The lived experience of acculturative stress in second-generation Haitian American emerging adults

Abstract

Second-generation Haitian American emerging adults function within three cultures; the American culture, Black American culture, and the Haitian culture. Balancing and living within multiple cultures while trying to grow in autonomy and adulthood can affect the mental health of emerging adults. Gaining independence while finding identity coupled with cultural expectations can contribute to increasing stress levels. The aim of this phenomenological inquiry is to explore the lived experience of second generation Haitian American emerging adults while focusing on mental health. This descriptive phenomenological inquiry explored the mental health effects of acculturative stress in emerging adults who identified as second-generation Haitian Americans. The population sample consisted of 30 participants ages 19–29 years, with a mean of (M_age = 25.97, SD = 2.95). Data was collected through semi-structured one-on-one interviews, which were guided by fifteen open ended questions. Thematic analysis approach was applied to the qualitative data. Saturation was reached after 23 participant interviews and 7 additional interviews after saturation to confirm result findings. Resulting themes revealed that Haitian parents and culture were strict, a dual identity, and lack of awareness/support for mental health in the culture were stressors. Themes of admiration for the Haitian culture and resiliency serve as possibilities as to why participants pursued higher education. The triple minority status of the heritage culture has contributed to increased stress levels resulting in the expression of anxiety, depression and self-critical thoughts such as feelings of imposter syndrome.

Introduction

Children of immigrants represent one in four children in the United States (US) and are projected to represent up to one-third of the child population by 2050 [18, 23, 24]. They are one of the fastest growing populations in the United States. The foreign-born Black population makes up approximately 10% of the total Black population in the US [21] and Haitians represent one of the fastest growing Caribbean immigrant populations comprising a growing subgroup of Blacks [1, 14, 26, 44].

Growing up as a second generation American can prove to have a unique set of challenges when there is a different culture being observed at home. Second-generation immigrants, meaning US-born children of immigrants, emerging into adulthood are the first in their families to be born in the United States. They have grown up in the American culture yet the dominant culture that is practiced and acknowledged in their homes is that of the Haitian culture. Acculturation, the process of understanding and integrating into another culture, is heightened in the Haitian American, as they have to integrate and function among the American culture, the African American culture and their dominant Haitian culture. The stress that arises from the process of acculturation is termed acculturative stress. Accounting for multiple cultural influences is especially relevant in understanding the acculturative process of Black Caribbean immigrants because they are often categorized with African Americans who are racially similar, but ethnically different [21]. Due to the triple minority status (Black, immigrant, non-English speaker [17]) of parents, Haitian American children may struggle with the ability to broker the different roles and expectations placed upon them. There are distinctive cultural expectations and norms in each of these cultures, and they are expected to fluidly function and exist in all three. Integrating into another culture is accompanied by many components including but not limited to: language barriers, socioeconomic issues, adjusting to different political and economic systems, as well as social, educational and environmental adjustments. All of which can be challenging and lead to stress and anxiety [3, 13, 20] and unresolved acculturative stress may lead to depression [48] and suicide.

Emerging adults, beginning in the late teen years and lasting through their twenties (18–29) [2], are transitioning into their independence while still figuring and constructing the uncertainties of their life’s trajectories including but not limited to living arrangements, education, relationships, and employment [40, 41]. Due to the success of the US immigrant (and generations following) being the honor of the entire family and knowing that others depend on this makes successful life choices an obligation. More importantly, for success to occur the ability to not dwell on feelings and disregard stress is viewed as a life skill. According to Desrosiers and St Fleurose, depressed Haitians are expected to work, care for their children and to function normally [15]. This type of stress management is what is passed down to the second-generation which can make it difficult to process their emotions, difficulties, discomforts, and areas of struggle.

