Neighborhood Context and Acculturation Among Central American Immigrants

Years in the US is often used as a proxy for acculturation, and level of acculturation may be an important predictor of differential health outcomes for immigrants. Some studies have examined the interaction between community level factors and acculturation, but not among Latinos. Level of acculturation and neighborhood concentration of Latinos was assessed in a sample of 194 Spanish-speaking, immigrant, pregnant Latinas. Neighborhood concentration of Latinos moderated the association between years living in the US and acculturation level. For individuals living in a high concentration of Latinos, longer time in the US was less related to higher levels of acculturation. In contrast, among Latinas living in a low concentration of other Latinos, the amount of time since immigrating to the US was strongly associated with level of acculturation. These findings have implications for health outcomes research done with immigrant groups, particularly Latinos.