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theses

Minorities in the United States experience significant health disparities—for Hispanics, these disparities are thought to be in part due to their acculturation level. Most studies to date have only examined the role of personal acculturation (i.e., language use, country of origin) and have not considered the acculturation environment’s (i.e., immigrant composition of the neighborhood) effect on behavior. It is unclear how race/ethnicity and acculturation affect the weight-related home environments (i.e., maternal and child intrapersonal [psychographic, behavioral], household interpersonal, and physical environment characteristics). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to comprehensively examine the weight-related characteristics of the home environments of mothers with young children with regard to race/ethnicity as well as Hispanic acculturation. A diverse group of mothers (N= 568) with young children participated in an online survey to assess the weight-related characteristics of their home environments. Mothers were 60% White, 6% Hispanic, 8% Black, and 6% Asian, averaged 32.73±5.55 years, and had children who were 4.57±1.66 years. Analysis of the weight-related home environments by racial/ethnic groups found that most differences occurred between White and Hispanic mothers. These findings call to attention racial/ethnic differences in the weight-related home environments of mothers with young children; however, the underlying causes are unclear. To explore whether acculturation played a role in these differences, three acculturation measures (i.e., personal acculturation, acculturation environment, and personal and environmental acculturation variables combined via cluster analysis) were used. When personal acculturation was considered alone, both high and low personal acculturation Hispanic mothers differed from Whites on many characteristics, but few differences were seen between acculturation groups. An examination of the acculturation environment found most differences in the home environment between White and low acculturation Hispanic mothers, with few differences being noted between acculturation groups. Cluster analysis was used to consider the synergistic effect of the two acculturation measures; three clusters emerged: least, somewhat, and most acculturated clusters. Numerous differences were observed in the home environments of White mothers and the least acculturated Hispanic cluster, with differences remaining significant after controlling for family affluence. A comparison across all three acculturation grouping methods revealed that differences tended to occur mostly between White and low acculturation mothers—low acculturation mothers had lower personal intrapersonal (i.e., physical activity cognitions; self-efficacy for obesity protective behaviors and child eating and weight management; and need for cognition), child intrapersonal (i.e., child health status, fruit and vegetable juice intake), interpersonal (i.e., family meal behaviors), and physical environmental characteristics (i.e., physical activity environment) than White mothers. An examination of how mothers transitioned through the three acculturation measures indicated that for about half (56%) of mothers, personal acculturation predicted the final cluster assignment. Acculturation environment predicted the final cluster for 83% of the mothers. These data indicate that personal acculturation alone is not enough to clearly describe the acculturation level of Hispanic mothers of young children and that acculturation environment is critical to consider. Findings from this study demonstrate the relationship between personal and environmental Hispanic acculturation and the home environments of mothers with young children. Additionally, results suggest that more comprehensive measures of acculturation incorporating acculturation environment, has the potential yield a more comprehensive understanding of how acculturation is related to differences in the home environments of White and Hispanic mothers.

ETD_10785

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-sj70-4s37

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.