Theoretical framework

Choi’s Theory of Cultural Marginality posits that marginal living which is passive betweenness in the tension of living between two cultures begins with the recognition of cross-cultural conflict. Choi states that “cross cultural conflict emerges as individuals face distinct value systems with accompanying expectations and are forced to make difficult choices and acknowledgment of this conflict allows for differences in perception, responses, and mental health outcomes [12]. Through this lens acculturation is operationally defined as living between cultures and acculturative stress derives from the conflict of the varying expectations and cultural value systems through which life decisions are made. Those experiencing acculturative stress are in the process of trying to negotiate cultural expectations so their decisions will not offend heritage culture while trying to find and maintain their happiness. In addition to the transition of developing independence, second generation Haitian American emerging adults must decide whether to honor their parents’ culture of origin (Haitian), to incorporate their host culture (American) with their culture of origin (Haitian), or to only honor their host culture (American) while addressing transitional life decisions. Easing cultural tension resolves cultural conflict, but this work will focus on the mental stress of cross-cultural conflict and marginal living.

The purpose of this phenomenological inquiry is to explore the lived experience of acculturation stress and the internalizing mental health effects in emerging second generation Haitian American young adults.

Literature review

In the US, Haitians represent one of the fastest growing Caribbean immigrant populations comprising a growing subgroup of Blacks [1, 14, 26, 44], yet a majority of the acculturation literature is in the Asian and Latino population [23]. Despite their growing numbers, the Haitian population is underrepresented in the literature [17, 26, 44]. This scarcity of literature results in a lack of a knowledge base from which to guide professional development and develop culturally effective treatment plans.

The variability in current research findings about the mental health of young adult children of immigrants is evolving [29]. There are studies that conclude that acculturative stress is higher in first generation immigrants [22, 41, 42]. Other studies conclude that second generation immigrants have greater amounts of cultural stress [27, 36]. Then some studies find that there are no generational differences [9, 40, 46] when looking at acculturative stress and mental health. While there are studies that find no significant correlation between acculturative stress and mental health within children of immigrants [19, 37]. Because of the variability in study findings, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions about the mental health status of children of immigrants when pertaining to acculturation stress [6, 23, 44].

Consequently, studies remain inconclusive in showing if the process of acculturation in other communities is similarly correlated with mental health as they are with the Latino and Asian communities [3]. Literature in the Asian and Latino population were reviewed to provide a framework for understanding how acculturative stress resulting from living between cultures was experienced in children of immigrants.

Within the Asian culture are various subgroups, which revealed various stressors as it relates to acculturative stress that were associated with psychological distress [39] presenting as different internalizing symptoms. Although increased time in the United States was associated with greater distress, acculturative stress did not always have a significant effect on outcome measures [11]. Specific ideals like ethnic identity, social support, language and discrimination are important aspects of acculturative stress that create a greater effect on mental health [11, 25, 39, 45]. Additionally, it was reported that social support and identification with Asian family and culture seem to create a protective factor.

The studies in the Hispanic/Latino population showed an increased focus on externalizing symptoms and behavioral expressions of stress and anxiety from self- harm to substance abuse and aggressive behavior [10, 28, 34]. Externalizing symptoms are often viewed as aggression and behavioral issues while internalizing symptoms are defined as depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms. Generations did not differ in internalizing symptoms but did differ significantly in externalizing symptoms. Second generations reported significantly more aggression and delinquent behaviors [9]. This confirms a study conducted by Pena et al. [34] where generation status was significantly related to suicide attempts, problematic alcohol use, repeated marijuana and other-drug use. By cultural group, African American and Asian adolescents had higher acculturative stress than Latino adolescents [22] yet suicidal ideation and self-harm remain a significant concern for acculturative stress in the Hispanic group [10].

Gap in literature

Consistent among the literature in the Asian and Hispanic/Latino cultural groups is that young adults experienced acculturative stress. Although the manifestation and levels of acculturation stress vary, the effect on mental health was present. Studies remain inconclusive in showing if the process of acculturation in other communities are similarly correlated with mental health as they are with the Latino and Asian communities [3]. Gaps in literature include: (1) limited literature regarding how Afro-Caribbean populations experience acculturation and (2) Limited literature that focuses solely on the second-generation immigrant. This study uses the Haitian American community of the Afro-Caribbean population to gain perspective into an under-represented group.

Research questions

The two research questions that guided this study are:

1. What are the factors that create acculturative stress in second-generation Haitian American emerging adult?

2. How is this experience affecting their mental health?

Methods

A phenomenological approach was taken in this study to understand the lived experiences of the participants. Data was collected through semi-structured one-on-one interviews, which were guided by fifteen open ended questions. Also Smith and Osborn [43] guidelines to accomplish a semi-structured interview was implemented; stating to establish rapport with the respondent, remembering that the ordering of questions is less important, and the interviewer is freer to probe interesting areas that arise and the interview can follow the respondent’s interests or concerns [43]. The interview sought to explain and understand multiple aspects of Haitian American culture while exploring how living in between cultures affected this group’s mental health. Some questions included: What is your experience with balancing different cultures? How do you handle living with the Haitian culture at home and the American culture outside the home? What expectations do your parents have for you? How do you handle it when your parent’s expectations are different from what you desire? How is the American culture different from the Haitian culture? Participants were consented through an online portal that provided the opportunity to read through study protocols as well as schedule interview times. Also, consent was reviewed prior to beginning the interview. Thematic analysis approach was applied to the qualitative data using the steps outlined by Braun and Clarke [7]. Keywords and phrases in the transcriptions were highlighted, circled and organized into charts from which codes were formed. These codes were then further organized into themes and overarching themes. Next, two other persons with content expertise analyzed the transcripts and the resulting themes through peer debriefing. Once the interview narratives revealed no new information, saturation was determined at 23 participants. 7 additional participants were interviewed after saturation was met to confirm findings.

Sample, recruitment and setting

Participants were adults ranging from 19 to 29 years of age who were born in the United States to Haitian parents. For the purposes of this study, the population of Haitian American included any person who has at least one biological parent of Haitian (born in Haiti) descent. Included in the category of “second-generation” are those who are the first in their immigrant family to be born in the United States. Participants were excluded if racially ambiguous. Racially ambiguous was operationally defined as someone who has two generations of mixed lineage with another race that does not fall into the category of Haitian American. Participants were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling strategies. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board.

Data collection protocol

Once participants consented, virtual interviews were conducted through video-conferencing and lasted approximately one hour. The participants were informed that there was a possibility for a maximum of two interviews. As more participants were acquired, interviews conducted, followed by transcription and analyses, the researcher would reach out to previous participants for a follow-up interview if clarification was needed. Field notes were taken during interviews and transcription immediately followed.

Demographics

Participants were all American born children to Haitian parents and were between the ages of 19–29. There were six (20%) male participants and twenty-four (80%) identified as female. Nineteen (63.3%) participants were single, ten (33.3%) were married and one (3.3%) divorced. Seventeen (57%) of the participants were from the Palm Beach area in Florida. Six (20%) were from the Broward area in Florida; two (7%) from Orlando, Florida; one (3%) from Tallahassee, Florida; two (7%) from New Orleans, Louisiana; one (3%) from the state of California, and one (3%) from the state of New Jersey. All participants have graduated high school and were pursuing or have pursued college education. All but one (97%) participant’s father was born in Haiti and all but two (93%) of the mothers were born in Haiti. Table 1 contains a summary of the descriptive statistical evaluation of demographic identifiers.

Table 1.

Descriptive statistics: demography

Variable	n	%	Cumulative %
Gender
Female	24	80.00	80.00
Male	6	20.00	100.00
Missing	0	0.00	100.00
Marital
Married	10	33.33	33.33
Single	19	63.33	96.67
Divorced	1	3.33	100.00
Missing	0	0.00	100.00
Age category
Under 27	14	46.67	46.67
27 and older	16	53.33	100.00
Missing	0	0.00	100.00
Identification
Haitian	4	13.33	13.33
Haitian American	26	86.67	100.00
Missing	0	0.00	100.00

Results

Five overarching themes arose from the narratives: Haitian parents/culture are strict, Dual identity, Haitian Culture is Beautiful, Mental Health/lack of support, and Resilience. One of the overarching themes was composed of three sub themes. The theme Haitian parents/culture are strict include sub-themes: American culture has more freedom, negativity towards friends and specific career paths. The resulting themes and codes are displayed in Table 2.

Table 2.

