Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Context and Timing Matter: Language Brokering, Stress, and Physical Health

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Using a bioecological perspective, the current study explored the dynamic relationship between a proximal process (i.e., language brokering [LB]), LB perceptions, environmental stress context, and timing of LB experiences on well-being. College students (N = 559; 19.6% Asian American, 32.0% European American, 33.5% Latino, and 14.9% multiracial/other ethnicity) reported on LB frequency, feelings about LB as a burden or source of role reversal, perceived stress, age of LB onset, and health (i.e., height, weight, somatic symptoms). Among brokers (M = 23.13, SD = 5.66; 78.3% female), younger LB age onset was significantly associated with higher BMI when perceived stress was high but unrelated when perceived stress was low. For individuals who reported high perceived stress or high LB role reversal, but not both, younger LB age onset was associated with greater somatic symptoms. These results highlight the importance of psychosocial context and timing of life events in capturing the effect of immigrant and family experiences on physical health.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Orellana M, Guan SA. Immigrant family settlement processes and the work of child language brokers: Implications for child development. In: Suarez-Orozco C, Abo-Zena M, Marks AK, editors. The development of children of immigration. New York: NYU Press; 2015. p. 184–200.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Chao RK. The prevalence and consequences of adolescents' language brokering for their immigrant parents. In: Bornstein MH, Cote LR, editors. Acculturation and parent-child relationships: measurement and development. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers; 2006. p. 271–296.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Titzmann PF, Michel A. Friendly takeover: predictors and effects of language brokering among diaspora immigrants in Germany. In: Weisskirch RS, editor. Language Brokering in Immigrant Families. New York: Routledge; 2017. p. 75–97.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  4. Trickett EJ. JonesCJ: adolescent culture brokering and family functioning: a study of families from Vietnam. Cult Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2007;13:143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Dorner LM, Orellana MF, Jiménez R. “It's one of those things that you do to help the family” language brokering and the development of immigrant adolescents. J Adolesc Res. 2008;23:515–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Guan SA, Greenfield PM, Orellana MF. Translating into understanding: Language brokering and prosocial development in emerging adults from immigrant families. J Adolesc Res. 2014;29:331–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Tse L. Language brokering among Latino adolescents: Prevalence, attitudes, and school performance. Hisp J Behav Sci. 1995;17:180–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Weisskirch RS. A developmental perspective on language brokering. In: Weisskirch RS, editor. Language brokering in immigrant families. New York: Routledge; 2017. p. 7–25.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  9. Shen Y, Kim SY, Wang Y, Chao RK. Language brokering and adjustment among Chinese and Korean American adolescents: a moderated mediation model of perceived maternal sacrifice, respect for the mother, and mother–child open communication. Asian Am J Psychol. 2014;5:86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Shen Y, Tilton KE, Kim SY. Outcomes of language brokering, mediators, and moderators: a systematic review. In: Weisskirch RS, editor. Language brokering in immigrant families: theories and contexts. New York: Routledge; 2017. p. 47–71.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  11. Corona R, Stevens LF, Halfond RW, Shaffer CM, Reid-Quiñones K, Gonzalez T. A qualitative analysis of what Latino parents and adolescents think and feel about language brokering. J Child Fam Stud. 2012;21:788–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Guan SA, Nash A, Orellana MF. Cultural and social processes of language brokering among Arab, Asian, and Latin immigrants. J Multiling Multicult Dev. 2016;37:150–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Roche KM, Lambert SF, Ghazarian SR, Little TD. Adolescent language brokering in diverse contexts: associations with parenting and parent–youth relationships in a new immigrant destination area. J Youth Adolesc. 2015;44:77–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Hua JM, Costigan CL. The familial context of adolescent language brokering within immigrant Chinese families in Canada. J Youth Adolesc. 2012;41:894–906.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Kim SY, Zhang M, Zeiders KH, Sim L, Gleason ME. Acute salivary cortisol response among Mexican American adolescents in immigrant families. Cult Divers Ethn Minor Psychol. 2018;24:510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Kam JA, Lazarevic V. The stressful (and not so stressful) nature of language brokering: Identifying when brokering functions as a cultural stressor for Latino immigrant children in early adolescence. J Youth Adolesc. 