispositions and social situations are seen to moderate the relation between daily hassles and psychological distress. In keeping with the latter model, Dion et al. (1 992) found that a measure of personal hardiness moderated the relation between perceived discrimination and distress, with hardiness operating as a buffer variable. Schwarzer, Jerusalem, and Hahn (1 994) reported that social support acted as a buffer in modifying the relation between hassles and distress.

These perspectives emphasize the value of examining the relations of a general predisposition such as psychological adjustment to both hassles and


psychophysical distress. Forms of psychological distress experienced by immigrants (e.g., depression, physical symptoms of illness) will be influenced not only by status-specific and status-nonspecific daily hassles, but also by the person’s general level of psychological adjustment. In addition, psychological adjustment might moderate the influence of hassles on distress. Importantly, in this regard, Dohrenwend and Shrout (1 985) recognized that their various proposed models and others’ models, were not mutually exclusive.

Psychological adjustment refers to the presence of wellness and is a descrip- tion of positive psychological functioning, as opposed to psychological dysfinc- tion (Ryff & Singer, 1996). Characteristics of adjustment put forward by Ryf€and Singer are self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth. As a form of resilience (Ryff, Singer, Love, & Essex, 1998), psychological adjustment might be related to the experience and interpretation of daily hassles and to the person’s response to these hassles. Thus, psychological adjustment will influence both the experience of daily hassles and, independently, current levels of psychological and physical distress.

In the present study, we included a measure of psychological adjustment as a means of further partitioning and accounting for the factors that contribute to psychological and physical distress. This strategy was a relatively unique approach in predicting the distress experienced by immigrant status individuals, although consistent with Dohrenwend and Shrout’s (1 985) additive-burden model. In controlling for psychological adjustment, Lay and Safdar (in press) found that general hassles continued to predict depression with an immigrant, minority-status group of university students. We also examined psychological adjustment in the context of a vulnerability or buffer model by including hassles by psychological adjustment interaction terms in the final block of our hierarchical multiple regression analyses.

The Role of Cultural Competence

Within the acculturation process, the lack of perceived bicultural competence on the part of immigrants will be an additional burden in their lives. Bicultural competence refers to the perceived ability to function in both the heritage culture and in the new host society (Lafromboise, Coleman, & Gerton, 1993). Many characteristics have been suggested in developing bicultural competence, including a strong sense of identity, knowledge of the cultural beliefs and values of both societies, language and communication skills in the host culture, a relationship with both cultures, and a positive attitude toward both groups (Lafromboise et al., 1993). For first-generation immigrants who had lived in their home country for a considerable portion of their lives, cultural competence regarding the host society will be more varied, compared to their perceived competence in their heritage

304 SAFDAR AND LAY

culture. Competence in their heritage culture should be relatively high for all individuals. Thus, given the nature of the present sample, cultural competence, specifically, rather than bicultural competence, would be the more applicable variable. Kim (1988) emphasized the importance of competence, particularly in terms of communication skills and activities within the host society, in understanding the immigrant’s successful adaptation. This concept of cultural competence was also included in Taft’s (1 986) program of study of immigrant adaptation. The full measure of bicultural competence will be important in study- ing second-generation immigrants, or immigrants who left their home culture at a young age.

In summary, individuals with high perceived cultural competence have high knowledge of the host society, are more familiar with its cultural values and beliefs, and have better communication ability. Therefore, it is expected that individuals with high perceived cultural competence will be better able to function in the new society and be less likely to report psychological and physical distress.

The Present Sample

Guided by the first author’s own history and background, we chose to study Iranian immigrants to Canada. Iranians, as a group, do not have a long history of immigration and only recently came to Canada in large numbers (Moghaddam, Taylor, & Lalonde, 1987). The birth of the Islamic Republic in 1979 in Iran in the aftermath of a yearlong revolutionary upheaval can be considered the main impe- tus to immigration to Europe and North America. The post-revolutionary trans- formation, especially in the realms of Iranian culture, family planning, and restrictions on women’s freedom, was another factor that convinced many mod- em middle-class and Western-educated Iranians to immigrate permanently to the West. These immigrants had been economically well off in Iran; they were fac- tory owners, import-export merchants, antique dealers, or professionals (e.g., physicians, engineers, pharmacists, dentists; Pliskin, 1987). On this basis, Iranian immigrants are different from many other immigrant groups to Canada, as they are more educated and have more resources (Moghaddam et al., 1987).

