Romantic Relationship Satisfaction in Second-Generation South Asian Immigrants: Investigating the Role of Acculturative Stress and Attachment

Abstract

This study used the measure of romantic relationship satisfaction to understand one aspect of well-being in adulthood for the second-generation South Asian immigrant population. The study explored the links between parental acculturative stress in childhood, to romantic relationship satisfaction in adulthood, this was done with a latent variable path model, using subscales of attachment as multiple mediators. Participants of this study identified as second-generation South Asian immigrants. They were asked to fill out an online survey which included one scale for parental acculturative stress (The Acculturative Stress Index). First-generation survey data was collected through the retrospective accounts of the second-generation participants. The remaining questions on the survey included scales to assess attachment (Attachment Style Questionnaire), and romantic relationship satisfaction (The Dyadic Adjustment Scale). Two types of acculturative stress were measured; social isolation and sense of belonging. The ASQ identified five attachment subscales. The path model was used to assess for links between these factors, it was run in four steps. The path model confirmed that acculturative stress was significantly associated with attachment. Further it was confirmed that acculturative stress was associated with romantic relationship satisfaction. The current study did not find that attachment mediated any of the relationships in the path model. These results help contribute to the growing body of literature for this population, and may help clinical interventions moving forward.