The Impact of Religiosity on Acculturation Strategies and Psychological Distress

Abstract

The impact of religiosity on acculturation strategies and psychological distress among 189 Arab Americans and Pakistanis Muslims is addressed. Self-report measures of religiosity, acculturation strategies (including: assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalization), and psychological distress (including subscales of: depression, anxiety, and stress) were completed by each participant anonymously either online or in-person. Stepwise multiple regression was utilized to assess the strongest predictor of psychological distress and to determine whether religiosity moderated the relationship between acculturation strategies and psychological distress. Our main finding included that higher reported marginalization was the strongest predictor of overall psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and stress, regardless of level of religiosity. Due to concerns that marginalization might be confounded with low religiosity, a post-hoc analysis was conducted for three acculturation strategy scales, leaving marginalization out of the regression. When marginalization was not included, the other acculturation strategy measure did predict reported psychological distress. Religiosity did not appear to moderate the relationship between acculturation and psychological distress. However, level of religiosity was one of the significant predictors of overall psychological distress and depression, with an inverse relationship. Future research should be conducted on a larger population of Muslims from a broader geographic area, with attention to response styles which may inhibit self-report of mental health problems.