In addition, a major theme in Iranian culture has always been the promotion of a collectivistic approach. This theme means giving priority to the interests of others, particularly to immediate members of one’s family, in contrast to pursuing one’s own interests. This collective orientation and collectivistic approach within the Iranian culture in general, and family orientation in particular, is an alterna- tive and a reaction to what is called individualism (Triandis, 1995). Historically, Iranian culture has been characterized heavily by its pro-collectivistic content. Its ideals and idols (heroes) were the devoted and committed figures who gave priority to the common cause. Given the collectivistic nature of their culture and their relatively new history of migration to Canada, Iranians were considered an


important sample to be studied. Indeed, in this context, it might be expected that in-group hassles would play an important role in relation to psychological and physical distress (Lay & Nyugen, 1998).

Iranian Culture and the Concepts of Depression and Somatic Symptoms

The process of acculturation is stressful and has psychological and physical consequences for immigrants (Berry & Kim, 1988). Psychological or physical problems might be expressed in a certain way in one culture and in a different way in another culture. It has been suggested that members of some Eastern cultures (e.g., Chinese) tend to show their emotional and psychological problems in somatic ways (Cheng & Hamid, 1996). By using somatization, an individual can avoid disruptions of social relationships and still express discomfort. In Iranian culture, somatization is a way of expressing distressing and inappropriate emo- tions (Pliskin, 1987). Good, Good, and Moradi (1985) reported that Iranians have a tendency to show their psychological and emotional problems in somatic ways. Pains in the limbs and chest, stomachaches, and other digestive problems are commonly reported bodily discomforts for Iranians (Pliskin, 1987).

For this reason, in examining distress in the present sample, it was important to include a suitable measure of physical or somatic symptoms. In addition, guided by Good et al. (1985) and Pliskin (1987), we selected only certain items from a depression scale in an attempt to represent the experience of depression in Iranian culture. We also sought to avoid content overlap or redundancy between the depression measure and the physical symptoms measure. Ideally, we wanted to create a single measure of depression that included culture-relevant cognitive and physical elements. Nevertheless, given the preliminary nature of research on the character of depression in Iranian culture, we decided to examine separate measures of depression and physical symptoms, as well as a combined measure of these two elements.

The Present Study

The particular focus of the present study was on the systematic separation of status-specific hassles and nonspecific hassles in examining their relation to depression and to physical symptoms of illness. The various hassle categories were entered in Block 1 of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis. We expected that status-specific hassles would contribute to the prediction of depression and physical symptoms beyond the contribution of general hassles (Dion et al., 1992; Kuo & Tsai, 1986; Lay & Nyugen, 1998). We then entered psychological adjustment and cultural competence scores in the second block of the multiple regression analyses, thereby assessing the role of hassles controlling for general adjustment. We expected that the addition of psychological adjustment

306 SAFDAR AND LAY

and cultural competence would enhance the prediction of distress. Furthermore, it was expected that in Block 2 of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis, when controlling for psychological adjustment and cultural competence, hassles would continue to predict distress.

Method

Research Participants

Participants were 172 Iranian-born immigrants living in southwestern Ontario who completed the questionnaire on their own. Questionnaires had been distrib- uted to about 200 individuals in all. Respondents were restricted to only one individual from any one family or household. The 6 respondents who failed to provide complete data were excluded from the study. Participants’ genders were 85 males and 79 females (2 participants did not indicate their gender). Partici- pants’ ages ranged from 18 to 69 years, with a median age of 34 years (there were 10 missing responses). For marital status, 49% of the respondents were married, 38% were single, 10% were divorcedlseparated, and 2% were widowed. Of the participants, 96% had post-secondary education (college training or university degree), including 21% who had an M.A., Ph.D., or M.D. Moghaddam et al. (1987) also reported a relatively high level of education with a group of Iranian immigrants to Canada. Despite the high level of education, there was a high level of unemployment, with only 50% of those who were employable working (21% of the total sample were either students or homemakers). The mean length of residence in Canada was 7 years, with a range from 4 months to 31 years. The median length of residence was 7 years.

Research Materials

Translation. It was anticipated that some of the respondents would have little knowledge of the English language. Therefore, all scales in the study were translated into Persian using the method of back translation to verify the accuracy of translation. First, the first author of the study translated all measures into Persian. Then another person who was also fluent in both languages translated all of the scales back into English. The two translators then compared the translations and made necessary changes. The product of the Persian version was similar in syn- tax and meaning to the original English version. Participants were given a choice of completing the Persian or the English version of the questionnaire; 52% chose to answer the English version.

Demographic information. The first section of the questionnaires consisted of general background information, such as gender, age, marital status, occupation in Iran and in Canada, education, and date of arrival in Canada.


Hassles inventory. The daily hassles inventory, based on Lay and Nguyen (1 998), reflects four types of daily hassles (general, family, out-group, and in- group). Items were largely “decontaminated” in terms of their content; items that referred directly to physical symptoms or depression were not included (for a discussion of confounded and decontaminated hassle scales, see Dohrenwend & Shrout, 1985; Kohn et al., 1990; Kohn & Macdonald, 1992; Lazarus, DeLongis, Folkman, & Gruen, 1985).