Themes and correlating codes

Overarching themes	Sub-theme	Codes
Haitian parents/culture are strict	American culture has more freedom	More freedom/liberties More individuality Haitians are more restrictive/conservative Open minded/less judgmental Haitian children have no voice/no opinion/no choice Americans are seen as adults at 18 Same as Haiti
	Negativity towards friends	Friends are bad Friends lead you astray Friends are not needed Can’t participate in activities with friends
	Specific career paths	Only certain careers are acceptable Different outlooks on success Same goal, different paths Definition of success
Dual identity		One persona with family, another outside of home Being Haitian and American at the same time
Haitian culture is beautiful		Pride in Haitian culture Appreciation for cultural standards and characteristics Parents want the best for you Parental sacrifices
Mental health and lack of awareness/support		Anxiety Self-doubt/lack of confidence Not good enough; perfectionism
Resiliency		Reasoning for cultural standards/behavior Understand why parents push you

Haitian parents/culture are strict

Every single participant stated that their Haitian parents or Haitian culture as a whole was strict, conservative and/or restrictive. No matter if the participant regarded their experience as stressful or not, every participant believed their parent to be strict. Participants who rated their experiences as less stressful described their Haitian parents as being more ‘Americanized’ and correlated the American culture with more relaxed standards. The narratives revealed three main reasons/explanations for this designation which were converted into sub-themes.

American culture has more freedom

It was expressed that the American culture provided more liberties and opportunities for individuality. American children were more likely to participate in activities that were considered “unacceptable” in the Haitian culture such as sleepovers. It was perceived that there was more acceptance and encouragement for self-expression through opinions and choices for American children. Also included in this sub-theme was that Haitian parents raised their Haitian American children with the same rules and structure as if they were still residing in Haiti which included not being regarded as an adult at the age of 18.

“We don’t get to be free like the Americans, we had to live the Haitian lifestyle.” – (J.D. 27, female)

“American culture is less strict than the Haitian culture. There are a lot of restrictions compared to the American culture.” – (P.D. 29, male)

“My mom used to say: “My house is Haiti, when you walk through these doors its Haiti.” – (M.A. 28, female)

“I was raised in a strict parent home. I felt like I was being raised in Haiti” – (L.D. 26, female)

“Parents have a hard time letting go, letting go of what was in Haiti, letting go of what they know to be the truth, letting go of what doesn’t really make sense for us here in the United States.” – (T.E. 25, male)

“American kids have more of a say or more autonomy..” – (J.W. 27, female)

Negativity towards friends

Every single participant except for one referenced that their parents stated that “friends were bad” or “they didn’t need friends”. Friendships were cultivated and kept only at school during school hours or during church meetings. Opportunities to meet, play or participate in get-togethers outside of those settings were not permitted. Friends were correlated with getting off track.

“Friends are bad, you don’t have friends, you don’t need friends… American friends are able, to like, do certain things that are not culturally appropriate in your household. So sleep-overs were definitely a no-no” – (S.L. 28, female)

“Don’t hang out with friends because friends will corrupt you and lead you astray” – (D.N. 28, male)

“So it was just a lot, you know, friends are bad, hanging out is bad. Couldn’t go to the movies, couldn’t go on dates, you name it.” – (D.N. 28, male)

“Haitian people don't see the importance of having friends. I guess it's more so you stick with your family, you stick with your church community. Like friends are seen like almost a bad thing in the Haitian culture. Like they would lead you astray. There was always tension with that.” – (M.P. 27, female)

Specific career paths

According to the participants, part of the liberties that the American culture provides is the liberty to choose which career one desires to pursue. There was a strong emphasis by parents on education and pursuing certain careers. The approved jobs of the Haitian culture included doctor, lawyer, engineer, and nursing. It was encouraged that these jobs were practical and successful. Being that these career paths were supported, anything outside of this realm was not encouraged as reflected in the representative statements.

“When I told them [parents] I wanted to be a therapist, they were disappointed because I didn’t follow the nursing route” – (M.A. 28, female)

“At a younger age it was along the lines of ‘you’re gonna be an engineer like your brother’…..and I definitely did not go that route so my late teens, early 20 s there were a lot of problems because I never went that route” – (A.A 27, male)

“The usual Haitian parents want you to be a doctor, lawyer or engineer” – (A.P. 21, female)

“Becoming an engineer or a lawyer or a doctor was the thing for any Haitian kid growing up” – (T.E. 25, male)

“Not feeling enough or the feeling of not being enough or not being worth it or not living up to your own parent’s expectations is very stressful…..you’re doing great in what you do but it’s just not enough, because you’re not a doctor…” – (T.E. 25, male)

Dual identity

Participants spoke of living in two worlds and creating an identity that was adaptable to multiple cultures in various settings. Also, coming to terms with the reality that the dual identity was necessary as it helped with coping and stress reduction. It was used in simple encounters such as communicating across cultures and more complex situations such as having to please parents and societal standards. The dual identity presented in 3 different formats:

1. True dual identity—the scenario/situation depicted which identity was culturally acceptable and presentable

2. Blended dual identity—the best of both cultures are used to create a unique identity.

3. Functional dual identity—the participant lives their life adhering to the cultural standards and expectations of one culture but has the ability to switch in necessary situations like work.

Overall, the dual identity was seen as necessary for survival.

“…You have to go to school acting like an American but then I have to be Haitian…understand that you are in America so you kind of have to live according to both which is very tough” – (A.A. 27, male)

“The stress of having to do both being Haitian and also being American at the same time” – (C.N. 25, female)

“So you kind of have like a dual identity…With friends at school and when you’re at work then you have a different identity when you are with your family and your parents” – (M.P. 27, female)

“Like you say stuff in front of your parents for your them to agree with you or whatever and then go outside and do your own thing. It sounds bad, but that’s the way to go.” – (S.E. 23, male)

Haitian culture is beautiful

This theme encompassed the feelings of pride and privilege that participants expressed about the Haitian culture and its features. Despite being born in the US, participants cite the food (Griot, legume, diri), language (Haitian Creole), music genres (Kompa, Zouk), and comedies (Tonton Bicha) were common mentions and appreciated features of the culture. Popular bands such as Carimi and 5 lan allowed them to feel connected to authentic heritage culture. Haiti became the first independent black republic in the world in 1804 through a revolution led by Toussaint L’Ouverture after being enslaved by the French. [8, 32, 35]. After gaining their independence, Haitians assisted other civilizations around the world fight for and gain their independence [32]. Along with pride, there were expressions of gratefulness and appreciation for the Haitian culture.

“Overall, I am proud to be Haitian and I’m grateful to be able to be in this culture that’s really about it. I love my culture” (T.D. 26, female)

“The Haitian culture is a beautiful culture with beautiful people and beautiful everything” – (A.L. 20, female)

“take pride in being able to have that history and that lineage of the Haitian culture” – (D.N. 28, male)

“never lose your culture and values that you were brought up with and given. Pride comes with that.” – (J.W. 27, female)

“I love the colorfulness of our culture. I love the pride of our culture. I love the pride of Haitians. I love traveling out of the country and going to Haiti.” – (R.C. 29, female)

Mental health

When thinking about mental health effects, participants stated that there is a struggle with self-critical thoughts, lack of confidence, and anxiety. A few participants mentioned depression, but this was not noticed among the majority. Also, there was a theme of ‘lack of mental health support and/or awareness’ within the culture

“I think if my mental health was impacted in anyway it would be this unrealistic striving for perfectionism that I think was cultivated by my upbringing. Also, to be hypercritical of myself and doubt would be two major things that I think I've struggled with.” – (N.D. 19, female)

“I grew up with a sense of imposter syndrome even to this day. Like I’m not ever quite good enough. Not equipped for the different tasks at hand. I double guess a lot about myself” – (D.N. 29, male)

“I became very depressed and anxiety ridden, once I became a teenager there was an extra layer of mental health added to it because I am in the process of becoming an adult and I have decisions to make and those decisions do not align with my Haitian mother” – (A.L. 20, female)

“I was depressed and anxiety” – (L.D. 26, female)

“Mental Health is taboo in the Haitian culture. You don’t hear about it, you don’t talk about it, you just deal with it by yourself” – (T.E. 25, male)

“If you have anxiety or you suffer from depression of if you suffer from any behavioral or mental health, its put in a box” – (S.E. 25, male)

“In the Haitian culture, you don't really speak about your emotions, you don't talk things out, you just get over it.” – (R.C. 29, female)

“If I felt like I needed to cry, or be mad or be frustrated I had to do it in the corners of my room because crying and frustration and all that, it was just…. felt like as if crying was just something that was foreign to my parents”. – (M.N. 27, female)

“Haitian culture is not always mentally aware” – (S.L. 28, female)

Resiliency

This theme encompassed an understanding and appreciation for their parents and the circumstances that cultivated their identity. This understanding and appreciation generated resiliency to endure the reality of their upbringing.

