Date of Award
1-23-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Leadership, Ed.D.
First Advisor
Ibrahim Duyar
Committee Members
Debra Smith; Ross Larsen
Abstract
Relevant literature points out the adverse effects of acculturative stress, particularly on the mental health of immigrants. Recent studies also emphasize that immigrant students are academically behind their U.S.-born, native English-speaking peers. However, few studies explore how the adverse mental health effects of acculturative stress influence immigrants’ academic performance. This gap in literature is significant given the academic disparities. Applying Berry et al.’s (1987) acculturative stress conceptual framework, as well as Sirin et al.’s (2019) framework on the mental health outcomes caused by acculturative stress, research was conducted focusing on factors that cause acculturative stress, its mental health implications, and how these mental health problems influence academic performance among newly arrived (first and second-year) immigrant students. Eight, eighteen-year-old newly arrived immigrant students enrolled in a K-12 public school district, participated in this qualitative study. Participants were selected through convenience sampling. All participants were interviewed with translator support and were asked questions about experiences that caused acculturative stress, its mental health implications, as well as their perceptions of their academic performance. Each participant brought an artifact to discuss their academic performance. Participants’ Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA) assessment results in reading and math were also analyzed. Through thematic analysis, five themes and six sub-themes emerged. The first theme was navigating the emotional effects of culture shock. The second theme discovered was affliction caused by discrimination. The third theme was difficulties faced when navigating a language barrier. The fourth theme was negative mental health effects, which included four subthemes: anxiety/nervousness/worry, loneliness/solitude, shame, and sadness. Despite these challenges, the fifth theme revealed positive perceptions of academic performance, accompanied by two subthemes: positive perception of teacher support and positive perception of counselor support. All participants experienced acculturative stress, caused by culture shock, discrimination, or language barriers. Seven of the eight participants experienced mental health problems caused by acculturative stress. Seven of the eight participants used positive language when discussing their academic performance. All participants failed the TSIA assessment, and half of the participants did not graduate with their cohort. All participants were enrolled in a New Arrival Center housed within their high school. New Arrival Centers are designed to meet the needs of newly arrived immigrants, yet these students still endured acculturative stress, mental health problems, and had low academic performance. Recommendations include incorporating acculturation strategies into the curriculum for New Arrival Centers, educating counselors on the process of acculturation, and training them to support students experiencing mental health issues caused by acculturative stress. Additionally, increasing family engagement can help contextualize test scores. Future longitudinal research should explore third and fourth-year immigrants to examine changes in mental health and academic performance over time.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Sparks, Sara, "The Adverse Mental Health Effects Caused by Acculturative Stress and Its Influence on First- And Second-Year Immigrant Students in the United States" (2026). Student Theses and Dissertations. 1133.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/1133