The questions were worded with specific reference to Iranian immigrants. Six items each were intended for the general, family, and out-group subscales. Unfor- tunately, because of an oversight, the in-group subscale contained only five items. The out-group, in-group, and family hassles subscales referred to immigrant- based experiences and thus were acculturation-specific, while general hassles referred to acculturation-nonspecific experiences.

For each item, respondents were asked to rate the “frequency of experience over the past 2 to 3 weeks” on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (not at allpart of my life) to 3 (very much part of my life). Composite score was based on the sum of the items.

General hassles. The hassles subscale items were drawn from Lay and Nyugen (1998). There were six general hassles statements, including “Not enough time to meet my obligations,” “Being let down or disappointed by friends,” and “Lack of money.”

The three immigrant-specific hassles scales concerned out-group hassles, in- group hassles, and family hassles.

Out-group hassles. The status-related out-group hassles scale consisted of six items. It is important to note that not all out-group items were expected to be relevant to all respondents, just as all general hassles, for example, cannot be expected to be relevant to all respondents. Out-group hassles are potential stressors that result from interactions or lack of interactions (perceived or real) with out-group members. Major themes concerned the immigrant’s interaction with the larger community, the experience of prejudice and discrimination, and difficulties in communicating with out-group members. Sample items include “Feel- ing that I am being taken advantage of by some of my peers/coworkers because I am Iranian,” “Often being mistaken for Arab at school/work,” and “My fluency in English being underestimated by non-Iranians.”

In-group hassles. The status-specific in-group hassles were stressors that resulted from interactions with peers and family within a general minority/immigrant status context. There were five items, focusing on themes that include communication problems and feelings of lack of closeness. Sample items are “Iranian friends see my values and thinking as too Western,” “Being pressured by other Iranians to participate in Iranian cultural or religious events,” and “Feeling iso- lated in my Iranian community.”

Family hassles. To complete the assessment of status-specific general hassles, we drew six items that were family related from Lay and Nyugen (1998). These

308 SAFDAR AND LAY

items were based, for example, on conflict between the values and desires of first-generation parents and the values and desires of their second-generation children. The children are more likely to be influenced by the host culture (Dion & Dion, 1996). Furthermore, with some ethnic groups, parents might feel a lessening of their traditional authority and loss of independence because of a reli- ance in their daily interactions on their children’s more proficient skills in the language of the host society (Dinh, Sarason, & Sarason, 1994; Yao, 1985). Sample items are “Overburdened with traditional family duties and obligations,” “My ideals and values being rejected by my family member(s) because they are seen as too Western,” and “My family sees my expectations of my future career as incompatible with their Iranian values.”

Measure ofpsychological adjustment. This scale was adopted from Ryff and Singer (1996).4 Ryff and Singer presented a multidimensional model of positive psychological functioning that explores the six basic features of human well- being: self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth.

In the parent scale, there were 14 questions for each of the six subscales, for a total of 84 questions. In the present study, the short form of the scale was adopted: three questions for each subscale, for a total of 18 questions (Ryff, 1989). A sample self-acceptance item reads, “I like most aspects of my personality.” A sample of a positive-relations-with-others item is “People would describe me as a giving person, willing to share my time with others.” A sample autonomy item is “I judge myself by what I think is important, not by the values of what others think is important.” A sample environmental-mastery item is “I am quite good at managing the many responsibilities of my daily life.” An example of a purpose-in-life item is “Some people wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them.” Finally, a sample personal-growth item is “When I look at the story of my life, I am pleased with how things have turned out.” Each item was rated on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongl-y agree). Cron- bach’s alpha in the present study was .74.

Cultural competence. Perceived cultural competence was assessed with an 1 1-item questionnaire. This was a revised version of a measure used by Lay et al. (1998) with Russian participants and was originally based on LaFromboise et al. (1 993). Items were concerned with communication abilities (understand, speak, read, and write English), bicultural efficacy (“I feel that I have the necessary skills to adjust to the Canadian culture”), and knowledge of role repertoires (“I would feel comfortable in a group of people where I am the only Iranian”). The four items concerning understanding, speaking, reading, and writing English

4Although developed within a Western culture, the concept and measure of psychological adjustment have been applied successfully in non-Western cultures (e.g., South Korea; Ryff, Lee, & Na, 1996).


were first combined to form a single composite measure of English-language skills, and the average across the four items was calculated. The mean score was added to the remaining seven items. This procedure was designed to reduce the contribution of English-language skills, per se, to the overall measure of perceived cultural competence. Responses were rated on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very well). Cronbach’s alpha for this measure was .79.