“A lot of them left their families, left established situation in Haiti, for the opportunity of better….so they’re doing what they believe is best to have you succeed.” – (D.N. 28, male)

“I saw it as motivation cause I saw how my parents came from Haiti, you know. They didn’t have anything so I’m sure they are not pushing me for nothing.” – (M.A. 28, female)

“just kind of looking back, you have an appreciation for it but getting through that phase is very, very difficult.” – (T.E. 25, male)

Young adults in immigrant families experience the typical developmental challenges of growing up that their nonimmigrant peers do, but they also have to negotiate multiple cultural demands from their home and host cultures [42]. The struggle of immigrant groups having to acculturate to the new host culture is not unique to Haitians. No longer needing parental consent but rather seeking parental approval, emerging adults seeks to find their identity and come into their own person while transitioning in their autonomy.

Discussion

Education

For many immigrant populations, education is often seen as a vehicle towards economic stability [4, 31]. Immigrant emerging adults face unique stressors as they negotiate competing cultural practices, values, and obligations promoted at home and at school in addition to normative challenges associated with the transition to young adulthood [33]. Participants of this study stated that education was not seen as an option in their family but rather a mandated privilege despite facing many hardships. This emphasis on education is due to the Haitian culture having approved career paths for their children, careers that lead to economic stability. As seen in the resulting theme ‘specific career paths’, participants felt their families imposed specific career choices and did not allow the freedom to explore artistic or seemingly unconventional jobs and career choices. Consistent with previous research [17, 30, 31], higher education is equated to financial stability and the status of the family rising with the child’s accomplishments. Education, stable career and financial stability equate success not only for the degreed but for the entire family. The pressure and stress that is associated with feeling compelled to take on specific career pursuits makes the ‘specific career paths’ theme reflective of one of the factors that cause mental stress in the population group. Interestingly, despite the stress of this burden, half of the participants adhered to the prescribed career paths. The breakdown is reflected in Table 3.

Table 3.

Career breakdown of participants

Career	N	%
Medical field—(Doctor/Nurse/Healthcare Administration)	12	40%
Law	1	3.33%
Engineer	1	3.33%
Psychology/mental health	2	6.67%
Law enforcement	1	3.33%
Social work	1	3.33%
Teacher	1	3.33%
Information Technology	1	3.33%
Finance	1	3.33%
Dental hygienist	1	3.33%
In college-undecided	3	10
Customer service	3	10
Unknown	2	6.67%

Social connections

Friendships, if any, were limited to either school or church as there were no engagements in social activities or meetings with peers outside of these venues. Friendships were viewed as a deterrence from being well-behaved, well-mannered, and staying focused on education. For second generation immigrants, acculturative stress can be focused within the home when youth are ready to take on many practices of the new land while their parents strive for them to retain the practices of the home-country culture [40]. In accordance with this, it is possible that Haitian parents desired to retain control of their children’s social influences in an effort to preserve home culture. Being that the second-generation immigrant is born into the host culture, parents have to be intentional about their off-spring adopting the cultural values and norms of their culture of origin. Participants seemed to have adapted to this restriction by creating friends within the same culture that understood this restriction or by limiting their friend groups to those who would not hold it against them. It is important to note that 87% of the participants were from Florida which is highly concentrated with Haitian immigrants. Also, two of the four most densely populated counties (Broward & Palm Beach) were reflected in this study [14]. This limitation cultivated friendships that lacked depth with those outside of the culture, leading to a majority struggling with social connections in their late emerging adult years when separating from these densely populated areas.

