# SER Hispano: Salud/Health, Estres/Stress, and Resiliencia/Resilience Among Young Adult Hispanics Immigrants in the U.S.

> **NIH NIH R01** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $717,861

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Hispanic immigrants to the U.S. are more likely to experience negative health outcomes the longer they live in
the U.S. For example, over time Hispanic immigrants engage in riskier behaviors such as substance abuse,
violence, and risky sex, and experience more depressive symptoms. The stress associated with the
acculturation process, acculturation stress, and resilience at the individual, family, community, and societal
levels appear to play important roles in influencing risks. However, little is known about the causal mechanisms
linking acculturation stress, resilience, and health outcomes among Hispanic immigrants. Further, little is
known about what precise types of stressors (e.g., occupational stress vs. discrimination) and resilience factors
(e.g., individual coping vs. family support) have the most important influence on health trajectories of Hispanic
immigrants. The proposed longitudinal study (N = 385) will investigate the effects of acculturation stress and
resilience on co-occurring substance abuse, intimate partner violence, HIV risk, and depression (i.e., syndemic
conditions) and biological stress among young adult Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. More specifically, the
proposed project aims to: 1) test theoretical links between the cumulative impact of acculturation stress and
resilience on syndemic conditions and biological stress among recent young adult Hispanic immigrants over a
two-year period, and 2) identify the specific types of acculturation stressors and resilience factors at the
individual, family, community, and societal levels that are most important in predicting syndemic conditions and
biological stress among this population over time. Young adult low-income Hispanic immigrant men and
women within the first 10 years of immigration will be followed for two years. Biopsychosocial data will be
collected from participants at baseline, and then 6 months (FU1), 12 months (FU2), 18 months (FU3), and 24
months later (FU4). Culturally specific measures of acculturation stress and resilience will be used to assess
for individual, family, community, and societal risk and protective factors for syndemic conditions. Blood and
urine samples will be obtained from participants to measure systemic inflammation (IL 6, IL8, and IL 18) and
oxidative stress (F2 isoprostanes), previously validated biomarkers for psychological stress. Various
descriptive, univariate and multivariate statistics, including latent growth curve modeling, will be used to
address aims 1-2. The findings from this study have the potential to identify risk and protective factors for the
decay in heath among Hispanic immigrants. A precise and culturally informed understanding of these
phenomena is foundational for designing interventions that can ultimately promote the health and wellbeing of
Hispanic immigrants, the largest immigrant group in the U.S. This study also has the potential to lay the
theoretical foundation for biopsychosocial he...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9921217
- **Project number:** 5R01MD012249-04
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Rosa Maria Gonzalez-Guarda
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $717,861
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-26 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9921217

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9921217, SER Hispano: Salud/Health, Estres/Stress, and Resiliencia/Resilience Among Young Adult Hispanics Immigrants in the U.S. (5R01MD012249-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9921217. Licensed CC0.

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