Depression. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961) was administered with the exception of the item regarding thoughts of suicide. In addition, because we were also interested in predicting physical symptoms of health, to avoid content overlap between the depression measure and the physical symptom measure, items on the BDI that described physical symptoms were not included in the final measure. This distinction is similar to that made by other researchers in examining the factor structure of the BDI (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996; Byrne & Baron, 1993; Endler, Rutherford, & Denisoff, 1999).

Furthermore, six items were deleted based on a characterization of depression in the Iranian culture (Good et al., 1985; Pliskin, 1987). The items omitted reflected guilt, blame, feeling of punishment, lack of physical attractiveness, cry- ing spells, and lack of interest in sex. The remaining nine items were consistent with the characterization of depression among Iranians described by Good et al. and by Pliskin. These items measure various symptoms and attitudes, including anger, irritability, lack of satisfaction (not referring to physical symptoms), lack of interest in usual activities, and sadness. Responses were rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 to 3 for each item, such as 0 (I do notfeel sad) to 3 (I am so sad or unhappy that I can’t stand i t ) . Cronbach’s alpha for our nine-item version of the scale was .76.

Physical symptoms. Two symptom measures were used in constructing the present Health Symptom scale: the 20-item Health Problems Inventory-Revised (Kohn, Gurevich, Pickering, & Macdonald, 1994) and the 18-item Stress Symp- toms Checklist (Cheng & Hamid, 1996). The Stress Symptoms Checklist items are considered to be common symptoms among some Eastern cultural groups (e.g., Chinese). The underlying assumption in selecting such items is that some cultures, primarily Eastern ones, have a tendency to show their psychological and emotional problems in somatic ways.

Items that were similar in both scales (e.g., insomnia, headaches, lower back pain, back pain, muscular pain, muscular tension) were listed only once. The present Physical Symptoms scale was an 18-item questionnaire, and each item was rated on a 4-point scale of frequency in the previous month ranging from 1 (not at all) to 4 (extremely). Cronbach’s alpha in the present sample was .90.

Psychophysical distress. In an attempt to capture the full nature of depression in Iranian culture (Good et al., 1985), we decided to combine the measures of depression and physical symptoms to construct a measure of psychophysical

310 SAFDAR AND LAY

Table 1

Means, Standard Deviations, and Ranges for Hassles, Dispositional Variables, and Distress Measues

M SD Range

Hassles General hassles 13.1 3.2 6-22 Family hassles 7.5 2.3 5-17 Out-group hassles 10.0 3.2 6-20 In-group hassles 9.1 2.8 6-22

Dispositional variables Psychological adjustment 68.9 9.4 41-88 Cultural competence 30.0 6.1 12-40

Distress Depression 4.3 3.6 0-19 Physical symptoms 10.0 8.8 0-44 Psychophysical distress 0.0 1.7 -2.3-7.3

Note. Psychophysical distress is sum of depression converted to z scores and physical symptoms converted to z scores.

distress. Scores on depression and physical symptoms were first converted to standard scores and then summed. The correlation coefficient between depression scores and physical symptom scores was .52 (p < .OOl).

Procedure

Participants were recruited through various sources, including a local Iranian community association, three university Iranian associations, several classes in English as a Second Language, an advertisement placed in a popular local Iranian newspaper, and through an interview with the first author on a local Iranian tele- vision program. Thus, respondents were obtained through various sources in and around metropolitan Toronto. Respondents were told that by participating in the study, they were helping to contribute to a greater understanding of the chal- lenges that Iranian immigrants face in adjusting to the new society. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants, and they were told that by providing their names and telephone numbers on the form, they would be eligible for a $100 lottery. Individuals were reminded that they could withdraw from the study at any point and that the material was confidential.

Tabl

e 2

Cor

rela

tion

Coe

ffic

ient

s Bet

wee

n H

assl

es, P

sych

olog

ical

Adj

ustm

ent,

Cul

tura

l Com

pete

nce,

and

Dis

tres

s Mea

sure

s

Has

sles

Ps

ycho

- lo

gica

l C

ultu

ral

Phys

ical

Psy

cho-

ou

t-

In-

adju

st-

com

pe-

Dep

res-

sy

mp-

ph

ysic

al

Gen

eral

Fa

mily

gr

oup

grou

p m

ent

tenc

e si

on

tom

s di

stre

ss

Has

sles

G

ener

al

-

Fam

ily

Out

-gro

up

In-g

roup

Ps

ycho

logi

cal a

djus

tmen

t C

ultu

ral c

ompe

tenc

e D

epre

ssio

n Ph

ysic

al s

ympt

oms

.21*

* .3

9**

.37*

* -.2

7**

-.23*

* .3

7**

.31*

* -

.35*

* .4

2**

-.09

. 00

.12

.05

-

.47*

* -.2

0*

-.03

.34*

* .1

6 -

-.15

.06

.24*

* .1

6*

-

.35*

* -.4

4**

-.19*

-

-.44*

* -.1

7*

-

.52*

* -

.40*

*

2 .1

0 .2

9**

5

.22*

*

-.39*

* 5

-.34*

*

-

r 0

n >

cn I

D

v)

-

rn

cn

Psyc

hoph

ysic

al d

istre

ss

-

Not

e. P

sych

ophy

sica

l dis

tress

is s

um o

f dep

ress

ion

conv

erte

d to

z sc

ores

and

phy

sica

l sym

ptom

s co

nver

ted

to z

scor

es.

*p <

.05.

**p

< .0

1.

R -I n 0

v) rn 2

A

312 SAFDAR AND LAY

Results

Relations Between All Variables

The means, standard deviations, and ranges for all variables are presented in Table 1. There were no gender differences in mean scores on any of the variables, with the exception of physical symptoms. Females reported more physical symptoms than did males (female, M = 11.46, SD = 9.08; male, M = 8.61, SD = 8.32), t(159) = 2 . 0 8 , ~ < .05.

Correlation coefficients between all variables are presented in Table 2. The hassles subscales were related to one another and were generally positively associated with depression, physical symptoms, and psychophysical distress (the combination of depression and physical symptoms). Notable exceptions were the lack of an association between family hassles and each of the outcome measures.

Psychological adjustment was negatively associated with general hassles and with out-group hassles only. Psychological adjustment was also negatively related to depression and physical symptoms, and positively linked to perceived cultural competence. The latter variable was negatively related to general hassles only, and to depression and physical symptoms. Note, in addition, that the immigrant’s level of cultural competence was unrelated to the experience of any of the acculturation-specific hassle categories. Finally, the two outcome variables, depression and physical symptoms, were positively associated.

Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Depression, Physical Symptoms, and Psychophysical Distress

We entered the four hassles subscales in Block 1 of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis in predicting depression and physical symptoms separately and then regressed the combined distress measure on these same variables. Psy- chological adjustment and perceived cultural competence were entered in Block 2. The results of these analyses are presented in Table 3. In Block 1, general hassles and out-group hassles each contributed to the prediction of depression, controlling for the other hassles scales, whereas general hassles was the only unique predictor of physical symptoms and psychophysical distress.

In Block 2, the addition of psychological adjustment and cultural competence enhanced the prediction of depression, with both variables making significant contributions. Out-group hassles continued to contribute to the prediction of depression, while general hassles did not. On the other hand the Block 2 variables failed to add to the prediction of physical symptoms. Finally, in the second block, psychological adjustment, cultural competence, and general hassles each predicted the combined psychophysical distress measure, controlling for the other variables.


Table 3

Measures of Distress Regressed on Hassles (Block I ) and Psychological Adjustment and Cultural Competence (Block 2)

Measures of distress

Psychophysical Depression Physical symptoms distress

Block 1 Block 2 Block 1 Block 2 Block 1 Block 2

P P P P P P General hassles .27** .12 .27** .24** .32** .21** Family hassles -.04 -.02 -.04 -.04 -.06 -.04 Out-group

hassles .24** .24** .04 .04 .17 .17 In-group hassles .04 .03 .06 .05 .04 .03 Psychological

Cultural

R2 .19** .38** .lo** .11** .18** .29** F 15.14** 15.40** 3.10** 2.73** 9.72** 10.01** df’ 6, 144 7, 143 6, 144 7, 143 6, 144 7, 143

*p < .05. **p < .01.

adjustment - -.23** - -.07 - -.20*

competence - -.33** - -.08 - -.21**

In a third block in the hierarchical multiple regression analyses, the hassles by psychological adjustment interaction terms were added one at a time. The out- group hassles by psychological adjustment interaction enhanced the prediction of depression (A@ = .04, p < .01) and the prediction of psychophysical distress (AR2 = .04, p < .01). In addition, there was a significant interaction between in- group hassles and psychological adjustment in predicting depression (A@ = .03, p < .01). Finally, psychological adjustment interacted with general hassles in predicting depression (A@ = .02, p < .05). In each case, psychological adjustment acted as a buffer variable such that the relations between hassles and distress were greater for those individuals lower in psychological adjustment, compared to individuals higher in psychological adjustment. This effect is illustrated in Figure 1 regarding the out-group hassles by psychological adjustment interaction in predicting depression. In plotting this figure, the data were first centered, and then the regression equation was solved with the value of psychological adjustment set

314 SAFDAR AND LAY

0- /- / /- I

Adjustment

High

Moderate I l -

0 0 Low -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Out-group hassles

Figure 1. Interaction of psychological adjustment by out-group hassles in predicting depression.

at the mean, 1 standard deviation above the mean, or 1 standard deviation below the mean (Aiken & West, 1991).