2014;43:1994–2011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Gunnar M, Quevedo K. The neurobiology of stress and development. Annu Rev Psychol. 2007;58:145–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Yang YC, Boen C, Gerken K, Li T, Schorpp K, Harris KM. Social relationships and physiological determinants of longevity across the human life span. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2016;113:578–83.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Dorner LM. Turning points and tensions: emerging adulthood for language brokers. In: Weisskirch RS, editor. Language brokering in immigrant families. New York, NY: Routledge; 2017. p. 270–293.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  20. Weisskirch RS, Kim SY, Zamboanga BL, Schwartz SJ, Bersamin M, Umana-Taylor AJ. Cultural influences for college student language brokers. Cult Divers Ethn Minor Psychol. 2011;17:43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Juster RP, McEwen BS, Lupien SJ. Allostatic load biomarkers of chronic stress and impact on health and cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2010;35:2–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. McEwen BS, Seeman T. Protective and damaging effects of mediators of stress: elaborating and testing the concepts of allostasis and allostatic load. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1999;896:30–47.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Uchino BN, Bowen K, Carlisle M, Birmingham W. Psychological pathways linking social support to health outcomes: a visit with the “ghosts” of research past, present, and future. Soc Sci Med. 2012;74:949–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Uchino BN, Cacioppo JT, Kiecolt-Glaser JK. The relationship between social support and physiological processes: a review with emphasis on underlying mechanisms and implications for health. Psychol Bull. 1996;119:488.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Bronfenbrenner U, Morris PA. The bioecological model of human development. In: Damon W, Lerner RM, editors. Handbook of child psychology. Hoboken: Wiley; 1999. p. 793–828.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Kim SY, Wang Y, Weaver SR, Shen Y, Wu-Seibold N, Liu CH. Measurement equivalence of the language-brokering scale for Chinese American adolescents and their parents. J Fam Psychol. 2014;28:180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Cohen S, Kamarck T, Mermelstein R. A global measure of perceived stress. J Health Soc Behav. 1983;24:385–96.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Gierk B, Kohlmann S, Kroenke K, Spangenberg L, Zenger M, Brähler E, Löwe B. The somatic symptom scale–8 (SSS-8): a brief measure of somatic symptom burden. JAMA Int Med. 2014;174:399–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Kam JA, Guntzviller LM, Stohl C. New approaches to studying language brokering from a communication perspective. In: Weisskirch RS, editor. Language brokering in immigrant families. New York: Routledge; 2017. p. 26–46.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  30. Kim SY, Hou Y, Gonzalez Y. Language brokering and depressive symptoms in Mexican-American adolescents: parent–child alienation and resilience as moderators. Child Dev. 2017;88:867–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Meehl PE. Schizotaxia, schizotypy, schizophrenia. Am Psychol. 1962;17:827–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Chen E, Miller GE. “Shift-and-persist” strategies: Why low socioeconomic status isn’t always bad for health. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2012;7:135–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Buriel R, Perez W, De Ment TL, Chavez DV, Moran VR. The relationship of language brokering to academic performance, biculturalism, and self-efficacy among Latino adolescents. Hisp J Behav Sci. 1998;20:283–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Dickinson ER, Adelson JL, Owen J. Gender balance, representativeness, and statistical power in sexuality research using undergraduate student samples. Arch Sex Behav. 2012;41:325–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Chen FR, Dariotis JK, Granger DA. Linking testosterone and antisocial behavior in at-risk transitional aged youth: contextual effects of parentification. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2018;91:1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Child and Adolescent Development, California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA, 91330, USA

    Shu-Sha Angie Guan

  2. Liberal Studies Department, California State University, Monterey Bay, Seaside, 93955, USA

    Robert S. Weisskirch

  3. Child and Family Development Department, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, 92182, USA

    Vanja Lazarevic

Authors
  1. Shu-Sha Angie Guan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert S. Weisskirch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Vanja Lazarevic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shu-Sha Angie Guan.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Guan, SS.A., Weisskirch, R.S. & Lazarevic, V. Context and Timing Matter: Language Brokering, Stress, and Physical Health. J Immigrant Minority Health 22, 1248–1254 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-00989-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-00989-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation