Assessment of acculturation in minority health research.
Assessment of acculturation in minority health research.
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DOI：
10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.01.029
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发表时间：
2017-03
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Wadhwa PD
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Fox M;Thayer Z;Wadhwa PD
文化适应是健康差距方面的一个重要概念。虽然有几项研究报告了少数民族人口的文化适应和健康的各个方面之间的关系，关键的不一致仍然存在。这些不一致的一个可能的原因可能与文化适应的概念化和操作化的局限性有关，特别是在健康研究的背景下。文化适应结构经历了重大的概念和操作的变化时，它是适应人类学心理学，我们认为，另一个重大的转变，现在需要使用这个结构在健康研究。问题包括确定文化适应措施是否应侧重于个人的内部态度或公开行为;这些措施是否应在某一特定时间点描述文化取向状况或随着时间的推移而改变;措施是否应针对具体文化或更具全球性;应如何处理多元文化问题;措施如何以最佳方式纳入文化适应的多个方面;以及是否应使用代理措施。这些问题在健康研究的背景下是重要的，因为它们的影响，以确定直接和间接的影响，文化变化对健康相关的生物和行为过程。我们从跨越生物和社会科学多学科的角度阐述和解决这些问题，并提供具体的建议，最终目标是更好地了解文化适应在少数民族健康和健康差距中的作用。
Acculturation represents an important construct in the context of health disparities. Although several studies have reported relationships between various aspects of acculturation and health in minority populations, crucial inconsistencies remain. One likely reason for these inconsistencies may relate to limitations in the conceptualization and operationalization of acculturation, particularly in the context of health research. The acculturation construct underwent major conceptual and operational change when it was adapted from anthropology to psychology, and we argue another major shift is now required for use of this construct in health research. Issues include determining whether acculturation measures should focus on an individual’s internal attitudes or overt behaviors; whether they should characterize cultural orientation status at a given point in time or change over time; whether measures should be culture-specific or more global in nature; how the issue of multiculturalism should be addressed; how measures can optimally incorporate multiple dimensions of acculturation; and whether proxy measures should be used. These issues are important in the context of health research because of their implications for determining the direct and indirect effects of cultural change on health-related biological and behavioral processes. We elaborate on and address each of these issues from a perspective that spans multiple disciplines across the biological and social sciences, and offer concrete recommendations with the ultimate goal of achieving a better understanding of the role of acculturation in minority health and health disparities.