Discussion

Immigrant-specific out-group hassles played an important role in predicting depression. More importantly, this association was maintained when controlling for the other hassles categories and for psychological adjustment and cultural competence. This was clear evidence for the implications of out-group hassles in the daily experiences of minorityhmigrant groups and was consistent with earlier findings by Dion et al. (1 992) and others. This result was also important in more clearly establishing an acculturative stress element (Berry, 1990) to the depression experienced by minority and immigrant individuals. With that portion of depression attributable to general hassles accounted for in the statistical analyses, out-group hassles were still associated with depression.

The experience of general hassles also played an important role, with one exception. Whereas general hassles were the only predictor of physical symptoms and predicted psychophysical distress along with psychological adjustment and cultural competence, general hassles no longer contributed to the prediction of depression when psychological adjustment and cultural competence were accounted for. This exception was unexpected, based on the association between

IMMIGRANTS, HASSLES, DISTRESS 31 5

general hassles and depression, controlling for psychological adjustment, reported in Lay and Safdar (in press).

Overall, at the level of main effects, there was a clear distinction between the two outcome measures: depression and physical symptoms. Although we had argued for the need to constitute a special assessment of depression within the Iranian culture, one that comprised cognitive and somatic symptoms, the predictors of these two elements differed. Had we chosen only to examine the combined outcome measure of psychophysical distress, the results would have been more in line with our original contention. General hassles predicted psychophysical distress, and the interaction between psychological adjustment and out-group hassles did indicate that less adjusted Iranians who experienced higher levels of out- group hassles reported higher levels of psychophysical distress, compared to their better adjusted counterparts. The difficulty, of course, in terms of our emphasis on the inseparable cognitive-physical nature of the Iranian experience of depression was that the results in predicting the single element of cognitive depression were largely the same. Furthermore, out-group hassles and psychological adjustment and cultural competence were unrelated to physical symptoms, per se, although general hassles did predict physical symptoms. The latter result was consistent with Lay and Safdar (in press). The place of somatic symptoms in defining depression in the Iranian culture was by no means resolved in this study and requires further investigation. The seemingly unique role of general hassles in producing physical symptoms also needs additional attention.

In Lay and Nyugen’s (1998) study, in-group hassles were associated with depression (controlling for general hassles), and out-group hassles were unrelated to depression (controlling for general hassles). These results were reported with a group of Vietnamese immigrants attending university. In the present study, in-group hassles did not play a similar role. Lay and Nyugen suggested that their group of Vietnamese students might identify, or want to identify, very closely with their ethnic group and their in-group peers to the extent that the out-group hassles experienced were perceived to be less important in terms of their psychological well-being. In more complex ways, it also was suggested that the lack of success in interacting with the larger host society might move young immigrants to seek further contact and to identity with the ethnic in-group. None of this was evident with the Iranian sample.

The results of the present study support Dohrenwend and Shrout’s (1 985) additive-burden model in terms of the contributions of out-group hassles, psychological adjustment, and cultural competence to the prediction of depression; and the contributions of general hassles, psychological adjustment, and cultural competence to the prediction of psychophysical distress. Frequent encounters with daily hassles, low levels of psychological adjustment, and low cultural competence each added to the psychological and physical load experienced by the immigrants in our study. There was also support for Dohrenwend and Shrout’s

316 SAFDAR AND LAY

(1985) vulnerability model in terms of the buffering effect of high psychological adjustment in linking out-group hassles to depression and psychophysical distress, and in-group hassles and general hassles to depression.

There was no support for Dohrenwend and Shrout’s (1985) proneness (topdown) model, however. For example, although the psychological adjustment, general hassles, and depression variables were each related to one another, the relation between psychological adjustment and depression was not mediated by general hassles. Overall, an assessment of the proneness or topdown model, and of other possible models, would be enhanced strongly in the hture by a longitudinal design in which psychological adjustment and cultural competence were measured at a time prior to the assessment of hassles and psychophysical distress. Such a study would be of considerable importance in understanding the full experience of immigrants and in locating the causal-reciprocal role of psychological adjustment, daily hassles, and psychophysical distress.

In conclusion, the present study highlighted the importance of out-group hassles in the lives of immigrant status individuals. This demonstration has been conducted while controlling for the contribution of status-nonspecific general hassles to depression and physical symptoms and the further contributions of psychological adjustment and perceived cultural competence. The methods used in the present study perhaps represent one of the more stringent assessments to date of the role of daily hassles for minorityhmmigrant individuals. Indeed, given the separation of types of hassles and the inclusion of psychological adjustment as a predictor variable, the study also might represent one of the most stringent assessments of hassles, per se, in relation to psychological and physical distress.

References

Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (199 1). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-10: Manual (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Harcourt, Brace, & Company.

Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4,53-63.