Dual identity

When writing about the dual identity of the African American minority, Dubois [16] stated “this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost… He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American…” [16]. The reality of a dual identity is not new for black minorities in America. There is a struggle to be authentically self and yet culturally presentable while upholding what is deemed appropriate to the mainstream. The complexity of the dual identity in the Haitian American is the construction of a dynamic persona while being grouped into a group (Black Americans) that is not representative of their culture values, behaviors and norms. Although second generation immigrants are born and raised in the US, there is an adoption of what it means to be Black in America alongside maintaining authenticity to the Haitian heritage. Dual Identity can be viewed as a coping mechanism of living between cultures or a mental health struggle as one tries to reconcile two to three personas while trying to find their true self. In this study, participants expressed “It was the ability to achieve peace in a stressful scenario.” Dual identity provided the ability to be whatever the environment demanded of them which equated to avoiding disapproval and chastisement by their parents, cultural elders, peers and colleagues. The construction of a dual identity was essential to surviving the reality of having to live between multiple cultures. Emerging adults seeking to reconcile this dual identity struggle with increased stress, anxiety and depression due to grappling with identifying authentic identity while striving to avoid cultural disapproval. Those who engage with their dual identity in a similar manner such as speaking another language seem to fair better. Rather than the perspective of a dual identity, it is seen as an extension of self which leads to a more dynamic self-presence and knowing.

Mental health

The effects of acculturative stress on mental health were littered throughout the interviews. The theme of “mental health” encompassed the expressions of the participants and the stress of acculturation particularly within the Haitian culture. Acculturative stress has been associated with declining mental health in the children of immigrants [23, 27, 36, 41, 47]. Although depression was mentioned during the interviews, the presence of anxiety, self-critical thoughts and self-doubt/lack of confidence were the prominent displays of mental struggle. Participants attributed the Haitian’s culture lack of support for emotional and mental health as the main reason for the resurgence of these feelings in emerging adult years.

The ability to move forward and push through adversity is viewed as strength because the prestige and/or shame of a family member’s actions is shared by the entire (immediate and extended) family [15, 31]. This type of thinking maybe is modeled in the home and passed down to the children. This is contrary to American culture where there may be more freedom to express and explore one’s emotions for optimal mental health. These conflicting cultural views are yet another stressful factor of living between cultures.

Awareness that this culture may not have the support and/or language to process mental health difficulties is crucially important as this will impact how health practitioners address mental health within this population. Haitian parents may be suppressing their own struggles stemming from migration and separation from family to provide a living for their family in a foreign land. Haiti has little access to mental health services and the lowest rate of professional psychosocial support in the Caribbean and Latin America. Moreover, mental heal professionals from other countries will help Haiti after disasters with mental health support but this assistance is temporary and part of emergency relief efforts [32]. This results in short fragmented mental health support. Mental health awareness education may have to be provided to both parent and emerging adult while incorporating therapies that provide a space for self-expression and cultivate culturally appropriate responses to stressors. There is naturally a greater response to learning coping strategies and therapies when the patient feels understood. As culture is a part of self, understanding of culture, cultural expectations and cultural behaviors help to foster therapeutic relationships between client and practitioner.

Future research

Building on this research to evaluate the variations in acculturative stress according to geographical region and location can further support the growth of this knowledge base. Considering if acculturative stress varies according to age, education, gender and career choice will provide more insight in a larger sample of participants. Additional research on acculturative stress across generations (1 st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) within the Haitian culture can aid in understanding the progression as well as multigenerational implications of acculturative stress.

Limitations

Due to the nature of the research, it is possible that only those who were interested in the research topic participated as it required looking into their past to relive and talk about familial experiences. Also, this research did not examine the role of social identity factors, such as socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and disability (learning and physical) which may have played a role in participants'experiences.

Conclusion

Exploring the presentation of acculturative stress in second generation Haitian American emerging adults provided insight to what factors generate stress in this population. Although acculturation stress is not new, Haitian Americans have to live between the host and home culture while being grouped into a group (Black Americans) that is not representative of their culture values, behaviors and norms. Previous studies that have studied acculturation stress in other immigrant groups and across various immigrant generation groups have not revealed consistent results regarding the stress level experienced and the effects on mental health. Ultimately, understanding this type of stress, its effects on mental health and current coping systems can lead to the development of effective coping strategies, structures, and programs.

Author contributions

The author conducted the research and wrote the main manuscript.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are not openly available due to reasons of sensitivity and are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Data are located in controlled access data storage.

Code availability

Not applicable.

Declarations

Ethics approval

This study was approved by the Internal Review Board at Florida Atlantic University (approval no 1685483-2). All experiments were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations and this study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Consent

All participants provided written informed consent prior to enrollment in the study.

Competing interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.