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Determinants of Host Society Acculturation and Its Relationship with Health Behaviors and Outcomes: A New Research and Intervention Framework

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Abstract

Host society acculturation (or reverse acculturation) is a complex, multifactorial process reflecting the attitude- and behavior-level impact of immigrants on the host society. However, this phenomenon has rarely been the subject of systematic research in the area of public health. Using qualitative and quantitative findings from different health behavior domains, we strove to identify potential individual- and environment-level determinants of host society acculturation. Next, we developed a context-driven multilevel public health research and intervention framework for the study of the relationship between host society acculturation and health practices and outcomes. The framework posits a number of associations to be evaluated by future multidisciplinary research nationally and internationally.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by a doctoral dissertation fellowship from the Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (Dr. Andreeva).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA

    Valentina A. Andreeva & Jennifer B. Unger

  2. Nutritional Epidemiology Research Group, University of Paris XIII, 74 rue Marcel Cachin, 93017, Bobigny, France

    Valentina A. Andreeva

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  1. Valentina A. Andreeva
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  2. Jennifer B. Unger
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Correspondence to Valentina A. Andreeva.

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Andreeva, V.A., Unger, J.B. Determinants of Host Society Acculturation and Its Relationship with Health Behaviors and Outcomes: A New Research and Intervention Framework. J Immigrant Minority Health 17, 1420–1426 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0104-x

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