Berry, J. W. (1990). Psychology of acculturation: Understanding individuals mov- ing between cultures. In R. W. Brislin (Ed.), Applied cross-cultural psychology (pp. 232-253). London, UK: Sage.

Berry, J. W., & Kim, U. (1988). Acculturation and mental health. In I? R. Dasen, J. W. Berry, & N. Sartorius (Eds.), Health and cross-cultural psychology: Towards applications (pp. 207-236). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Berry, J. W., Kim, U., Minde, T., & Mok, D. (1987). Comparative studies of acculturative stress. International Migration Review, 21, 362-384.


Byrne, B. M., & Baron, €? (1993). The Beck Depression Inventory: Testing and cross-validating a hierarchical factor structure for nonclinical adolescents. Measurement and Development in Counseling and Development, 26, 164- 178.

Cawte, J. (1972). Cruel, poor, and brutal nations. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.

Cheng, S., & Hamid, I? N. (1996). A Chinese Symptom Checklist: Preliminary data concerning reliability and validity. Journal of Social Behavior and Per- sonality, 11,241-252.

Clark, R., Anderson, N. B., Clark, V. R., & Williams, D. R. (1999). Racism as a stressor for African Americans: A biopsychosocial model. American Psychol- ogist, 54, 805-8 16.

Crandall, C. S. , Preisler, J. J., & Aussprung, J. (1992). Measuring life event stress in the lives of college students: The undergraduate stress questionnaire (USQ). Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15, 627-662.

Creasy, G., & Reese, M. (1996). Mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of parenting hassles: Associations with psychological symptoms, nonparenting hassles, and child behavior problems. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology,

Crnic, K., & Greenberg, M. (1990). Minor parenting stress with young children. Child Development, 61, 1628-1637.

DeLongis, A., Coyne, J. C., Dakof, G., Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1982). Relationships of daily hassles, uplifts, and major life events to health status. Health Psychology, I , 1 19- 136.

de Snyder, V. N. S . (1987). Factors associated with acculturative stress and depressive symptomatology among married Mexican immigrant women. Psy- chology of Women Quarterly, 11,475-488.

Dinh, K. T., Sarason, B. R., & Sarason, I. G. (1 994). Parent-child relationships in Vietnamese immigrant families. Journal of Family Psychology, 4,471-488.

Dion, K. L., & Dion, K. K. (1996). Chinese adaptation to foreign cultures. In M. H. Bond (Ed.), The handbook of Chinesepsychology (pp. 457-478). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

Dion, K. L., Dion, K. K., & Pak, A. (1992). Personality-based hardiness as a buffer for discrimination-related stress in members of Toronto’s Chinese community. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 24,5 17-536.

Dohrenwend, B. P., & Shrout, €? E. (1985). “Hassles” in the conceptualization and measurement of life-stress variables. American Psychologist, 40,780-785.

Dona, G., & Berry, J. W. (1994). Acculturation attitudes and acculturative stress of Central American refugees. International Journal of Psychology, 29,

Endler, N. S., Rutherford, A., & Denisoff, E. (1999). Beck Depression Inventory: Exploring its dimensionality in a nonclinical population. Journal of Clinical

17, 393-406.

57-70.

P s ~ c h o l O ~ , 55, 1307-1312.

318 SAFDAR AND LAY

Feist, G. J., Bodner, T. E., Jacobs, J. F., Miles, M., & Tan, V: (1995). Integrating topdown and bottom-up structural models of subjective well-being: A longitudinal investigation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68,

Gil, A. G., Vega, W. A., & Dimas, J. M. (1994). Acculturative stress and personal adjustment among Hispanic adolescent boys. Journal of Community Psychol-

Good, B., Good, M., & Moradi, R. (1985). The interpretation of Iranian depressive illness and dysphoric affect. In A. Kleinman & B. Good (Eds.), Culture and depression: Studies in the anthropology and cross-cultural psychiatry of afect and disorder (pp. 369-428). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Halpern, D. (1 993). Minorities and mental health. Social Science and Medicine,

Kanner, A. D., Coyne, J. C., Schaefer, C., & Lazarus, R. S. (1981). Comparison of two modes of stress measurement: Daily hassles and uplifts versus major life events. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4 , 1-39.

Kim, Y. Y. (1988). Communication and cross-cultural adaptation. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Kinzie, J. D., Tran, K. A., Breckenridge, A., & Bloom, J. D. (1980). An Indochi- nese refugee psychiatric clinic: Culturally accepted treatment approaches. American Journal of Psychiatry, 13 7, 1429-1432.

Kohn, I? M., Gurevich, M., Pickering, D. I., & Macdonald, J. E. (1994). Alexithymia, reactivity, and the adverse impact of hassles-based stress. Per- sonality and Individual Dijferences, 16, 805-8 12.

