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The Impact of Acculturation and Racialization on Self-Rated Health Status Among U.S. Latinos

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Abstract

We investigate the Hispanic paradox by examining the relationship between acculturation and health status of Latinos to understand nuances among this growing heterogeneous population using a 2011 Latino Decisions survey. We find that acculturation remains an important determinant of Latino health; however, this varies based on whether the sample is restricted to immigrants or includes all Latino adults and on the measures of acculturation employed. We find Latino citizens reported better health than non-citizens; however, other acculturation measures, such as language use and time in the U.S. do not have a marked effect. Furthermore, skin color matters only for U.S.-born Latinos. Racialization is therefore important to consider within the context of the Hispanic paradox. Our findings suggest that some of the disadvantages stemming from minority status in the U.S. are more prominent among Latinos who have greater experience with the racial hierarchy of the U.S. and greater acculturation more broadly.

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Funding

This study was not grant funded, but primary author was supported through the Robert Wood Jonson Center for Health Policy Doctoral Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Cirila Estela Vasquez Guzman

  2. Department of Political Science, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Gabriel R. Sanchez

  3. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC05-2400, 1909 Las Lomas NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-0001, USA

    Cirila Estela Vasquez Guzman & Gabriel R. Sanchez

Authors
  1. Cirila Estela Vasquez Guzman
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  2. Gabriel R. Sanchez
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Correspondence to Cirila Estela Vasquez Guzman.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors. The study utilized de-identified secondary data. IRB considered this study to be exempt.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 3.

Table 3 Summary statistics of variables used in analysis using the 2011 Latino decisions/ImpreMedia survey (N = 1200)
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Vasquez Guzman, C.E., Sanchez, G.R. The Impact of Acculturation and Racialization on Self-Rated Health Status Among U.S. Latinos. J Immigrant Minority Health 21, 129–135 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0696-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0696-7

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