Kohn, P. M., Lafreniere, K., & Gurevich, M. (1990). The inventory of college students’ recent life experiences: A decontaminated hassles scale for a special population. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 13,619-63 1.

Kohn, P. M., & Macdonald, J. E. (1992). Hassles, anxiety, and negative well- being. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 5, 15 1 - 163.

Kuo, W. H., & Tsai, Y. (1986). Social networking, hardiness, and immigrant’s mental health. Journal ofHealth and Social Behavior, 27, 133-149.

LaFromboise, T., Coleman, K. L., & Gerton, J. (1993). Psychological impact of biculturalism: Evidence and theory. Psychological Bulletin, 114,395-41 2.

Lay, C., Fairlie, l?, Jackson, S., Ricci, T., Eisenberg, J., Sato, T., Teeaar, A., & Melamud, A. (1 998). Domain-specific allocentrism-idiocentrism: A measure of family connectedness. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 29,434-460.

Lay, C., & Nguyen, T. (1998). The role of acculturation-related and acculturation non-specific daily hassles: Vietnamese-Canadian students and psychological distress. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 30, 172- 1 8 1.

Lay, C., & Safdar, S. (in press). Daily hassles and distress among college students in relation to immigrant and minority status. Current Psychology.

138-1 50.

ogy, 22,43-54.

36,597-607.

IMMIGRANTS, HASSLES, DISTRESS 31 9

Lazarus, R. S., DeLongis, A., Folkman, S., & Gruen, R. (1985). Stress and adap- tational outcomes: The problem of confounded measures. American Psychol- ogist, 40, 770-779.

Liebkind, K. (1 996). Acculturation and stress: Vietnamese refhgees in Finland. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2 7, 16 1 - 180.

Moghaddam, M. F., Taylor, M. D., & Lalonde, N. R. (1987). Individualistic and collective integration strategies among Iranians in Canada. International Journal of Psychology, 22,301 -3 13.

Mollica, R. F., Wyshak, G., deMarneffe, D., Khuon, G., & Lavelle, J. (1987). Indochinese versions of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25: A screening instrument for the psychiatric care of refugees. American Journal of Psychia-

Monroe, S. M. (1983). Major and minor life events as predictors of psychological distress: Further issues and findings. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 6,

t v , 144,497-500.

189-205. Pliskin, K. (1987). Silent boundaries. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Ryff, C. D. (1989). Scales of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality

and Social Psychology, 57, 1069-1081. Ryff, C. D., Lee, Y. H., & Na, K. C. (1996). Through the lens ofculture: Psycho-

logical well-being at midlije. Unpublished manuscript, University of Wiscon- sin, Madison.

Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (1996). Psychological well-being: Meaning, measurement, and implications for psychotherapy research. Psychotherapy and Psy- chosomatics, 65, 14-23,

Ryff, C. D., Singer, B., Love, G. D., & Essex, M. J. (1998). Resilience in adult- hood and later life: Defining features and dynamic processes. In J. Lomranz (Ed.), Handbook of aging and mental health: An integrative approach (pp. 69-96). New York, NY Plenum.

Saldaiia, D. H. (1994). Acculturative stress: Minority status and distress. His- panic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 16, 116-128.

Schwarzer, R., Jerusalem, M., & Hahn, A. (1994). Unemployment, social support, and health complaints: A longitudinal study of stress in East German refugees. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 4,3 1-45.

Shin, K. R. (1994). Psychosocial predictors of depressive symptoms in Korean- American women in New York City. Women and Health, 21, 73-82.

Smart, J. F., & Smart, D. W. (1995). Acculturative stress: The experience of the Hispanic immigrant. The Counselling Psychologist, 23,25-42.

Taft, R. (1 986). Methodological considerations in the study of immigrant adaptation in Australia. Australian Journal of Psychology, 38, 339-346.

Triandis, H. C. (1995). Individualism and collectivism. Boulder, CO: Westview. Utsey, S. O., & Ponterotto, J. G. (1996). Development and validation of the Index of

Race-Related Stress (IRRS). Journal of Counseling PsychoZogy, 43,490-50 1.

320 SAFDAR AND LAY

Ward, C., & Kennedy, A. (1994). Acculturation strategies, psychological adjustment, and sociocultural competence during cross-cultural transitions. Inter- national Journal of Intercultural Relations, 18, 329-343.

Weinberger, M., Hiner, S. L., & Tierney, W. M. (1987). In support ofhassles as a measure of stress in predicting health outcomes. Journal of Behavioral Medi- cine, 10, 19-3 1.

Yao, E. L. (1985). Adjustment needs of Asian immigrant children. Elementary School Guidance and Counseling, 19,222-227.

the relations of immigrant-specific and immigrant-nonspecific daily hassles to distress controlling...

Documents